Pink Friday

This morning Nicki Minaj performed for the Good Morning America Summer Concert Series and Kevin and I had VIP wristbands. Since the beginning of the summer we’d joked about our desire to see her when she came, and we ended up making that happen. It was a bit of an adventure though. First off, Kevin is from Jersey—the real Jersey Shore, and he commutes an ungodly 2.5 hours each way to work, so I let him crash on our couch in BK so we could get up and go early. INTERN SLUUUUMBER PARRTYYY!! So we got up at 3:30, left by about 4:15, made the exceptionally long early morning trek to Lincoln Center, dropped our stuff off at work, and then taxi’d over to E 72^nd and 5^th Ave on the east side of the park to head in by 5:45.



                Since we had the VIP wristbands, we were able to go in right away and didn’t have any lines to wait in at all, and we had an awesome view, like right in the front. So we just kind of stood around waiting. There were these two ladies next to us (and I use the term “ladies” extremely loosely in this case) that were super dressed up and stuff—nails done, hair done, everything done, they were fancy. But I’m pretty sure at some point in their lives, despite their cleavage, they’d been men. And at one point Kevin and I were whispering back and forth about some interview questions or something, and this woman behind me taps me and goes “yeah, they’re men.” Lol, and I was like, “…that is nootttt what we were talking about..but are you sure?” and I think they were. Which is fine, but this is key for later in the story.





 

"RIIIGHT HERE!"

                So at about 7:30 the band and dancers came out to start running through stuff, and then Nicki came out. It was pretty cool to see her interacting with her people and doing a sound check and stuff. Check out her outfit in the pictures—the boots she was wearing had the same print. She kind of looked like she was wrapped in wall paper. But OMG, her ass is ridiculous. And that’s all I’m gonna say about it because that is absolutely all that can be sad—RIDICULOUS! So after the sound check wrapped up, there was this guy that was in charge of like getting the  crowd all hyped up, but he was corny and annoying. But at about 8:15 before Nicki came back out to actually perform, he was talking to the crowd and some people in the crowd were wearing off-the-wall wigs in true Nicki Minaj fashion, I guess someone even had like a cotton candy wig. So the guy yells out, “WHO DO YOU THINK HAS THE BEST WIG HERE?!?”

    

                And Kevin, without the slightest ill intentions, points to the blonde-wigged tranny next to us and goes, “RIGHT HERE! RIIIIGHT HERE!!!” LMAO, when I tell you I died, I mean I legitimately.dropped.dead!! Lol some of the people around us looked on in horror, some snickered, some ”oooohhh’d” and the tranny ladies were NOT happy lol. I crack up into pieces every time I think about Kev yelling that out because he legit didn’t mean any harm by it, but was just being honest, and it was HEEEEE-LAR-IOUS!

                Shortly after that Nicki and the GMA crew came out. And so did Nicki’s nipple. Complete Janet Jackson-esque nip slip…well, this was more of a Slip-N-Slide because her nipple was out for a substantial amount of time. And because it was taped live, viewers in the Eastern market saw it on tv—it was cleaned up before any other areas got that cut of the show. But it was pretty funny. They fixed her up with some double-stick tape after the first song to prevent it from happening again. Then there was the interview with Robin, and then two more songs. At the end of the show, before she left, Nicki came back out, and did like part of one more song. I’m not a big Nicki Minaj fan, so I don’t know the names of most of her songs. But the crowd was in love with her, and it was an electric atmosphere.

                I had a lot of fun, but was tired after having to then find our way through the park and go to work. But it was a good morning.

             

 

 



Complacency & Contentment

During the time that I spent manning a shift that I hated for longer than I wanted, I fell into a rut and began focusing more on the perceived negatives than the actual positives. I was growingly more and more unhappy with how I was spending my time, not only at work because of the amount of time that I had to just dick around on the internet, but also displeased with my time outside of work. During that time as I said in “Catch-Up,” an 8-hour work day was easily turned into much longer than that, and the rest of the time I was tired. I was a grump. As I’ve said before, and continually tell myself, I can’t be upset while I’m here and I need to focus on the positive; always, no exceptions. Four months ago all I wanted was to be exactly where I am today, doing exactly what I’m doing. It’s crazy to me that it’s possible to get exactly what you want, and still be unsatisfied.          In the free time that I have to wandering aimlessly through cyber space, I was catching up on some celebrity gossip, and in the wake of the pending Jay-Z & Kanye collabo “Watch the Thrown,” there were rumors of a falling out between the two. Long story short, Jay-Z stopped by Hot 97 and addressed it saying:

"Yes, we get on each other's nerves, but that's part of pushing each other. We push each other. The people who have a problem with Kanye or myself are the people that are complacent in life."

                So, I began thinking about the notion of complacency. I’d become discontent with what I was doing work-wise, but I wasn’t striving to become complacent. In other words, I was bored at work and wanted to be doing more challenging work, but at the same time, I don’t ever want to be in a position where I become too comfortable and overly assured in the work that I’m doing. I don’t think it’s okay to ever become too content; it’s like a fine line. Set a goal, reach it, become content with the results, and then set another—always striving for more. I think if you set a goal and consider the work done once it’s reached, you’re likely to become content and those are the kind of people (in my opinion) that Jay-Z was referring to; people that reach a goal and then are done. He and Kanye West are two of the best at what they do, yet they continue to challenge themselves to be better and do greater. I want to have the same drive, especially professionally. And oddly enough, I’m not alone in that desire.

                Also in my spare time at work I like to read psychology articles and journals. It’s my inner nerd that comes out to play. Anywho, lately I really get my rocks off reading about studies done on Millennials—people born between 1979 & 1994. Note that the years vary slightly depending on the source, but it’s just like Generation X or Baby Boomers, and as Millennials are beginning to enter and take over the work force, more and more research is being done and I love it. Granted the results are typically generalizations applied to a group ranging in age <15 yrs, race, sex, religion, etc. But I think I really like it because I feel like it’s loosely describing me—like a horoscope. Some interesting things I read in “New Generation, Great Expectations: A Field Study of the Millennial Generation” are below:

"Millennials have low tolerance for less-than challenging work, and often perform poorly in high-volume and non-stimulating work."

“The Millennials also considered people and work-related attributes to be important in their job choice. The emphasis on people supports the contention that Millennials are interested in more than just the job, and emphasizing the social aspect of work. This may also suggest that Millennials may be more loyal to their colleagues and supervisors than to their organizations (Lancaster and Stillman 2002). For example, a manager may leave a firm and very shortly after, others may join the manager, because they [Millennials] will say, ‘‘It’s my team that I am working with’’ (cf. Pooley 2006). Myers (2007) suggested that the secret to successfully managing the Millennials may lie in using the same strategies their parents used to raise them. This may mean providing them with lots of support, coddling, and giving them a sense of belonging, but without turning the workplace into a ‘‘daycare.’’ Another suggestion is to give the Millennials responsibilities fairly quickly, allowing them the flexibility to do the job their own way, but to expect results and show them how their contributions fit.”

  

                More than almost anything, I hate having my time wasted and that’s how I feel like I’ve spent a lot of time clocked in. However, in trying to see the silver lining, my sports intern counterpart Kevin told me that other interns throughout the company that work for tv shows often are just in charge of crowd control, and monitoring lines, and getting people to their seats and stuff. At least I’m doing practical work, and it’s actually helped my video editing skills, plus I’ve become fairly proficient with news programs. I had a pow wow with my manager a few days ago and we talked about my feelings about my internship as whole. And I was honest with her, as far as my likes and dislikes and things I’d do differently if I had to do again. But she praised me and my work performance, telling me that I was just as good as any Production Assistant she’d hired, and she said that I ended up doing so much of that work because they were able to just let me go on my own and work because I caught on quickly. Sounds good, I just know, as I told her, that starting as a production assistant at the network isn’t the route I’d chose to take to get my foot in the door. And luckily, having a fulltime job lined up back in Columbia, that won’t be the route I need to take.

                But some good advice I got this summer was something to the effect of “sometimes you need to do something that you don’t like, to realize that it’s not for you.” I can check that off my list. BUT, I’m still grateful for the experience.

**But that study I read was realllly good, so go read it: http://proquest.umi.com.proxy.mul.missouri.edu/pqdlink?Ver=1&Exp=08-02-2016&FMT=7&DID=2033951221&RQT=309  (if that link works)

Catch-Up

I’m on my Wayne “Sorry 4 the Wait” flow J I’ve been terrible about blogging lately. It’s been nearly 2 and a half weeks, and my mind has been elsewhere wandering. First, I focused on a 10-day binge that came right as my mom and brother left. I had to work for 10 days straight—no weekend off, and it was miserable. And to make matters worse, I was working 3-11, which generally isn’t too bad—when you’re able to hop in the car and make the 7-10 minute drive into work and after finishing up for the day, make the same 7-10 minute drive back home. But that isn’t the case in the Big Apple where a significant percentage of the general population doesn’t even own a car. And living in Brooklyn was the cherry on top for those 10 days. An 8-hour work day was easily turned into a 10-11 hour day with the commute alone. Getting on the subway at 11pm to head to Brooklyn is borderline torture as the subways slow down, and the typically 45-minute commute slows and drags into an hour and a half long commute. And that’s all worsened some nights by the lunatics that use the New York subway system, but I’ll get into that later. Complaints aside, needless to say, I was absolutely exhausted after that marathon. However, in a Fortunately/Unfortunately manner, those 10 work days were juxtaposed with a relaxing 4-day weekend. In my head, I’d planned to do some catch-up blogging during my 4-day couch-ride, but that didn’t happen. Nor did the 4-day couch-ride actually happen, as I did spend some time out and about.

                Actually, let’s rewind. In the midst of the long work run, I found myself this club SL one night. I’ve been a pretty big homebody for the last year and a half, and I don’t go out like I used to. But you know how sometimes you get the urge to have one of those Lady Gaga-esque “Just Dance” nights? Lol a night narrated by the lyrics “What’s goin on on the floor? I love this record baby but I can’t see straight anymore. Keep it cool, what’s the name of this club? I can’t remember but it’s alright, a-alright. Just dance.” Yeeeah, I had a craving for a blurry-visioned night with bass loud enough to make my heart beat in sync with whatever was playing. And I lost my phone. And foolishly paid an outlandish amount of a money for an unnecessary late night/early morning cab-ride to Brooklyn, all for the sake of driving over the Brooklyn Bridge. It was stupid.

                Last weekend, a friend from work took me to some places around Brooklyn that I hadn’t been. We went to Brooklyn Bridge Park and down around the DUMBO area. DUMBO is one of the coolest acronyms I know; Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass. The Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges are pretty close to each other, so in that area I had cool views of both, as well as the financial district skyline, views of the upper east side, and Govna’s Island.

                So that’s the expedited game of Catch-Up!



Anyone seen "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3?" Denzel shoots John Travolta here!