Week 2

Wow, I'm getting really behind with these blog posts...it's almost two weeks later than the days I'm talking about. Maybe I'll start being a bit more concise in my description of daily events... ;)

Sunday, 10/3 - Okay, there's one thing that happened this day that I have to talk about. On this day, Mrs. Crews & I took her dog Scooter to a special "Blessing of the Animals" service at this Episcopalian(?) church. I have heard of these before, but what made this one special is that it took place within the sanctuary of the church. And so, we walk in and the pews are lined with dogs and their owners! Dogs of every sizes and breeds had come for a blessing - some calm, some fidgety, and some barking intermittantly throughout the service. Overall, it was very cute. In the middle of the service, each pet owner led their pet up to the front for a blessing. The vast majority of the pets were dogs, but I also spotted two (brave) kitties, and a little beta fish in a vase. Yes, even the fish got a blessing. Scooter was very well-behaved and just sat on his mommy's lap the whole time.

Monday 10/4 - If I remember correctly, this is the day I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I took the subway as usual, then after that, boarded a bus which stopped right in front of the building. And then I spent nearly the whole day exploring there! I began in the Ancient Egyptian art corridor, made my way through the Chinese section with the lovely replica of an actual Chinese garden, and just continued to explore all sorts of interesting art from a long stretch of eras. Of course, I had to pay tribute to the Art History class I took during my senior year of college by identifying work by many of the painters we learned about (such as David, Goya, and many more). One especially noteworthy part of the museum is this big open area with a fountain and lots of lovely sculptures. I was able to climb to the second and third floor and gaze down at this area from above.

The last place I visited was the gift shop, but although it had many interesting wares, all were way too much money than I would be willing to spend on a soveneir. In any case, I really enjoyed my time there and would say that the Met is a must-see location for any NYC visitor.

Tuesday 10/5 - On this day, I visited a place that I enjoyed just as much as any tourist attraction I'd visited so far. That place was the Barnes & Noble located near Lincoln Center. At 5 stories high and with escalators that led from each floor to the next, this book heaven re-awakened the dormant reader inside of me (I hadn't been able to do much reading for leisure during my college years although before then I would rarely be spotted without a book with me). After making sure to explore each floor, parusing through the best-sellers and the artbooks from some of my favorite animated movies, I found a table of "former bestsellers" that were going for only $4 each. Since I was in dire need of something to occupy me during my long rides in the subway, I picked up two of these that sounded interesting from the backs. I left very satisfied. :)

Wednesday 10/5 - I don't remember what I did this day which meant I probably just did some work and then took it easy.

Thursday 10/6 - My second day working at the office. This time I brought a sandwich with me so I didn't have to spend so much money on food. I finished my first girl character and was very excited to see what people would say about it during the meeting the next day.

Friday 10/7 - The day of the meeting! On this day, I met Susan, the director of Shine Global who is behind the whole project. I also met Tim, an art director from Worldwide Biggies who would be commenting on our art.
As it turned out, since I was given little to no direction the week before, the two characters I had built over the last week didn't really fit what they were looking for. For my next assignment, I was instructed to come up with lots of varying body types, face styles, outfits, etc. for them to decide upon for next week. I was glad to recieve such specific directions and hoped that next week they'd be pleased with what I came up with. I also liked seeing the art of the two other interns who were doing background design. Tim was incredibly helpful in guiding us all and telling us exactly what to work on.

Also, last Monday I had found out that the annual event New York Comic Con / New York Anime Festival was taking place this weekend. I normally would not have wanted to go to this all that badly, but one of the events was a screening of Vocaloid Miku Hatsune's virtual concert video!! Anyone who knows me well knows that I am a HUGE Vocaloid fan, and seeing Miku would be a dream come true for me. However, the only way I could see her is if I bought a ticket for the entire convention, and so I spent the next few days mulling over whether or not I wanted to go. On Friday night, I finally decided I wanted to - after all, when again would I have the opportunity to see such a thing? Plus there would be tons of fellow artists as well as people who just love art and animation like I do. And of course, Miku. <3
But as you may have guessed, deciding to go the night before the event wouldn't work out. I went to the website and found out that tickets were sold out. I was a bit bummed. But I'm sure Miku knows I still love her.

Saturday 10/8 - This day, I went around town with Mrs. Crews. She was interested in visiting a few yarn shops and I came along just to get out. However, mostly it was just a looooot of walking and sitting in buses and subways. I did learn something, though. It seems most grocery stores in Manhatten double as cafes, and what you do is order food from whatever area you want a meal from, and then you bring your plate to the check-out along with everything else and pay there. There is a dining area on the second floor.

More NYC adventures to come.