NJ Transit can just go... (Expletive Remarks)

My cynical moment of the month has arrived.



I'm not prone to use swear words. I'm also not prone to throwing eggs at anyone. NJ Transit is a hair away from eliciting both from me, if not something far more dramatic. For now it will be a very un-dramatic blog post.

I should really expand the hatred toward all forms of New Jersey Transportation. I don't know anything about boating around here so I guess I'll put water travel aside. Travel by air is annoying - Newark Airport flights have been delayed at least 80% of the time I've been flying in or out of the city. Travel by ground is simply horrendous. The trains to get to the airport are often late, not by much but it was definitely noticable when the weather was colder. If you miss your connection from Newark Penn Station to the Airtrain Rail Link Station, you pretty much have another half-hour to kill. If you had missed it in Westfield, well, you better have an hour's worth of shopping to do.

Tonight's complaint, along with just about every other night I take the 7:45 bus home to Cranford, was an unexplainable 35 minute delay despite a steady flow of cars and not a drop of precipitation anywhere. Since this particular bus is so very often late, I had a feeling I knew who was driving. As I stood in the chilly wind (avoiding the smoker who so politely stood smoking inside the glass shelter), I was contemplating making a bet with the other folks waiting at my stop, that the late bus would be driven by a black woman who is either on the phone or just being completely lazy. You see, I've been here before, so it's a bet I knew I'd win. After half an hour though, all the other folks at the bus stop had given up and left. When the 113 bus finally did arrive at 35 minutes late, it was her, sure enough, and as I took my seat, I couldn't help but notice that the bus was completely empty, suggesting all her other stops had given up on her too. I had to ask her a few times (since she ignored me at first) what the hold up was. With a single, slothful word, she blamed, "traffic." Clearly though, the traffic was not the problem. I asked her if she always had this shift, and apathetically she said she did, every day but Monday. So note to self, catch the 6:50 or don't bother trying to leave work until the 8:50 rolls around.

$65 a month for a two-zone bus pass seemed fitting for the coldest months, January, February, and March, but it's debatable whether it would be worth an April purchase. I'd really like to get a bike to help cut down the otherwise 45-minute walking commute each way - not to mention, the sidewalks are so uneven around here that one square of cement will be 2-3 inches higher than the last (which is why I still have a black and blue toe from a violent stub I procured while running last fall). And, finally, the roads themselves are a complete hassle if you don't know them, and traffic is horrible in certain areas (especially route 22, which is somewhere you drive if you have a deathwish). This area of New Jersey is so old, it's debatable whether city planners even existed (above a mole's intelligence, blind and willing to run into whatever existing tunnels may have already been laid out).

Perhaps I'm just a suburban, midwestern chick, but on the other hand, let me tell you from experience, I'd sooner navigate through Chicago than deal with any form of New Jersey transit. And now, venting time is over. Hopefully this has been a joy to read, for my more sarcastic family and friends. Good night!

Autumn and Winter in Westfield

Some photos for you to enjoy.
(Click image for album)


Album Information:
Autumn and Winter in Westfield
09/22/08 - 03/06/09
Various photos taken of my new home away from home in Westfield (and Cranford, etc), New Jersey, where I now work as a character animator for Speakeasy FX. My husband and I were married on September 6, 2008, and have had to live apart during these first six months, as he is employed in Chicago. However, we know that we are strong individually and as a married couple, and look forward to the time where we can work at jobs we love AND live together!

I Can Tell You How To Get To Sesame Street

Today I got a golden ticket. I got a chance to re-awaken my childhood fantasies by setting foot on the set of Sesame Street at the Kaufman Astoria Studio in Queens, NY. And I can tell you how to get there.



From Westfield, NJ, take the Raritan Valley Line to Newark Penn Station, then catch the NEC line into New York Penn Station. Then go to the 1, 2, 3, 9 line one stop uptown to Times Square. From there go up the stairs, turn right and go to the NR line to Queens. Get off at Broadway and walk to 36th street where you hang a right and walk two more blocks. There will be a huge gray slab of a building, inside of which are wonders your inner child will all but scream in excitement to see.



This is exactly what I did today, February 23, 2009. I worked for about an hour this morning before we (six of us, 5 animators and 1 td) made the trek into the city and met up there with our executive producer, art director, and assistant. Together there were only maybe 9 of us, about a third of the overall team who would visit Sesame Street over the next couple of days. We dined briefly at the terrific Benjamas Taste of Thai before continuing back in time to when we were children still learning our colors and alphabet.

It started out simply enough. We donned our visitor badges, rode a tiny, crowded elevator up up up into the lofty heights of Jim Hensen's imagination. We were temporarily stored in the breakroom where we were offered beverages and snacks, but most of us were too much in the way of jumping out of our own skins to be next to Gordon eating a peanut butter jelly sandwich, or Snuffy taking a quick trip to the restroom. We were told that we nearly missed Ricky Gervais who was there earlier shooting a segment, but we were passed briefly by mister Brendan Fraser who offered a quiet "hi, folks" as he gently tugged along one of his sons (I believe Griffin) who was there to accompany him for another segment of the show. A little surreal in such a down-to-earth, kid-friendly atmosphere. For a second I pictured it must be a similar feeling for parents with kids who go to school with children of celebrities.

Meanwhile, we got to see a lot of the sets crammed into Studio J. It started off with Big Bird's nest, which we were able to take photos of (with ourselves sitting in it), and all of Big Bird's stuff. We saw Hooper's Store and various other memorable spots, as well as a play area where Elmo and Abby's tricycles sat (those are for the animatronic puppets they use very occasionally, which we unfortunately did not see). We got to see the 123 building with the large cement steps, and there we all piled up for a photo. We were joined by mister Joey Mazzarino (who visited us at Speakeasy FX just weeks ago with his puppet Murray from "The Word On The Street"), holding another puppet, and also Eric Jacobson who was bringing Grover to life in front of our eyes.

All of this we were allowed to capture on camera, with few exceptions. We were not to photograph any of the rehearsal time for the upcoming shows, obviously, and perhaps less obvious, we were not allowed to photograph any unmanned puppets, so as not to destroy the magic of their lives. There were a few lying (or in one case, hanging) around with blindfolds on or blankets over them, as if they were sleeping for a time. There is no stone unturned in the art of Sesame Street puppetry.

Of course we were already giddy as can be to witness all that we had, but better still was a personal visit from miss fairy girl Abby Cadabby, puppeteered by the extremely talented Leslie Carrara-Rudolph, who is infinitely dynamic and overflowing with positive energy and enthusiasm. It is incredible that the entire time Leslie held Abby, she simply *was* Abby the entire time, and we all regarded Abby as just another living being voicing her fiesty fairy commentary of the world around her. It was absolutely fantastic. We talked a lot about things I can not go into detail about here, but it was amazing and completely revitalized our creative spirits.

One thing I simply love about Sesame Street is their committment to teaching love as much as anything else. Love thy neighbor. It must be somewhere in the mission statement, certainly. Everyone at Sesame Street seems to embody that ideal, especially the actors - and as we witnessed with Abby today, there is always enough love to go around. While she was speaking with us, she noticed some children passing by and stopped to chat with them. We got a lot of photos and video of her interacting with the children and simply feeding off of their unbridled creativity. One six year old child by the name of Baboo got into a joke match with Abby that went something like this:

Abby: Knock Knock!
Baboo: Who's There?
Abby: Amos.
Baboo: Amos who?
Abby: A mosquito bit me! Knock Knock!
Baboo: (laughing) who's there?
Abby: Andy.
Baboo: Andy who?
Abby: And he bit me again!
Baboo: What do you call a flower that grows between your nose and your chin?
Abby: Uhm, a boogerbulb!
Baboo: (laughing hysterically) No! Tulips!

Later, Leslie broke out of character just long enough to tell us a story about a young four year old girl who had already had nine heart surgeries. How they met, I'm not sure, but Leslie spoke of picking up the phone and loving to dial children like this to speak to them with Abby's voice bubbling, "How ya doin!?" It was extremely touching and reminded me of Kevin Clash's story about performing once with his childhood friend Cindy, who I believe died of cancer of some sort, only eight or so weeks later. These people have an unfathomable love for what they are doing, but they have an even more fervent desire to express that love, share it, and teach it to all children. It is incredibly inspiring and exactly what I love about this business.



Unfortunately I did not meet Kevin Clash today. He may have been there - he may have even walked past us, but if so I did not know. I wish I had. Just in case, I had brought his book along with me, "My Life as a Furry Red Monster: What Being Elmo Has Taught Me About Life, Love and Laughing Out Loud," which I began reading a couple years ago - far before I even heard of Speakeasy FX, long before I realized Sesame Street was running full speed ahead into their 40th season on television. Sometimes there is an uncanny feeling that my life as it is, with all its hiccups and craziness, is somehow exactly what it should be, as if I'm on a path that is greater than I am able to comprehend at the moment. With the group of us there it would have been hard to convey as sincerely as I would want the thanks I have had for his inspiring tale and for bringing us our beloved Elmo and all the love that goes with him. Maybe some day I'll get to tell him that.

Meanwhile, it is awe-inspiring that I grew up with such a character and loved Sesame Street puppetry, as well as my own dolls, sketching, ceramics, traditional animation, computers, acting, and finally computer animation as I got older and thought about a career. It can be so easy to slip into thinking life is hard with today's economy and just having been married but now having to live separately, and all the things I have been going through in the past year - but taking a step outside of the problems, my life, now as a character animator, seems so simple, so clearly laid out, and ever so fortunate.

A Great Success Story

For my husband.



I believe in us, and I believe in our future together, no matter where it takes us, whether we're working at top studios or at gas stations. I know that no matter what, being together is what matters the most to me, and in whatever we're doing, rooting for each other is always what we do best.

I'm rooting for you.

Love,

Yours Truly

La La Means I Love You

It's a week after my birthday, and I know it's just going to be another couple of weeks before Naveen is coming out here to visit, but it occurs to me that this is the longest we've gone without seeing each other since December of 2006 and early 2007, before I moved to Florida. It took me six months to realize I needed to move from Fort Wayne to Full Sail to be with him there. We've been apart again just over four months, and I wonder how much longer I can take. It's different, now that we're married. Much harder to be apart. It certainly isn't the life we were expecting.

Of course, I don't want to paint such a miserable story. This past week I've been fixated on positive thinking, declaring each day that it's going to be a good day, and not just going through the motions but driving an enthusiastic effort. I can say for sure that it has been helping a lot. My productivity improved slightly from last week, and I simply enjoyed this more - this wonderful thing that I get to do for a living. It is so easy to take it for granted when my heart feels at such a loss, but given some focus, I consider myself fortunate still. Even moments ago, when I was thinking about Naveen - through this past week, I've been fighting thoughts of loneliness with intensely positive mantras - but just now, I let one of those thoughts in, and rather than feeling sadness, I started smiling. I started realizing again how very lucky I am to be with him, about how the happiest feeling I've ever experienced is being loved by him and loving him in return.

Lately, the scariest thought I've had is what I would do without him. Now that we're so far apart, and especially due to some recent events, I am constantly fighting the fear that something could happen to him while I'm away. He drove this weekend four hours to see our families in Fort Wayne and spend time with them, and I had to distract myself from thinking anything bad could happen to him while he was on the road. Especially during these moments, I can't stop thinking about how stupid it is for us to be apart. But he has the strength to remind me how stupid it would be if we gave up on what we've been pushing for our whole lives. We know we have the strength to withstand this burden, even in our first year of marriage, when we should be developing our life together. We are determined people.

Hulu.com is one of those places I go to in the evening to keep me company during dinner, etc. One of the movies they posted over Christmas was "The Family Man" starring Nicholas Cage ("Jack") and Tea Leoni ("Kate"). I remember liking it when it came out, but it has quickly been thrusted into my list of favorite films. I had completely forgotten the storyline since I saw it eight years ago. It is somewhat hard for me to watch, because I can easily identify with Jack, who left the love of his life to boost his career but is allowed a glimpse of what his life might have been if he had given it all up to marry his soulmate instead. Now, unlike Jack, I did marry my soulmate, but then I immediately moved out (for a great job) to Union County New Jersey - a bizarre parallel since this is where Jack and Kate live with their two children, Annie and Jack, and I can't tell you how much my head spins when I consider that.

I know a handful of you might have seen the movie, but here's what I would consider the most romantic three minutes in a movie I've seen in a movie in a very long time:



It is the moment when Jack fully realizes exactly what he gave up to pursue a lucrative career in the fast lane. He watches a tape of him singing a favorite song to Kate, "La La Means I Love You" by the Delfonics. It's Kate's birthday, and the thing that means most to her from him is this song - not a diamond ring, or something expensive - just a song, and seeing in his eyes how much he loves her.

I think when I saw this movie in December of 2000, I probably thought, that was a nice idea for a movie. I didn't know it could be real and I could be living it one day.