So, Gene said he was coming to visit for July 4th. Yay!

My schedule has just been extremely busy, waking at 7am catching the bus, the train, subways, and then walking through Grand Central to get to my office by 9am. Leaving at 5pm to take the shuttle to Times Square and then walking to our rehearsal space and having rehearsal from 6pm-10pm sometimes a little later then rushing to the subways and trains and busses to get home by 11pm/11:30pm and in bed by midnight. It's been this way for the past few months but the outcome of all the hard work will make up for my tiredness.



But let me backtrack just a few more weeks to the weekend before he comes to visit which was June 27th. Our fundraiser for Bubby's Shadow was originally scheduled to be for Wednesday June 25th from 6pm-9pm and was then moved to a Friday evening which actually worked out a lot better for us and the Friday Happy Hour crowd. The stage manager Krista since she has a car came to meet me in Queens to pick up my equipment and we moved it to the pub, where we stored it overnight for the next day. Basically the fundraiser was quite a success. I hosted karaoke using the speakers from the bar and was able to plug into all upstairs monitors. I started plugging in and getting sound ready after leaving work early and at 4:30pm we started decorating and setting up. We had a silent auction and I was asked to donate my website designing skills for it, we also had a raffle and of course free appetizers for the first hour of the fundraiser. Well we started at 6:15pm or so and it went on all the way till 12:45am. Which is great because the deal with this bar is, we can use the space for free as long as the bar makes $500. We raised about $1000.00 which is pretty good. It was a good time. But I was exhausted from working all night then hosting late then having to travel home. The taxi issue..omg. I don't even want to go into detail on this but basically a taxi was ordered for me then it never showed, then it did, then it didn't. I finally just hailed my own and went home using the cash Ramona gave me. I think I got home by 3am that night.



Then the next evening was my first time hosting karaoke in NY at my local pub. I was to also plug into their system and use the speakers and tv. I had some issues with my sound board being too powerful and yet the microphones were crystal clear without any music behind them so it wasn't their speakers. *sigh….Then the bartender was saying that since I was having some issues with the sound quality she wasn't sure she was going to pay me the number we discussed. I was not happy with that decision so I made sure to include in the conversation that if she wasn't going to pay me what we agreed upon that I would pack up and leave early. Saturday nights working for George I was making $200 cash. Sometimes more because of tips, so I was not about to back down. Anyways, I started at 10pm and around 11pm I had tweaked the board enough to have decent karaoke. So she said she would pay me $25 less then what we agreed upon and I said that's fine, but next time I come back it will only be after I've talked to the bar owner and we agree on a contract. Because I am not going to work in a place that is not guaranteeing to pay me what we agreed upon. That's just shady business. So, there was that. Plus the bar owner hadn't even made flyers or posted in their establishment that there was going to be karaoke. She called me at the last moment saying that she wanted me to bring in flyers. I was busy and couldn't do that at the last moment. So anyways after the show I stayed for a beer or two and as the evening became almost morning/daybreak the establishment seemed to get seedier and seedier. I hate that feeling, being pawed on by guys and these New York men just say whatever they want and think women are supposed to say Oh thank you for sharing anything that comes out of your mouth. So, I am planning on going to get the rest of my equipment from the bar this weekend. And if the manager decides to post some flyers and actually get this started we can do that but I'm so busy now with the show and working full-time it's not a big deal.



So then it was a day off on Sunday and then my week started over with all of a sudden stress of money and having my apartment ready for Gene's visit. I think I cleaned every night I got home, and then Ramona the director & the Andrew the playwright asked me if I could work on the postcard for the show. Which was okay but stressed me out even further. But I came up with something, which we ended up not using anyways but at least the days off helped me relax a little. Next thing ya know it was Thursday evening and Gene's flight was to arrive at 12:45am at JFK. The plane was delayed some and he actually didn't get to me until 2am. And we were so happy to see each other we were up till daybreak! Then we slept in and decided to take a train ride to Coney Island.



Coney Island…we woke up in each others arms and well….got ready for the day :)

Right Mucho??



And we then got on the 3:30pm bus ride/train ride to Coney Island. We arrived probably 2 hrs after the famous hot dog eating competition and even though there was trash everywhere, people were just enjoying their 4th of July off. We walked around the whole place and then decided to get a hotdog from the world famous Nathans hotdog stand, cheese-fries, and a big beer. Ok…I don't eat red meat….but it was world famous Nathans! I ate almost a whole hotdog on my own. It was delicious, but of course when you don't usually eat red meat certain stomach issues occur to your body afterwards. My stomach hurt for 3 days afterwards. But it was worth the experience. Then we walked it off a little and went shopping for candied apples covered in coconut and all the sweets they have for real cheap. Then I said before we leave we have to ride a ride!! So I opted for the world famous ferris wheel or the roller coaster. Gene went for the ferris wheel and it was such a beautiful view and we kissed at the top of the wheel…sigh. So very very nice. After that we walked thru Chinatown and it was almost all closed down so we decided to try seeing fireworks by Macy's. Wow…ok. My first NY fireworks display…forgetting that NYC is full of very tall buildings we basically rushed towards the sounds of the booms and it started sprinkling and yet we found a small crack thru the buildings and I leaned against him pressed against the wall and as he held me and we watched the fireworks I couldn't have been happier.



Saturday we went to see Rent and then decided since we both love Wicked we would attempt the lottery for the 8pm show and that was just a crazy experience! So many people waiting around to fill out their green card with their names…since we had some time we went to this little Mexican restaurant for guacamole. This place had like 5 different types of guacamole. YUMMY! But Gene thought it best to go and wait to see if his name was called, and no we did not win so we decided to go home early and have our own show.



Sunday was too short of a day because he had to leave by 5pm to catch his 7pm flight. So we slept in and then went to lunch nearby and then waited for the taxi to arrive. I always cry when we say goodbye because this long distance is extremely hard but it's still worth being together. He completes me in so many different ways and I just feel so blessed that he is in my life.



So this blog has taken me quite long to write…almost 2 weeks just to finish!! I've been so damn busy.



The show opens tomorrow night, so tonight is our final dress rehearsal and we have been using small spaces within the Where Eagles Dare theatre company who is also hosting this Midtown International Theatre Festival. Wow, the drama!! I was told last night that one of the venue managers quit because she was sexually harassed by one of the employers or something…the actual theatre we are going to use has it's own issues within the confines of our show because we have so many damn practicals (lighting that looks like the actor turns the light on), then we have our own props issues. We are just going to have to muck through and use what we have for now. That's what I figure. Depend on the people who have been there every night and work thru this together. That's why we are a real production team. I feel so strongly about certain issues but I need to just stay quite and nice about certain things. Sigh…I need to be nice.



I have other issues now with a certain person at my job who has attitude everyday. I feel like people need to just do their thing and leave me alone sometimes….but maybe the answer to people who have their own issues and take them out on other coworkers the lesson is to treat them better then the way they treat you. Because there is no use in feeling upset at work, or upset in anything for that matter. I forgive those who trespass against me, and I will continue to make due with the things that I hold close to me regardless of that negative experience that tries to hound and haunt me.



I'm learning, growing, and experiencing life everyday and am extremely proud of my hard work…especially on this show. I got an email from the playwright who said he might have a karaoke gig calling me soon. Right in the city, every week for that matter. Which would definitely be a nice asset to all the other gifts in my life. But I won't push for it just yet, the hard part is not quite over, I'm still walking uphill.



Always true to myself and hope others can be as well,

Amada Anderson



Check out: www.bubbysshadow.com