Like I said, it's been a busy week! First of all, last night at 3am (actually, I guess it was this morning at 3am) I went to the starting line of The Amazing Race. I'm one of the few people I know who actually still watches the show, and I was excited to see the beginning of the race. The cast includes Bethany Hamilton ("Soul Surfer") and Whitney and Keith from Survivor (I wasn't huge fans of theirs). The race began in Times Square, and there was a large crowd there to send the racers on their way. I didn't get many good photos, but here's one not-so-good photo I took (you can see Whitney and Keith in bright yellow on the left and Bethany on the far right in blue). Phil is facing the racers.

After the start of the race, I got to meet Phil! (Keep in mind that this photo was taken around 3am).

I've also spent this weekend at BookCon. It was kind of a disaster; it was the first BookCon, and it was not organized well at all. I still managed to see some good things, though.

On Friday night I went to the panel for This Is Where I Leave You. Jonathan Tropper, the author of the novel, was on the panel. He also wrote the screenplay for the movie version that's coming out soon. The director of the film, Shawn Levy, was also there, along with stars Tina Fey and Jason Bateman. They showed a few clips from the film, Jonathan read a couple passages from the book, and they discussed the adaptation of the story from novel to film. It was interesting, and I'm definitely eager to see the movie when it comes out.

Saturday's BookCon was incredibly chaotic and disorganized, but I was able to see the one panel in which I was most interested, so I suppose I shouldn't complain. I saw Amy Poehler talking with Martin Short about her new book, Yes Please. I love her. That's really all I have to say about that. I filmed the panel.

I also attended Danielle Fishel's panel. I loved her as Topanga on Boy Meets World, and the panel got me even more excited for Girl Meets World. She's funny, and she has a great perspective on life.

Finally, I got a glimpse of Grumpy Cat! I really, really wanted to meet her, but it was either her or Amy Poehler. I settled for a peek at this famous feline.

I got some book swag that I now have to find space for, and I'm exhausted, but I did enjoy the weekend.

I've had a super busy week this week. First of all, we went on field trips three days in a row. We went to a place called Club Getaway, which is full of adventure activities. Here are some highlights for me and my teacher buddies:

I loved doing flips on the trampoline.

The next day we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. We figured it would be a good way to keep the kids moving. Here are some of my angels: 

Today we went to Victorian Gardens, the amusement park in Central Park. The kids enjoyed it.

It was three days in a row of being outside and moving around all day. Luckily we had good weather each day. I'm exhausted now, though.

After school for the past two days, I went to Broadway Bakes. It's an event at Schmackary's Cookies raising money for BCEFA. Broadway stars have been spending time behind the counter serving cookies. I went to see Audra McDonald (Broadway goddess, winner of five Tony Awards and nominated for a record-breaking sixth this year for her unbelievable performance as Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill) and her talented hubby Will Swenson (currently starring on Broadway in Les Miserables). Aren't they adorable?

I also went tonight to see Joshua Henry (whom I really want to see win a Tony this year for his fantastic performance in Violet). James Brown III (currently in Rocky) was also there (see him below doing a Rocky pose), and they were both super nice.

It's been a busy week, and things aren't going to settle down anytime soon. Tomorrow begins BookCon, which I'm really excited to attend. Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Martin Short, Grumpy Cat, Veronica Roth, Jason Segel, Danielle Fishel, John Green, and more will be there, so I'm looking forward to it!

Counting Crows were on Late Night with Seth Meyers last night. They performed "Round Here."

Let me talk about why I love Counting Crows so much. Every time you see them live, you see a completely different performance. First of all, they vary their setlists, which I love (that's something U2 needs to seriously work on). Second of all, they have a few songs that sound like completely different songs every time you hear them. "Round Here," "A Murder of One" (my favorite song of theirs, the song that inspired my tattoo), "Goodnight Elisabeth," and "Rain King" could each be anywhere between six and 20 minutes long depending on what the band decides to do that night. I was at one show where they played a version of "Goodnight Elisabeth" that was 17 minutes long. It was absolutely gorgeous. They throw in alts from other songs and build this incredible, complex piece of music that will take your breath away and will feel like it simultaneously lasted an instant and an eternity. "Round Here" is an old song (I can't believe August and Everything After was released more than 20 years ago), but it keeps evolving. Check out this snapshot from my iTunes library:

You can see on the bottom of the image that I have 46 versions of "Round Here" on my computer (and I have more on CDs that aren't imported onto my computer). They last a total of over seven hours. I could listen to different versions of "Round Here" play for over seven hours and never hear the same version twice. Notice that the time of each is different. There are more when you keep scrolling; you can't see it in this screenshot, but the longest is 15 minutes. My bootleg collection is minuscule; if someone had every recorded version of the song, it would show even more variations. The version of the song that the band played on LNWSM last night was relatively short, but it was a good one. And Adam looks good. I've had lots of good encounters with him (when he accidentally stepped on my foot after doing an awkward "how do we get around each other?" dance, when I accidentally got a handful of his dreadlocks when he stood up after picking up his mic, when I met him after a Letterman appearance)....I basically adore him, and I'm excited to see the band in Central Park this summer. I have no idea what I'll hear, but I can't wait.

Here's what I think is my favorite picture I've taken of AD (lots more here).

"When the earth was still flat, and the clouds made of fire, and mountains stretched up to the sky, sometimes higher, folks roamed the earth like big rolling kegs. They had two sets of arms, they had two sets of legs, they had two faces peering out of one giant head so they could watch all around them as they talked, while they read. And they never knew nothing of love, it was before the origin of love." ~stephen trask (from Hedwig and the Angry Inch)

I just saw Hedwig and the Angry Inch on Broadway, and oh my goodness, it was so wonderful. Neil Patrick Harris is fantastic. I think he's the frontrunner to win the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, and I'd love to see him win. The show is about 90 minutes long with no intermission, and he pours so much energy into every single second of those 90 minutes. If you're not familiar with the plot, NPH plays Hedwig, who grew up in East Berlin and had a botched surgery in which she changed her gender from male to female so she could marry an American soldier and escape to America.  Hedwig tells her story as she performs with her band (The Angry Inch). The show features a fabulous score, and it's very moving. Click above and you can hear NPH singing "The Origin of Love" in the show.

Here's one more number for your listening pleasure: "Wig in a Box." I can't wait to see what the perform at the Tonys.




One more thing I'm loving right now. I didn't think I'd get emotional during Christina's goodbye episode, but I totally did (yes, I still watch Grey's). How perfect is this? I love the throwback to the first season (which I can't believe was ten years ago) with this song.

Can we please just give Tatiana Maslany every single award there is? Or give her an Emmy and a Golden Globe for every character she plays on Orphan Black (that's eight so far, right??). Someone make that happen, please. I'm more in awe of her after every episode; last night's was fantastic. That reunion in the last scene? OMG.

Work has been keeping my busy and exhausted lately, but I've tried to find time for fun. I went to the American Comedy Awards recently, which was a lot of fun. I love Amy Poehler so it was fun to watch her running around and interacting with everyone. She really does know everyone (or if she doesn't, she greets them warmly anyway). She gave lots of hugs and took lots of selfies. At one point, soon before the award for Best Comedy TV Series was announced, I noticed her sneaking around the room (during the ceremony). She went to Patrick Stewart, Key & Peele, Seth Rogen, Matt Walsh...she snuck up to each of their tables, knelt down, and chatted with them for a few minutes before moving on to her next table. I was very curious about what she was doing. I soon learned; she was recruiting them all to participate in this:

How adorable is Patrick Stewart?? By the way, one thing I loved about being there was that they cut out a LOT for the TV broadcast. I got to see her whole heartfelt, funny, uncut speech.

I love this speech even more, though. She gives a shout-out to the balcony, where I was sitting.

Here are a few (crappy cell phone) photos I took. She was there with Aubrey Plaza (April on Parks and Rec), and I took the photo of them together as Aubrey's category was being announced because it was sweet.

I have more fun stuff coming up this week; I'm attending the season 2 premiere of Orange is the New Black (at the Ziegfeld), so I'm excited about that because I love the show and I love premieres (movie/TV stars, free popcorn and soda, a fancy theater...what's not to love?). I'm also seeing a couple of shows (like Hedwig!), so I'll report back.

Yay! I'm so excited for this cast recording. They released "All to Pieces" and it sounds great.

I love Violet, and I love Sutton Foster. I hope she wins the Tony this year for Best Actress in a Musical. Here she is singing "On My Way." The score for this show is fantastic.

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I go on these spurts where I make a ton of posts in a row and then just stop for awhile. Hopefully I'll get back in the swing of things.

For now, you've probably already seen this, but I'm posting it anyway.

Pure awesomeness. (Or why I love Emma Stone. And Jimmy Fallon.)




ETA: Here's a fun new video, because I freakin' love Veep.

"Yes, we can all look directly into the camera, Kevin. The point is, you're not supposed to. Now if I could just find a young reporter to bang and throw under a train, we'd be in business." Bwahaha. I love her. (BTW, have I talked about how much House of Cards bugs me? I've seen both seasons and it was a chore to get through them because I kept getting so aggravated. Not that it's a bad show, but I hate to see despicable people getting exactly what they want. And I miss Kate Mara. But I'll save that rant for another time.)