Month: May 2015

The Week of Celebrities

The week started out fairly normally. I had heard that the movie “How to be Single” was going to be filming 30 seconds from my apartment so I knew there was the vague chance of a celebrity sighting. I’ve seen a couple famous people in New York before, so although I was excited, I wasn’t freaking out. The only person I really cared about seeing in the HTBS cast was Rebel Wilson, but I figured the chance of it happening was slim since she’s Pitch Perfect 2 came out just last week and she might get mobbed. The filming was supposed to happen Monday morning but I was wrapped up in work all day and didn’t end up stepping out until 6 pm. Lo and behold, I walked out of my apartment and there was Rebel Wilson happily smiling and taking endless selfies with a mob of middle-schoolers. Just as I paused to consider trying to take a picture with her, she was called away by the film people. It was just perfect lucky timing that I saw her. 

The next day, when I was traveling on business and sure the high point of my week had passed, I got a message from my dance company’s director, Minila, about a special opportunity. We had been invited to NBC to dance with Nick Cannon for Red Nose Day. My mind was blown. Ajna has been offered some cool opportunities in the past, but this to me was a sign that people are really starting to take notice of us.

I flew back into the city on Wednesday evening and switched immediately into dance mode. We were at 30 Rock until late in the night, but when Nick finally came over and danced with us, it was exhilarating.

On Friday, my friends and I had made plans to go see “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” on Broadway. I’d been wanting to see this play since Neil Patrick Harris had starred in it but hadn’t yet gotten around to it. There have been a string of talented Hedwigs but when I saw a billboard advertising that Darren Criss is the current star, I knew I had to make the time. I’ve thought of Darren as immensely talented and down-to-earth for a long time – from watching him in “A Very Potter Musical” to clips from “Glee” all the way to his features in Tyler Oakley videos on YouTube. One of the friends that I had planned with, Proma, knew Darren from working with him on AVPM, and thought that we might be able to get in to see him. I wasn’t sure it would happen because her plans were uncertain until the last minute, and we didn’t know what kind of security Darren would be surrounded with. I should have known, though, after the week I was having, that it would all work out.
Darren was somehow even more down-to-earth than I’d expected. He was instantly thrilled to see Proma and very giving. He chatted with us about the show and the many moods of Hedwig (he called her “She” like it was someone he knew rather than a character he plays), and took us to his dressing room for a pictures. His wardrobe man and manager were also very friendly.

This week has been utterly surreal. In one week I encountered three celebrities in 3 completely unrelated events and in 3 very different ways. The first was basically a chance event – the kind of thing you’re told to expect, living in New York. The second was borne of the work my dance company has done over the past two and a half years. And the third was a result of making friends with some really talented and interesting people. All of it makes me love the City more than ever. And I find that the reason I’m thrilled has very little to do with celebrity. It’s really more that I know now that the things I’ve always wanted – surrounding myself with people leading interesting lives, achieving my creative goals, and living and interesting life myself are all things that are accessible.

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The Psychic and The Client

Happy Throwback Thursday! This story is from about a month ago. Names have been coded for privacy purposes. 

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I was at my local nail salon getting an amazing back massage when a young woman walked in. I couldn’t see her (because my face was happily squashed into the massage chair), but I could hear her telling the manicurist that she was a writer and indecently employed, though she was having a tough time making a go of it on her own. I was intrigued, because I, too, would like to be a writer who works for myself. So, when I sat down beside her to dry my nails, I asked her about it. 

Her first response was just to stare at me. We were talking to each other through the mirror in front of us, so it was doubly unsettling – should I look at her in the mirror or should I look at her directly? (I never know what to do in these situations.) Then she asked me, “Are you intuitive?”. I said “yes,” boldly. Then, “I mean, I’d like to think so. What do you mean?” 

“Are you an intuitive?” she asked. This didn’t help. “AN” intuitive? Is this a species? Maybe she meant Inuit? She started asking me questions about herself and telling me things she shouldn’t have known about me. I tried to answer her and giggled nervously. Apparently my answers were correct. “I knew it,” she said. “I’m a psychic, so I can sense it in others, and I can see it in your eyes. But psychic can’t read themselves, so can you help me? Just tell me what you see.” I didn’t know what I was telling her but words came tumbling out and apparently they were helpful to her. She was concerned with her financial situation and wanted to know when and how she would get to a better place. I told her that money would come via her writing and working with fabrics, rather then her acting gigs or through a boyfriend, and it seemed to make sense to her. She picked up on things in my personal life that I don’t know how she could have known about or surmised from my face. 

We walked out of the salon together and exchanged contact information. The Psychic told me that she does psychic readings as a part-time job and asked me what my rate was. I told her I had never done this before. She told me that she had a friend who she thought I could be of help to. They read each other often, but they were too good friends to do it properly. She said he would be willing to pay me, and could she give him my contact info. I said “sure, why not”, not really expecting it to amount to anything. 

That evening, I went to my friends’ place for dinner. I told them about the Psychic, and everything she had said. Naturally, they wanted me to do readings on them, too. After a couple glasses of wine, I complied. I’m not sure if I could call what I did that night “psychic reading”… I think it was more like intuiting things and offering advice. They did do a little game where they each wrote down a quote that meant something to them (without me knowing who wrote what) and I spoke about what I felt about the person who wrote said quote. Apparently what I said was accurate or at least meaningful. And, somehow, I managed to give all the quotes back to the right people. 

I feel like I should put in a disclaimer here, before I continue: I definitely do NOT think I’m a psychic. I’m just retelling the events as they happened. 

The Psychic’s friend (henceforth known as the “Client”) texted me. He wanted to set up a meeting with me and asked what my rate was. I said pulled a random number out of the air and said “$50”. I dragged my friend along to the session. She sat outside while the Client and I went to a conference room. All I knew about him before the meeting was his first name. I’ll say it right now – I do not know how I knew the things I did about him. These are some of the things I intuited/psychically gleaned: I knew he was engaged and set to be married within the month. I knew his fiancé was American, from New York, with dark skin and dark hair. I knew he had a strong male presence in his life that he shouldn’t trust. He later gave me a name and I knew instantly that that person was untrustworthy, and the Client said “that’s the person I thought of when you said there’s someone untrustworthy”. I knew he worked with money and was a good salesperson (he works in financial sales). I think the experience was more bizarre for me than it was for him. I gave him my thoughts on his job search prospects and some personal issues. In the end, I didn’t take any money from him – what if he followed some advice I inadvertently gave him and I turned out to be totally wrong? If I helped him, great. If not, hopefully no harm done. 

On the way home, my friend and I joked about pimping out my psychic services for house parties. It’s tempting, but in the end it’s definitely not for me. And, I recently tried my hand at it again with another group of friends, but definitely wasn’t as successful. I think someone was just looking down on me (or perhaps the Client) with pity that day! 

Have any of your ever encountered a psychic? What was your experience like? Do you believe in them?