Seven Days!!!

i have seven days left in Dublin. It truly is bittersweet. I'm going to miss Dublin. I'm gonna miss the erratic bells, pubs on every block and guiness trucks. I'm gonna miss the people, my professor Pat, who legit believes I'm a great writer and bieves in my work. I'll miss the penthouse, late night talks with my 6 roommates and the feeling of always feeling comfortable in a classroom, because you know all the students. There's a knowledge between us. We all know we'll never be here again. We'll never live and interact the way we do here, because for better or worst we have been each others family. I love it, but it is time to go home.

For awhile it was like real life stopped. As if being in Dublin was an escape from everything back at home. It's time for me to return. There are movies for me to make, connections to be made and a life to begin. When I return to NYU I will be 21 years old. 3 more semesters and then I'm done. Then my life begins. Imagine? It's scary, in fact I've been having panic attacks about the future. Luckily I recieved 2 big internships today. Back to back, one at Focus Features and the other at FOX! It's exciting. I have to choose of course, but it's nice knowing people want me!! It's also nice knowing, that while I won't be in Europe I'll still have an exciting year!!

Lost in the mountains

I am in the Irish mountains, miles from civilization with my film class. My roommate has ridiculous night terrors and I have to get the hell out of there even if it means I have to sleep in the conference room by myself. It's very fucking annoying, when the person in the room with you talks so much in her sleep that you can not sleep. I have no idea why she doesn't get herself a single room.

Also, ghost stories do not frighten me, but being near a loud body of water at night when I can not see around myself at all is basically the most terrifying thing ever. Especially when you have to climb down a stairs in like wet moss and like hold on to your good friend Bryce while Michael stands behind you. Embarrassing, but what can you do?

Also, got good critisim about my script. It needs a sense of urgency, more behavior and my characters need more motivation, but I'm a good writer and my script is a page turner. Which is awesome. And unlike my biggest fears she did not once question my world, tell me it's impossible to make or crush my dreams.

I can now get married

There has been much joking and laughing, but I must admit that yes, I have become quite the cook. Unlike last semester, when I sit down to a meal, I enjoy it. I think "hmm" this is very good. I felt this was appropriate for my Europe blog, because you guys may be wondering what the hell is Naomi doing over there in Dublin. Answer, testing the culinary waters. The other night I made a nice baked pasta dish and tonight I made seafood, and pasta with carbonera sauce. The reason this is important is because my mother is always asking me, "how are you going to get married if you can't cook?" Obviously that is not valid because we no longer live in the 60s, but now I feel that I am able to get married.

Europe is Overrated: Give me America anytime.

Long time no blog! I know, I know. I actually have a lot to talk about. A lot. Lets start with my three trips. London was over a month ago, but I was in Rome last week and Paris the week before that for about 3 days each. I figured I'd talk about those three cities at once.

London:

I loved London. Sure Noah, the guy I was staying with, was MIA for an hour or so meaning for that time Flor and I were homeless. Luckily, Katharine was there to sign us in and give us shelter until he deign to come up from the gym. Then there was an uncomfortable night sleep where my leg cramped and I was sharing a twin bed with Flor. But beside that!

Sometimes you do the right thing with the right people. Going to London with Flor de Oro was absolutely right. Why? No one understands my obsession with history, Victorian England, King Henry the 8th, Queen Elizabeth and monarchies better then Flor. So going to Kensington Palace, the Tower and seeing the crown jewels with her was great. We got to see King Henry's legit armour, hang out with my British friend Hamilton who I hadn't seen in quite sometime and get caught in a London rainstorm, what could be better?

Paris
Paris was fun for the most part. We got to eat some wonderful Parisian food, hung out at the Eiffel tower 3 times, took a boat on the Seine and saw the most famous painting in the world, you know the Mona Lisa. Saw some wonderful old fashioned cathedrals... ie, Notre Dame. That was an interesting experience, since I was with an ex-catholic and a catholic. They felt the urge to pray and I was just like "wow cool architecture." Being pentecostal christian basically means Catholicisms way of doing things are not only foreign, but don't make me feel anyway(which is more interesting when we talk about Rome).

I don;t know what happened, but our last night I got all dressed up. I mean it, I wore a dress. And I was ready, we went to an erotic museum and I began to feel strange. Then we went out to a bar and started drinking. Instead of feeling excited and ready to run around and dance, I felt tired. I literally knocked out at the bar and got really pissed at anyone who tried to talk to me. Then I woke up and felt like shit. That little strange feeling became some sort of stomach virus, that was so bad i refused to leave the hotel on Sunday and stayed in while they went out. The feeling went out until I got home and drank several cups of tea, rested and then had a few hours before Rome.


Rome:

I was excited for Rome. The food, the people, the weather. After my initial shock of my god this is 70 degrees in October and the sun was beating me up, because I got used to overcast Dublin 45 degrees. I was with Yip, a boy from school, in a good sized hotel room in Rome. We ate lots of galato, MY NEW LOVE, took pictures and visited some great sites. We saw the Pope on Wednesday, took illegal pictures of the Sistine chapel and arrived too late at the Colosseum. There was also a four hour period where we convinced ourselves we'd get up early the next morning and go to Florence, but that was way too expensive, so we stayed in Rome, saw the Colosseum, walked through ruins and got stood up by our friend from the program.

Also there was an incident with an old couple, where he was smoking a cigar, so close that the smoke was going into our food, and making us uncomfortable. We were really polite about asking him to put it out and instead of him just saying, no, or just rearranging himself so that the smoke doesn't go to our food, he and his wife became belligerent. Picking on me, because I was drinking coke. Talking about how "Yankees always want their own way" and my fave telling us that if we were "in Japan or China" because Yip is Asian "or Nigeria then we could kick his ass, but here..." I didn't get the rest of this wonderful sentence, because even his wife realized that he'd gone too far. But the idea that they were soo mean to us, because we were Americans and worst Americans of color really hurt me. I was crying in the restaurant, not like bawling, but tears fell down my face, because I'd like to believe that in 2009, that sort of shit would be over.

It's weird going to places like France and Rome where no one speaks English and not only that, they don't like us, because we're American. Flor's friend has a story about the French making fun of Sept. 11 and turning away once they say their from America. I don't get it. We are great people. Sure there are the Bush's of the world, but as a whole we're a nice country, polite to tourists, helpful, interested in other cultures, etc. If we weren't then we wouldn't bother going to their countries and being abused.

Being away from Dublin, makes me love it more. Because the Irish, are wonderful. They like us, they converse with us and we have a great time when we go out. We never feel weird or out of place, because our accents are weird, or because of the color of our skin. There are less blacks in Dublin then the other cities I've been in and yet, I've never been mistreated and so Dublin is my fave city. Although I'd live in London first, I can imagine just coming back here staying in a hotel and relaxing with my friends without having to worry about racism, etc.

PINK: Funhouse

So, I know I'm supposed to talk about London and what a great experience it was, BUT, I have to tell you!

I didn't realize something about myself, because I've never been attracted to women. Never thought I was bisexual, but I have fallen in love with a woman. Her name? PINK!

My god, the concert was sooo amazing. I have no other words that could possibly equal to my experience. The feeling. The joy. Excitement, FUN AND AWE!
'
Ok, I have pictures and videos to add, because you must experience this woman for yourself. But I will tell you. I've known for exactly a month I was going to see her in concert. I've talked about it, put up a countdown and thought about what she would sing. BUT, MY GOD. Ok, first I have to tell you how it happened.

I get there. I see the stage I'm like that;s nice. Oh no I don't see strings is she not going to do trapeze type stuff? Is there not a funhouse? Is it just her in front of this backdrop?





Then the opening act came out and that was cool. I thought it was cool that they all sang, all played two different instruments and all got a chance to talk to the crowd, but I was like bring on Pink.



Then, they begin to clear the stage and I'm like I wonder if she'll dance, etc.



Then smoke comes from behind the backdrap and I think oh wow she is going to come out from there. And then there's this clown and I'm like wtf?



But then, THEN, the stage opens and I leap to my feet and begin screaming as she comes out from the stage!



You don't understand. When do I ever jump and down screaming? NEVER, NEVER. But for Pink I did.

So then two hours of trapeze acts, clowns, suggestive gestures, curses, dancing, guitar playing, flips and spins in the air and a dunk into water, all while SINGING. She sings, she even demenstrated during Don't Let Me Get Me. That she sings and she has an amazing voice.

My god. I am in love. I have never been to a concert that big, so I have never experienced anything like that. So I'm so pleased that it was Pink, because I lover her.

Other things.
1. Me sneaking videos, they asked me not too, but they did not realize that I was a filmmaker and no one knows how to get in and get out faster then us.

2. She sang just about all my fave songs, but I missed Mean. She sang an acoustic version of Trouble.

3. She covered Queen, The Divinyls and ACDC, WELL.

4. I am in love with a woman.

Soon I'll tell you about London....

But right now isn't the time. It's 1:am and I just returned from my trip 20-30 mins ago. I will give you a spoiler though, because I can not resisit.

The later blog will contain:

1. Crown Jewels.
2. Torture.
3.A fortress of Solitude.
4. Dressed to Kill.
5. Homeless for an hour.
6. Missed flight.
7. Stranded in London.
8. Over and hour of waiting.
9. Long walks
10. The Big Ben.

Look out for that.

I enjoy movies in ireland.

Last night a couple of us saw "The Invention of Lying." I enjoyed it. Anyone who knows me, knows I don't have much of a sense of humor when it comes to movies. I don't think there's a romantic comedy alive that made me laugh. I found Superbad funny, but thought people overdid it and then there are the films people call "funny" that I think are incredibly stupid and I just sit there.

BUT, I was the loudest person in "The Invention of Lying." It was Brilliant. Like if you see this film and you don't laugh, I will end our friendship and move on. Lol, it was great. I enjoyed Ricky Gervais and Jennifer Garner, screw the critics. I do wish the end played out a bit differently, but no film is perfect. If you find a perfect film, I'll slap you, because no film is perfect.

OMG, there is a Martin Scorsese film I do not like. It's called "Bringing Out the Dead" and honestly I was like WTF is this? I didn't like it. Like trully didn't like it. Sure, it wasn't the hate when I feel Tarentino films, but I have never not been blown away by a Scorsese film. I'm hurt and despondent. Like Scorsese has failed me. FAILED ME.

Oh and Ireland is great. It's been cloudy, but we still haven't gotten a lot of rain. I cleaned my room, then destroyed it again. The theater class is getting better, but I still dislike it. It's no longer 3 hours of hell though.

Oh and I am even more determined to be ridiculously stubborn and not see Inglorious Basterds.

A true Naomi sort of Night in Dublin.

Night one of my "i have no money so i gotta stay in". Everyone is out, and I feel weird about that, but I need food more then I need to party, so home it is. In truth I prefer nights in to nights out. Why? Easy, nights in mean I spend no money. lol. And what's better then a cup of hot chocolate and a good movie? Sex, ok. Friends hanging out, ok, but come on, hot coco and a movie comes in top 5.

I actually enjoyed tonight. I began to watch Bringing out the Dead, but didn't get to pass the first twenty minutes. I began talking to my roommate Nina, and it was awesome. We had a really good, straight forward, listen to my life kind of conversation. Circiling friendship, movies, classes and Victoria Beckham. Aren't those the best?

Tomorrow NO MATTER WHAT! I start my script and the story outline for Camelot. I heard Brian Singer is doing Exaclibur, I don;t care. I'm going to write both my scripts and be excited. Also, I'm getting ready to start round two of my shorts and start thinking about color sync or experimental.

Oh also, I got to hear someone say that lower class people are probably not smart enough to understand art. LOL, so basically I'm wasting my time at film school.

Today was just a film kind of day.

What I learned in the Aran Islands

1. Cows are lazy.

2. Never trust friends with your money
Apparently a pint of Guinness costs 20 euro on Arthur's day.

3. Animals are nice, but I'm not cleaning anybodies shit.
The streets of the Aran Island I was on, was riddled with horse, cow and sheep crap.

4. I hate hostels!
I spent the entire night watching the door.

5. Boats are fun until it begins to rain and tilt over.

6. The Ocean is awesome.
But scary.

7. A good friend with iphone charger is pretty wonderful to find.

8.When people say for months "we're going here together!" with excited smiles, they don't mean it.

9. For a country that's been around for centuries, it's still under construction.

Sometimes you get exactly what you wish for...

For months, ever since I discovered I'd be studying in Dublin, I have been talking about seeing the cast and crew of the Tudors. I have dreamed up millions of situations where I get to see Jonathan Rhys Meyers and the rest of the cast. Today, by a stroke of luck, I saw them shooting the Tudors.

My friend Noah and I went on a tour of Dublin Castle, where the tour guide informed us they were shooting an episode of the Tudors at Christ Church. Christ Church is a very old, historical catholic chuch that is like two blocks or less away from my dorm. So we head over there and after awhile of just waiting...

I see JRM. He was a bit far so I wasn't sure. So there I was running around the gate, trying to get a better look at me and what is JRM doing? Staring at me, staring at him. I have no idea why I didn't wave, I was too busy trying to get a better look and trying to convince my friend it was him.

Then a few minutes later, I see Henry Cavill walking toward me. I'm just staring at him and he's staring at me. And I'm like omg, so when he gets closer, I like look away, down at my camera. When he's gone my friend is like "why'd you do that? He was looking at you the whole time!" UGH! I got so nervous and all I could think was, "don't jump on him and don't scream!" LOL, but whatever, I saw him and you didn't! So no matter what I still out do you!

So this is the list...

JRM (twice)
Henry Cavill
Heath Ledger
Jude Law
James Franco (plenty of times since he goes to school)
Spike Lee (plenty of times since he teaches at my school)
Meryl Streep
Stanley Tucci
Michael Caine
Terrence Howard
Robin Williams
Kerri Russel
Daniel Day Lewis (I'm pretty sure)
Drake
Dixie Chicks
Plain White T's
Panic at the Disco
Dashboard Confessionals
Sandra Bernhart
Adrian Pasdar
Lauren Becall
Katharine Heigel
James Marsden
Richard Belthazar (twice)
William Sadler
Michael Cera
Selenda Gomez
Layla from OLTL
Gwen from ATWT
Jessica from ATWT
Gus from GL
Maggie from ATWT
Ron Jeremy

Why Sometimes My Life Sucks

Since being in Ireland I have pulled a muscle, caught a bad cold, bought tickets that were way TOO expensive in horrible seats and discovered that The Rolling Stones will be playing in New York while I'm away.

To someone who doesn't know me well, you may think "well that's nothing." To someone who knows me, you know that this is a HUGE deal! Why? My mind just can not take a series of unfortunate events all at once. It can't.

My first full week in Dublin, I was limping. LIMPING, up and down stairs, in pain groaning and moaning to myself while the ppl here thought I was being over dramatic. And I wasn't. I was in some serious fing pain. I hate when people think I'm over dramatazing or overreacting. I know when I'm experiencing pain. Some pain is annoying, but tolerable, some pain is really bad and some pain is severe and you can't live with it. I had really bad, like thought seriously about going to the doctor even though i despise doctor's, bad.

Then the cold came on. I didn't even realize one of my roommates was sick. I noticed her sneezing and blowing her nose, but I never thought "sick". Sadly I've been in bed, hurting, my head, my neck and my throat. Which is the worst, because you can't stop your self from swallowing.

I'm going to see PINK next month! Which is fate, I know it is. What are the chances that one of my fave singers would be in Dublin the same time as me? What are the chances that teh concert would be sold out, but after I see her on the VMA'S and know I just have to see it, there is ONE ticket left?! I have no idea, but I'm pleased. Even though I bought it or €63 forgetting the exchange rate and actually buying it for $90 bucks! Anyway, it's worth it. I'm going alone, but maybe I'll meet people.

The rolling stones are going to be in NY while I'm in Dublin. Enough said. Especially when you figure in that they're my favorite band. That I think they're better then the Beatles. That Kieth teaching me the guitar is my biggest dream, partly why I've held off taking lessons. Figure in that I would like to write a film about the stone,s that i've been reading biography's etc. But that's all I'm going to say.

I've begun the steps to writing my films. I've been doing research, written loglines and the synopsis'. I'm having a good time, really putting my two stories together and I'm excited by the prospect of having 1 and 1/2 or 2 scrips written by the time I leave here.

Current state

I am home sick. Watching My Left Foot, makes me MISS my MOMMY! It's really ridiculous, but I want to be home. I miss my house, the familiar Bronx, and my mom! And my friends. Something just isn't working here. Not sure why, but I'm unhappy.

Why people are still prejudice even if they don't think so?

Kanye West. So he totally runs on stage, ruins Taylor Swifts moment and is a douche yes. But why, do I have to hear something like "...he represents black men in America"

Ok, so please explain to me what Kanye West being a douche has to do with Black Men in america. When a white person does something no one's like "see white men" Nope, but a black person does something and they represent everyone of that color. It's bullshit and it annoys me. My mind didn't even think about the rest of the black men, because everyone is different.

Why Ireland is better for my screenwriting

What I learned in Dublin...

1.College kids can not be trusted when drunk.
2. Going out with a sprained muscle is foolish.
3.Powerscourt Gardens is beautiful.
4.Mcdonald's will not be eaten while I'm in Dublin.
5. I would have had a busy day when you are just waking up.



So I've been in Dublin for 8 days. Amazing, I know. Can you believe it? I've never been in Europe and now I've been in two areas of Ireland planning trips outside of Ireland. Today the group and I went to Powerscourt Gardens, which is like an estate outside of Dublin, where Earl's and viscounts used to live. It's got gardens, ponds and fountains basically beautiful.

Also, I've been to the Guinness factory, which was basically AWESOME! Sure I shouldn't have gone because of my bad leg, but I would have regretted it and I'm learning that my friends will not wait for me, which I think sucks since if I went somewhere without them, I'd probably never hear the end of it, but I've noticed that's how most of my friendships work.

We also went to the park and watched this cool race in the river liffey. It's very interesting being in Dublin, so like being at home, but not. Sadly I;ve been busy running around Dublin I haven;t been able to sit and really begin writing my script. I did write a synopsis and logline, aided by my new friend Bryce, and I'm getting really excited.

I'm going to work on my Arthurian Legend film as well. Doing lots of research. I can' figure out if they'll be wizards, sidhe or just fey people, but creating my own magical world is going to be fun. I've already figured out my black and white, alternate reality town which is fun. I understand why people love LOTR, Harry Potter and Star Wars. It's a world so much like ours, but not!


View From the Guinness Storehouse









Pretty people in the park


The liffey swim

What I have learned in Dublin pt. 1

No matter where you study, or where you go many film students are douches. Don't get me wrong, I love most people in film school. But every now and then there are those people who think that if the film wasn't written or directed by some European or Asian independent, avant garde, experimental filmmaker, the film is not any good. Naomi says false.

Dublin through pictures

The street where I live



my room!

DUBLIN!
Me in Dublin!

Why second days in Dublin are so better then first.

Ok, so Sunday so much better. I slept! I mean yea, sure I was hot and my suitmates came back late and I could hear them talking, but I did sleep. And sure no one warned me about the 10 church bells that go off for an hour, but I got up at a great time. And ok, I've been missing my fan and my room was hot last night, BUT!

I had a great day. FLOR IS HERE! Which makes all the difference. We went on a tour of stores which was an all around good time, although it rained and I missed 90% of the tour, but I had a good time none the less.

Then Amanda and I went to a pub. Sure I'm spending too much money, but I had Kahlua in a milkshake and I adored it. We then took some pics of the city and that was awesome as well.

There was the debacle that was shopping, but then a bunch of us went out to eat and then we watched Planet earth in a friend's room and it was awesome.

So now I am officially a bit more comfortable, I like the people here, I'm with two of my best buds and I like my room now that I've hooked it up! Basically DUBLIN ROCKS!

First impressions....

Hopefully are not correct, because right now I feel bereft. I don't know if it's some form of jitters for being alone in Europe without my family, left over sadness from lack of Flor on my flight, extreme fatigue from not being able to sleep or the fact that I believe that 7 girls in one apartment, no matter how much space, is a bad idea.

The flight was fine. I didn't sleep, but it didn't crash either. Flor made a mistake with her flight and wasn't there with us, but there was no one in the row with us, so we sat alone, which was nice. We got here in 5 1/2 hours or so and I really liked the cab drive and the cab ride was fine. Although I didn't see anything that I couldn't see in New York.

Then I got to the dorm and found out we were living in a penthouse. They made it sound like as if Flor, Amanda and I had it to ourselves, but instead we're sharing it with four other girls. I don't know, something just came over me as I sit in my single bedroom, in fact I felt myself about to cry until I stopped myself and said, no Naomi, try and give it a chance. But I don't like the idea of the apartment I'm in. I don't like the dirty sheets. I'm sure the girls are all lovely, but as someone who once shared a dorm with 5 other girls, and someone who has had repeated roommate problems, I really don't have a positive view of roommates. When we went to orientation they told us that we'd be in a room with either two other girls or 3 other girls, not 6 other girls.

And the rooms are dusty, as I sit here writing this my eyes are burning and my skin is twitching, because I am allergic to dust. So now I head off to find some cleaning solution to clean this place out before I find myself in more uncomfortable then I already am.

Welcome to my new blog!

Readers,

For those of you who have been following my blogs from the beginning...Welcome back, and for people just interested in me while I'm in Europe, welcome!

First let me begin by saying, yes I am going to Dublin and yes my layout is of Paris. I am aware that Paris and Dublin are not in the same country, or near each other, but there were no layouts of Dublin and since I will be visiting Paris...there you go.

Second, I would like to warn that my grammar is not perfect, and I will not proof my blogs, so if you notice a bit more comma's then needed...there you go!

I will blog about my experiences, my feelings and anything of interest that I will see in Europe. I'm VERY excited. I've never been to Europe, so I will be experiencing all these things for the first time. I've never been anywhere outside of the U.S actually, so going to Europe and then coming back and going to Antigua is going to be interesting.

Follow me on the journey of a lifetime (I hope)

Love,
Naomi