First Three Weeks of my Internship

It's been crazy ever since I got here. But in a good way. I swear.

So, where I am? The Berkshire Cultural Resource Center. Yeah. The organization that B-HIP stems from. Cause, you know, that doesn't make things complicated or anything. It's lucky that I have solid morals, cause otherwise I could turn this program into gossip city. Heh. But I won't. Cause, as Faith as Buffy would say, "Because...It's wrong."

But, honestly, I really do like it here. I do stuff envelopes... but I'm the one who wrote the letter that I stuffed. That's the best part. Being actively involved. And when I get the coffee, I usually get it for myself. And I can run out and grab coffee whenever I want. And I can grab lunch whenever as well.

Perks. They're a good thing.

I like this whole "you're basically an employee" thing. I'm getting actual EXPERIENCE in things I LIKE and WANNA do.

The cultural outings, which are exactly what they sound like--events the interns go on for FREE!--are a lot of fun. Well, the last one was a bit of a bummer. 3rd Thursdays in Pittsfield. I get what the town is trying to do, and I think it's great. But it's like the Thursday at Hyannis in the summer, only not as good. I think 3rd Thursday would be great if they had more vendors, performers, etc. I feel like there should be less searching for the events. The events should come to us.

Other cultural outings in teh past three weeks were: Philadanco at Mahaiwe Theater in Great Barrington, the Gallery 51 opening, the Aviary opening at the Lichtenstein Gallery in Pittsfield, seeing two performances at Club Helsinki in G. Barrington, and the Mass MoCA Netherlands opening.

Whew. We've been busy little interns.

Philadanco: the Philadelphia Dance Company. Wicked awesome. Highly suggest seeing them. I never saw a DANCE show before that didn't involve a college or high school of some sort, so this was a great intro to the world of dance. Especially one where they slid across the floor. They looked like molecules!!

Gallery 51: This is where BCRC is located. So I see (and hear) this art everyday. I can't wait until the new show, because the soundtrack to one of the film instilations makes me want to stab a knife into my ear. Anyway, the opening itself was fun, even if I can't spend an hour in a small gallery without getting bored. I can only look at art for so long. This show is called "Sister City First Five Years" or something like that. The pieces are from the first five years of the Storefront Artist Project in Pittsfield. More on Storefront later, most likely, as we have an intern there.

Aviary: Lichtenstein Gallery. I still can't pronounce it for some reason. Anyway, the show is really neat. There are two paintings that I want to buy, but I can't afford to spend like 10 thousand dollars on anything.

Club Helsinki: It kicks ass. It's a hole in the wall club that barely seems to fit one hundred people. It's like the Iron Horse in Northampton, only smaller. And without a balcony. The performers... well, I LOVED Gloria Deluxe. That band totally kicked ass. The lead singer has an AMAZING voice. The bassist (who played the stand-up bass, not an electric) was very entertaining with his bobbing up and down, pouty lips thing. His neck must hurt by the end of the night... Oh, and there were TWO fiddles. My love for fiddles is ever growing. The second performer, Matty what's-his-face? Not so much. Every song sounded the same, and not in a good way. And he was weird. He said something about how he was drinking his own piss to wuit smoking. Joking? I wish. I hope. *shudders*

Netherlands: Mass MoCA is not my favorite place ever. My love for contemporary art is...small. The performance at the Netherlands opening was awesome, though. A string quartet named Zap! performed. One of the violinists was cute. The viola player (violaist? I was trying to figure out what to call him through the entire show) was funny and made great faces. He also busted out into random songs. The other violin player was awesome. The celloist did a fun little dance. After Zap was some weird techno-digital-artist thing. I left during that. Me and techno are NOT mixy objects. It gives me a headache...

Hmm... I think that's about as good of an update as I can give.

Other things I have gone to outside B-HIP include: a storyteller show at Lichtenstein (my roomie interns there. The storytellers were very entertaining, especially the first man... his son's favorite color is pink... he wears playdresses... his wife is a New Ager... HILARIOUS!), West Side Story @ Barrington Stage in Pittsfield (eh, it was ok. I forgot how ridiculous that show is. Maria and Tony, I mean, that actors that played them are freaks of nature. Like Idina Menzel. Crazy voices...), and Midsummer Nights Dream (technically B-HIP related... wine and cheese thing before...schmooze-fest...TERRIBLE casting, except the mechanicals and puck, but I'm also picky because I was in that show in high school...oh, and WTF with the random song at the end?!!?! Second to worst professional show I have ever seen...).

(the first worst was FAME in London. The movie is great. The show sucks...)

Overall experience to date: awesome. Best decision ever...

...except for West Side Story...