What started off as a perfectly normal car ride with a driver from El Salvador soon turned into a not-so-normal ride with a not-so-civil driver. About halfway to New York City, the driver turns to my Mom and asks how she will be paying. She replies “With a credit card” and he turns back around and keeps driving. A little while later he says “Let me see your card now.” His English is broken and his accent is difficult to understand. My mom hands over her credit card and he says gruffly “No. Wrong card. Wrong number. I need same number.”

Somehow we figure out that he is saying that he needs to be payed with the same card that my dad originally signed us up with. My dad isn’t with us, and we don’t have that card so we tell him that. He gets a little angry and says we will need to pay in cash.

My mom calls my dad back in Austin and he says he will “sort it out.” Next thing we know, we are practically at the hotel but the guy is yelling about loosing his job and having to live out on the streets. Apparently my dad’s definition of “sorting it out” was complaining to the company and getting the driver in trouble. It actually got a bit scary after that. Evidently angry drivers don’t really have safety in mind. He started driving recklessly, and I was scared we would crash.

But I am still here to write this, so yep, you guessed it, we survived. He ended up letting my mom use her credit card to pay. But my mom insisted on not paying until we actually reached the hotel. He huffily got our luggage out of the back for us, and then sped off. I felt kind of sorry for the guy, but he should not have been yelling at my mom like that. It was all very strange and a weird introduction to New York, but I figured it could only get better.

Shelly and Carsen in Central Park

Everyone there was blowing bubbles for no apparent reason, and there was a guy with tattoos covering his back riding on the shoulders of another guy while brandishing a toy sword. I guess that is just a typical day in New York.

On Saturday my mom and I rode the subway to The Metropolitan Museum and looked at the Renaissance paintings and then moved on to the impressionistic paintings and then to a new exhibit called “Models as the Muse”. This exhibit showed how models have been used throughout the years to be photographed, and talked about the most famous models. I found it very interesting.

After the Museum we took the Subway down to Canal Street and went shopping. I bought a cute dress which I wore Sunday to the matinee performance of Billy Elliot. The show was amazing. The songs are still playing inside my head and I can’t believe how talented the young actors were.

Me, mom and David from Billy Elliott

David Bologna, who played Michael, used to live in Austin and we have many mutual friends, so we were able to meet him and get his autograph and a picture with him, and he even took my mom and I on a backstage tour where we saw the sound booth, some of the set pieces and where the makeup/hair dressing area. It was so much fun and David was a really nice guy.

Monday was our last day in New York. AT 10:00AM we went down to attend an information session and tour at New York University (NYU), because I am considering going to college there. After the tour we saw crowds of people down by Washington Square Park and went to check it out. We learned that Robert Pattinson, star of Twilight, was shooting a movie there! Crowds of girls were screaming and waiting for a glimpse of him so they could take a picture.

We ended up getting to watch him shoot a few scenes. It was really cool to be able to see what it looks like on a real set when they are filming. I want to be an actress, so it was cool to witness a live shoot with a major star. (Even if I was very far away).

After they were done for the afternoon, a rather sarcastic man announced to the crowd that they were going to take a lunch break, and there would no longer be anything to gawk at. Robert and the crew started walking down the block to the trailer, but soon everyone was running and screaming after him trying (in vein, in my case) to snap a good picture of him. The crazy crowd of girls (me included) chased him all the way to his trailer 4 blocks away, where he disappeared inside apparently to try to sleep and catch a bite to eat.

The back of Robert's head - I was that close!

I am not proud to say this, but to tell you the truth I stood outside that trailer with the crowd for over an hour until Robert finally emerged and headed back to the same location. This time I was in the front of the crowd, and was able to get some pretty good shots of the back of his head as he was whisked away by the body guards.

After this my mom and I decided to leave. But I couldn’t help but notice that the poor guy looked extremely sad and not happy at all. It’s almost like he was a circus animal in a cage. Everyone is having a great time running and gawking at him, but nobody stops to think how he feels about the situation.

Thinking back on it, I feel ashamed that I was caught up in the mob mentality. It seems silly to me now. I mean, he’s only a vampire in a movie. In real life, he’s a human just like the rest of us. We walk around seeing humans every day. Why is it that certain ones strike such an interest in us that we simply MUST capture photo evidence of a sighting?

We woke up at 3:30AM the next morning and caught a cab to the airport. As much fun as the last car service ride had been, we decided to stick with a regular cab for this ride back to Newark NJ airport.

I have now been back in Austin for a couple of weeks. Even though I wasn’t exactly clicking my ruby slippers together hoping to get back home while I was in New York City, I have to say it is nice to be back in Austin. There really is no place like home.

It is a documentary, yes, but don’t let this category fool you. If you are like me, when you hear the word “documentary,” you usually picture some old man droning on and on about volcanoes or something, a dreary Beethoven soundtrack in the background. But this movie is more like a reality TV show. Let’s look at the trailer…




The movie covers the stories of five very different teenagers who (when the movie begins) have just started their first day of senior year in a small high school in Warsaw Indiana. Each of these students is facing a difficult year ahead of them, as they plan for college, struggle through touch relationships, turn on friends, and through all of this drama, try to find themselves.

Jake, the geek, is a painfully awkward and shy guy in group situations. He is an active member of his school band, but apart from this, he feels that he does not fit into any particular clique and is a bit of a loner. Because of this, he has vowed that nothing will stop him from getting a girlfriend this year because then, maybe, he would not be such a nerd.

Colin is a smart and funny basketball player. He is popular and well-liked, but has been weighed down by the pressure of a basketball scholarship. His father has told him he can not afford to pay for his college tuition. Colin knows that being the star player on his team may not be enough, and is going to give all he’s got to receive a scholarship and pursue his dream.

Hannah is the rebel. She enjoys playing guitar, painting, and film-making. These sound like normal enough hobbies, but she has never felt at home in her small conservative town. She cannot wait to leave and explore the world, and her dream is to become a film-maker that people will remember long after her death. But to reach her goal she must first make it through her last year of high school, one sure to be fraught with drama.

Mitch is the heartthrob basketball jock that every girl would love to date. He knows he could have any girl he wants, and is confused and conflicted when the girl he falls for is not who anyone expected. He must now make the decision between his friends or his new girl.

Megan is the most popular girl in school. As head of prom committee, student council Vice President and valedictorian, she rules the school and knows it. She also knows she loves to get revenge, and does not care if she hurts people along the way. Her meanness can be slightly justified by the pressure being issued on her by her dad. She comes from a long line of rich successful family members who all attended Notre Dame and expect her to do the same. But will her hunger for revenge get in the way of her chance for a bright future?

Overall I thought this was an excellent movie and I think all of you should definitely see it when it comes out. The story is exciting and funny and does a great job of not dwelling on one person’s perspective for too long, switching between the five characters frequently. The movie has a fast moving plot.

The cinematography is amazing as well. One of the effects I most enjoyed was when a character would be talking about their hopes and dreams and the movie would go into an awesome animation to depict their point of view. (For example, for the geek it showed him inside his very own video game, triumphing over his foe and winning the beautiful girl).

I think that the fact that it was a documentary did not take away from the movie at all. These people had such great personalities and the drama in their lives seemed like something right out of any other movie you would see. I thought it was actually rewarding knowing these were not just actors, but real people going through troubles in their lives.

I would recommend this movie for anyone (guy or girl) who is in the mood for a good, funny movie.

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