I bought them from Payless for $19.99 to take with me on my internship to New York--almost seven years ago! I thought they looked really nice, especially for the price, but was surprised when I started getting compliments on them. Everyone loved them! A friend commented positively on them as recently as last fall, until I had her look closely to see all of the scuff marks and scratches. I've checked many times to see if I could get another pair like them, but sadly, it seems they are no more. Payless still carries the brand but not this model. So I'll probably keep wearing these as long as I can. If I replace the laces, they might have a few more good years left in them.
Every time I put them on, I remember that first trip to New York and the great memories I made. Here, in no particular order, are a few of them that, while not deserving of their own post, certainly warrant at least a mention in list format:
--My other favorite physical reminder of my internship is my copy of this article, which ran in YM Magazine (which I think no longer exists). I interned at Today In New York (TINY) on WNBC, a local morning show that ran right before the Today Show. We subscribed to dozens of magazines, which we skimmed through searching for segment ideas. One of the other interns found the article and shared it, and everyone asked me a bunch of questions about the church--the only decent missionary opportunity that arose in the seven weeks I was there.
On the first pages of the article there was a photo illustration showing a girl from the neck down. She was wearing an Avril Lavigne-style tank top (I don't like calling them wife beaters, especially when girls are wearing them. Can we all agree to just call them "Avrils?"), with a "Finding Faith in Christ" pass-along card tucked into her studded leather belt. It was awesome.
--The TINY studio was on the same floor as Conan O'Brien's. I worked two floors above, but sometimes I would need to go downstairs, and more than once I walked past a green room where Conan was lounging, chatting with show staffers.
--A few floors up were the SNL studios. I didn't get into a taping, but I did get to watch a rehearsal for about half an hour one day. Original cast member Dan Akroyd was hosting, and I got to see him work on a Donatella Versace sketch with Maya Rudolph, and I also saw several takes of a Tracy Morgan "Astronaut Jones" sketch.
--There was one glorious day when I was granted respite from the monotony of my usual tasks (searching magazines and the Web for story ideas and logging tapes for pieces on spray tans and eyebrow threading, mostly). We did the show on location at the Belmont race track, just a few hours before local horse Funny Cide attempted (unsuccessfully) to complete the Triple Crown. I was basically the assistant producer for the weather segments, hanging out with the weatherman, a cameraman and sound guy at our spot on the opposite side of the track from the anchor desk, keeping in touch with the executive producer with one of those cool Nextel walkie-talkies.
--We got tons of stuff every day from PR people who wanted us to promote their product on the show: books, movie press kits, candy, makeup, whatever. Once we were done with the item (if we used it at all), it went on the "free stuff counter," and anyone could take it. I got a lot of free books that way, including a weird one called "The Dogs of Babel" about a man who tries to teach his dog English to help him solve his wife's death, and "How To Lose Friends and Alienate People," which was turned into a really crappy movie a couple years ago. (I'm really surprised at how much I disliked the movie, considering I enjoyed the book, and the movie starred Simon Pegg, who I love, Kirsten Dunst, who I loved in everything she did through Spiderman 2, and Megan Fox, whose acting skills are marginal but is very attractive.)
I gave most of the books away to others from my internship group (there were about 35 Comms and Fine Arts students from BYU all living in the same place). "The Devil Wears Prada" went to Hillary Connelly, one of my shoe complimenters and a gorgeous PR intern that I had a crush on.
This is already getting long, so I think I'll do a part two with the rest of my treasured memories.
3 comments:
I know this is a silly question, but did you and the other interns wear little suits like Kenneth on 30 Rock? Or is it only a TV fabrication?
I was an intern. Kenneth the Page is, well, a page. And the NBC pages do wear outfits like that. Though I doubt any of them have nearly as much interaction with talent and executives as Kenneth.
awwwwwww! So many fun times!
Post a Comment