Daily Archives: February 20, 2015

Journal Entry
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1. Walking home 2/19/2015

2. Farthest – cars on the turnpike, cars on Westbury Ave grinding their tires through salt and ice, a NICE bus starting up and pulling away, car horns in the far distance

3. Medium range – boots crunching on the snow, my friends walking ahead of me talking, slipping of shoes on the ice, a thud as someone falls down, and subsequent assorted curses

4. Close range – i become intensely aware of my own labored breathing, my waterproof coat zip zip zipping as i walk, my keys rattling in my backpack, the zippers on my backpack cling-ing together

5. A modern-day arctic exploration. The sounds of the ice and snow crunching and cracking, as well as the sounds my friends and I made as we struggled to walk home really contributed to the “Long Island Ice Hell” of it all.

6. One word – frigid

7. Three essential sounds – snow crunching, ice scraping, people breathing

Journal Entry: The lights go down and the curtain is ready to ascend
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Golden Theatre, 7:02pm, 2/19/15: A 7pm performance of “A Delicate Balance” on Broadway

Farthest: Sirens from outside, the soft tread of actors’ feet on the stage behind the curtain. A woman down in the orchestra section seems to fancy herself a big star and laughs heartily so the whole room hears her.

Medium: A woman twenty feet away from us asking quite loudly if the people sitting in front of her can “sit back a bit, please.” An impatient usher giving directions to the bathroom. Hushed chitchat about what the show might be about, or about what celebrities might be in attendance tonight.

Closest: The stranger on my left is taking his sweet time unwrapping his Kit-Kat and the sound is driving me CRAZY. Michael gushes to me over how excited he is to see Glenn Close onstage. The person directly behind us has forgotten to turn his phone off — it rings loudly, and he scrambles to find it buried deep in his bag.

Sound levels: generally people trying to keep their volume down and not draw attention to themselves as the show was just about to begin. last-minute arranging and chitchat before the houselights go down.

One word: Tingling

3 essentials: Unwrapping a candy bar, hushed chitchat, cell phone ringing & subsequent fumbling.