#i don't learn very well past 11pm

[wolfchans]

Oof binnie day is going to be posted late

[katzenprinz]

Who is most likely to sleep in/over sleep?(okay this turned into more than that, so sorry and bear with me) ngl I don't think it would be Jason unless prompted(*cough* cuddling with Salim *cough*) but Salim definitely seems like a late morning person. However, I can imagine Mosson or Palmer getting real comfortable and missing their alarms. I feel like Rana and Rachel are very punctual early risers, and I think Elliott and Nick are also more natural early risers as well. Eric and Jason seem like they'd get up early as well simply though years of training. Also Jones. And Kim. She takes her job very seriously.

Salim. Salim Salim Salim. He enjoys his sleep. If Jason didn’t make him get up he would happily stay asleep until he naturally woke up. However, after being a soldier for so many years, he is used to hopping awake at a moment’s notice. On the other hand, this also means he can fall asleep pretty much anywhere. (Like when he fell asleep at the mess table recently in the fic.)

As we see in fic, Jason isn’t a morning person himself. However, he’s learned to function just enough he didn’t get disciplined for oversleeping. He doesn’t actually wake up for a good half hour after. If they were not on military time, he’d happily spend mornings sleeping in with Salim.

Both of then are hardcore cuddlers. Their coffee in the morning is also very much needed. On days they don’t have morning duties or have the day off, like on Christmas, Jason starts to automatically wake up at 5am but Salim bearhugs him, murmurs, “we are off” and Jason goes “oh” before instantly conking out again.

Rachel and Eric both have it ingrained in them too deeply to wake up early that they can’t sleep in past 7 or 8 am, but are usually awake at 6. They use the time to work out, have breakfast, and then jump right into work. Or if they have leisure time, they read or chat together. Eric suffers from insomnia pretty frequently and Rachel has to force him to put down his work and come to bed. “Even if you don’t sleep, you have to rest, so get your ass over here.”

Nick is similar, but can manage to sleep until 10am if he isn’t bothered and had a hard day beforehand. He has a tendency to wake up in the middle of the night for an hour or so, usually getting up to stretch or have a snack. Likes to cuddle until he falls asleep and would definitely fall asleep with Rachel (and eventually Eric) snuggled in his arms.

Elliott is a puntual person and usually wakes up early, but it’s because he sets three alarms. He has a cup of tea every morning to perk himself up.

Palmer sleeps like the dead. He’s given the other goslings permission to tip him off of his cot if they aren’t able to shake him awake. If allowed, he’d probably sleep in until 10am at least, but sometimes he’s been known to sleep the whole morning away.

Mosson is, on the flip side, a pretty light sleeper. Odd sounds wake him up in seconds. The sort who could not ever sleep with a light or a tv on. He has fairly regular nightmares, but when he wakes up from them he pretends they never happened.

Jones is military through and through. That’s what happens when you come from a military family. He has always woken up around 5-6:30am, ready to jump into the day.

Rana is in her late 50s. She is up before the sun, normally, but she is also used to changing her sleep schedule to fit whatever the conditions are at a dig site. She tends to go to bed early-ish, between 7-8pm.

Sun-Hi is a doctor. She barely sleeps. She is used to having to cut her sleep short due to someone getting injured. She grabs sleep in short bursts.

(It is 11pm right now and I kept almost falling asleep while writing this. 😅 )

[terresdebrume]

Nobody sent asks about the persocons AU but fuck it, I'm having visions at 11pm and doing anything more than typing away on the phone would be really unreasonable so here we go for a very short pile of Vibes

Ps: I'm using persocons in reference to the manga Chobits, as a shorthand way of saying that the boys in this are robots with a very solid mimicry of sentience going on + are a normal part of society but ALSO as a way to indicate to those in the know that we are fucking with the laws of robotics a little bit

"Thank you," says Vera as Edwin hands her the crate and the spitting mad cat it contains. "You're very kind."

Charles isn't so far gone yet that he doesn't catch the infinitesimal twitch of Edwin's lips. They're pretty nice lips, plopped in the middle of a classically nice face, paired with a neat haircut and what is probably a classically nice body under all the tweed. The PAYNE line was kind of designed for that, after all. Well, Charles doubts any designer ever planned for the tweed, but the broadly appealing features and physique were definitely discussed for at least ten years down in the bowels of Hilarion Inc. headquarters. All in all: not surprising Charles would look. He's only—well.

Out of the shadows where Charles lurks, Vera steps back towards the next service shaft and the upper levels of London. Edwin watches her go with near perfect immobility, but even Charles' factory-work-oriented eyes don't miss the relaxing in his jaw, the miniscule sag of his shoulders. Edwin, Charles is willing to bet, is satisfied with a job well done... Which means there is no reason for him not to smile when Edwin joins him at the back of the alley.

"She's right you know. You're proper kind."

He falls into step with his newly found work partner, smirking when Edwin throws him a sideway glance and looks back ahead.

"Do not be ridiculous. Kindness is a human trait, and I am not human."

"Plenty of us Robots grow emotions, you know."

Mainstream research currently holds that persocons happen over time. Owner misses a software adjustment here, shakes a bot's servers a little too hard there, and eventually that all messes with the auto-learning routines in ways unpredicted and unpredictable and boom: your fuck off tall toaster now has opinions. Charles, who gave himself a name before he was even out of the factory, would beg to differ if he didn't suspect that would get him shipped straight to the richest R&D department for a nice long play session with his programming. Not exactly an appealing prospect.

"So experience seems to indicate," Edwin says, sounding exceedingly prim. "I however, haven't. It would be illogical for you to pretend I did."

"Sure mate. No worries."

Edwin gives a little nod that Charles decides to go ahead and label as satisfied. He'll keep mum about the whole emotions thing, of course. No point in going against Edwin on it. It's just that he also knows it's a load of tosh, really, and he doesn't know it because of the way Edwin's lips twitch sometimes in response to what other people are saying. It's not because he took one look at Charles' crumbling state—the shot up voice modulator, the stringy red hair falling off his head, the long stripe of skin missing from his jaw to his collarbone—and took Charles under his wings. It's not even because Edwin gave himself a name.

It's because, well. Charles was built as a factory model. He has the specs for thousands of android parts running through his data banks at any given time and access to millions more with the internet. Edwin's eye covers—the pale green of his irises, specifically—haven't been on the market for the past sed venty three years, four months, one week and two days. A normal android his age would have been replaced a long time ago. Crucially: it wouldn't have given a shit.

That's kind of the thing with androids that work like they're supposed to: they mimick emotions real well—as much as the humans want them to, that is—but when the moment comes to have them recycled they treat it like any other day. 'Oh, you want to erase me from existence forever? Okay.' And then they go. But then once in a while, someone like Charles comes along: a defect, a bug in the machine. An everlasting problem to robotics engineer everywhere, whose position on the whole being recycled is a resounding:

"Fuck that."

That's how Charles knows Edwin isn't actually emotionless. Because no matter how many personality protocols he's actually got running—or shut down, really, he sounds like enough of a beautiful freak to actively have played with his own brains—when the time came to be recycled, it is abundantly clear that Edwin's answer in spite of any Robotics Law overrides was also no thank you.

And if Charles is lucky, one of these days, Edwin might even admit it.

[thefirsthogokage]

Time to Hate-Watch Turner and Hooch, Episode 5

Because I am bored. And I hate myself. Of you aren't ok with me hate-watching and commenting, well then this is not the post you are looking for. Please move along.

Ah, yes, reminder of the love triangle they put in a kids copaganda show for the parents. Again. Because reminder: they did that last week.

Ew, bad shaky camera work.

Oh god she was listening to that music as a personal stake out sound track by choice? Like, why?

"You're all hopped up on juice boxes and I don't like it." I did like that line.

Laura is 5 years old.

I do like the theme song.

You know what also is weird about this supposed kids show? The episodes are nearly 50 minutes long. No kid is going to pay attention to that long of an episode.

So much natural lighting and making Hooch very yellow in some scenes and not others.

I'm probably too tired to watch this tonight.

Honestly that poor girl. Such a big crush on a very oblivious dipshit.

Branden is a fucking gift to this show. Again, I am just so glad he kept acting after Power Rangers SPD. Not many former PRs stay in the business, let alone get steady work. I'm really proud of him!

Rain. This show must be filmed in Vancouver. Actually, I vaguely remember hearing it was shot there. ... (Googles)... Haha

I mean, air cold enough mid-day to see their breath + rain had to = Vancouver. I mean I guess Portland too. But either way, California my ass.

Dreary natural lighting. Classic Vancouver. I can't believe anyone could actually think this would look like California.

Having Laura recognize a lot of people so that they could give her information to make her getting the information super easy is certainly a choice... by writers who don't want to work to hard. Then again, I think this is supposed to be a a family friendly show...kind of. Line, this isn't a straight up specific demographic this is targeted towards. They just have done a few things I absolutely would not put in a kids show this day and age. Like, it honestly so bizarre to watch.

I'm not fond of stories like this. Guy is getting married, all aspects of the case have a relation to weddings. It's just too much happenstance in this episode. And I'm tired, I should have very little ability to notice most of the is shit tonight.

Oh god, this would be so painful if I wasn't so sleepy. Like, what the fuck are you doing, Laura. Well, at least this is showing Lyndsy's versatility and expressiveness. My god this is such a different character then Alex on Nikita.

Tired sidenote, my watermelon is very good.

Laura gets up to leave after getting this woman to hang out with her. The woman has to remind her that she doesn't know where she lives. I liked that.

"Thank you for your never-ending aquatic references." Ok, this show does have some good lines.

(This is honestly like kind of watching Lucifer. I hat the show, but occasionally there are so lines that I really like. Though I did stop watching Lucifer because I just hated it too much. I was only watching it out of boredom.)

I am really glad that they have a Native guest star. It's nice to see more Native rep on shows the past couple years.

Messaging: Kids, you gotta stand up for other kids being bullied because you are just as bad as the bullies if you just stand there. I'm really ok with this messaging. Good job, so that I mostly don't like.

I'm sorry, I'm so tired.

"His name was Jean-Luc-" Me: stares at camera in 'Robert Duncan McNeill directed this episode and is the primary Executive Producer on this show.'

For those of you who don't know, RDM was Tom Paris in Star Trek Voyager and a character who's name I can't remember that he also played on Star Trek TNG.

Fun fact, Tom Paris was initially going to be the same character he played on TNG, but something about rights blah blah blah, made that a no-go.

Sorry, back to me hate-watching while tired.

Oh god there are 21 minutes left.

Why is Laura holding a guinea pig? And why does she have a karaoke machine?

Why is Branden's character having a romantic time with his fiance while on a case? Ugh, the unprofessionalism. Like, aren't they only a two hour drive from home? Why is this happening? Do they think of distance like the British? Or people who live in Saint Louis? (Seriously, in Saint Louis some people think 20 minutes is a long drive. Granted, ten minutes is a long drive for me, but the position I have to sit in to drive really aggravates my Interstitial Cystitis (meaning I have to pee so, so bad the whole time I am in the car)).

I want to take this moment to apologize. I am very sorry about the tangents and the personal health and whatnot. But at this point I'm too tired to go bad and delete things or care about what else I'm going to write, so I'm just going to keep going without my filter on. Of you make it through this whole thing with me, bless you you sweet, sweet, probably bored soul.

🎶Ooo Heaven is a place on earth 🎶

Oh god, so much tomato stuff. All over the bathroom. The very white bathroom. Good luck with that...Scott? Is that our main characters name? Scott? I don't care to look it up at th- yeah it's Scott, Laura just said it.

Uh, shouldn't that have been made of metal? Either way, shitty craftsmanship if the dog could break it that easily.

That can't be how you train a bomb sniffing dog.

No way someone who's been a police officer for a few years wouldn't know that there are drugs on literally every bill.

Again, family show why?

Neither of them thought there would be a back door?

This while thing is insane. Not in anyway that I find entertaining. But I'd probably be more pissed if I it was more conscious. You should probably be reading all of my angry sounding things as just very tired and a bit sedate because of the tiredness.

I'm sorry Branden's character was a soldier in combat and he's never been shot? Unless I'm misremembering. But seriously, he doesn't know what getting shot in the vest fells like.

Oh look, the girlfriend fires at vehicles driving towards her too. In the same episode..I hate when things are related like that. Not upper level writing.

Why was the Secret Service also looking for those people? What? That can't possibly be their preview.

(Before I finished the episode, I discovered that for the second time this week, I did not get to the litter box fast enough (as in since this morning) to prevent my cat from moving the liner enough to pee between it and the box. So, at 11pm I had to go clean that out.)

Like this guy wouldn't know that he was copping to extortion by saying that.

God, why are they making this case the dad was working on (stupid arching plot in a family tv show why? For the adults who can tell this show is bad already?) even more complicated? Like, is this going to get Heroes level stupidly complex? Because that shit killed that show. Ok, so it probably won't be that bad...just the kids show equivalent of that bad.

Oh good for you, girl who's name I never learned! Quit the job with the evil boss! Please let her be OH NATALIE! Once again, thank you Laura for saying the name of the character whose name I wasn't sure of. What was I saying... Of yeah, I hope Natalie comes back and wasn't just on one episode. More native characters on TV please!

Oh wait, am I just realizing the girls in the live triangle were both on Glee, or did I remember that in a previous post? I know they were both on Glee from the moment I saw them in this show, but, like, I somehow didn't realize it was a very mini Glee reunion when they were in the same scene?

Wait, where did Scott wash Hooch if it wasn't in his own place the first time? Where was that bathroom? Wait, unless this isn't the bathroom in him home? I was definitely too tired to watch this. That might be saving me on the anger level, but it's certainly making it a bit difficult to keep track of some stuff.

Oh bad edit/consistency moment with the foam on Scott's face. Always hating to me.

Episode over.

Closing Thoughts: This show is still driving me insane with it's not on point demographic aiming and just silliness that isn't really good-silly, more like bad-silly. Also, I'm tired.

[krlpng]

11/11/22 11:39 PM

So hi, today, tonight rather I've finally had the energy to start my online journal which I'd been contemplating doing for a while now. It's around 11pm I just kind of woken up from a nap T.T did not know what else to do, not in the mood to watch any series/movie, don't have the attention span for that rn lol currently listening to The 1975 newest album - All I need to hear currently playing suddenly it feels like circa 2015 all over again haha listening to the best artist and starting to blog. So yea, I don't really know why I wanted to do this maybe something to look back when I'm older and busier??? lol bcos I honestly wish I had something like this when I was a bit younger #StudentDiary lol Nothing exciting really happened today, did my 3 weeks due laundry and I think that's all. Btw I had a winning trade today - hit my target TP after a series of unfortunate trades for the past few days lol Still learning never knew that it would be this hard honestly but yea, I really want this to work - I don't think I can do anything else already aside from this. I've also been contemplating whether to going to Blackpink's Concert or not (As if sure akong makakabili me ng tix lol) - this thought of contemplation whether if should go or not is very not like me tbh given that I'm such their fangirl right now lol I've been also binge-watching there old shows and vlives for the past weeks now. The only thing I did the whole Nov long weekend. It was fun tho. So yea, this is all bcos of adulting stuff so many bills to pay, so much wants and needs. Who would've thought I would be this broke after almost 5 years of working??? Idk, I just know God let me in this situation to learn a lesson. I hope I'll be able to learn whatever lesson it is. My Cat Kiyo just came near me and touched me while I'm typing so my reflex is to shrug it off which I did and now she went away and lay in front of their litter box to sleep T.T, and my other cat Kiko just came near me as well in my bed and just stared at me looking like she's contemplating if he should disturb me or not,,, so cuuuuuuteee!! he's always been. that respectful whenever she wants my attention but sees me doing something else <3 Kiko is following Kiyo right now hahaha she's being very clingy right now so I yea I think time to give her some love bye folks lol not sure if this is it or I'll add something else later or edit this before going to sleep but I really want this raw and very personal. So yeah see yah when I see yah hahaha ;">

[catholicartistsnyc]

Meet: Cole Matson

COLE MATSON is an actor, producer, and president of the Catholic Artist Connection. (www.colematson.com)

CATHOLIC ARTIST CONNECTION (CAC): What brought you to NYC, and where did you come from?

COLE MATSON (CM): I was born in Houston, TX, and spent the second half of my childhood in southeastern Virginia. I first came to NYC to study acting as an undergraduate at NYU (Playwrights Horizons Theater School at Tisch School of the Arts). I then moved to Baltimore after college and worked part-time for the Baltimore Theatre Alliance while acting in theater and film. After a few years, I went to the UK to study theology, ending up doing a PhD in Divinity with a focus on theology and theatre through the University of St Andrews' Institute for Theology, Imagination & the Arts. After finishing my PhD, I came back to NYC in 2015 with a call to serve artists. During a road trip in 2011, I had met a large number of young Catholic artists in NYC who were interested in working together to build community. After a very direct call from one of them, my friend (and Catholic Artist Connection co-founder) Emily C.A. Snyder, I came to NYC to help do just that!

CAC: How do understand your vocation as a Catholic artist? Do you call yourself a Catholic artist? 

CM: I do call myself a Catholic artist, as well as a Catholic Christian who is an artist. I see the role of the Catholic artist as sharing an experience of Christ with others, through the incarnate form of an artistic medium. Christ can be more or less explicitly discernible depending upon the nature of the particular art piece, but our entire lives and beings as Christians are founded upon Christ, so Christ will be active in everything we do through the power of His Holy Spirit. C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien's visions of the role of a Christian artist are my models. My personal mission has become less about creating my own art (though there is a certain itch I need to scratch, and some stories I'm struggling to birth) and more about helping create an environment of support that allows other artists to birth their own stories more easily.

CAC: Where have you found support in the Church for your vocation as an artist?

CM: Primarily through the larger-than-one-would-think community of fellow Catholics and Christians who are unafraid to proclaim their faith as well as their artistic vocation, and are excited to support each other in their vocations. There are also places like the Actors' Chapel in NYC and Family Theater Productions in LA, which are missioned specifically to provide a place of worship for performing artists. The idea of having a parish church dedicated specifically to that nomadic community, and especially having a "post-theatre" Mass at a time convenient to performing artists, is an extraordinary one, and I'm very grateful that it exists in NYC. I've had religious and lay Catholics tell me that I should sacrifice everything to pray at the "right" hours (e.g., morning prayer at dawn, Mass on Sunday morning), and even get up at 4 a.m. to pray for several hours before sunrise if I really want to grow in my spiritual life. When I responded that going to bed at 8 p.m. in order to get up at 4 a.m. eliminated the possibility of working in the theatre, I was told that, well, maybe that was a sacrifice I needed to make if I was really serious about serving God. This idea that the late-night and peripatetic schedule of the performing artist is mutually exclusive from the "serious" service of God is still alive in some places; giving artists support in their vocation by giving them a particular church and offering Mass at a time they can easily attend is a valuable counter-witness to this lack of understanding.

CAC: Where have you found support among your fellow artists for your Catholic faith?

CM: Oh, man - again, the Catholic artist community of NYC. I also appreciate conversations with artists of other faiths who also experience difficulties in the arts due to their faith. (My Jewish brothers and sisters have been particularly supportive in this regard.) I've had plenty of artists (and, unfortunately, teachers) who were actively hostile to my faith, and the work that comes out of it. (For example, when my undergraduate playwriting teacher learned that my love of The Lord of the Rings was behind the fantastical work that I was exploring in class, she told me, "Fantasy is juvenile trash not worth an adult spending their time on." Another, when he learned that I was a Christian, told me that the Church was the source of all evil in the world.) However, I've also experienced other, non-Christian artists (and teachers) who are interested in supporting an artist's living out of their values, whether or not those values are rooted in a religious faith. I find that when we are open and confident about our faith and its importance to our lives as artists, especially focusing on the core of the Gospel, which is the love of God for each human person, we are more likely than not to be met with respect and support, even where there is disagreement.

CAC: How can the Church be more welcoming to artists?

CM: 

1. Pay them what they're worth.

2. Be open to and support initiatives of the laity to support art and artists.

3. Trust them. If they're actively self-identifying as Christians while working in the arts, their faith is probably important to them - it's too risky otherwise. Trust in their faith and love of Christ and the Church, and that the Holy Spirit is working in them. Even when the work they are creating is a little scary or strange, trust that God is working out some prophesying in them for the good of the community and the glory of His Name. It's like speaking in tongues - look for someone who can interpret the movement of grace, rather than quashing the movement of the Spirit.

CAC: How can the artistic world be more welcoming to artists of faith?

CM: Don't assume that because someone is a Christian they're therefore a bigot. Also, understand that evangelization is about sharing a good gift we've received, so that others can share our joy - it's not about forcing people to join our club. Most of all, encourage artists of all faiths to create work based on their faith, without assuming that that work is therefore "lesser." I know a dancer who was not allowed to choreograph a dance about Mary for her MFA thesis because her supervisor believed that religious content destroyed "real art". To get around this, she told her supervisor she would create a dance about a woman she knew, but she didn't want to share too much about her story, because doing so would ruin the power of the dance. She then created her dance about Mary, which was lauded by the supervisor as extremely moving and powerful. :-)

CAC: Which parish(es) did you attend? Do you recommend any particular parishes for their sacramental life, beauty, and/or community? 

CM: My parish has been St. Malachy's - The Actors' Chapel, which I highly recommend. (I'd like to highlight the 11pm Sat post-theatre Mass, the 11am Sun Mass with full choir, and the 6pm Sun young adult Mass.) I also recommend going to CatholicNYC.com and signing up for the Archdiocese's Office of Young Adult Outreach email newsletter, which lists an extraordinary number of events and groups for the spiritual support of young adults. You can find other parishes which have been recommended to the Catholic Artist Connection as welcoming places for artists at catholicartistsnyc.com/communities.

CAC: Where in NYC do you regularly find artistic fulfillment?

CM: I enjoyed being a part of The Sheen Center, first as artist-in-residence and then as an employee, for 3 years. I would especially recommend attending the annual Sheen Center Theater Festival in the summer, which shares new work by Catholic playwrights. A list of Catholic theatre companies, visual arts collectives, music groups, and arts center in the greater NYC area can be found at catholicartistsnyc.com/communities. Three I would particularly highlight are Turn to Flesh Productions, which produces new work in classical styles by and about women; Storm Theatre, which produces modern and classical fully-staged productions that often have a direct link to Catholic faith (e.g., their festival of JPII's plays); and Magis Theatre, which is a more experimental physical ensemble led by a Jesuit priest, and which performed the most "eucharistic" theatre I've ever seen in New York (a production of Calderón's two versions of "Life is a Dream," which ended with the entire cast singing "Gloria!" and the performer playing Adam revolving in worship, arms raised to Christ the Sun, on the stage of La Mama ETC, the flagship of NYC downtown experimental theatre).

CAC: How have you found or built community as a Catholic artist living in NYC?

CM: Through the Catholic Artist Connection, the Actors' Chapel, the Sheen Center, and my residential intentional community of Catholic artist men, Our Lady of Harlem Artist House. Mostly through friendships which have been built through these trellises, as well as through one-on-one introductions. It's all about the friendships.

CAC: What is your daily spiritual practice? And if you have a spiritual director, how did you find that person? If you go on retreats, where do you like to go?

CM: My primary practice is to pray the Divine Office and attend daily Mass as often as possible. I also do some centering prayer in the morning and the examen before bed. I see a spiritual director once a month, and go on an 8-day silent retreat once a year. I also try to take the first day of the month as a day of recollection, to be more silent than usual and go over the results of the past month and my plan for the coming month. I found my most recent spiritual director, Fr. Ray (RIP), through a Jesuit friend’s recommendation. You can find a spiritual director by going to the Catholic Artist Connection’s list at http://www.catholicartistconnection.com/spiritual-directors.html. The page also links to Charis NYC’s Spiritual Director List and the Office of Ignatian Spirituality’s Catalog of Spiritual Directors. For retreats, I generally go to Loyola Jesuit Center in Morristown, NJ. (I’ve seen beaver, deer, and kingfishers at their pond!)

CAC: What is your daily artistic practice? And what are your recommendations to other artists for practicing their craft daily?

CM: A daily artistic practice has gotten more difficult as my work has focused more and more on arts administration. I try to take the first available hour each day (after prayer) to work on whatever creative project I’m focusing on at the time, whether it’s the Catholic Artist Connection or an article I’m writing. I recommend deciding what your highest-priority creative goal is at the moment, and doing at least something each day to move yourself toward it (giving yourself a break on the Sabbath if you want it).

CAC: Describe a recent day in which you were most completely living out your vocation as an artist. What happened, and what brought you the most joy?

CM: I’ve been in a time of rest and recuperation lately, and have been reminding myself to listen to my own creative instincts and priorities. To that end, I recently went on an 8-day retreat, during which The Lord of the Rings was my spiritual reading. On one day of the retreat, I spent the morning praying and walking outdoors in the snowy mountains. In the afternoon, I read Tolkien. In the evening, I watched Selma, as a way of reminding myself why I wanted to tell stories in the first place (to inspire myself and others to heroic action and to give hope). I repeated the pattern one day after I came home from the retreat – praying, walking, reading, and watching Of Gods and Men. This time has been one of “filling up the well” so that the fields of creativity can be watered for later growth.

CAC: What resources have you found helpful in securing housing/roommates? Which neighborhoods would you recommend to artists moving to the city?

CM: My first housing situation in NYC during my most recent sojourn was as an artist-in-residence at The Sheen Center. Go to sheencenter.org/residency if you want to learn how to apply for 2-4 months of free housing at the Center while working on a specific creative project. At the end of the residency, I knew I was looking to live in community with other Catholic artists, and I had met a few other men who were looking for a similar situation. Therefore, we put our heads together to look for an apartment. I was temporarily staying with family in Kansas for a few weeks and teaching at a summer drama camp, so I used StreetEasy to find apartments which matched our size, location, and rent needs. (There were 6 of us.) Other members of the group volunteered to scout out the highest-ranking apartments. When we found one that the scouting team agreed worked for us, we jumped on it. We quickly gathered everyone’s financial documents, and secured a lease. That community is now Our Lady of Harlem Artist House. If anyone is looking for advice on setting up a similar community, just contact me!

CAC: But seriously, how did you make a living in NYC?

CM: For my first year in NYC, I worked as a staff and faculty member at CAP21 Conservatory/Molloy College. For the past two years, I’ve worked as a Programming Associate at The Sheen Center. I’ve appreciated being able to work full-time in the arts, as well as do some paid acting, speaking, and article-writing on the side. First, I recommend identifying 10 or so organizations that you would like to work with, and approaching them directly to see whether they’re hiring. In terms of job listings, I found the most success with the NYFA Classifieds, TCG’S ARTSEARCH (requires an annual membership), and Playbill. For acting submissions, I recommend annual memberships to Actors Access/Showfax and Backstage, as well as checking Playbill. But most of all, build relationships with the people with whom you want to work.

CAC: How much would you suggest artists moving to NYC budget for their first year?

CM: $36,000 if possible.

CAC: What other practical resources would you recommend to a Catholic artist living in NYC?

CM: The Drama Bookshop. Studio space: The Sheen Center, Molloy Studios. Headshot photographer: Shirin Tinati. Health insurance: Go to https://nystateofhealth.ny.gov/ to see if you qualify for free or low-cost ($20/mon.) health insurance. Check out CatholicNYC.com for jobs and housing. The Listings Project and Facebook’s Gypsy Housing and NYC Area Catholic Looking for Roommates groups are also good housing resources. And most important, get on the Catholic Artist Connection weekly email newsletter.

CAC: What are your top 3 pieces of advice for Catholic artists moving to NYC?

CM: 1. Join the Catholic Artist Connection email newsletter and check out the communities on CatholicArtistsNYC.com.

2. Identify 3-5 artistic groups/organizations with whom you are interesting in working, check out their work, and ask how you can get involved.

3. Create the work you want to create, without waiting for someone else to give you the opportunity to create. And the most important bonus piece of advice underlying all: Focus first on building the foundation of a strong daily spiritual practice, and commit to it above all else. Find a home parish, a spiritual director, and a small group of faithful friends to keep you grounded. Pray always – Christ is your surest companion.