Wednesday, June 8, 2011

So How Lucky Am I?!


The view from the Greenroom where we watch Dr. Judy on CNN.

Ah, the first day as Dr. Judy’s intern will forever be imprinted on my memory. Being the native Midwesterner that I am, arriving in the Big Apple was quite the experience. Worried about being overwhelmed, I was fortunate to get safely to my Upper West Side apartment and settle comfortably in to my new abode – a clean and welcoming bedroom in a nice apartment I’m currently sharing.  Though it was not without a challenge, since I had to climb five flights of stairs to get there, carrying two extremely heavy luggages. Hello, New York.

I spent an exceptionally relaxing weekend bumming around Manhattan, sampling various restaurants located near my apartment, all the while wondering what my first day as Dr. Judy’s intern would turn out to be like. As Sunday night approached, so did queasy stomach, since I had never interned for anyone before, especially not in a city as inherently alive and foreign to me as New York. Would I ever survive the first day?

Dr. Judy and I after her interview at CNN.
It turned out that my first day as an intern was nothing like I would have ever imagined.

I arrived at Dr. Judy’s bustling Midtown-located office promptly at eleven in the morning, clad in beige (purposefully being neutral, not knowing what I would face), and slightly trembling in my flats -- which would subsequently give me horrible blisters within the next three hours. Dr. Judy greeted me with a warm hug. As I sank into her massively comfortable couch, I heard a high yelp from the heaping realm of her desk: “ Just got a call from CNN. I have to be on live, tonight.”

I gasped. CNN! Really, Drop everything, go right now? Welcome to Dr. Judy’s world. Things happen and you have to be ready, ASAP. This was just the beginning.


First, Dr. Judy and I had to rush off to  lunch at The Friar’s Club, where we met the two public relations agents who work with Dr. Judy’s “Idiot’s Guide” books. They are Bre Whelan and Megan Moriarty. Dr. Judy has three in the series: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Dating, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to A Healthy Relationship, and the Complete Idiot’s Guide to Tantric Sex. Lunch was riveting, as we discussed how Dr. Judy’s books are still among the most successful Idiot’s Guide Books in the series, being still top sellers (now in later editions after being first published years ago).  It was even exciting since we talked more about ways in which I can further my writing career by posting blogs and tweets about what I am reading and learning from the books. I felt so fortunate to have the opportunity to converse with two very knowledgeable people regarding matters such as how the emerging influx of technology is affecting the publishing and literary world (even though that is not necessarily such good news  for the publishing industry), and how one can successfully stay afloat in a market that is progressively becoming more and more dominated by technological devices, such as Kindle and ebooks.

After lunch, we ventured back to Dr. Judy’s office and began to research the topics she was assigned to speak about on telvision later that day, on HLN’s show ISSUES with Jane Velez Mitchell, a brilliant investigative reporter Dr Judy has known for years when they worked together at WCBS-TV. The topics were about the recent suicide of an award-winning composer named Joseph Brooks (who wrote the song “You Light Up My Life”), who has also been charged on alleged sexual assault counts.  The other story is about the recent incident of an eleven year old girl being raped, infected with an STI, and impregnated by her YMCA camp counselor. With only getting an hour or so to compile an adequate amount of research, the limo from CNN was already outside Dr. Judy’s office, ready to pick us up for her show.

No sooner had we arrived at the Time Warner Center, signed in, and were going in through security, then the famous VIEW talk show host, Joy Behar (who also hosts a shown on HLN) was coming out and warmly greeted Dr. Judy.  I thought, “Just another day in the life of Dr. Judy!” 

Upstairs, while Dr. Judy was getting her makeup done, we spoke about the less-than pleasant issues she was about to comment about on air. I loved the atmosphere of the CNN make-up room, since people were constantly coming in and out of the room, chugging cups of coffee and rapidly talking about the recent news-coverage.

Dr. Judy getting all dolled up for CNN!
It was all so perfect since I have a love affair with news-related environments. The addictive way in which journalists and experts passionately speak about the various topics they are covering instills an energy in me that compels me to want to also throw myself into a certain project or issue that interests me. Needless to say, the greenroom (the word for the room where the guests wait to go on) was just as interesting as the passion-infused makeup room. The view was magnificent, overlooking Central Park.  I was able to watch Dr. Judy live on the television screen in the greenroom, with Bre and Megan with whom we’d had lunch and who were also enthused about being there.. It was an incredible experience, being able to see Dr. Judy speak concisely, yet in great depth, about the topics we had previously been researching. She was, in my opinion, the most authoritative and intelligent speaker, since she brought up certain points that were especially unique and undoubtedly relevant to the Joseph Brook’s suicide. One of those impressive points Dr,. Judy made was that it was very unlikely that Joseph Brooks was capable of physically wrapping the towel they found tightly wrapped around his neck after he committed suicide, since he had not been able to uncap a juice bottle he had purchased publicly an hour earlier. This was a point that no one else had brought up, which I thought was very brilliant.

After CNN, we (Megan, Bre, Dr. Judy and I) piled into the limo and rushed to The Actor’s Temple, where I had previously gone to purchase tickets to see a tribute they were putting on for the legendary Broadway dancer,  Gwen Verdon. It was a wonderful end to the day-being able to sit ad relax with a room full of artsy New Yorkers who weren’t afraid to shout out loud and tell incredibly nostalgic and beautiful stories about their experiences with Gwen.  As I watched the various dancers who knew and loved her, I thought to myself (in the sage, yet relevant words of Ice Cube): today was a good day.

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