Excuses?

None. It's been two months and we've been pushing off writing about how amazing our experience was. So instead, you can see for yourself:



Back to Bohemia


*we have no legal right to be using any of the protected material.



Becca & Katy

We'll Take the Whole Shabang.

Becca and Katy spent alot of the day and night of Graduation celebrating and looking forward to their fast-approaching Chelsea endeavor. Observe:

High School Students -





College Students -

Congratulations to the Class of '07!

-Katy & Becca

Knowledge is Power.

And apparently, so is cash.


Gypsy yard sale has (yet again) been pushed back. Katy has turned into Tony Soprano - collecting money and cruising diners. Alas, no great bonuses yet. However, a nice little sum from a tutoring gig might put a dent in the debt. Ironically, she is going to be tutoring someone in Precalc, a subject she passed only because of spray-painted group t-shirts and lots of fake foliage (extra credit - oh these hippie teachers and their LovEducation Agenda).

Do not fear, we will make it there. Brown-bagged lunches, notebooks and all.


Oh, and Becca & Katy are novelists.


'Til next time,
Katy & Becca

The Only Thing We're Waiting On Is Time.

I came across this internet rant/epiphany on a Facebook group about Bob Dylan. It summarizes some of our beliefs about the youth of America and the faultering path of our artists. This is copy & pasted without permission, but I did contact the writer to voice our support.

The topic of discussion was: Is John Mayer This Generation's Dylan?

"Anyone who dare mention mayer in the same sentance as Dylan would do themselves a service by becoming deaf and ceasing to listen to the lyrics of song. mayer our Dylan? It is an interesting commentary on our generation, however, to liken a man who writes pop songs about sittin´ on the couch waitin´ on the world to change with a man who wrote gritty folk about following the caskets of masters of war to their graves. The contrast is striking between a generation who took to the streets and forced change - a generation of sons and daughters beyond the command of parents and tradition - and a generation that prefers to gratify itself with melodic pop and video games as its nation perpetrates disaster around the globe. One was a revolutionary generation, a passionate one. Ours is a consumer generation, a listless and spoiled one. We wait in our cars for drive-through fast-food, wait for commercials to end between segments of reality TV, wait for new movies and albums to be put out to entertain and distract us from the boredom and sterile cool of MTV suburban life. ´Ugh, it is inconvenient to see bloody images on news channels while flipping stations. Ugh, this is not fun or sexy like war should be. Ugh, what can I do about it? Hmmm, better just wait on the world to change.´ And in the meantime, I´ll hire a stylist and date Jessica Simpson. If mayer is our Dylan, simpson can be our Baez. "


Help us try to change these truths & donate or come to our gypsy yard sale. Thank you.

-Katy & Becca

The Final Throes

Step by Step:

1. Money: Neither Becca or Katy have amassed the amount needed to pay off looming debt. No worries. Coin collection still taking place (we accept Rubles). Gypsy yard sale in works.

2. Itinerary: Pretty much set. Needs to be finalized. And locations need not be scouted beforehand.

3. Intellectual Prep: Already there.

4. Background Research:
Katy - two Dylan vinyls (Another Side of Bob Dylan, Street Legal), a few more studio albums, magazines, thesis from men at Pace University about relevance of Dylan in formation of modern speech, other such endeavors.
Becca - everything. finished The Dharma Bums, working on Visions of Gerard, bought Planet News, poetry overdose (daily), photocopied pages from book because of lack of funding.
Both - Lots of poetry readings (Beat & Dylan), and of course the daily existential discussions of human nature and consequence.

5. School: nearly finished, overwhelmingly wasteful. Impending deadline for novels.



We have a small request of our reader(s). If you get to this point in the post, please click the Comment button so that we have a vague idea of how many people actually read/see this. If you are embarassed to admit you read the indulgent blogs of two crazily obsessed Jersey children, simply write a dash. It's like Malcolm X, except less dangerous.


Thanks,
Katy & Becca

Turn, Step, Glide.

Many events have taken place within the past week. We appreciate everyone's support and care.


Thank you again and an actual update will come soon [we promise].


-Katy & Becca


*It is to our understanding that the majority of films made about the Hotel Chelsea fail to capture its essence. This excites us even more. Onward!

'The' Call

Becca called my cell phone four times, leaving one ominous voicemail and an equally cryptic text message.



To see what they wrote about us, go to http://www.hotelchelseablog.com/ or the link on the left to Hotel Chelsea Blog. 'Katy & Becca..." is mid-page.


Thank you.


Sincerely,
Katy & Becca

Eventful Uneventful Event

As the school year grinds away teasingly, Katy and Becca painfully stake out the final months before their adventure. With a semi-finalized packing list, a quasi-finalized itinerary, and a fully final reservation, things are comparatively well.

In the recent weeks, hell...months and years, reminders of life's shortness have abruptly shook us. At this time more than ever, we find it necessary to persevere and realize that we might be paralyzed by a runaway roller coaster car or made brain-dead by botched Lasik eye surgery, but instead of fearing these inevitable fates (I prefer the roller coaster), it is better to embrace what we have - which is negative 300 dollars and a dream - and roll with it, for lack of a better cliche. We're young, mobile and lucky kids. We understand out pitfalls and our graces, but put aside both to achieve something greater. Something our own. Although a mutual journey, the experience is highly egocentric. Not a terrible thing, but something to confess; We are lucky to have each other's support and friendship but when the sky falls and we're all left to whatever it is will appear at the end of the world - we only have ourselves. For all the parents who never made it past Ohio, the grandparents who never made it past the neighboring town - this is all for you. Us, and you.

-Katy & Becca

The Scout

Photo by Katy

On Friday, Katy headed into SoHo for a rendezvous at the Tribeca Cinemas with a classmate. She was guided to a record shop where she purchased Another Side of Bob Dylan on vinyl for a record player she does not own. Again, the money issue versus the glee factor. She also had a very public giggle fit when she walked past Cafe Wha? (thrice) and proclaimed her love for all things Dylan.

On a dissimiliar note, she also saw Joel & Ethan Coen at the Mac Store SoHo and realized that she wanted nothing more to sit in a room full of 500 people who understood jokes about the razor tool in Final Cut Pro.

All in all, the day proved that A Night at the Chelsea is a completely honest endeavor for her and Becca. We also appreciate the comments & support!

[Aside]

Katy, in another attempt to drain any funds she might have scraped together in the past year, extended her credit further to purchase tickets to see Mister Dylan himself on June 24th - three days before our endeavor - in Pennsylvania. She is most excited, and feels that the concert is a sign of good fortune, as the first Dylan concert she attended was on November 23rd. A 24th day show is the next logical, and superstitious step.


Step to where? Well...she will discover that at the Chelsea.


"I plan to [...] suck the air from the vents."

-Katy & Becca

Slowly, but surely, we trudge...

Another day, another dollar. In Katy's case, another day, another credit card to pay for Becca's, as well as her own, dream. Finally, we have made a small step towards the Chelsea. At approximately 4:17 today, we gathered around Katy's computer to make the final reservation. Both of us were ecstatic, though our drained expressions did not show it. Katy called the hotel and spoke to David, who took our reservation in a very polite manner and that was it. Each of us will be paying around $150 for the room at the Chelsea. It is a lot of money for two college-bound students to muster, but you can not put a price on exquisite enlightenment. With such a tight budget, we will most likely be toting around breakfast bars and pretzels to eat and a change of clothes during our stay. For two kids from tired suburbia, that is roughing it. And now, Katy and Becca must wait. Each day is another box Xed off on a calendar.





Counting down to the day we experience the Chelsea.







-Becca & Katy





To commemorate the monumental

confirmation of the reservation,

Becca snapped Katy in action as

she made the past due phone call

to David.

Katy and Becca's reservation confirmation, easily made available after Katy's e-mail account recovered.

We're Not Quite 'On The Road' Yet...

...or even near it for that matter. It is a speck on the horizon of monetary injustice. We live in the second most wealthy county in all of the United States, yet we fail. No money to our names. Well, maybe a few coins and a five pound note from England two years ago. Our gypsy yard sale is off in the distance, and the market for tears is rather low. I, Katy, cannot access my email which holds not only our confirmation that we requested to make a reservation [oh the complications], but also our reference number. Essentially, we are plagued by the same technology which enabled us to be exposed to genius. Irony or simply bad luck? Either way, we are at a momentary standstill. We are in need of money, and with Katy quitting her job and Becca working for the man every night and day (TM), the prospects are well, none. Luckily, after being raised on the credit-based budgeting logic, Katy will charge the hotel reservation with money neither have. A wise plan? Most definitely. A safe plan? Perhaps. The most important thing to us is perseverance - nothing more, nothing less.

We will find our path to the Hotel Chelsea. We will prove to ourselves and others everything, and nothing. There you go, take it, leave it or burn it.

P.S. Katy plans to attend a Bob Dylan concert on the Sunday of the week of our trip. She will then be living in a cardboard box. And not showering.


Good night and have a pleasant life.

-Katy & Becca

Dylan's music, Kerouac's words and Chelsea's charm.

Two determined students, facing a life junction, stand to accomplish a goal. We, Katy G. and Becca R., declare our participation in a search. A search for answers, questions and beauty. In the polished streets of New York City's Manhattan, lies our grime-caked Mecca. Our pilgrimage ends at the Hotel Chelsea - a breeding ground for some of the most brilliant and tortured minds of the past 100 years. Dylan Thomas, the Beats: Kerouac, Ginsberg, Bob Dylan, Andy Warhol, Sid Vicious and countless other artists have lived, worked and died within the walls of the Chelsea. In an attempt to capture the spirit and gift of this infamous den, we will document our adventure with words, video and image.


Wish us luck and do not hesitate to offer monetary support.


Much thanks,
Katy & Becca