Timing

Everything took longer than I expected this weekend. Okay like three things. I was meeting up with some folks Saturday and needed to bring something with me that needed to be cooked. I had a headache Friday night, so made it Saturday. Except I started late. And then realized it needed to be cooled. 

Sunday I made a soup so I would have food for the week. I fortunately had planned a simple grazing meal for dinner. Because at 9:30 that thing was still burbling away. (Is this what I get for not presoaking my beans? Probably.)

Anyway, the soup finally finished but some weeks or weekends are like that. Everything takes a little longer to come together than you hoped and you kind of have to roll with it. Wishing you started sooner doesn't fix the problem at hand. And better late than never doesn't apply to everything, but for soup it probably works. 

Hope your food is ready when you need it this week. 

People Should Have Things

In November my brain is usually 100 percent dedicated to writing, if we assume that 100 percent means of my free time. And that I also eat, clean, socialize and all those other pesky tasks that keep one functional. Oh right, and work a full time job. 

The job is in benefits. And while I do consider myself an expert on USian benefits, I am also a rando on the Internet. And I am not your benefits expert.

But such are things, that it seems necessary to state, people should have food. The federal government provides useful services that should be happening and in most cases right now are not. The ones that are, are not being paid, which sucks. (Not being able to work the job you were hired for and should be getting paid for also sucks.) 

In the US we treat healthcare as a bonus, a buy up, a nice to have, even though not having healthcare makes people sicker. 

Making healthcare an insurance proposition means one of two things. It either works like car insurance, where they make a bet based on your age, zip code and a few other factors and charge you based on that. This is how individual plans and therefore all state marketplace plans work. 

The advantage of employer based plans is that employees of a certain size can offer a large population that likely has a mix of old, young, risky, and unrisky people. So they can negotiate for a rate that is better. 

The more expensive healthcare gets, the more people who don't use it much drop it (to say nothing of those who can't afford it). This means the people still on it are higher users. This means the costs go up for everyone in a vicious cycle. 

And some of those people who gambled or hoped they wouldn't need it will be wrong. And they will show up in emergency rooms for something that probably could have been solved sooner with access to healthcare. 

Basically, all the choices this country is currently making are going to result in various combinations of death, illness, and injury. Sure, some people will be fine.

But we are treating food, paychecks, and healthcare as nice to haves, instead of the necessary things that they are. 

I am sorry for everyone affected by this. Please be kind and generous to your neighbors. This struggle is going to hit everyone on multiple fronts. 

November

I got an alert from one of my discords on Saturday and thought, oh wow, they must be prepping to write for some reason. And then I realized it was November 1st. One of the things that happens when a large group you participated in cracks to reveal all the people it was harming along the way is a odd disconnect. How could this thing that was great for me have been bad for others? Am I an idiot for not realizing what was happening? Are the accomplishments I had while part of this group tainted? 

And those questions often lead people discard the harm. (Witness the former head of NaNo restarting NaNo while putting up a disclaimer that he wasn't there when things got bad so has no idea how it happened and also no apparent reflection on starting a new group with any safeguards to prevent a repeat.)

Writing in community is great. I personally am editing right now because I am so close to done on this story that I can taste it.

If writing in community helped you write, but the community turned out to be flawed, find a new community. If writing in community helped you write, but the community was flawed, you can reflect and learn and listen to try and be more aware. If writing in community helped you write, you are a writer. You did the thing. 

If writing in community didn't help you write, well, now you know more about your process. Also true if it did help. Learning about your process is always good. 

And if you are writing this month, there are tons of great groups you can join, locally, regionally, online. If communities help you, there are plenty to join. 

One Small Thing

One person I follow on social media likes to remind people that small donations add up. Times are freaking hard right now, so if you are already digging under the couch cushions for basic things, I do not mean you. Keep you clothed and fed first. 

But for those of us with just a teeny bit extra, or those with a little more, it can feel like can't you fix anything if you are not a millionaire. And the answer is, yes you can. For me I picked a small amount I can usually swing and then decided I would donate that. That way I don't have to keep deciding how much, when, and where. And I'm going to tell you what I just told myself. It doesn't matter if I donate here, or there, or there. They all need help. Pick one and do it. 

It's funny I showed up this weekend at a local restaurant and the very kind staffer just gave me a total. And I was perplexed but I literally order the same thing every time. So he rang up my order and then asked me if I wanted it to go or to eat outside. 

Now technically this place is a burger place, so they make like two things. But yeah, I get the same thing each time and that meant he didn't need me to order, we just moved to the next step. 

And if course if you knit, or write, or make other things you know that lots of small steps add up. Every hat or sweater starts with one stitch. 

Helping, whether it's donating or something else can be like that.  Need is great. Everywhere you help helps. Just pick something and go.

Digital Collection

With Pocket shutting down I've had to sort of revisit a lot of links from days of yore. I started with Pocket when it was called Read it Later. It made scrolling social media easier, because I could save things and come back to them. I had recipes I referred to frequently in there. I stored all the articles I was saving for Three Interesting Things in there.

But there's also a crap ton of links I never read. Someone once said when your TBR pile isn't speaking to you there's sometimes a mismatch between who you are and who you wish to be. Some of those links just got buried too far down for me to ever find them again. (In the olden days, it told you how many links you had. And then it stopped. Which meant it could be a thousand it could be ten, I have no idea.) 

And while I am always sad when yet another useful digital tool bites the dust, I also recognize that I probably should have cleared out those links anyway. A friend of mine regularly announces digital bankruptcy and says that she's just clearing all her mentions and if she missed you, please try again. And I get it. Sometimes you just can't sift through 400 things to find the three important ones. You just have to move on. 

Tara Kennedy

Note: If you are reading this outside of your normal work hours, feel free to hold off response until your work hours.  

~To the world we dream about, and the one we live in now. 

"Hadestown", book and lyrics by Anais Mitchell

The Truth About Endings

I am a firm firm spoiler hater.  But it is less about thinking that the ending give something away.  I mean occasionally it does.  And sure, I did recently look up spoilers for something, but it was something I already knew I was going to not watch, so I think that's different.  When talking about romance and how the core promise of romance (not all stories, to be clear, just those purporting to be romance) is a happy ending, people often say something silly like, well if you know how it ends, what's the fun.  And they are wrong.  I assume if you are here, you know this.  Because of course we are here for the journey.  Not just the resolution.  I assume people read books about mountain climbers already knowing if they reached the top of the mountain.  

And recently I read Suzanne Collins' Sunrise Over the Reaping, and oh wow.  Now, to be clear, this is not a romance.  This - for those who have not been following The Hunger Games, is the story of Haymitch's hunger game.  So, you know how it ends.  Because (spoiler warning for book from 2008 that has already been made into a movie) Haymitch won his game.  So, see, what is there to learn?  Except of course there is everything to learn.  And it is heartbreaking, and funny, and touching as you follow Haymitch through his game, see him interact with other characters we know, and several we didn't.  I had to take breaks while reading it because I was very stressed out and the book was making me more stressed.  I had to blink back tears at one point.  

And romances are often the same.  Knowing the characters will get together is somewhat relieving, but it doesn't mean they can't or won't hurt each other, surprise each other, and even sometimes just be incredibly thoughtful about each other.  Watching all the things they love about each other, watching them see how amazing the other is, is an incredible journey.  And if the individuality of each wasn't interesting, you would only ever have to read one.  Instead we are blessed with a cornucopia of choices.  

And for people who don't like knowing the ending, there are also books for you too.  

The Freedom To Read

I've been talking about book banning for a while now, but to recap: books are good!  Let people read books!  Let trained librarians make good choices for us. Banning books takes away books from everyone.  It is not true that banned books sell more because people automatically buy books they can't find in their library.  Often they don't know the book is even there to miss.   And yes, books should be age appropriate.  So maybe kindergarten kids don't need calculus books just yet.  But that doesn't mean calculus books shouldn't exist or even be in the library.  

Also, if I thought these weirdoes who keep banning books were serious about keeping kids safe, they wouldn't keep banning a picture book about penguins.  A non-fiction picture book about penguins I might add.  

But what can you do instead of just agreeing with me and clicking away.  Tell your library you love their books.  Tel your city council, and or other local government entities you love books.  You support the library.  You want the library funded.  Staffed even.  That libraries make things better.  Also, if you haven't checked out a book in a while, do that.  

Weekend

I went up to New York for a quick trip that included a friend's book launch. (Amaya's second book.For the early readers in your life. Here's where I talked about book 1: http://www.talkapedia.com/2024/09/mi-tierra.html?m=1) 

In the train station in DC I arrived early enough to chill in the waiting area. When they made the announcement for the train, predictably a number of people leapt up and rushed off, even though the train stops for about thirty minutes in DC. One parent said to the two children with him, "Hey, just because other people are rushing, I don't want you two to think you have to be in a hurry." 

And I thought wow, that is kind of profound. We were all going to line up and then wait and then get on the same train. Sure, having earlier pick of the seats may be important to you, but all the other people were going to be riding the same train. So you could rush. Or you could choose not to. And we were all still going to be on the same train going to the same place. 

The quiet car remains a delightful piece of our society that we should mirror in other places. The book launch went great. 

I grabbed some food and then went to see "Hadestown". Despite my spoiler phobia in other places, Hadestown was a show I had gone deep into the rabbit hole on. The internet makes this so much easier. I've seen videos from the Dutch and Australian casts, and own both the original Broadway cast album and the London cast recording. Oh the Tiny Desk too. 

I put myself on a moratorium of videos and music ahead of the show, but had managed to learn that Jack Wolfe had 

 the cast. I had enjoyed his work on the "Next to Normal" revival. 

I don't know that a Tony winning show in it's sixth year on Broadway needs my review. It's a sung through musical, so the cast album gives you a lot. But of course there are always delightful things you learn or hear differently when watching it love. Despite my adoration of happy endings, I continue to find resonance in a story about trying to right things. In, to paraphrase Hermes telling a tale you hope will turn out differently. 

"Ceilidh" at the M&T Bank Exchange

When I first saw "Ceilidh" on the list as one of the shows for the Hippodrome, I perked up. Having been to Scotland, I have ceilidhed, though it's been a while. I tried to find more info, like it was called Ceilidh: A New Musical, which implied a musical, but I couldn't find much information beyond an interview with two of the creators where they explained that ceilidh was traditional Scottish dancing, and one recording of one song. Usually you can find a trailer that hints at a plot, a review something. So I reached out to a friend and was like I have no idea what this is, but wanna come see it with me. She agreed. The seating was all general admission. (While the Bank Exchange is part of the Hippodrome, it is an auditorium set up, so designed for different events than in the larger theater.)

The seating, as we discovered was set up along three sides of the main room, with a large dancing area in the middle. There were bars that were open for much of the performance, and water stations. The musicians were on stage. And I noticed a few people with microphones on seating themselves in the seating. 

The story is reminiscent of a jukebox musical. The songs are original (with one exception). But the plot is an excuse to get to each dance. (Did it still make me tear up? Yes.) The plot introduces us to a ceilidh caller, who is from a long line of callers. He guides the audience through ceilidh 101, and various characters show up, encouraging audience members to join in the ceilidhs if they wish. 

The audience was also given a chance to try haggis (including a vegetarian option) and given whisky or apple juice to toast with, and shortbread as we left. 

If like me, you haven't ceilidhed in a while, there was plenty of instruction. If you've never ceilidhed, same. If audience participation is not your jam, you could sit in the back row. A few people brought kids, and they seemed to enjoy it. Plus kids are much better at jumping in to dance and going with the flow. 

Why the Tonys is both the best and Worst Way to Catch up on a Year of Theater

I grew up in DC which has a pretty robust regional theater scene, and a few theaters that are large enough to attract touring casts.  I love theater.  We went to the children's theater so many times growing up it felt like I saw everything, though that's likely not true.  I went to see "Peter Pan" with a cousin. I went to see "Comedy of Errors" as an eight year old, which both seems to young and is also the perfect age to be introduced to a Shakespeare comedy.   (The thing we sometimes forget about kids, is they are very used to about half the references flying over their heads, they don't care if they don't catch every word, they often just need the gist.  Obviously, your child may vary.)  

But I did not grow up in New York, where the robust amount of theater DC offers is about one non-dark night of theater in New York.  So, once I figured out what the Tonys were, I watched.  And I haunted discount bins at the places that sold music and started picking up cast albums that sounded interesting.  I still remember listening stations and finding one set up with the cast album of "Rent" and making the friend who was with me come listen.  (She was not a musical theater nerd, so she was less enthused than I was.)  

These days it is somewhat easier to be a non-New York or London living musical theater nerd.  And yes, I am aware that musical theater exists in the rest of the world also.  And that "Maybe Happy Ending" was performed in Korea first. But now, between Tiktoks and YouTube and the other plethora of social media, it is so much easier.  

Also, I'm picking on the Tonys here, but this also applies to the Oliviers and the Big Night of Musicals, and sometimes various appearances on morning or late night shows.  

In an actor's life it's an absolute crapshoot as to whether anything you're in will get nominated for a Tony (or Olivier, etc). So if it does, you obviously want to pick a number that does ideally two things: includes all of the cast, and is easy for the audience who may be doesn't know the show to follow. This is why you see a lot of opening numbers. But of course, to pick "Oklahoma" as a random example, the opening number is just Curly. So, okay, that doesn't work for that show. The next most obvious choice is often the song that closes Act 1, because it usually brings everyone of stage to remind you where everyone is and what they are all worried about in case you would otherwise forget during the intermission. 

But what if you're show really only has one ensemble number and it's at the end? Well, usually the finale is super long. After all, it has to wrap up all the remaining loose threads. But the Tony's, unlike, ahem, other awards shows, tries to keep on schedule, so gives each show a time limit. So you have say an eight minute finale and a four minute slot, they will often either chop the song, or do it double time. 

And some shows, I am sure after some conversations with the cast, give up and just pick a number from early in the show, and tell the cast members not in it, hey, you get to rest tonight. 

What all of this means, is that sometimes the number performed is very weird, or seems weird because it lacks the appropriate context. (One of my favorite YouTube comments on a performance of "Dear Bill" from "Operation Mincemeat" is: This song means so much more in context." Because, yes, of course it does.) 

In rare moments the opposite is true. They pull out their very best song, and much like seeing a movie where everything funny was in the trailer, you discover that one eleven o'clock powerhouse of a song was the best bit.

So these days, when possible, I try to research. I go find a many cast albums as have already been released and read up on the shows, so that whatever performance they do I have as much context as someone who hasn't actually watched the show can have. 

And so when, "Maybe Happy Ending" performs "Firefly" because it's the only number that uses all three cast members, I know enough to understand. 

Don't get me wrong. I still adore the Tony's. But I think trying to understand the choices shows are trying to make helps appreciate when a particular performance choice doesn't work as well without context. 

Yeast

I had been avoiding making things with yeast or sourdough. Not entirely. And I have made soda bread. But I had some yeast when some folks starting talking focaccia, and I suddenly thought yes. And I made some. And then I made sandwich bread. And then Oatmeal bread. And then pizza dough. 

It turns out, when you have food sensitivities, making your own pizza dough makes whipping up a pizza or flatbread with only things you can easily eat is pretty fun. Sure it takes longer, but not that much longer. And less headaches and hives later. 

There is something about learning how to make something that feels powerful. Even if I also have a store bought frozen pizza in my freezer too.

I find that knitting doesn't mean I never buy sweaters, but I am pickier about the ones I buy, about the fabric, the drape, the fiber content. Because I know what goes into it. 

Also it turns out being able to customize your bread mixins it pretty fun. I'm still in the early fun phase of this. I may go back to never making pizza dough again. Or bread. But knowing that I could if I wanted to, is also something. And I'll scan ingredients in store bought things with a more discerning eye. 

"Play On" At Signature Theatre

I'm a big fan of Shakespeare's comedies, and of musicals. So offering to combine them, by setting "Twelfth Night" in the 1930's in Harlem's Cotton Club, with Duke Orsino now more a Duke Ellington like figure, all with Duke Ellington songs, and I was sold. 

First, I have to wildly compliment the set designers. They pulled out some of the theater seats, and placed round tables, with lamps, and wooden seats. I ended up seated close enough to the edge of the stage to see individual freckles on the performers faces. It did a lot to set the mood, and I can't imagine the work to make the chairs and lamps match up was small. 

Next the show. 

Aspiring songwriter Vy comes to New York City to meet with her Uncle who she hears knows famous composer Duke.  Upon arrival she is told only men can be songwriters, so Vy says, cool, I'll just be a man then, and she disguises herself as Vy-man.  Duke is bereft and unable to finish a song since songstress Lady Liv left him.  So he beseeches Vy-man to go to Lady Liv and plead his case. Lady Liv is uninterested in Duke, but quite interested in Vy-man.  

Meanwhile Lady Liv's staff manager Rev has been annoying the rest of the staff with his strictures, so they decide to help him re-invent himself to declare his love for Lady Liv and maybe leave them alone.  Or entertain them.  Or both.  

While I had recently reached one  the 1990's movie version, I do not have "Twelfth Night" memorized, so was not able to spot lines lifted. But the characterizations, were all there. One of the things that is true to the original is that the Duke, in his sad sack low period having been refuted by Lady Liv is, well, kind of not very interesting. We mostly only want him for Vy because Vy wants him. His sadness means the bouncier (see what I did there?) songs go to everyone else. 

Some versions of Twelfth Night treat it as a messy love triangle, with a few side interests. This version gave equal standing to all four people, two of them - Duke and Rev - directing their interest at Lady Liv, Vy at the Duke, and Lady Liv at Vy. (Shakespeare loved a love square.) 

It's also worth noting that Vy, rather than being shipwrecked and fearing her family lost, has, in this version, left her family back home for the big city. so she can be a 

Now I've talked a lot about differences. This version was quite amazing. The performers move into the audience, at one point sitting at a table with a few, sing about the mysteries of women. One of the audience members in particular was cackling having them point at her and sing about women making little sense. 

The play ends with four happy couples. The cast is stacked with folks regular DC theatergoers will recognize, including folks from Senior Class, Gun and Powder, In the Heights en Español, Aida, and Jubilee, to name a few. 

Two Notes: In the performance I saw, Sean Walton played the Duke, and Ciara Hargrove played Lady Liv. 

I saw a masks required version of the show, though they did let audience members bring in drinks that had been purchased at the bar.

National Book Festival

This past weekend was the 25th National Book Festival which was fascinating because it feels a little like we've always had one. But I am older than 25. So apparently we have not. 

The romance panel was set for evening, so despite some fabulous looking panels in the morning, I knew I was going to need to pace myself. I arrived closer to lunch time, wandered through the exhibit hall area, where I collected some bookmarks. 

Then I got in line for the panel with Tiffany D. Jackson and Paul Tremblay who were in conversation with Jummy Olabamji. Their recent books were both middle grade debuts for them. Jackson said she had seen some younger kids reader some of her YAs and wanted to write something for them. And Tremblay said he had a story idea for a 12 year old so it just happened that way. Both of them talked about having consumed a lot of TV and movies and thinking a little cinematically. Jackson was also a film major. And they both said reading widely is great if you want to become an author. 

Then I went to see Shannon Chakraborty and Joe Abercrombie in conversation with Regina G. Barber. Chakraborty talked about research and how some of the tenth and eleventh century sources are super gossipy and fun, and how she takes seriously that some people encounter parts of history primarily through fantasy fiction and she wants those parts to represent the breadth of it. Abercrombie said after his first series he had realized he hadn't included many women and he started making sure to change that and found the stories are much more interesting when they have more types of people in them. 

And then I took a little break from panelling and found a pre-line for the romance panel - romance readers often wear romance themed shirts, so you can always tell when you are in the right line. Also, shout out in general to the amazing shirts, dresses, and tote bags, both bookish themed, and DC pride themed. I, full disclosure, wore my What's more punk than a library shirt (hat tip to friends of the Mt. Pleasant Library) and spotted several others in the same shirt and we of course all complimented each other. I saw I read Smut shirts, Free DC shirts, Black romance reader shirts, I could go on. Book people are great. 

And then I went to see Kennedy Ryan and Alexis Daria in conversation with Jenn White. Jenn White mentioned that often when she gets a call to talk to an author it is about something very serious. And that getting the call for this panel was a delight. She described going full armadillo as she read through these two books in two days, just reading. I am, by the way, totally stealing that full armadillo phrase. 

Daria talked about how her first cousins had been her first friends, and that friends who are also family are such an interesting dynamic that she really wanted to explore. And that it was important to her that the love interests for each of these cousins respect and honor those cousin relationships. 

Kennedy Ryan also talked about how finding your besties is just as important as finding your true love. And that coming from a journalism background, she does a lot of research, and even background interviews, before she gets going on her stories. 

It was an absolutely delightful day. Thank you to everyone at the Library of Congress, and all the volunteers, who work almost year round to pull this event off. 

Summer Bingo Results

Here are the results from my own reading this summer. Rescue mission turned out to be the easy one. I always find this a fun challenge to see which things I find naturally, and which I have to seek out. 

Rescue Mission - Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe by CB Lee, Love at First Set by Jennifer Dugan, No Body No Crime by Tess Sharpe, Pugs and Kisses by Farrah Rochon, The Baby Dragon Cafe by A T Quireshi, The Blonde Who Came in From the Cold by Ally Carter, Gold Coast Dilemma by Nana Malone, Love Overboard by Adam Barumé, The Ex Vows by Jessica Joyce, If We Were a Movie by Zakiya N. Jamal

Kissing in the Rain - Along Came Amor by Alexis Daria

Cover has a sportsball on it - Love and Sportsball by Meka James, Twelfth Knight by Alexene Farol Falmuth

Texas Hold Em

Published before 2005 - Heart Throb by Suzanne Brockmann

They Were Roommates - Love in Focus by Lyla Lee, All Fired Up by M.K. England, New Adult by Timothy Janovsky, Love Overboard

Merfolk - Kiss the Girl by Zoraida Córdova

Historical Ruins - Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe

Construction - The Ex Vows by Jessica Joyce

Fireworks- Dream On Ramona Riley by Ashley Herring Blake, Kiss the Girl

Haunted House 

Road Trip - Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe, Rani Choudhury Must Die by Adiba Jaigirdar, Love at First Set, The Baby Dragon Cafe, The Blonde Who Came in From the Cold, Kiss the Girl

Character Smells Like Leather

Pizza - Along Came Amor by Alexis Daria

Grand Gesture - Call Your Boyfriend, Dream on Ramona Riley, Along Came Amor, If We Were a Movie, Twelfth Knight

Telepathic Connection - The Baby Dragon Cafe

Who Doin it - Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe, No Body No Crime, The Blonde Who Came in From the Cold, If We Were a Movie

Punny Title - All Fired Up, Love at First Set, Pugs and Kisses, Twelfth Knight

It was Supposed to be a Summer Fling - Dream On Ramona Riley .  

Animal with a Job - Pugs and Kisses

Fairy Tale Retelling - Kiss the Girl

Rival Teams - Rani Choudhury Must Die, Twelfth Knight

First Day of School

It's the first day of school for many students here in DC, and even though I am neither a student, teacher, or administrator, there is just something about the first day. Something about the excitement, the nerves, the new routines, and reunions with friends that permeates the air. 

I think you never quite get over the excitement of new writing implements and fresh pages. The desire for a cool bag to carry all your things. 

And so I wish all the people headed somewhere new, or back to somewhere they haven't been for a while a great day. 

And may those who already started school, a week, or a month ago recapture some of that magic. And those of us just headed for another Monday have the best Monday possible.  

Nostalgia Glasses

I had a family event this week so my schedule is all off. But I recommended a book I hadn't read in a while that was on sale over on Blue sky and then reread it and remembered why I don't usually recommend books I haven't read in a while. 

It's because of nostalgia glasses. The thing I find is that even when you think you remember a book super well, you often don't remember large parts of it. I re-read Helen Macinnes' While Still We Live a while back and I had read it multiple times before. I remembered that the main character was a British woman in Poland in the late 1930's who kept extending her trip. And then, well, the town she was in got taken over and so she hid in the woods with some rebels and fell in love and then snuck out. And yes, all of that is true. I forgot before she got to the woods she went to Warsaw to try to leave, but then ended up staying in Warsaw and working for a German man who then tried to assault her and she ended up killing him which was why she ended up being taken to hide in the woods. Basically the book is like one third woods and I mostly had just remembered woods. 

And so this book I recommended was Heart Throb by Suzanne Brockmann. I remembered that a woman was directing her first movie and everyone thought she was all boobs no brains, but she had also written the movie. I remembered that the actor had had some substance issues and this was the kind of thing he hoped would remind people he was a great actor. I remembered that she got accidentally drugged and he sat through it with her until the high wore off. 

Here's what I had forgotten. I had forgotten the movie was a plantation era historical. Sure the main characters are good whites, who have realized that slavery is bad and are sneaking some slaves off on the underground railroad. I had forgotten there was a fifteen year old actress with an abusive and racist dad. I forgot that one of the actors who was young, but not a teen fell in love with this teen character, though he does realize that nothing can come of it right now. And I had forgotten that the actor with the substance abuse issue gets handcuffed and left in a trailer by his minder.

I still like the book. It has a single male narrator, but he doesn't do a bad job narrating. I still recommend the book. But I would have been way more up front with the content warnings had I remembered all this. 

So Many Check Ins

Some people say DC is a company town, and I didn't write a whole bunch of books set in DC where no one worked for the federal government for no reason. But the last stats I saw were that about 1 in 4 people in DC (pre-DOGE) were employed by the federal government. Other cities in the US, Kansas City to pick one example have similar numbers. But I know more people in DC than I do Kansas City, so I have been checking in with folks. 

And then museums and libraries got hit, and I checked in with my library friends and my museum friends. 

And they came for higher ed, so I've been checking in with my higher ed friends. 

And then public broadcasting got hit, so I was checking in with my journalist friends.

And then they started putting up signs at every federal park, which DC has a lot of. And then they did the thing where they made it cool for various federal agencies to comb the streets looking for local crime, even though in several cases they seemed to not know what local crime was in DC. 

And sure, a judge now says that wasn't cool. But are they going to unarrest people? 

So this year has been a lot. And I don't talk about it every week, because some days after I've checked in with all my people, I only want to talk about other things. 

But I hope wherever you are, you've been checking in on your folks and that they've been checking in on you.

A Belated Apology to the Music Industry

One of the things that frustrated me as a writer was when writers would then steal a photo for their blog and be shocked to discover that photos have copyrights and use, when, like of course they do. (Also, if you've been blogging as long as I have, you've watched this discovery occur a few times.) 

But with this AI stealing all the text it can find, I realized I had had my own thing that I had missed. I blogged a little about the town hall with Pandora I went to way back when: http://www.talkapedia.com/2007/09/pandora.html?m=1 Interestingly I did not mention in my blog post that part of the reason the Pandora team was hanging out in DC was to convince Congress they shouldn't have to pay the same rates radio stations did to play songs. But looking back this was music streamers basically setting up a service that used music and sold music access to it's users, and then didn't want to pay for said music access. 

And the AI/Large Language models need text written by actual humans in order to appropriately mimic human speech, but then don't want to pay for the very thing they need. I mean, they could of course write their own text. But that would take longer than stealing other people's text. So they don't want to do that. And then the AI people pretend that this roadblock suddenly appeared. As if the text they stole had just been lying out in the break room and they had no way to know it belonged to someone when they took it. 

So now of course our music industry is impacted by the rules the streamers retroactively forced through. And I hope we won't see the same with LLMs. Not just because some of my text has been stolen. But also, I hope we can learn from our past mistakes. 

Accessibility Helps Everyone

With the news of the CPB winding down, people were reminiscing about favorite PBS shows and I was reminded of a show I stumbled across as a teen. I apologize, I no longer remember the title. But the show used popular music videos and captioned them with highlights to note specific phonetic phenomenon. So all the long e's would be highlighted blue, while all the rest of the letters were white. It was a cool fun way to teach the concepts. 

I understood phonetics pretty well as a teen, but my parents didn't want to pay for cable TV. Cable TV at the time, was the only way to access music videos. Well, cable TV and this show. So I watched to get to see music videos. 

My mother had a book about "Sesame Street" as part of her coursework for her masters degree that I read for funsies. 

It talked about how the show was designed to help lower and middle class  bilingual children learn concepts about language and numbers that would help them catch up to monolingual English speaking classmates of middle and upper classes. And it did raise their skills. It just also raised the skills of the monolingual English speakers also. 

One of the things that can be easy to overlook in places where you have privilege is that better accessibility benefits you to. So when we lose things like the CPB, yes some people will be harder hit by this loss. But the things we lose affect everyone. 

Back Door

I am going to pause to acknowledge that this title from a romance author and trained sex educator could mean many things. But I am talking about bus back doors. 

I ride the bus regularly. The route near me is a main artery in the city so sometimes we get the extended buses, with the accordion piece in the middle to help them turn. In those buses the back door is even farther from the driver. 

Ideally, the back door should open each time the bus stops. In the DC area, they have added machines to the back doors, to allow people to enter from that door, as well as exit. In my experience, those back door machines work more irregularly than the front door machines. But it does mean that the door should again open at each stop. 

But it doesn't always. The person standing there will yell back door, hoping their voice will carry to the driver. Often someone a little closer to the driver will pick up the call. I watched this the other day on the bus and though about how this is a tiny moment of community. Someone sees an issue that doesn't involve them, but steps in to help solve it. Society works best when we work together. 

Tara Kennedy

Note: If you are reading this outside of your normal work hours, feel free to hold off response until your work hours.  

~To the world we dream about, and the one we live in now. 

"Hadestown", book and lyrics by Anais Mitchell

Invasive Species

They tell us lanternflies are here to stay. I read the book Pest, earlier this year, so I am aware that things we deem pests versus helpful new species changes. That often we hate things and then change our minds, or introduce things and then discover they cause problems when allowed to run amok. 

One of my beta readers for I Belong to You said she could sort of see how the animals of Rock Creek Park might need an HOA of sorts. Because the deer are cute and adorable, or majestic.  But also, they are big and the eat things, things other animals might want to eat. And the only thing that exists in or near the park that might curb the deer population is humans. (Occasionally a deer has foolishly frolicked into the zoo, to discover that we do keep a few predators in there. But so far no one has suggested Lion night in Rock Creek Park as a solution. Also, to be clear, I am pro-deer. Hi, deer!)

But what do they mean when they say lanternflies are here to stay? They mean you don't have to stomp each one you see, because stomping is not the way out. But of course, they mean we can't eradicate lanternflies by stomping them one by one. Not that there aren't solutions to lanternflies. And yes, having read Pest I am aware that humans have never really eradicated a species they were trying to eradicate. 

But some species are gone. Or - more applicably - gone from some of the places they were causing harm to other wildlife. But it wasn't because people stomped them. It took a collective, strategic, and often years long effort. But does that mean you can't stomp one? That is up to you. 

Ripped Bodice Bingo Suggestions

Okay, the Ripped Bodice released their summer reading bingo card, and I have suggestions.  They will include me.  I do not have suggestions for all the categories, so am going to skip a few.

Rescue Mission - This is a stretch, but Not Here to Make Friends by Jodi McAlister
Cover has a sportsball on it - Playing the Player by Amy Andrews
Texas Hold Em
Published before 2005 - I recently re-read Nora Roberts Sea Swept, and it held up well. There's definitely some stuff that is of it's time, particularly in the next book in the series, and Roberts was a hold out on any discussion of safe sex or birth control, so there is no mention of that.  
They Were Roommates - There are many very literal ones that would work here, including a recent release literally called They Were Roommates, but if we count valets as being like roommates kinda, A Gentleman's Gentleman by TJ Alexander would work here. 
Merfolk - Water Under the Bridge by Holley Trent
Historical Ruins - Temple of Swoon by Jo Segura
Haunted House - I'll Conjure for You by Charish Reid, Love in All the Haunted Places by Claire Kann
Road Trip - Time Loops and Meet Cutes by Jackie Lau, Here We go Again by Alison Cochrun
Telepathic Connection - Witch of Wild Things by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland
Who Doin it - Using a loose definition of mystery here, I think One in a Million by Beverley Kendall, The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter
Punny Title - Tanked by Mia Hopkins, A Legend in the Baking by Jamie Wesley
Medieval
It was Supposed to be a Summer Fling - Unromance by Erin Connor.  
Animal with a Job - Pardon My Frenchie by Farrah Rochon
Fairy Tale Retelling - Perhaps, my I Belong to You would work here.  And if we include Shakespeare as a fairytale, Ben and Beatriz by Katalina Gamarra
Fall
Rival Teams - Guava and Grudges by Alexis Castellanos
 

Books About People

The Supreme Court came out against books and it sucks. Sure, they say it's only some books but the reality of things is when the Supreme Court has said that picture books that mention anything about the world that parents somewhere might not like can be removed, it means several things. 

Teachers and librarians are going to have to figure out what books some parent somewhere might not like. My mom was a teacher, and once showed the Disney version of "The Lion King" (the original cartoon one which was rated PG) during after school care on a rainy day when they couldn't have outside time, and had a parent complain. That child's other parent was surprised to hear that because they had taken the kids to see the movie. 

So, in order to prevent further issues they only showed G movies. 

This case was brought by parents in Montgomery County, Maryland. A place I attended school. It wasn't my parents objecting since I am above picture book age. But it feels close. 

The idea that anything aimed at a picture book audience could be so terrible that a child couldn't possibly see it or hear about it, sort of defies the principles of educating children. I am not saying parents can't have values. Of course they can. I once read an op-ed by parents who hate the curriculum about recycling, because they feel the way we truck recycled items around in this country actually creates more climate harm than it saves. That is a perspective. And I understand that when children are in the sponge learning stage, it can be hard to figure out how to say, yes your teachers are very knowledgeable, but also I personally do not agree with everything they taught you today. But guess what, this is the world. Exposure to other people and other ideas is a normal response to talking to other people. You and your children should be prepared for that. 

But let's also talk about what it means for the authors of these books. First it is incredibly sad for them. They worked hard to make books that were lovely and thoughtful and age appropriate. And now they are being told that their books cannot be safely shown to some children if their parents disagree. 

Now when you google their books, you will get a Supreme Court case. 

Many libraries and schools will remove these books from their collections. 

Many libraries and schools will choose not to ask these authors and illustrators to come to their schools.

Should these authors and illustrators choose to produce another book, they will have to decide if they should be more cautious about subject matter or not. 

When their publishers review their sales record, they will likely not consider that being banned from certain schools and libraries hurt their sales. They will just have low sales. And so they will get either lower offers or no offers when their work is being considered. 

Being banned doesn't help your sales, even if you know some authors who were banned and are successful. Judy Blue, to give an example, is not successful because she got banned. She is successful because she happened to write enough bestsellers to counter being banned. Not everyone gets the chance to do that. 

What can you do? Write to your library and tell them you love books. Thank them for displays or programming that includes books that have characters of all kinds. If your library has a board, show up to the meetings. I sent my library what I called a love letter. I was specific about the things I loved that they were doing. 

And I am writing to my city council as they discuss budget to indicate how much I think the library is an important part of our budget. 

Edited: Sure, they say it's only some books but the reality of things is when the Supreme Court has said that picture books that mention anything about the world that parents somewhere might not like can be removed, it means several things. Orinally the prior sentence did nto include the phrase :can be removed".

"A Wrinkle in Time" at Arena Stage

Content note: bullying

I'm going to start by covering the musical, and then talk a little about differences from the book.

Meg and Charles Wallace Murry's father disappeared two years ago. Three strange ladies, who say they are more like stars than angels, appear and say they know how to help Meg and Charles Wallace find him. Calvin, a school mate arrives and says he felt compelled to talk to Meg. The three ladies decide he should also join them. Three three kids and three ladies journey across planets in their quest to retrieve Dr. Murry. 

I got a little teary in the very first song, so I was sucked in quickly. The cast includes Amber Gray as Mrs. Whatsit, and Vickie Lewis as Mrs. Which. I mention them because I was familiar with their work but the cast was excellent from top to bottom. The music was enchanting in places, ethereal and otherworldly in others. The costumes and hair were fascinating. And they made great use of a smallish stage. 

It was amazing enough that I considered going immediately to buy another ticket to see it again. 

Now. I still have lines from this book memorized. So I am both an avid and annoying audience. There are changes, books are not musicals. But that this show was crafted by folks who love this story seemed clear throughout. 

Some obvious changes, the twins are gone. (Sorry Sandy and Dennis fans.) Charles Wallace wears overalls, but is played by a college kid. He is believably in school, but not believably six. (His age is not mentioned.) 

Calvin is new in town, and no mention is made of siblings. Only that his parents work multiple jobs and might not notice if he misses dinner. 

They chose to act out the tesseract, which was to me a little odd, but I got used to it, as the tesseract went on. 

I don't want to spoil how they changed the meeting with It, but I thought it worked well.

Note: I attended a masked showing. Most patrons seemed to arrive without masks, and made use of the surgical masks the ticket takers gave out.

"Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations" at National Theater

Content note: brief references to suicide, racism, addiction, gender essentialism, and chronic illness.

A friend invited me to join her and her two kids at the show. With this being a jukebox musical, she had expected some hits and a smidgeon of plot. The book was based on Eddie*'s memoir of the group. The show, as the subtitle might lead you to believe attempts to chronicle the formation, founding and the struggles and successes of a group with a multi-decade career. 

As such it kinda speedruns through a lot of information, and if your kids are at the "why" stage, there's a lot of room for why questions. 

In some ways the show reminded me of "Bohemian Rhapsody", not because Queen and The Temptations are comparable groups, but because when the folks left alive to tell the story are in charge of the narrative, it favors them. 

Now, I do not know more about the inner working of The Temptations than Otis does. But the show posits that he became the leader, even as the other characters keep telling him he's not in charge, they are supposed to be a group. 

Summarizing a multi-decade career while also making time to sing about twenty songs, in the length of a musical is always going to be a nearly impossible task. But were there entertaining songs and fun choreography? Yes, absolutely. 

But if you or anyone you are going to the show with has a lot of why questions, probably make time to skim some Temptations history too, either before or after the show. 

DC: I Love You, Ready or Not at the Folger Theater

The ending affects so much of how you feel about a thing, that it can color your perception of the whole thing.

While conceptually related to the Mt. Pleasant version in the use of multiple places, one for each scene, though this time in or near the Folger, there were some differences.

Instead of a new couple and new actors in each setting, we followed three actors. Two of them played the same character throughout, and one played multiple characters. 

I spotted two other scenes for later groups, and there was some gender bended casting. So the gender of the characters was different, depending on which group you ended up in. 

Hunter, our main character was having a day. Hunter was being followed by an audience no one else seemed able to see. One character, suggested Hunter might be in a rom-com. Another, who had a ukulele, suggested it might be a musical. Hunter tried leaning in, but wasn't feeling it, so then tried to escape the audience. It gets a little more meta after that.

We were advised early not to interact with the actors, because one of them could see us, and in fact at one point asked us to stop following them. There were some incredible lines, and in my group, two of the actors had been in the Mt. Pleasant version, so it was great to see them again so soon.

Go with a friend who you can talk about the ending with.

All locations accessible by ramp or elevator.  ETA: Originally I wrote genderblind casting, which I belated realized was a very ableist turn of phrase. I apologize for my usage.

"Senior Class" at Olney Theatre Center

Content note: classism. 

A show about teens who discover there is no budget left to put on a show, definitely feels like it has been done before. A show about teens who decide to do "Pygmalion" (public domain!) but update it for a modern audience and maybe make it a musical, has also been done before. (Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, anyone?) But some ideas are repeated because they are great ideas. After all, I've loved approximately ten different versions of "A Christmas Carol". 

I adored this show. George Bernard Washington, G.B. to his friends, as the writer/director of the show made clear how much the act of writing and directing feels a little like being Professor Higgins, trying to mold something in a new direction but discovering the thing you are trying to mold doesn't always accept your directions. 

Alyzé as a broke ballerina who does subway showtime dancing to help raise funds for her schooling was wonderful. 

And Colin, G.B.'s best friend who dreams of a Jimmy award, and casts a jock as Pickering to his Higgins was delightful.

The choreography was wonderful. The songs were fun. The direction was delightfully specific. If you are a person who likes peeking at the background actors, they were always doing little things that made them seem more like fully rounded characters. 

My one critique would be the sound design seemed to overwhelm some of the solo singers.

And the lesson that no one wants to be Higgins, Higgins gets left all alone, community is what you need, was perfect.

(Also those of you who recall my opinion that Freddy is Liza's best choice, well, this shows agrees with me.)

Three Interesting Things

1. Penguin poop might be saving the world.

2. This was a nice round up of the Tonys. 

3. This is my local breakfast taco place, talking about how they survive the rush.  I literally did not think I liked breakfast tacos until they converted me. 

Tara Describes the Tony Nominated Plays Badly

Hello, I love theater and do not always get to see everything nominated for a Tony for reasons that include, COVID, lack of infinite monies to travel to New York.  So I have seen only one of these.  And I'm still going to intentionally describe it badly.  This tradition started as me attempting to describe these things in one sentence, and devolved from there.

To all the people who make theater, whether award nominated or not, I love you. 

Plays -

English:  English is hard. 

The Hills of California:  Fame doesn't make up for your mother dying. 

John Proctor is the Villain: Teens push back against reading a play where the supposed good guy sucks. 

Oh Mary: Being the spouse of the president is awful, it would be so much better to be a cabaret singer. 

Purpose: Adult kid brings home friend to family house, hijinks ensue. 

Musicals -

Buena Vista Social Club: Some music albums take forty years to make. 

Dead Outlaw: What if you could make money by lying and showing off a dead guy?

Death Becomes Her: Sometimes you have to live forever to truly attempt to outdo your best frenemy. 

Maybe Happy Ending: Two outdated robots discover they might have more to learn about the world. About love. 

Operation Mincemeat: What if a dead person was the key to winning the war? 

One could argue just about everything is about love and death, but there's a definite corpse theme going on in many of the musicals this year. Not a complaint, just an observation.

Does the Tally Matter?

NaNo's daily goal was 1667. #1000WordsOfSummer is, well 1000. I read a post once from someone who had a daily goal of 10000, and no, that is not a typo. And I recently came across a post from someone who said after discovering a famous writer had a daily goal of 500, that they would be happy to be half as productive and set their daily goal to 250. 

So, to answer the question I asked, I don't think the goal you set matters. Well, I think it matters that it is achievable for you on a multi-day basis. There are people who can run marathons and then there is me. I could set a goal of running three miles a day, but, oh that's right I don't run. 

For me, when editing I find the goals harder. I can read three chapters a day. Or stare at the manuscript for at least an hour. Or fix at least four things. In the end it tends to be a mix of things. It goes faster when I look at it each day, but I don't always. On days I don't even peak I try to at least actively think about it for a few minutes. 

And the other thing that doing these group writing bits helps with, is the camaraderie. Showing up to these people, even if they are mostly strangers on the internet, and declaring that I am making space for writing, it helps. It reminds me that I am not alone. That folks are cheering me on, just as I cheer them on. And that helps. 

Mariame Kaba often says everything worth doing is done with other people, and while she was mostly talking organizing, it applies here to. 

If you are writing too this summer, feel free to hit that contact button over to the right and tell me about it. I'd love to cheer you on.

Tara Kennedy

Note: If you are reading this outside of your normal work hours, feel free to hold off response until your work hours.  

~To the world we dream about, and the one we live in now. 

"Hadestown", book and lyrics by Anais Mitchell

Note

I am quite aware that Three Interesting Things has fallen to the wayside. I keep thinking yes, I will do it this week, and then...not doing it, which is why I hadn't pointed itout sooner. There's a number of factors, including me trying to contain my mad on the internet. Being angry can be useful, but it can also be draining. And yes, I can only post happy things, but I have to sift through a lot of other things to find the things I want to share. 

I am sorry if you miss it. I miss it. I am hoping by posting about it, I will get the mojo back. 

"DC I Love You: First Dates" in Mount Pleasant via the Folger Shakespeare Theatre

Content note: references to deceased relatives.

I have to tell you, when you offer an immersive theater experience about romance set in my neighborhood, well, I basically hadn't finished reading the description before I loaded the ticket into my cart. 

After two weekends in Mount Pleasant, the Folger is going to do a version at the Folger, and I understand the stories will all be different. 

This show requires a little set up. Basically each scene involves different characters in a different location. There apparently have been six or seven prior versions of this in other locales. 

The group had headsets connected to the actor's mic's so that if there were cars, dogs, kids, or other city noise, we could hear. It also meant some of the scenes you had an angled vantage of. So it was almost like staged eavesdropping. 

The five scenes were all, as the title implies first dates. They all, spoiler, went well. There were two fix ups. One random stranger meetup at a political trivia event. And two app dates, one of which was between two school friends. The dates were all a blend of funny, awkward, emotional, and sweet.

The process of moving between each worked really well. There were a few tech hiccups, but I was in the very first group, and nothing that took away from the overall experience. 

The couples were of multiple races and gender pairings. 

Note: The Mount Pleasant version of the show involves one location that is only accessible by stairs, and one location that is a bar, so is restricted to people allowed to enter bars. 

It's Not IP That's the Problem

Probably worth noting before I dive in here, that my latest release is a fairytale mashup, so obviously I am on the side of various existing intellectual property. And of course, as an author, some of books have been scraped to feed so called AI without consent or payment. 

I think there's a kind of prevailing ugh about things based on existing properties, aka IP that is mostly about the fact that we are on the zillionth Superman and Spiderman remakes. And yes, not saying none of these have been interesting or delightful. They have. 

But most musicals are based on IP. And I love a musical. What I suspect some people are tired of is not IP per se, but use of such a limited part of the IP.

I had proposed a rule for one of my book clubs that we only read two books by any author. Not because there aren't authors I am basically willing to read whatever they write. There are. But there are so many authors out there. Half the fun, to me at least, of book club is discovering authors you wouldn't otherwise have tried. And honestly it's a monthly book club. 12 authors a year is really very few when you look at the literally hundreds of books published each week. 

Same with TV and movies. Part of the challenge is that people who make TV and movies are very busy, so they have little time to consume other entertainment. So when they do, they mostly reach for stuff they loved before they became a TV or movie person. Which means so much of what we see is on a weird delay.

Sure there are exceptions, but the exceptions are the really huge things. Things that even people who barely read know is a book.

Speaking of which, I am actually up to date on a TV show.  Shocking news.  I watched "Murderbot".  It is based on a book.  I think it probably is enjoyable to those who haven't read the book, but YMMV. 

The Joy of Bookish People

A friend mentioned a sudden yearning to attend the Gaithersburg Book Festival Friday night and so Saturday we went. I confess I am spoiled living in this area. We have several independent book stores that do events. We have the National Book Festival. We have a number of other events. So I get picky. What will the weather be like? Will there be track work on the metro that weekend? 

Well, this weekend was beautiful. Warm enough to make a tropical blooded person like me happy, but not hot enough that people melt. Breezy but not gusty. Sunny and picturesque. 

And it was lovely listening to authors, reading the excellent T-shirts, totes, and hats bookish people break out when they will be amongst other bookish people. 

I ran into a few writers I know. I chatted in line with a few people. And yeah, I came home with a few more books. 

Make Big Asks

One of the helpful things someone said at a social justice meeting was ask for all the things, don't hold back. I think we are often encouraged by the status quo to ask for small incremental change. To not expect big things to quickly from large institutions. 

Except when you are working with others, especially others with goals counter to yours, big asks are the only way you even get something close to what you want. 

I once hopped in a cab. It was New Year's. I was not drunk, just car free and I had missed the last metro train. I caught the cab in Maryland but need to get to DC. When you cross jurisdictions like that the cab drivers sometimes attempt  negotiation. The cab driver proposed I pay him $50. (I am making these numbers up, this was a while ago.) I said absolutely not and offered to get out of the cab. 

He asked for a counter offer and I said $10. Now I knew this was a maybe a $20 ride but he started with with more than double that, so I went super low as a counter balance. And do you know what happened. He decided to turn the meter on instead. He tapped it when it hit ten (about halfway home) and I wisely did not make a big deal of it still being less than $50 when we arrived. 

When people are trying to convince you that there are too many human rights, or too much due process, responding with reasonable counters just pushes you closer to what they wanted. So dream big, and make big asks. 

It's May

It's AANHPI Heritage Month. I was reflecting on high school. I was a multiracial teen of European, Chinese, and Hawaiian descent. Still am. Well, not the teen part.

My high school combined European and American history into one two year course. China got only vague mentions in this course. Hawai'i came up briefly, when it got couped, and then annexed. I've mentioned before that my history teacher announced that they did not know how to pronounce Queen Lili'uokalani's name and were not going to learn. I wish I could tell you that was the moment I decided to do an independent study, but I can't recall. 

In my senior year, I did, for one elective credit, an independent study on Hawaiian history. I met with the anthropology teacher, who had agreed to be my advisor. And I presented a paper, along with sources to a committee in order to get my grade. 

So even as a teen, I knew there were gaps in what I was being taught, places I was going to have to fill in. There is some weird assumption on the part of some, that while everyone needs to know about the Treaty of Ghent, not everyone needs to know about what was happening in places not predominantly populated by Europeans. Even the American history textbooks cover the US with the European settlers as the main characters and everyone else as supporting players.

There are so many great books - fiction books even, you don't have to read history unless you want to (um, unless you are in school). There are so many great books by Pacific Islanders, by Asian Americans, by Asians, and by native Hawaiians. Some raised in the diaspora like me, some not. There are translated books. (I have been gobbling up translations of books about cats, coffee shop time travel, and dreams.)

Here are some suggestions I made last year for the Pasifika read along: http://www.talkapedia.com/2024/04/pasifika-reading-challenge-suggestions.html

"Bad Books" at Round House Theatre

Content warning: brief gun usage, off stage death of a child, off stage injury, reference to abortion.

"Bad Books" is a timely play about a mom who comes to visit the librarian about a book that she recommended to the mom's teen son. 

The play is done in the round, with the stage slowly rotating. The set had books around the edges of the stage, and in a circular overhang. All of those books have been banned or challenged. 

The book the mom objects to is fictitious, but the title and cover, since the mom admits she didn't finish reading it are - juicy - enough to make it clear why a parent might have concerns. 

The show is done without intermission, and has several book references, including "Charlotte's Web". Hilariously a spider dangled from the ceiling in front of my and my friend's seat during part of the show. 

The show is done with two actresses, one who plays the Mother throughout, and one who plays the librarian, the boss, and a fellow parent. 

Some of the big things happen off stage, the mob spear headed by other concerned parents whipped up by the mom's social media posts, attacks the library, but much of that is recapped later. I still teared up at one point, but it does rely on the audience's investment in the two performances to get to where they've gotten emotionally. 

It's easy to nitpick, but as someone who has librarian friends, I thought there wasn't enough mention of the schooling and training that librarians go through. Though in my possibly biased opinion the librarian does prove her bona fides in other ways. 

I've talked before about conversation plays, plays designed to provoke conversation after, and I think this show has a very clear conclusion it isn't afraid to make. But it might also spark some great conversation in the ways any great story would. 

Three Interesting Things

1. I happened upon this fascinating look into the woman who invented at home pregnancy tests.

2. The UK cartoonist who was placed in an ICE prison has given an interview about the process. 

3. James Roday gave a wonderful account of how Val Kilmer's character Chris Knight inspired his portrayal of Shawn Spencer.

Orientation

I went to university in Scotland, and at the time they did an overseas student orientation. I mention this for two reasons. One, foreign students in the US right now are being treated badly. For me, as a DC resident, with no state school option, going to the UK was actually one of my cheaper options. (DC residents have a few more options these days.) 

One thing that's worth noting is that foreign students pay not only full tuition, the foreign student rate is between two and three times the regular student rate. (For those of you wondering how that was cheaper for me, well, the UK student rates have gone up a bit post Brexit, but also, have you seen US tuition rates?) 

So universities often rely on some foreign students, both for diversity of thought, and also the higher rate they pay. 

But one of the targets of this anti-diversity pro-segregation movement is orientations that single people out based on who they are. 

So, in my orientation, I met other new students, including one who turned out to be from near me. I got a tour of the town, got some info on some of the students' traditions, and got to hang out and eat some food. 

I got kicked out bright and early on dorm move in day, so ended up hanging out with the RAs as they checked everyone in because what else was I going to do. Which means I met most people in my dorm as they rolled in.  

So when my roommate, who had grown up just an hour away arrived, who had several classmates she'd gone to high school with at the university and in the dorm arrived, I was already there. She later told me it seemed like I already knew so many people and so much stuff. 

Did those two days give me a huge advantage? Not really. My roommate learned her way around pretty quickly. And we all found our people for the most part. The friends from university that I still keep in touch with are all Scottish. 

But, those days helped me settle. Gave me some faces that when I ran into them later I could say hi, and chat. Two of the Americans I started with the same year ended up leaving. One of them skipped orientation and ended up leaving because he was lonely and didn't feel like he fit in. One hit some academic snags. 

The orientation wasn't the whole reason I succeeded. But it helped give me a start. Helping people find others who have similar backgrounds isn't just so they can only hang out with those people. But goodness, some days after you've been told the third patently untrue thing about the States, knowing where to find someone who will roll their eyes on your behalf is useful. 

The idea of the melting pot assumes that everyone wants to end up tasting like everyone else. (Okay, that metaphor got a little weird, but work with me here.) Sometimes people are somewhere, a job, a university, to do their thing the best that they can, emphasis on their thing. They can learn without melding or changing into some other thing. So finding places they can find others who appreciate some culturally specific things helps them succeed. And helps the institution hang on to the knowledge, and let's face it the money, it needs to keep going. 

The Labeling of Things

One of my favorite things about people is the way we feel personally victimized by the weather. (Why yes, there is rain in today's forecast.) Humans have created years, and then subdivided years into quarters, and assigned each quarter a season. Are there any studies that say that seasons last three months in every single part of the globe, or even any? Not that I'm aware of. But once we assigned these things, we then are consistently affronted when the weather does not cooperate. We track highs and lows. Create charts and data visualizations, and judge whether the weather has fallen into our expectations. 

It is spring where I am. We have had warm days and cool days. The cool day that follows a warm day always feels so much cooler. On one such day a gentleman on a street corner yelled, "The weatherman lied," at the sky. 

Everyone seems sure the weather where they live is more unpredictable, more changeable than the weather everywhere else. Climate change has, of course, affected when and how weather changes. 

But given there's a Mark Twain quote about weather changing unpredictably, it seems weather has been befuddling us all for at least a century or two.  

Hope the weather is within expectations for you today. 

What game are you playing?

There is a family story that goes along with today's but of overthinking about the phrase playing chess not checkers. 

Many summers we would go visit my grandparents in southeastern Connecticut. That stretch of Connecticut required fancy antennas and/or cable to get more than two TV stations unless the wind was blowing a certain way. One of the two channels that came in pretty well was PBS, which meant my grandparents were happy enough since they could watch their nightly news show. 

For us children used to a larger diet of TV, this led to a lot of boredom. So, in an attempt to stave this off, there were a lot of evening games. We played Taboo, gun, gin rummy, double solitaire, crazy eights, and once or twice hearts. (One of my cousin's relatives tried to teach us bridge. I called it reverse hearts and she was not pleased. We did not play enough for me to have retained much.) 

So one night we are playing crazy eights. And my mother lays all her cards down and yells, "Gin!"

We all stared stunned, hoping this was a not very funny joke. And then realizing our mother is basically sleepwalking at this point, so we just kept playing around her. 

So when people say someone is playing chess not checkers, I understand that the point is chess requires generally more long term strategy than checkers. But I also wonder. It hardly matters what chess strategy you are using, if the game you are actually playing is checkers, you are going to lose. 

7 Things I Learned From "Real Genius"

Two notes before we start. One, this was inspired by the news that Val Kilmer passed away this week. His loved ones are in my thoughts. 

Two, "Real Genius", while progressive in some ways, has some problematic sexual consent situations. 

1. Being smart is kind of like power. 

2. Smart does not equal cool. It can.

3. Burnout is bad. Sometimes learning how to have fun and relax is just as important as knowing how to study. 

4. It is not nice to prank your fellow students. But it might be funny. 

5. When people admire your brain, they may only care as long as they can use it for their purposes.

6. Figuring out the utility of the problems you've been asked to solve is important. Because it would suck to discover they had you making part of a weapon. 

7. Breaking into a military site to make a giant popcorn house may not be nice, or wise, but it will be funny. 

Tara Kennedy

Note: If you are reading this outside of your normal work hours, feel free to hold off response until your work hours.  

~To the world we dream about, and the one we live in now. 

"Hadestown", book and lyrics by Anais Mitchell

The End of an Era

I've talked about NaNoWriMo a lot over the years.  The good.  The bad.  And now NaNo has announced that they are shutting down.  I am sad.  I found the ways they chose to address the issues they had more problematic than helpful.  But I want to say something that doesn't just apply to NaNo.  Anything that you learned how to do, with NaNo, you were the one that did the work.  The framework, the doodads, the camaraderie, all of that helps, but you did the work.  We often fail to honor our elders, our teachers, our ancestors in this society.  But I think we also often over attribute some organizations with helping us become something when we did the work.  Now I think my English teachers in the acknowledgements of each of my books even though I wrote those books with my hands, my brain.  I had some great English teachers, truly great.  And well, I had some not so great ones.  I can acknowledge that all of them helped me, but also recognize that they helped me be a thing I was going to be if I put in the work. 

I read a news story about some pro-athletes that are doing a thing that is basically fancy pilates.  It isn't called pilates of course.  Because the people who run the program want to have a different brand, and have their own I'm guessing well trademarked machine.  And it doesn't matter if the bend and stretch program you are in is called yoga, or pilates, or bend and snap, if it works for you, cool.  If it doesn't, also cool.  (And also, I know there are differences between yoga and pilates.  I am not saying there are not.)  But in the end if you move carefully, well, and regularly, you will see changes in your body.  You will develop flexibility or strength or both.  But only if you put in the work.  It doesn't matter how many classes you sign up for if you don't go. 

And yes, I know people who published their NaNo.  I have published some on my NaNos.  I have also not published some of my NaNos. 

So in the end, I am thrilled for all the people that were able to find their writing groove.  Sad for everyone NaNo failed to properly care for.  

And now, I need to get back to my writing. 

Bloom at Your Pace

In DC we have the cherry blossoms and the countdown to peak bloom. One of my coworkers was saying she had never been to see the ones downtown. I have. And it's not that they are old hat now (another saying) or not worth seeing. But there are blooming trees all over the city. I walked over to an event this weekend and passed three different kinds of blooming trees. Some were at peak bloom. Some were already shedding petals. Some were not quite there yet. 

And the thing is, they were all gorgeous.

There's a tendency to assign value to peak bloom when it's a phase of the process. Kind of like full moons. Other moons are not lesser moons. They are just different parts of the process. If you see the trees and there are flowers, then yay. 

Projects, writing or otherwise can be like that to. There are iterative parts. Places we all have to get to or through. But the places we mark along the way are often not random, but no more or less important than the steps before and after them. It's just the part we decided to note. 

And because this time of year I constantly quote Hannah Carmona, let's also reference her note about cherry blossoms. Cherry blossoms only bloom once a year. They don't expect more of themselves than this. They plan all their stuff around one bit of blooming and then they cycle into the next phase. 

Your project may not allow for that pace. But if you've been trying to be a rosebush or an azalea, and it isn't working. Maybe you're a cherry blossom. 

Knowing What You Want

Early in my cat life I bought her a catnip carrot. The carrot was fabric, stuffed with stuffing and catnip, with a few green faux feathers acting as the carrot top. It was an immediate hit. Cat people know cat toys are a lot of hit and miss. I brought home other catnip vegetables. They often got sniffed, occasionally even licked, but nothing was as successful as the carrot. 

So I just bought a catnip carrot every month when I stocked up on food. Until one day there was no catnip carrot at the store. I found some online, but they were from a different company. I ordered them anyway, but my cat deemed them uninteresting and ignored them. I set up a basket with all the ignored catnip toys in the hopes that one day one would be found acceptable. 

The catnip carrot came back, but they must have changed something because it no longer sparked joy for my cat. 

Well, yesterday I heard something. And looked over, and my cat had dragged the catnip banana out of the basket and was doing the full wrestle it and bunny kick it thing. (For non cat people basically the cat grips it in their front paws while laying on their side and kicks at the toy with their back paws.) 

So now I guess I need to stock up on some catnip bananas.

Three Interesting Things

1. This man and his wife shared the story of how they discovered the Social Security Administration had decided he was dead, and the process for fixing that.

2. This post about "Love is Blind" is really about how relationships are all about politics. 

3. I have been so excited for "Boop! The Musical" since I saw the very first (and so far main song) made available to press.  Sure sometimes one song is really the highlight of the show, and sometimes you think, if I just get to see this song it's enough.  Anyway, NPR reflects on the first time they met Boop star Jasmine Amy Rogers. 

Things Unseen

I got a new pair of glasses. I guess I should back up. I have had glasses, for quite some time. But initially I only needed them for distance. So things like driving at night, watching sports in a stadium, watching live theater. Which meant some people knew me and hardly ever saw me in glasses. And some people only ever saw me in glasses. It was interesting. 

Anyway, a few years ago an optometrist told me my close up vision had actually gotten better but some people after a certain age found bifocals helpful, so I should consider them. I was confused. If my close up vision was better, why would I need to. So I got another pair of distance glasses and carried them around, using as needed. 

And then about two years ago, I was at a restaurant with a friend and caught myself doing that maneuver I had seen my mom do many times, where you trying to hold the menu closer, then farther, trying to find the right distance. And I thought, okay, yeah, it might be time to consider multi-focal glasses. 

So got an updated prescription, talked the the optometrist about options, texted friends. And I got myself progressive lenses. 

And the first time I wore them, they made me dizzy. It was weird. Things that used to be clear were now fuzzy and some things were clear, but depending on how close they were. I took them right back off. But I experimented with putting them on and immediately leaving the house, and that seemed to work. So I started with that, and now I wear them all the time.

So this new pair I just got is photochromic. And the first day I wore them it was dark in the morning, and so it wasn't until I was headed home I had a chance to show them some sunshine. And I was looking around, and annoyed that they didn't seem to be working. I had been using clip on before. They made a dramatic flip closed when I put them on, and gave great sun protection. I pulled out my phone and doubled checked that I had really ordered the photochromic. I had. 

And then I switched on the phone camera to take a selfie to show the glasses people and noticed that, uh, then lenses were dark. They were working. The shift had been gradual enough that I just hadn't seen it. They were doing the thing, quietly, without fanfare. 

I think sometimes the federal government can be like that. Sure we all complain about potholes. But like monitor and repairing roads is a huge thing, and I am glad that some group is in charge for that. Someone else monitors the signs. Trims the trees that are pressing against power lines. Handles fire engine maintenance. The grants that help fund arts. The library that maintains huge amounts of documents and instruments among other things. Museums. The National Parks. Okay, I don't mean to list everything the government does because we'd be here all day. I read a study once that most people think they use no Federal government programs, and the average person is on seven. We all use roads. I use public transit too. I visit museums and National Parks. I get mail.  I'm sure there's more I'm overlooking. Because a lot of it is just kind of quietly there. So it's not a big deal.