Being a Fan

I went to a men's college basketball game earlier this year (My sports superstitions for basketball are basically non-existent unlike other sports.) It reminded me of a story.

I went to a family wedding up in Connecticut. As we arrived at the reception, the person next to me grabbed my arm and said, "Oh my God that's Geno. Look, it's Geno!"

I said, very sincerely, "I don't know who that is l,but I am very excited for you."

"I'm going to talk to him," he said.

"Go for it," I said. 

We later found out that a relative at the wedding, who worked at UConn, had been in conversation with Geno Auriemma who was helping a kid find a spot for their own wedding reception. So relative said, oh you can stop by our family's reception and see if you like the set up. Little did they know they made other guest's day and possibly even year. 

Being a fan of things is fun. Other people being fans of things, even when they are things I am not deeply into, is so much fun. Half the fun of all the "Heated Rivalry" discourse has been watching people go all in, comparing books to show, making fan edits, discussing their favorite scenes.

Being excited about things is great stuff. Being excited about books, or sports, and/or books about sports is so wonderful. 

Be a fan of things. 

Tara Kennedy

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

The Power of No

There is a thing people say about how the word no is a complete sentence. As in, no I will not be doing that. Or no, if you do that, I will not be applauding you or supporting you. It of course doesn't mean you always get your way. There are moments when it is useful to be in brainstorm mode. To say, oh great idea but what if we did this instead. If everyone is trying to figure out where to eat dinner, then just saying no is not helpful. (Unless you are saying, no, I'm going home.) No to Chinese but yes to Mexican is helpful.

But there are times when the no itself is important. No, I do not approve that message. No, I am not okay with this. No I will not tell this person about your great idea. No. No. No.

No, of course, does not always mean you get your way. But showing up to say, no it still powerful and important. When we are taught history the focus is often on what the people with the most power did. And that sometimes elides the complicated discussions they were having, and the people outside the room who had thoughts and feelings too.

Even when the powers that be continue on with their choices, joining with others to say no is useful. It reminds them you are watching. It reminds others who though they were the only one who hated it, that they are not alone. And it can help move later decisions in different directions. 

"As You Like It" at the Folger Shakespeare Theater

"As You Like It" is one of Shakespeare's comedies, which basically means everyone doesn't die at the end. It uses two setting the court and the forest of Arden where folks who have been banished from court have gone to hang out. Basically there's a disgraced Duke, the younger son of a deceased Duke, whose brother has refused to look after him, and then we add the daughter of a disgraced Duke, and her cousin who refused to let her lovely cousin be banished without her. There's some disguising oneself as a man, since two women wandering a forest seems a bit unsafe. And by the end there's been love, betrayal, redemption, and a little revenge. 

This particular production, in a theater where one might have to walk by the US Capitol building to enter, used the duality of DC. The Capitol building representing the court, the federal DC, the place where decisions are made. And the more loved in parts of the city, with street murals, and people, Black people in particular, trying to live and support each other with the resources they have. 

Folger has used DC as it's setting before, and I always enjoy seeing how they do it. The cast was wonderful. The costume design was fabulous and there was one pair of boots in particular that I personally want. 

They commissioned some original songs for the show (yes, music, almost like a musical!) that added to the sense of community a merriment. All in all, it was a great time.

Note: I saw a masked performance. They were allowing food and drink in the theater, so masking was not consistent among patrons. 

"Safety Not Guaranteed" at Signature Theater

Content note: discussions of grief

There was a movie version of this first. I have not watched it, though I am now intrigued. I basically read the description of the show, which boiled down to a classified ad seeking a time travelling partner and including the titular line, safety not guaranteed, and I was in. 

The cast is only six, plus the band, and there are a few moments where the cast interacts directly with the band, either using them as extras or demanding musical responses

 All musicals use a little hand waving as far as the other cast members pausing or even participating while one character sings their deep thoughts. 

Here the characters grab microphones, utilize mic stands. They are rocking with the band. 

So, what's it about. Someone forwards an ad seeking a time travelling partner to a magazine in Seattle. One lead reporter and two interns decide to go to the small town mentioned in the ad to interview the guy who placed it. Each of them end of making connections and revisiting the choices that led them all there in this town. 

The songs are powerful at times goofy and earnest at others. There is one song about how the world is full of mostly jagholes. 

The cast was great. The band was great. 

Also, special shout out to the costume designer, in addition to distinct clothes for each character, there is an incredible moment that I don't want to spoil to much, but let's just say the character's jacket lights up. It is delightful. 

It is fun goofy, and emotional show. 

Note: I saw a masked matinee. 

"Inherit the Wind" at Arena Stage

Content note: off stage death. 

We read "Inherit the Wind" in high school and I adored it. I described it to a coworker as a story about a teacher who gets in trouble for teaching Biology, which is both true and taking a side. The program note mentions that the show is talking about bigger issues than who is right and who is wrong. So me taking a side in the court case is sort of beside the point. The case in the play has an obvious real world basis. But of course the play looks at both the case but also the town. How a small town tried to both show up and show off for the reporters and famous people drawn to this case that has garnered national attention.

I had last seen Rebecca Madeira, who plays Rachel, in "A Wrinkle in Time" so I was pleased they incorporated singing into it. The original play has only Rachel as a main canonically female character. The show made use of a non-binary actor, and also some gender bent casting as well as color conscious casting. The ensemble players played children, adults, and folks of multiple genders. "Gilmore Girls" fans will recognize Dakin Matthews, who is playing Harrison. 

The case at the center of the story is about a science teacher who teaches about Darwin's theory of evolution in a state where such teaching is banned. The case garners national attention, and a former presidential candidate, and a well known city defense attorney each come to town to provide prosection and defense.

The play is obviously sadly timely. And of course the themes of outsiders coming to help decide the fate of what happens to one teacher in a small town, and the way the magnified attention makes everyone feel like they can't just work it out is of course a problem that spans generations. 

While I don't agree that there isn't a right and wrong side for this case, I do love and understand a good metaphor. I understand the broader themes and even if my favorite two lines happen to be Mr. Drummond's.

I often talk about conversation plays, though of course all good shows should engender conversation. This one is based on true events. But the play was written in 1950's, a generation or so later. It was in fact written during another time when certain things being said out loud in a classroom were considered a concern. 

The direction allowed for gestures and movement. Some characters walked up into the aisles. If you like watching the actor not speaking, it is fun. And it helps remind the audience, this isn't just about the people yelling. The play starts and ends with two playful kids running around. 

Jersey Rant

Note: Longtime readers know I normally don't discuss hockey on the internet while the season is in progress due to various superstitions. But given recent trades, Capitals management appears to think the season is over. So, here we are.  Now I recognize that hockey jerseys have to accomplish multiple things. They need to look cool on a hanger, or more likely these days, in a thumbnail in the online store. So the color, the design, the logo, the front is very important. The thing is, once the game starts, everyone's leaning over their sticks to play, and I the viewer can only see the back. The back has a prominent number and name, so the referee and linespeople can easily identify offenders. 

But what happens is often the back is white with one contrast color stripe along the sleeve. Or black, with one contrast color stripe across the sleeve. And I do not know who anybody is. Canada and Switzerland played each other and I only know who won because of the box score in the corner. Sure one team was red with white letters and one was white with red letters, but the only reason I now know that Canada had on white is because I later saw Canada's dark jersey and it had black stripes which would have been very useful to me on the light jersey. (They were wearing black shorts, but so was Switzerland.) 

And you might be thinking Tara, this is maybe a once every for years problem, and I will point you to the Carolina Hurricanes and the Montreal Canadians. On a TV that is less than wall sized, even their logos are hard to tell apart on overhead shots because they are both round red things. (Yes they are very distinct when held stationary side by side. Do you know how often hockey players are stationary?)

So, hockey jersey designers, I implore you, think of the backs, or even the sides, when coming up with something the viewer at home can latch on to to tell the teams apart. 

Lucy Darling

I went to see the Lucy Darling show at the Warner Theater on Friday. I'm not going to do a full theater style review, in part because it's a variety show, and it changes a little every night since it's audience driven. I had somewhat jokingly described it to my coworkers as she's a magician and comedian who makes fun of the audience. 

First, Lucy was just coming off 48 hours of vocal rest, so her voice was a little different than normal. Mark was there with her. It was a lot of fun. The audience clearly had a lot of fans who had either been to prior shows, or possibly just watched every possible video on the internet. 

My friend and I sat in the orchestra, but far enough back that we did not hope to become part of the show. It also meant it was fun to people watch who had clearly dressed to be in the show. There were a few interactions I can wait to see how they get edited for the internet. 

I definitely think if you have seen the videos and thought, I want 90 minutes of that, the show will absolutely deliver. I know Lucy/Carisa has been working non-stop for a bit. I hope the vocal thing clears up quickly. 

"Operation Mincemeat" at the Golden Theater

Content note: Contextually appropriate use of Nazi imagery. 

I will get to the show, though the TL:DR is that I loved it and it was worth the journey and the expense.

I came to "Operation Mincemeat" in an unusual way for a theoretical Broadway watcher. I had seen the #Ham4Ham performance, I had seen the Olivier's performance, and I was a little meh. I'd even seen a performance of "Dear Bill" and been like, well, this is nice. And scoffed at the people typing in the comments, "It makes more sense in context." (It does, in fact, have more emotional punch in context. This is however true of just about any good musical song.)  Funnily enough, I watched a Max Kylemenko video where he spent a day with the cast and it was exactly the kind of weird behind the scenes stuff that I love and I was like, I should look into this musical some more. I discovered that the entire cast album was available, and and did my cast album listen while I scanned through the plot summary. And I fell in deep. I scoured the internet for interviews. I watched the writer/creators early videos from when they were developing the songs. I became obsessed. 

When I decided to see "Hadestown" I put myself on a timeout from the cast albums, and "Operation Mincemeat" became the replacement cast album. I debated trying to stuff it into my Hadestown trip and then decided to plan a separate trip. 

Figuring the original cast having now played these roles in multiple theaters, having made it through an award season in the UK and here, might be seeking a rest soon, but wanting to avoid peak winter holiday tourist season I picked end of January. In a year that ends in six. 

Some of you might remember the last time I went to New York the last weekend in January in a year that ended in six. (Blog here. But basically, it snowed so much they shut down Broadway. Fortunately after I had seen my planned show.)

Snow appeared in the forecast for my January trip, but it wasn't supposed to start until late Saturday, so probably wouldn't accumulate until after I was on the train back. I shared this plan with multiple people who gave me varying looks of, oh, well, I look forward to hearing how that works out for you. By Thursday the totals were looking dire, and one friend texted me, you have to stay in New York if you do this, travelling back after the show is ridiculous. By that point I had gone from thinking the journey back in the weather would be a fun adventure, to maybe this is not the kind of adventure I wish for. I was too tired, and still a little bit sad about going to rearrange things Thursday night, so decided to do it first thing Friday. And Friday I woke up to Amtrak having cancelled my trip. Telecharge very kindly let me rebook my show ticket. And I picked a new weekend in February.

Now yes, I know snow happens in February too. But I was trying to see the original cast, and this was their last weekend of performances. I know the American recruits are amazing. But I wanted this. 

So when I checked the weather at the start of the week and saw snow, I had an unusual reaction for me. I thought, really. Fortunately it shifted just enough into Sunday that I was, fingers crossed going to be fully back home before there was a drop. But school kids, call me! I can be bribed. 

Also, I failed to check the Olympics schedule when I made my plans, so I really appreciate the gold medal men's hockey game being scheduled after my return. It was really very kind of the Olympics.

So, the show. It is amazing. It is funnier in person. (The cast album is pretty funny.) Do I think most musicals are best if you go in cold? Sure. But live theater is still amazing. Even when you've listened to it enough that you've figured out all the character switches, watching them do it, is amazing. 

Sorry, here are the basics. The Allied forces need the German troops to move off of Sicily so they can use Sicily to launch their big win the war plan. The plan the British devise, Operation Mincemeat, is to plant a dead body with some secret war plans involving Sardinia. The troops on Sicily will go to Sardinia to check it out and voila!

The show uses five actors to play eighty some characters. There are several songs where they switch character mid song. A friend of mine pointed out that "Come From Away" does this. I feel like Mincemeat does this at a eleven. But yes. The show also explores privilege, the way that war changed opportunities for women, and the sort of goofiness of some of the things that were happening. 

I am a person who is well-versed in World War II stuff, and didn't really feel like I needed more, but once again, if you sing to me, I can be bought. 

As I said this was the last weekend for the original cast, but it's been running in the West End happily without the original cast. I feel sure whatever cast you see will be amazing. I already want to see it again.

Edited to add theater name and to correct typos.

Sports

The thing about sports is there is no such thing as a foregone conclusion. Sure everyone will claim they can tell. But sports betting would not exist if sports was actually predictable. We hold and watch competitions because both the expected and unexpected can be amazing to witness. 

Writing or many creative pursuits can be like that. You set targets and goals and some days you show up and are a star who exceeded expectations. And some days, not so much. You try to practice and learn your best conditions so wherever possible you have more good days than bad. But some days it snows in the middle of your half pipe competition or someone nudges you off the short track and you just don't know. Even on the publishing side you'll hear stories of trains full of books falling into lakes or covers that got banned by one of the stores or some rave going viral. Wildly unpredictable things happen every day. You show up as ready as you can be for what happens next. 

Sale!

Newsletter readers got this news first, but Clear as Ice is currently on sale as in the US and Canada as part of the Lovers and Haters sale. Clear as Ice is the story that you might remember started here on the blog as part of #Hockeyfiction. Sienna is no stranger to social media. When she unwittingly starts something claiming there are no Asian Americans in hockey, and then discovers there is one on her hometown team, she knows it’s up to her to make amends. And given her new no dating this year rule, she won’t have any trouble keeping things professional. Al is used to people acting like he’s the first or only Asian American in hockey. As the Domes’ season moves towards the playoffs, he knows how to keep focused just on hockey. Even as Sienna turns out to be more than he expected in so many ways. Kobo link is here: https://bit.ly/3pvCSeS If you prefer other vendors, other links are below. Zon: https://amzn.to/3AxKDr4 Apple: https://apple.co/3PtQZMx Universal Link: https://books2read.com/u/mvXreX Bookshop link: https://bookshop.org/books/clear-as-ice/9798201254728

It's That Time of Year

Aka 7 Things About the Olympics

1. Let's get some disclaimers out of the way. Borders are arbitrary. Gender is not binary. The Olympics are very arbitrary about what counts as actually breaking the rules vs not. The countries that are allowed vs. banned is not consistent. But I enjoy some of the pretense that the Olympics claim to be, and hope they will be someday. Basically they are imperfect, and yes, very little is perfect, but also they need to change more and faster than they have been. 

2. Opening ceremonies are delightfully weird in that way that seems so cringe when it's your country until someone else makes fun of it, and you are like actually that cultural dance is wonderful, and the dancing statues had a context, thank you very much. The only thing more delightfully weird than an opening ceremony, is a closing.

2. I personally am a little bit sore from waking in snow. (Okay it was snow-crete.) So the incredible work and dedication to race down a mountain, or across one, or around a rink, and maybe to toss in a flip is amazing. 

3. People like to pretend sports are a break, a respite from reality. But even if sports didn't involve people, the reality is there. There's an athlete from Minneapolis who is competing while her town is under attack. There are skiiers and skaters seeing the effects of climate change. 

4. I love every ridiculous stat they cite. No country with three syllables has ever won two consecutive medals in ski ballet. (Not a real event currently.)

5. I love every weird attempt to jack up the emotion in every hardship story. Jack, when you were diagnosed with seasonal allergies, did you think your athletic career was over? 

Yes, but then I discovered snow sports, Susie, and my life was changed. 

6. I love judging the country outfits. It amuses me how serious about cold some countries are, versus the ones that are like, will a puffy hat be enough? Also seeing which secondary and tertiary colors some countries adopt. And the athletes that are the lone competitor for their country. 

7. Also, people talk about Superbowl ads, but I confess I love judging the Olympic ads. They attempt to be heartwarming and sometimes are. 

Changes in the News

We subscribed to The Washington Post growing up. I remember discovering that there were columnists who appeared in metro, style, and sports, some of them twice a week. Determining their rhythms. Learning which movie critic aligned with my tastes. When I got old enough to plan my weekend around the going out guide. Their incredibly knowledgeable books section that covered stuff that wasn't just literary or a bestseller. 

I had a friend working at the Post when it got bought by a billionaire. She was laid off a few years later with almost her whole team. As they slowly shrank the metro section down, as their popular sports columnists left for the sports channel, and they made minimal efforts to grow their replacements to the same stature. 

The Post has slowly changed. And certainly the rise of the internet and the changing ad scape mean all news sites are grappling with change. But to me it seemed the higher ups assumed that having Washington in the name was locality enough. Of course this meant to find out what was actually happening in the city where I lived I had to turn to other news sources, like WTOP, the 51st, Washington City Paper, and City Cast. And so I had less time for the Post because the Post stopped serving what I wanted. 

It's hard not to wonder if like Twitter this wasn't an intentional death blow to a thing that had provided clear eyed reporting of many goings on.

Or perhaps, the signs were already there when an award winning journalist saved a key revelation for his book rather than his newspaper column. 

I am sorry for all the incredible people who lost their jobs this week.

The State of Things

I've been staying away from current events of late because the firehose of news is sometimes a lot and I don't like dwelling on it.  But I received a newsletter from a local business speaking out about the state violence in Minnesota and found myself a little peeved that this particular business had sort of never mentioned the National Guard being activated in DC.  I find I talk to several people who don't realize that I commute most days with or past the National Guard.  That the National Guard and the Park Police patrolled streets along with the local police and knocked on doors and proudly arrested literal hundreds of our neighbors.  And yes, some of the most obvious and egregious stuff has seemed to slow.  The unhoused gentleman who hangs out near where I board the metro is back in place (though much of his stuff was trashed by the police and various federal forces who placed him under a psychiatric hold for choosing to live outside.  

Now, certainly, I understand many eyes are turned towards Minnesota as they rightly should be. Goodness knows I have been tracking the news in Minnesota, checking in with Minnesota friends, donating where I can.  But I also know that the things happening here, even if they seem less bad or more benign are equally deserving of attention and pushback.  Local people, even some in the suburbs sometimes fall into the trap that DC folks deserve the mistreatment we get because we aren't a state, as if she forgot to mail in our statehood application.  As if we haven't asked multiple times to be a state, through the appropriate channels and been ignored.  They left us a federal enclave intentionally.  Because they enjoy holding power over a mostly brown, mostly liberal city.

Anyway, some days I seek joy where I can find it.  But it doesn't mean I've forgotten about all the figurative and literal ice we are digging out from under.  

2025 Reading Tally

Once again, I gather together all the reading data.  It's always interesting the things it tells me.  Here's last year if you want to compare other years. Commuting means my audiobook consumption has been very different this year  
Read: 223
DNF'd: 22
I read 205 different authors, 97 of whom that were new to me.  Oldest book was from 1993.  103 of them were from 2025.  115 of them were audiobooks.  Top authors included KD Casey and Jodi McAlister. 69 books were part of a series.  6 rereads.  109 were library books.  One was a play.  Top genre was romance.  January and March were top months with 21 reads each.  
It was a good year of reading.  

Mislaid Plans

In late fall I decided I needed something to look forward to, so booked myself a little mini-day trip to New York to see a show. I belatedly realized I had picked the same weekend as BroadwayCon and thought about extending my stay, but ended up choosing not to. 

The things I had not properly remembered were that, ten years ago it snowed like hell on BroadwayCon weekend and well, we were due for a repeat. 

When I first saw the forecast for snow I figured, this will probably change, I like snow, I really want to see the show, and with the cast having announced they are leaving now, new tickets will be hard to come by, plus, I know people in New York so if I get stranded I have options. 

And then the forecast basically shifted so that the storm was going to be at it's worst right during my train back. A train that has a crew change in Philadelphia. And well, after I told like six people I was just gonna go for it and see what happened, I started to feel like would I consider other people who decided to go somewhere during the worst of the snow/sleet absolute fools? And since the answer was yes, maybe I should not be a fool. Intentionally at least. I had a little bit of concern that if I cancelled it would then not snow, but I reminded myself, I was not actually in charge of the weather. I was just in charge of making decisions for myself. 

So I did a little what would be a good other day to go research, and then had a weird issue where my bank card wouldn't work so I called it a night.

And woke up Friday morning to discover that Amtrak had cancelled my trip, and so was offering me free rebooking. And Telecharge kindly let me buy a new ticket and refunded my original one.

And so instead I braved the cold and got breakfast tacos and pastries with a friend and then settled into the couch with my cat and my knitting. It was not the adventure I had planned for myself. But there was reading, and baking. And I listened to the cast album to get my remote Broadway feels in. 

Complaints

I reached out to my (non-voting) representative this week to express my frustration.

Separately I emailed a large chain to let them know a recent business decision they had made to offer a service that provided less expertise, but one imagines is also cheaper for them. 

I don't always expect everything I complain about to be addressed. Sometimes I just don't want to let it pass. Corporations are going to make business decisions I don't like. But I always want them to know I noticed. To know it has affected my shopping decisions. It's become practically a pastime for people to chime in with enshitification every time something happens.

But it's worth noting, when I complain, I do so in the hopes that Congress or a corporation will attempt to do better. I know I am one person. But on average so few people reach out, I hope to add to the tally. I hope that maybe, someone who fought against the choice will read my email and say, see. Or try to nudge things back in the other direction.

Complaining isn't the only way to imagine a better world, but it's one of them. 

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

Not Safer

A short but non-exhaustive list of things that do not make me safer.

-Arresting people for being unhoused.

-Taking and/destroying tents of unhoused folks. 

-Federal agents who do not know local law patrolling the streets.

-National guard monitoring my morning commute on metro. 

-Immigrants who escaped an oppressive regime having their status revoked or changed unilaterally. 

-The US bombing civilians, creating more displaced and insecure people.