"Aguardiente" at Gala Hispanic Theater.

I am currently editing a novel that has taken much longer than expected to edit. So a musical about trying to finish a musical is both entirely on point, and perhaps something I am not in the best place to analyze. 

Aguardiente is primarily in Spanish. I do speak some Spanish, but not enough to keep up with a musical. There were captions, so I was following along quite well, but when a few people cracked up at one character's name, I realized I had missed something. (I figured it out.) All of this is to say I have thoughts about the show. But I am aware that things that didn't quite seem clear to me may well be a cultural skill issue on my part, and less a fault of the show. 

This is a lot of setup to say I had a great time. Aguardiente is about two writers trying to finish a show about Latinx people, dealing with funding issues, competing requests for time and story ideas. And in the shower within the show Azuquita and Anis eventually decide leave their small town for New York where they have different experiences, and ultimately make different choices about what the city has taught them. 

There are references to pop songs, to arts funding cuts, especially for shows about people speaking Spanish, and TikTok trends. There were a ton of songs, a huge number of costume changes (I counted six separate costumes for the ensemble and they charge into and out of them multiple times. The main characters had about four each.) The dancing was incredible. 

Sometimes with musicals there's a weird sense of time. When you spend three minutes on one big feeling in song, you skip through and jump cut ahead a lot to get through the rest of the plot. 

But I had a great time. And I loved the themes even if the themes of how hard it is to write in the current times was maybe very timely. 

Also, show out to the Dinner and a Show Newsletter that highlighted this show. It had fallen off my radar, despite being at my closest theater. 

Gaithersburg Book Festival

I went to the Gaithersburg Book Festival this weekend, and bought more books than I planned. (I always think I am less susceptible to paper books and then I remember I can give them as gifts and well, things escalate.)

I decided to not set an alarm. Well, Friday night me decided not to set an alarm. A prior me had set one, but put it at 8pm not 8am so it was not very helpful. But while there were people speaking at 10am I wanted to see there were also people speaking at 4pm I wanted to see. And so I went. Chatted with folks. Got food. Watched a panel. Bought books. Got some iced tea. Watched another panel. Took a look at the growing shuttle line to get back to metro and decided it was time to go home. It was a great day. 

Happy AANHPI Month

It is Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage month here in the US.  I've been writing about this for years, and each year it gets a little easier to find titles to talk about.  I'm a big fan of reading diversely.  Different genres, sure, but different viewpoints and perspectives also.  No, that doesn't mean you need to read books by or about anyone who thinks you or the people you love shouldn't exist.  But authors of different races, ethnicities, sexualities, immigration statuses, continents of origin, these are all ways that change the frames we use to see the world.  

I shared a few titles with my newsletter folks, you can read (and even subscribe) here.  But let's talk where to find reads.  

Pacific Islanders in Publishing is a great resource.  

I also maintain a list of Hawaiian writers, which of course includes me.  

We Need Diverse Books has an incredible list of resources for finding diverse books of all kinds, including Asian American.  

And one of the things I think it's helpful to know is that diversifying your reading list is hard at first.  But as you find authors and stories you love, all your recommendations start to shift, and it gets easier.  So it's a little bit of work up front, but it gets easier.  

Scheduled: Nothing

As the weather gets warmer I get so excited about the increase of things to do an see that sometimes I forget to have a day or two where I can just be. Or play silly phone games. Hang with my cat. Knit. Read. Just kind of be. Where the plan is no plan.

Productivity is great but what if sometimes I didn't focus on that. Sometimes creatives call this filling the well, and yes, that too. But I think sometimes naming it a thing that ties it to being productive again, even in the future, sort of takes away from the relaxing and not being productive. Yes, rest is a key part of productivity. But also restung is not just the precursor to working again. Rest is also rest.