Max and Esme

 Hi Grandma! At the bequest of my lovely grandmother, here is a *quick* review of my fall semester so far. If I'm being honest, most of my time thus far into 2025 has been used to write papers. (hence the very late blog post ((sorry Grandma!)) 1. Outside of being an academic victim, I started stage managing for Urinetown!!  Do practices and production meetings eat away at any free time I have left? Yes! Do I wake up every morning to a panicked email from the director? Yes! Have the logistics of how to push someone off a 9-foot set invaded my every waking thought? Yes! But also, the whole process has been so ridiculously fun. I've loved being a part of a production this size coming together and am very excited for -- in just a couple of weeks-- when we will have an audience! 2. We are back on our hair-cutting grind! And so very professional with it!  3. We remembered that nowhere does it say you have to hang your hammock outdoors! 4. And finally, The Snow!!-- which lasted ...

I visited Symphony Space in NYC on Tuesday evening with a friend to hear Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (author of Americanah) talk about her new novel: Dream Count. The evening opened with Tony Award nominee Montego Glover doing a reading, followed by Adichie talking about writing and then taking Q&A from the audience. My iphone camera isn't great from the back of the room, but she had an amazing presence on stage - she came across as very authentic, funny, honestly interested in the people who asked questions, and of course incredibly intelligent. I am not inspired to be a writer, but I am inspired to read more.