Huzzah! A Day at the Ren Fair
September 8, 2025
A Weekend in New York
August 24, 2025
In June, I hopped back on my old pal, Amtrak's Northeast Regional, for a long weekend in New York. My friend, Erin, joined me on the train as it passed through Baltimore and we gabbed about how excited we were to be going home.
E & I met when we taught 9th grade ELA together in Manhattan.
She's always had this effortlessly cool energy that makes me feel like her overexcited little sister. Not because of anything she does! She just has this unflappable exterior that exudes a very integral element of chill. It's (part of) what makes her a really fantastic teacher; kids love consistency, and our students knew they could rely on her steadiness even amidst the turbulence of the pandemic.
Erin was already teaching 9th grade ELA at our school when I joined the team, and she was so patient with me, a baby-faced recent grad trying to embody any element of authority in front of the classroom. She made me a better teacher with simple, direct reflections and tips, and her creativity was unmatched when trying to brainstorm ways to engage our students in the books we read with them.
I love gabbing with her about...anything, really, but especially books, contemporary trends in education, and what she's listening to lately. Her music taste is unparalleled, as is her sense of humor. One of my favorite memories involves the two of us laughing literally to the point of tears streaming down our faces while sitting on the floor of my classroom after school. Or the time she literally changed my life when we went to New Jersey just so we could go to the Cheesecake Factory and Erin introduced me to the magic that is their Four Cheese Pasta. (Erin's a lifelong vegetarian—another thing that's just f*cking COOL.) Needless to say, I was pumped to spend the weekend catching up and exploring our old haunts.
Our first stop was Tacombi for piña coladas, esquites, and tacos. It's probably the nostalgia, or the insane price tag, but I feel like I can genuinely taste a difference when I'm eating back in the city. Unfortunately, I am one of those assholes that proclaim the superiority of NYC bagels and pizza dough. (It's the water!!)
On our first night back in the city, Erin & I decided to pop into The Morgan Library & Museum. Neither of us had been before, and it turned out to be a free entry day!
Even though Erin and I once literally walked home from school across the Manhattan bridge (only took us ~4 hours), neither of us are used to how much walking you do by simply existing in New York anymore. We absolutely collapsed upon our return to the hotel room and decided to settle in for a night of scary movies & pizza.
I've been to Gov Ball once before—it's where I discovered my undying love for MUNA. Sunday's lineup this year was stellar, including Raye, Clairo, Glass Animals (!), and Hozier (!!). The looming rain (mostly) held off and we bopped for HOURS, noshing on ice cream sandwiches and pierogis. Even the heat, which had been pretty punishing the day before, wasn't overwhelming in the massive crowd.
May and June 2025 reads
July 5, 2025
Even in today's hyper-connected world, the daily workings of Chinese society remain shrouded in mystery—no small feat, considering China is one of the most populated and powerful nations on Earth. Emily Feng is a brave journalist that dares to expose the chokehold the ruling Chinese Communist Party (tries to) hold on its people. Emily traverses a lot of ground—literally. She explores far-flung corners of China and the Chinese diaspora, interviewing Uyghur families, human rights lawyers in hiding, and exiles living in Hong Kong, Canada, and Taiwan.
A field manual for resilience
Alison composes a truly laugh-out-loud novel that skewers the terminally online segment of our community, in a way that makes me wonder if she meant to make as many jokes as she did. (I must confess, I have not read other Alison works before, so I'm not sure of how in on the joke she is.) Alison's novel reminds me a lot of the social commentary Glynnis MacNicol makes in I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself, specifically about Gen-Z.
I remain awed by Claire Keegan's writing ability. Authors who can write engaging short stories are SO powerful—the talent it takes to evoke such depth of feeling with so few words?? Clearly, economy of language is not one of my god-given talents. In this collection, Claire creates three worlds: that of a Dublin commuter in the aftermath of his recent breakup; a writer seeking retreat finds her peace interrupted by a demanding stranger; a married woman seeking a weekend tryst finds herself in over her head (to put it mildly).
Vignettes about the color blue