Tea Stains on Parchment

There are just so many books. There are thousands upon thousands of novels, adding up to what must be a limitless number of pages. There are so many that it is impossible to read every book, even every good book, no matter how much I read. I will never be able to read every book on my ever expanding list, and sometimes coming to terms with this is difficult. There will be conversations I can't participate in, symbols I won't analyze, authors I may never meet. With so much page turning, I used to think that I had to constantly keep moving forward. That is, continually reading books I had never read before, expanding my repertoire of "have reads." But as I've grown older and read more books, including some that are really important to me, I have found that is not the case. Rereading a book can be just as important and transformative as discovering a new one. I have thought of books as friends, and I think about them often, but I hadn't been a very good frien...

I wasn't going to tell you all this. I was going to maintain my pride. But then I thought, perhaps I could save someone else from making the same, quite honestly, ridiculous mistake I made, thus saving you from this same shame. You see, I love The Great Gatsby. I know, a lot of people "love" The Great Gatsby, but I can guarantee you that a very small percentage of these people love it the same way I do. Now, as someone with an obsession with Gatsby, I also remember a lot of random quotes and moments from this book. One of which happens around page 20ish when Nick goes to the Buchanans for dinner. Daisy says, "Do you always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it? I always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it." To which Jordan says "we should plan something." Now, I'm not going to bore/beguile you with an analysis of this scene, but I will say that every year since I have watched for the longest day of the year, si...

Image via  https://www.broadway.com/buzz/195878/patti-lupone-joins-the-broadway-inspirational-voices-to-sing-from-les-miserables-more-at-new-york-philharmonic/ Anyone that has dipped their toes into the theatre world has probably heard of Broadway legend Patti LuPone. Having landed so many memorable roles, it is no surprise that she is incredibly talented. But I seemed to have forgotten this for the past 5 years, marking when I first spiraled into an Evita obsessed abyss. Luckily, my class on Stephen Sondheim reminded me of Miss LuPone's musical prowess. My class may have been about Sondheim's lyrics and composition, but I learned just as much about Patti's roles as Mrs. Lovett, Joanne, and Mama Rose, each of which carrying their own anecdotes and perfect belting that I am now no stranger to. As my semester progressed, I felt myself sinking deeper and deeper into this obsession with a 70 year old woman, but I know I am not alone in this sentiment. I have, after all, con...

I've been told two very different things. "Smiles are free. You could brighten someone's day!" And, "You don't owe anyone a smile." I've always held that smiling at people, even complete strangers (just not in a city on a busy street because that is honestly a little weird), is a good thing. It spreads happiness and kindness. But now I see that there is truth in both. It's nice to smile, but you certainly aren't entitled to my happiness. I like smiling. I try to smile at everyone that I see, especially if I know them, whether it be an acquaintance or one of my best friends. Now, I may not always recognize people right away, and that is certainly not a reflection on my relationship with that person. I get lost in thought a lot. I imagine conversations with friends, names for future pets, lines for stories that go unwritten. It's easy to see why sometimes faces become a blur. But I still try to give a little smile (I'm not the most ...

No one is perfect. Couples have ups and downs and little things that will never be fixed. But, there is one couple that breaks that rule. One couple that is absolutely perfect. A relationship based on love, understanding, and, most importantly, honesty. Obviously, I'm talking about Mrs. Lovett and Sweeney Todd. Here are a few tips you can learn from Broadway's best power couple. First off, no one gets Sweeney like Mrs. Lovett does, and don't we all want someone who understands us when others would just run away? Well, Sweeney is one lucky man because when he makes the logical decision that all of mankind is evil and deserves to die, Mrs. Lovett is right by his side. If the love of your life wants to kill everyone under the front of a barbershop, then you should be right there supporting them! Don't just say, "that's great, honey." No, you need to give just as much to this relationship. You have to be complements. So, when your SO says, "I'm ...

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Really is Marvelous If you haven't watched "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," what are you doing? This Prime Original is a delight to watch. Finally, a strong female lead that proves that "strong" doesn't mean physical strength or seriousness. A comedy that is smart, witty, and surprisingly relatable. A plot that is actually original. It all comes together to make a show that I can't get enough of. It is so good that I can even look past all the "four star" words that litter the sharp dialogue. But what drew me to "Mrs. Maisel," aside from Tony Shalhoub , was the the exquisite costume design. This show is a vintage girl's paradise. Midge Maisel is unapologetically fashionable. She shows up "overdressed" to every event, is always the prettiest in the room, and isn't afraid to wear heels on the subway. She's not *always* being intentionally showy, it is simply who she is: a woman that dre...

New Year, New You! Time to get back into shape! Take up a hobby! Reinvent yourself! Self-help specialists and newspapers everywhere bombast us with phrases like these. A new year is approaching, and with it, is evidently a new you. Because the some numbers on a calendar change, apparently we must, too. Apparently a method for counting human existence equates progress in our own little lives. Well, here is a "demotivational" post, it doesn't. So, we're approaching 2019—what an accomplishment! A new year seems like a new horizon, like we must be getting closer to something. And yes, sometimes change is great and making a better life for ourselves, but I think that people are just using a new year as an excuse to get their life together. Before I tear into New Year's resolutions, let me preface this by commending us for wanting to make our lives better. It's important to be able to see a problem or point of improvement in our lives and want to change. And that ...

A lot of you here are in school, probable college, and you have a lot of work coming up (you can actually see it on the syllabus). And maybe you're not in school, but you still have a busy life full of stress I'm sure. Honestly, trying to navigate your way through a grocery store can be extremely stressful. There is always something to be cleaned, something to be prepped, a paper to be written, poems to be read--that sentence alone was stressful (because it's true). When there is always something to do, it's hard to allow myself to do nothing. Well, I'm here to tell you, or rather myself, that you can and should  do nothing. OK, stop what you're doing. Sit, curl up under a blanket, diffuse some oils, and breath. Now get back to reading this blog post. I'm not going to tell you to stop worrying because I know that that isn't going to change how you feel. But remember, whatever you're stressing about is only one moment, so take a few moments for you....

You ever just love to read about murder? That sounds a bit, well, concerning, but most of us, if we're answering honestly, would say yes. And don't try to tell me that you don't love to read about murder and only psychopaths want to read about people dying because numbers don't lie. The most widely published works, excluding all those English class required readings of Shakespeare and, of course, the Bible, are none other than the novels of Agatha Christie. In other words, the queen of mystery. So obviously, we all have a sweet spot for murder. But despite Agatha's (yes, we're on a first name basis) inventive murder mysteries, there is so much more to this British writer than strangers on a train or chance encounters. I love Agatha Christie, and I feel a certain connection with her as a fellow INFJ. And if she could think about crazy, creative murder scenarios without being creepy, then I can, too, right? RIGHT? And with my little friendship with this fellow w...

Coming back to college this summer, you may have seen that many of your friends got some sort of "prestigious," unpaid internship while you lounged around in your house all summer. While you sit around and hear about people in the same boat as you, fresh out of freshman year, going on about galavanting through L.A., New York, and San Fransisco, try not to feel discouraged that you wandered the aisles of the grocery store every week. I know it can seem overwhelming, because that person that says they did "nothing " this summer is me. One of many ice cream adventures My summer was one that featured many enriching activities. From binge watching How I Met Your Mother to waiting until that jean jacket at Target got clearanced to $10 (from $35!), I truly learned a great deal this summer that will definitely  help me get an amazing job out of college. But in all seriousness, I don't think that I would trade my summer at home for even the most exclusive internshi...

On July 11, 1960 Harper Lee published her first novel. In fall 2011, I read To Kill a Mockingbird. Who knew my life would be changed for the better? It was seventh grade, and one of the assignments in my English class was to read a novel every two weeks or so and then take a little reading quiz. Early on, I decided to read To Kill a Mockingbird  because I had heard such good things (meaning I had heard somewhat meaningless blurbs like "great book" or "one of the American classics"). The first copy I found was a large print addition, which made the book slightly larger, which allowed me an extra two weeks to read it because it was a "long" book. This may have been a bit of a loophole...Anyways, I set out to read this book. I remember absolutely loving it, being captivated by the story, being drawn to every symbol. I wanted someone, some person in my grade, to be reading the book so that I could talk about it-- a good book makes you want to analyze and dis...

This was my first year at college, and although I would say that it ended on the positive side, not every moment was wonderful or even just good. Going to Penn was a big change. I had never lived in a city before. I had never spent more than a week on the East coast. I had never spent more than two weeks away from my family. Though these things all meant that my life would be different, I knew I could overcome them. The hardest obstacle would be leaving my family, but this seemed all the more difficult given that I knew absolutely no one going to Penn. I try to be optimistic, and I was looking forward to this new, exciting moment in my life. But I always underestimate my introvertedness. I do not think that being introverted is something that is a deficit to one's personality, but it definitely can hinder my ability to feel comfortable connecting with strangers. My first days at Penn, alone, I chose to stay in my dorm room most of the time. I had no friends to invite anywhere. I ...

I am a book snob. There, I said it. I don't even take that label as an insult; I wear it as a badge of honor. When someone called me a book snob three years ago, I took it as the highest of compliments. I have strong opinions of lots of things, but being nervous and introverted to a fault, I rarely share my thoughts. But I will tell anyone what I think about a book. When it comes to books, I have lots of opinions and somewhat controversial stances on everything from YA to bookstore layouts. Which I cannot mention without telling you my feelings...books, aside from children's novels, have no real age range if they are a book of quality . I hate YA, too. They are all the same. You can fight me on that one. And bookstores shouldn't be laid out by genre. The only sections should be children's, fiction, nonfiction. How can you separate by genre? For example, is Agatha Christie literature/fiction or mystery? Is To Kill a Mockingbird literature/fiction or YA (ughk). Yea...

You may not know this, but I adore  musicals. I cannot act. I cannot sing. But I honestly think that I have the most important role as audience member. Without us theatre aficionados, actors would just be a bunch of crazy people pretending on stage (wait...). Anyways, that being said, I love to go to shows and I love to listen to soundtracks and I spend my fair share of time on broadway.com reading up on the new musicals on Broadway. This year, the new show that I was hearing so much about was The Band's Visit . Yes, I hear about show openings and all that jazz, but the real reason I knew about this show was perhaps strange for a teenage girl. To understand fully I think I need to go back to when I was maybe five and onward. My parents raised me to watch Monk, a crime show following an OCD detective named Adrian Monk. Monk was played by the brilliant Tony Shalhoub. Enter The Band's Visit . Tony Shalhoub plays the male lead (a general in the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orche...

Young, elegant ladies lace their way through the crowded streets of New York City in bright green wiggle dresses, rockabilly skirts, and kitten heels. Their rouged cheeks and bright red lips leap off of their flawless skin. And victory curls and S–waves defy gravity in architectural swoops upon their heads. These are vintage girls. A small subculture that dwells in large cities, where chic men and women congregate in modern day speakeasies and jazz clubs. If you were to look at a black and white picture of them, you would never know it was 2018 and not 1952. Until a few months ago, I did not know that there were people who lived life like this, and so fearlessly. I find that I, too, am a vintage girl, but in the early stages. And as effortlessly and unabashedly as those women show their lifestyle, so is almost never the case...at least in my experience. I have always felt as if I had an old soul. I rarely listen to pop music, instead preferring the drama and luxury of musicals ...