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October and the Wonders of Fall

This year has been marked by several outstanding events. From weddings to engagements, to conventions, Broadway shows and milestones. On a personal level, it is a year to remember. Entering October, with three months still in the balance, it’s a good time to go through a little reflection. Not to mention, I’m also gearing up for NaNoWriMo, which I’ve done the past three years (and won).

Fall is my favorite season. It really boils down to the coziness of the entire time. Also, the best things happen in fall. New York Comic Con, Halloween, Thanksgiving… basically nerdy stuff and food. I will be at NYCC this year as an attendee, which is nice considering last year I worked at the event. Looking toward next year, I hope to return as a guest. It will be another great year at the event as I am already booked to meet the great Stan Lee.

On Sept. 21, I had the opportunity to see Hamilton on Broadway. The musical created by the genius Lin-Manuel Miranda went above expectations for me. It was humorous and honest, self-depreciating and intelligent. I have been listening to the soundtrack on a daily basis since November of last year and it has truly been gift to me throughout the entire year. I mention it because I want to get to my point.

My life is filled with so much art. And fall is always that season where art is incessantly there. I curl up with books more, watch more movies and television shows. Even video games fit into this section. I am my best self when I am surrounded by it, and people who feel as strongly and passionate about art.

With a chill in the air and leaves returning to warming hues of autumn, I am most excited for all the art that I will get to experience.

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AUTUMN!

We are now entering arguably the best season of the year – autumn. And to celebrate the season of never-ending pumpkin spice and TV show premieres, how about a little a poem to warm up to the cozy chilly winds coming our way? Here is an excerpt from a poem called September Midnight by Sara Teasdale:

 

Over my soul murmur your mute benediction,
While I gaze, O fields that rest after harvest,
As those who part look long in the eyes they lean to,
Lest they forget them.

– September Midnight by Sara Teasdale

As aforementioned it is also television premiere season! One of my favorite shows is returning for its second season. Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. premieres on the 23rd. The first season started off slow but it skyrocketed to the amazing stratosphere after covering the Marvel Cinematic Events that took place in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Doctor Who also just started back up with the new season and Peter Capaldi taking over the mantle. I like him so far, but I still mourn Matt Smith in the role. Guess it’s like putting on a new pair of shoes, uncomfortable at first but you like them so you keep wearing them until they’re a perfect fit.

I miss writing about entertainment and movies and music so I want to start doing that again. Dust off the old keys and fine tune my craft.

NaNoWriMo also takes places in the fall, if you remember all my posts from last November pretty much correlated with that. I’m planning on doing it again, but I may just work on finishing the book I started last year and also start the graphic novel I’ve been tinkering around with.

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Autumn

I’m writing this a few minutes before midnight while it’s still 9/22, so forgive me if I use the word ‘today’ and this is posted on 9/23.

 

I woke up early to a beautiful Sunday morning which I haven’t done in quite some time. I nibbled on cookies for breakfast and than ventured out into the sunshine. I filled up my gas tank, witnessed two car crashes, and got my first massage. It was a present from my sister for my birthday a few weeks ago and I just got around to making the appointment for today.

Since I’ve never been to a masseuse I didn’t know what proper etiquette was.  My masseuse was named Bree and after a few minutes of feeling vulnerable nearly naked in front of a stranger I came to a relaxed state. I had begun the session worrying what she was thinking about all my imperfections. But her hands were reading the knotted lines on my body. I could feel through her gentle hands a grimace. Maybe she was sad that I had all these knots and scars that could not be seen. I am young but not young in the mind. She could tell.Her hands were warm and I trusted them.

Amanda Palmer is a musician, and she recently had a TED talk. In that talk, she spoke about her time as a living statue performing on the street. When she would hand someone a flower, she connected with them. She saw them.

I think Bree read me the same way Palmer saw people. I stopped caring whether she thought I had bad skin or not. Her ultimate goal was to make me feel empowered again, physically and spiritually. She turned back the years on a mind that was beginning to wither away.

The rest of my day was nothing out of the normal. I returned home and had some lunch and then visited Barnes and Noble. I bought A Casual Vacancy and The Lovely Bones after two hours of meandering the stacks of books. I came close to buying The Gravity of Birds but I think I’ll save that for next time. There’s a pile of books that beckon me to read them already.

The next few hours I enjoyed a pumpkin spice latte and the company of a really good book, American Gods by Neil Gaiman. There’s a part in the book I just reached about the Holocaust and slave trade that really rattled me and I didn’t get too far after that. But I enjoyed the crisp fall air, the tough pages of a book, and hours to reflect on the impact the words had on my life.

After dinner I went out to get drinks with a few friends. One of my best friends just came back from a work trip in Europe. I am so proud of her accomplishments, it is so hard to be successful in our chosen career paths (she’s a photographer).

When I got home, my dad was in from work. He seemed tired but it ended up being grief. A coworker of his passed way in a car accident earlier that morning. His coworker had just got off shift and was leaving work, and not even a block away from the parking lot he was hit by a truck. My dad was very upset and started to ramble off about his coworkers wife and children. It was very heartbreaking.

For the better part of the day I felt uplifted and spirited. And even though today was generally no different from my other Sundays, it was beautiful.

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End of Summer Stretch

Hello all,

A brief reminder that my writing samples (I hate the term ‘samples’, they’re full published works!) are under the Featured Publications page. Pretty soon I’ll have a page up for self-published work.

So we find ourselves at the end of another summer. It’s a humid day here in New York, but rather than the balminess that usually accompanies this awful form of heat it’s complemented by a nice breeze. I enjoy these moments, sitting at my computer, listening to the ticking of the ceiling fan, the speeding cars on the main street I live on, and the occasional visit from my cat. Summer rolls, from heatwaves to thunderstorms, it’s a time of easy living. It reminds me of the two weeks I spent in Europe my senior year of high school. I learned more about the pleasure of a simplistic life than I have in my entire life. Summer is coming to a close, but just because we sip on pumpkin spice lattes and snuggle into wooly sweaters doesn’t mean we don’t have to stop our enjoyment and zest for life.

 

Hope you all enjoy the last few days of summer, autumn will be here soon. And life goes on…