For the 1.5 of you (including myself) still reading, sorry about the long hiatus. I’m hard at work (/procrastination) on my second thesis. It’s about Othello. Here’s what I’ve been looking at for the last maaaannnny hours.
More words, less sleep
Anyway. At the moment, I’m sitting in the J-school cafe, thesising—ostensibly—with Lan. But it’s also Days on Campus, when accepted prospies storm campus and Columbia puts on its best wooing face. A group of five prospies, apparently sold on all this, sat down at a table next to me.
A short redhead in a plaid top and khaki shorts looks up and says, “Guys, this is what life will be like for the next four years. Amazing.”
Four years later, I’m not sure how I feel about this. Ah, to be young…
After a year of hardcore editing, a return to reporting feels great. To be honest, I was nervous starting out. I read and read and read about the issue, putting off the actual interviews. But the moment I started cold calling, I remembered why I love reporting to begin with. I’m glad I came back to it with this story, since charter schools is a fascinating topic—one I’d like to explore further in the long term. I’m excited for more.
I just returned from an epic trip to Barnard’s library. But before that, I met with my advisor/senior seminar professor. We talked for 40 minutes about my paper topic, teaching, and his publishing adventures. I think I arrived at something concrete for Thesis the Second, and I’m really excited. Interactions like that remind me that I really will miss this place. As does my ability to walk outside my door for one minute, enter a library, and return with a bag chock full of Othello. And these eight are only the beginning:
This is before the stacks. Gotta make sure to not run out of steam this time. Continue reading →
Ok ok so maybe I have six pages to write before I go to sleep tonight. And maybe I have three quarters of King Lear to read as well. But I just got back from the Met’s production of Donazetti’s La Fille du Regiment, and it would be practically inhuman for me to just proceed with my work as if nothing happened. BECAUSE IT WAS SPECTACULAR.
It’s been awhile since a performance has blown me away. Last week, I saw Brooklyn Academy of Music’s The Tempest, but it left me feeling cold. The set was interesting, but the production couldn’t make up its mind, and the acting had no spark to it. The week before, I saw the Met’s Ariadne auf Naxos which was very good, but more intellectually stimulating than entertainingly enjoyable. (Lots of opera this semester because I’m taking a class on opera. We get incredible seats! It’s such a treat. I feel like I’m finally taking advantage of going to college in New York City. It’s about time).
La Fille du Regiment was out of this world. It’s hard for me to land and work on a political science paper when my head is still replaying these beautiful arias. For starters, the script is fun! And it’s in French instead of German, so I could make out some of the words. Then the CAST. Unbelievable. Kiri TeKanawa trekked in from New Zealand for a very rare performance. She had a small part but delivered it with grace and dignity.
The two principals, though, were out of this world. The female lead, Diana Damrau, portrayed the mascot of France’s 21st regiment, an indignant young woman who falls in love before she is forced to move in with her ritzy Marquise aunt. Damrau’s Marie is petulant and powerful, hitting coloratura notes while doing splits and being carried around by soldiers. I didn’t think that was possible. And she was so FUNNY! Everything at once.
Here’s Damrau in Zauberflaute (can’t find youtube clip of her in this). Click to 2:18 for one of my favorite arias, expertly rendered:
More impressive, though, was Juan Diego Florez as her love interest. I have never heard such a pure, lyrical tenor. He sings a 7-minute song in the first act (see below) and I was so upset when it ended. I watched him in awe. His voice is so smooth, and he, too, pull it off with hilarity. I want to carry him around in my pocket and make him sing to me on command. During the curtain call, someone threw him a Peruvian flag. He wore it around his shoulders. Aw.
Here he is in that song I mentioned above. Listen to those high notes! What grace! What clarity! (For a quick and dirty display of his incredible talents, turn to 5:58. Whew. I melted.)
All this was topped off by a brief run-in with a certain former source/Columbia administrator. And it was the last Regiment production of the season. I am so lucky.
Okay. Back down into this world. For polisci. Sigh.
It’s been less than five minutes since my last post but: I just started the prologue, and Stephen Greenblatt’s Hamlet in Purgatory is already amazing. I. am. so. excited.
Today was a sad, sad day. I was sent to cover two (unrelated) suicides–so devastating. And difficult. But more devastating. So much grief today. I don’t really know what else to say.
This is more annoying than sad, but then I lost my phone. Hours later, I finally found it on the driveway. I guess I dropped it as I was walking out of the car?
Speaking of car! Most of you probably know that I can’t drive. If you didn’t, well, the cat’s out of the bag. So sue me–although I’m a Long Islander, I went to high school and go to college in the city. Also, I admit laziness had a hand in my reliance on the Long Island Rail Road. Anyway, about two years ago my father started teaching me how to drive, and I was okay, if a bit erratic and tense and nervous. Okay, pretty erratic, tense, and nervous. And then we stopped. School picked up again, I went to St. Louis for the summer (where my lack of license led to my kind boss driving me to work, home, everywhere. Three days ago I got behind the wheel again and the whole thing seemed so much easier and relaxing. Road test/license in the not so distant future? I think so!
Oh, also: OCB is much faster than (but still not as good as) Saturday. Because the font is larger. And because it’s less jam-packed with sweeping ideas that cover more than the protagonists.
I wish Anne Hathaway were not in Twelfth Night. I have a feeling she is making tickets much harder to come by…
Excited for the long weekend, though! Doing anything interesting?
If anyone around the city this summer is reading this, let me know if you’d be interested in attending Shakespeare in the park. I’d love to go with a group to the Bacchae and the Twelfth Night. So so so excited to take advantage of these kinds of offerings!
and welcome to my world of words. I'm Joy, a 21-year-old reporter at the Forward and sometimes I write elsewhere. I use this blog to post random thoughts on post-college life, New York, interesting articles, education, and, of course, books. I tweet too.
fragments of a wandering mind 
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