Mid-Year Media Check In

where i blab about some things i did and some things i loved so far this year!

we’re halfway through 2024! personally, my mind is boggled by this information. i haven’t used this substack since february despite the fact that I think about writing something on here at least once a week…so.

writing

the fact of the matter is that i have been writing. i’ve just been doing it in silence! i’m working on my book and draft seven is completed. is seven drafts too many? arguably, yes. is the seventh draft the best so far? also, yes. that is the writer’s plight (and also next time i will outline better).

in terms of writing, i’ve mostly been working on my book, but i try to mix it up sometimes too. i wrote a quick play a couple of weeks ago for a festival i want to be a part of. it’s just an eight-pager, but i had such a good time writing it. it’s easy to forget how much i like writing in almost every style (except poetry, i’m sorry poetry) until i do it again. so here’s to more playwriting for the remainder of the year. i have a vague idea for this one play that i have been putting off writing for more than a year now so maybe it will finally get a chance to shine before 2025. currently, all of my plays are listed on my new play exchange page (shameless plug), and hopefully i’ll be able to add this new play-that-is-currently-only-a-vague-idea to the list soon!

my play Ella’s Therapy Play was a finalist for the SheNYC festival, which was awesome! that play was my senior thesis for grad school, and i’m kind of very proud of it. it was nice to see that strangers thought it was interesting enough to make it to the final round.

i recently worked with my good friend Sebastian Schlecht to create a pitch for a movie focusing generally on climate change and specifically on a queer teenage girl and a grumpy old lady’s friendship.

i won an essay contest! i sort of ran with the prompt and used it as a chance to be as descriptive as possible about my childhood bedroom (something i’ve been nostalgic for recently). you can read the essay here!

reading

idk what i’m on but i am suddenly on fire with reading? i think it’s because i’ve been listening to audiobooks while driving and also reading every night, but i am flying through books! i’ve read so many good books, so many okay books, and surprisingly few books that really blew me away. i’m hoping i get some more 5-star reads with the second half of this year!

something i’m trying to do is to read more graphic novels/manga. so far so good i think, though there are soo many more graphic novels i want to read that i haven’t had the chance to yet. and i’m trying to diversify my reading list by reading at least one book on theme with each month’s theme. for example, reading Black authors for African American History Month, reading AAPI authors for AAPI Heritage Month, and reading queer authors for Pride Month! i’ve found so many of my favorite books of the year this way, so i will definitely be sticking with this.

the good news: i’ve been reading more genres of books. the bad news: this has only made my tbr longer!!

here are some fav books so far this year:

• Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention—and How to Think Deeply Again by Johann Hari

• You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi

• Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez

• Fangirl Down by Tessa Bailey

• Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

• The House of Hades by Rick Riordan

currently reading: The Details by IA Genberg

this was a hard list to narrow down, so i’m already dreading making my end of the year list. prepare for it to be long.

listening

oh look at that, it’s BTS time.

jk, except that my favorite album out so far this year has been a BTS members’. is it my fault they keep making bangers?!

Right Place, Wrong Person by RM is objectively one of the best albums out this year. i’m working on my essay about it now to continue my BTS essay series, so i won’t say too much here other than if you haven’t listened to it, you really should.

this year has been so amazing for music that it is hard to actually think about which albums are the best. in an attempt to avoid that challenge, here’s a look into my On Repeat playlist from spotify:

• Fri(end)s by V

• After Midnight by Chappell Roan

• Birds of A Feather by Billie Eilish

• Change pt 2. by RM

• Saturn by SZA

watching

just finished season two of sex lives of college girls. excuse me but where is sesason 3!? this show was great and exactly what i look for in my television.

bridgerton season 3 was a bust. why would they do that to us! i have a theory that something went wrong in the editing room. it sounds like they shot so much stuff and then the way they put it together was buns. idk why that happened but i am bummed about it.

the bear is too stressful for me, i’ll say it. i do not watch tv that makes me feel negative emotions. i need the negative emotions to come as a surprise after they’ve had me chuckling for at least four episodes. otherwise, the odds of me checking it out are quite low. sorry to the bear, and most importantly, sorry to ayo edebri, my queen.

the bikeriders is the worst movie i’ve seen in a long time. if you want to watch austin butler have 3 lines while somehow being the lead of the movie and middle-aged men riding motorcycles/punching each other in the face, you should check this out. for anyone with taste, i advise against it.

my favorite movies i’ve seen this year are:

• Scrambled

• Poor Things

• Love Lies Bleeding

• Turtles All the Way Down

• Challengers

i plan to watch more movies and make more use of my AMC A-list membership. i’m such a picky movie-goer that it makes this hard, but it’s good to try new things.

live

obviously, the best thing i’ve seen live this year has been Chappell Roan at Boston Calling. she rules.

seeing Appropriate on broadway was amazing because i’d actually read the play in school and knew i wanted to see it live since that day. and i did! and they did such a good job with it.

hozier put on an amazing performance when i saw him on tour. he really is so cool and i really did cry when he raised the pride flag during ‘take me to church.’

the end

i thought i should post on the ole substack, so this was just a hodge podge of stuff. when i do my end of year wrap up, trust that it will be more organized and thoughtful. but for now, i just wanted to share some of my favorite things i’ve been enjoying lately! keep an eye out for my next BTS essay, which will hopefully be up soon.

now everyone please bully me to write the things i had on my to-do list for today. because it is not looking good.