Naomi Falk

Tag: Blog

  • Last Week on the DCP…

    Last Week on the DCP…

    This is probably going to be the last post for at least the next two weeks. We’re officially at the last week of my program, and my family is coming to do a couple of days at Disney and Universal before they take me back home with them, haha. Between all of the packing, last days at work, and 12-hour Disney and Universal days, something tells me I’m not going to have that much time to write. Even this post is probably going to be shorter than normal.

    The title of this post is “Last Week on the DCP…” and it’s kind of a double meaning. 

    The first is that it’s obviously my last week on the DCP. But it’s also like those voiceovers at the beginning of two-part TV show episodes where they say, “Last week on Abbott Elementary…” and then recap the previous episode so you’re updated for part two. 

    So, this blog post will be talking about my last normal week on the DCP…which was also last week. 

    So, here we go. 

    Last week, on the DCP…

    MONDAY

    I probably should have just started with Tuesday. Not much happened on Monday, besides the fact that I worked at the Christmas store and this time I did NOT lose my name tag after my shift (the last time I worked a Christmas shift was two weeks ago when I lost my name tag). Which is good because it would have been embarrassing to lose the backup one they gave me. 

    Also, today on the way to work, the bus got in the right turn lane and then made a left turn instead. At some point you just have to admire the audacity. 

    TUESDAY

    Tuesday will forever be known as the day that I took a picture with Mickey while dressed as Goofy, while also wearing a name tag that says “Chris.” 

    And I did it on the clock. (Because, believe it or not, this is not how I dress on my days off.) 

    I made the mistake of sending this picture to my family group chat, and now it’s up on my mom’s Facebook page. As she pointed out, I’m as tall as Mickey Mouse now. 

    Oh, also I got some cool shades: 

    WEDNESDAY 

    This was the day that I spent mostly on the phone, trying to get my family’s Disney tickets. One thing about me is that no matter how much I try to plan ahead and get things done early, somehow it always ends up becoming a time crunch situation, and everything gets done at the last minute. 

    In this case, I had been working a lot of hours in order to get the last set of tickets for the fam and had all the hours I needed by May 9th (like two weeks ago). But apparently whatever system counts the hours messed up and was showing that I had about 80 hours less than what was needed. 

    So, after one long phone call where I was redirected to about three different departments, with the last one saying they would have to email a 4th completely different department, I ended up getting an email with the tickets later that night. 

    Hallelujah. 

    THURSDAY

    Today, I got to go to one of the Special Engagements that Disney Programs offers. Every once in a while, Disney Programs brings a celebrity to come and talk to us CPs. Before this one, I’d been to two others: JoJo Siwa and John Stamos. 

    I don’t know if I could think of two more opposite people if I tried. 

    Anyway, this one was with Darren Criss, who is an actor, singer, songwriter, composer, etc. He was in Glee (which I’d never seen) and also many other shows and musicals and some Broadway shows. He was also in A Very Potter Musical, which is a deep cut, but it was the only thing that I knew him from, haha. I don’t even know if I’ve seen the whole thing, but I grew up seeing the clips online. 

    That’s another thing about me–as a middle school kid I didn’t have any social media, but I did have full access to YouTube. And used that access to watch almost exclusively Harry Potter videos. 

    Anyway, this session was actually really good and Criss had a lot of interesting things to say. He talked a little about growing up in California and then doing Broadway in NYC. Whenever people talk about growing up in California or New York or anywhere on the coasts, it really fascinates me because it’s so different from my experience growing up in rural Colorado.

    I only got one really bad photo from this one:

    Anyway, because of this session, I went home and started watching Glee. I’m a couple episodes in, and it’s definitely…dated. I’m not sure if I’m going to end up finishing the series but there is some great music! 

    FRIDAY

    Today I went to Gideon’s one last time. (For my non-Disney readers: Gideon’s is a bakeshop in Disney Springs.) Technically, I’ve only been there one other time, so I was really just there for the second time. I wasn’t originally planning on going either, but I was in Disney Springs because…my new name tag was ready! 

    I decided to grab lunch, go get Gideon’s, and then get my name tag. It was about 100 degrees outside, and the line for Gideon’s was pretty long, but I needed to build up my heat tolerance for the rope-drop-to-close days I have coming up anyway. 

    My family thinks they’re excited for the Florida heat. It’s been cold in Colorado lately, and it snowed pretty recently, actually. Basically, they’re switching from cold and rainy to hot and rainy. Not a great trade-off in my opinion. We’ll see if they survive. 

    After I got lunch and waited 30 minutes for my cookie,

    Chocolate chips with a side of cookie

    I finally got my nametag: 

    War is over

    I timed it so that I would be picking up my name tag right before the bus arrived. Unfortunately, the bus was 30 minutes late, and I ended up standing outside in the insane heat for a lot longer than I had planned. For some reason, waiting outside in 95 degrees to get on the bus is less fun than waiting outside in 95 degrees to get on Tiana’s Bayou. 

    The bus did eventually come, and on the way back, it cut off a car in traffic. A few seconds later, the car sped past us and flipped the bus driver off. 

    This all happened after we were off Disney property, of course. That would never happen in the most magical place on earth… 

    SATURDAY

    And that brings us to today. I have spent most of the day packing up my stuff. This is my last day off before my family gets here! I’m super excited to show them around the parks again, even though we just had a Disney vacation last year lol. We’re also doing some days at Universal afterwards, which will be fun. 

    But first, I have to pack all of my stuff, most of which are things I have acquired since being on my program. For example:

    My pins. I managed to collect one complete series, and no, not one of the limited-edition ones. Just the regular open-edition princesses. Plus some other fun ones like scenes from Runaway Railway (my favorite ride), a skyliner pin from when I did my staycation at the Art of Animation resort (the pre-blog days), and a pin from my time as a FOTA cast member.

    Despite having acquired a lot of stuff, I did get most of my packing done, and I rewarded myself at the end with this new drink from starbucks: 

    It wasn’t that great, but it’s very photogenic. 

    Like I said at the beginning of this post, this will probably be the last post for the next two-ish weeks. However, I already have my next few posts planned, so here’s what you can look forward to: 

    1. A post about my complete experience on the Disney College Program–the highs, the lows, and the buffalos
    2. A post about my family’s disney/universal trip–because I’m sure interesting things will happen 
    3. A post about books, specifically about fiction–because I can only go so long without talking about writing 

    I’m sure you’re on the edge of your seat. 

    Well, that’s all for now. 

    See ya real soon! 

    So long, Disney Springs

    P.S. Just as I was finishing up editing this post, I get this little notification from WordPress:

    Thanks, WordPress. Really. It means a lot.

    And…yeah, it’s still not right.

  • It’s the Final Countdown

    It’s the Final Countdown

    It’s officially been one month since I’ve started (consistently) blogging. And now that I have more than three posts up, I’ve begun to notice a pattern, which is basically that I write about two things: minor life updates and various media opinions. 

    Well, the last two weeks have been about movies and TV, so I figured today I would give everyone a break from my Star Wars takes and instead make this a life update post. And, unlike last week, I do actually have updates now. 

    The main thing is that my Disney College Program is almost over. I’m planning on making a post about my complete experience on the program, so look forward to that. But for now, we’ll stick to recent events. 

    Now that I only have three weeks left on my program (it will be two by the time I post this), I’ve started to actually think about life post-program, which includes everything from trying to find a job to trying to fit [redacted] amount of merch in the one suitcase and one carry-on I brought with me in August. 

    These are both equally difficult and impossible struggles. And yet, I persevere. 

    In the midst of my program ending, I’m still trying to squeeze as many experiences into these last few weeks as I can. And experiences I have gotten indeed, both planned and unplanned. So, here’s a list of four things that have happened to me in the past week-ish. 

    1. I earned my Master’s Mouseter’s 🐭

    The Disney College Program is often described as a split between earning and learning. Basically, you are both working at Disney World (earning), but also have the opportunity to take a wide variety of classes (learning) that range from Disney Heritage to Improv. Through gaining a certain number of learning hours or taking certain classes/multi-week series, DCP participants are eligible for different “certificates” such as a Mouseter’s, a Daisy Degree, a Ducktorate, Goofy Graduate, all the way up to Sorcerer’s List for over 200 learning hours. 

    There are some people who do the DCP while also being a full-time college student. There are some who do the DCP and get over 200 learning hours from Disney. There are some that do both. I do not know how these people function. 

    I’ve taken a few Disney classes here and there (you may remember the Improv class), and they’ve all been great. As a storytelling company, Disney offered many classes that aligned with my interests, such as a class where we got to listen to a panel of show writers. I also signed up for a multi-week series called “The Magic of Storytelling,” and this was how I got my Mouseter’s. 

    Basically, I just showed up for each class and that was the only requirement, haha. But it was a really interesting class. There were many guest speakers with super cool jobs that were fascinating to hear about, and it really expanded my knowledge of the creative careers that are out there. 

    This series wasn’t really academic; it was more of an exploration of how Disney uses different storytelling methods in all of their media and parks. Something that I realized when I started my in program was that while I was very familiar with Disney’s storytelling in their films/the Pixar formula, I was less familiar with the storytelling in the Disney parks. In this class we learned a lot about how imagineers and storytellers use theming and forced perspective to immerse guests in each “land.” It was also interesting to hear how they translated many lands and attractions for the international parks. 

    So anyway, now I’m trying to figure out how to include a “Mouseter’s” degree on my resume…more to come. 

    Now, this class isn’t the only learning I’ve gotten to experience recently…

    1. I got a backstage tour of Animal Kingdom’s Kilimanjaro Safaris
    The tour group; I’m in the back

    Continuing on with the learning theme, another fun opportunity that the college program offers is backstage tours of almost every attraction in the parks. Sign-ups for these tours drop randomly, and they can only take 20-ish people on each one (and there’s like 10,000 DCP participants) so they’re really hard to get into. I’ve been trying since I got here in August and had basically given up on ever getting to do one, but then one day I opened the app and Kilimanajaro Safaris was open! It’s one of my favorite attractions, so I signed up immediately. 

    Now, this whole day was very cool but also kind of a fever dream. First of all, the bus that took us to Animal Kingdom had a barely functioning AC. Now, this was not an ideal situation for a bus ride in Florida summer, but it was really early in the morning, and the sun wasn’t at full force yet. Eventually we made it to Animal Kingdom, a little sweaty but still mostly in high spirits. 

    The tour was scheduled to start at 8:30 in the morning, so it was early, but not too bad. Most of these tours start at like 5:30 in the morning. Which is, like, when I go to bed sometimes. 

    Anyway, we showed up at 8:30am and found out that somehow, someone had messed up the times, and the tour was actually supposed to start at 7:30am. Our guide didn’t seem too concerned about it though; he ended up just giving us a more truncated version of the experience. 

    It was still really cool! We got to learn a lot about the history of the Africa section of Animal Kingdom and found all of the hidden Mickeys, of course. After that, we got to go on the safari trucks and get a look at the backstage areas of the safari, including a giant field where all of the food for the animals is grown. It is bigger than the entirety of the Magic Kingdom. 

    And of course we got to see the animals as well. 

    Giraffe
    Elephant
    Baby Elephants

    Now, once the tour was over, we all headed back to the bus stop. And lo and behold, what bus was waiting for us but the same one we had taken in the morning. Except now, it was almost noon. The sun was fully out, and it was 90-something degrees. 

    As the bus pulled up, a bunch of sweaty cast members piled out. One guy said something along the lines of: “I opened all the windows for you guys; it’s terrible in there.” 

    Sure enough, we walked onto the bus, and there was no AC at all. 

    The bus ride home was hot. I don’t think I’ve ever been more uncomfortable in my life. If the windows hadn’t been opened, I don’t think we would have made it back. 

    But we did, and as soon as I got into my apartment I collapsed onto the couch and stayed horizontal for many hours, until I left for my shift later that evening. 

    That night, I didn’t get back to my apartment until after midnight, and ended up sleeping until 2pm the next day. 

    Good times. 

    1. I got a new identity 

    Which is just a clickbait-y way of saying I lost my name tag. And unfortunately, I was not wise enough to listen to the advice of the seasoned cast members who told me to get more than one name tag at the beginning of my program. In my defense, my one name tag survived to almost the end of my program! 

    I had to go and get a loaner tag, and so now I have a new identity for the next week: 

    Nice to meet you everyone, I’m Chris from Orlando

    The funny thing about wearing a name tag that does not have your real name on it is that most of the time, you aren’t thinking about it at all, until a guest says, “Thanks Chris!” after you check them out at the register. 

    And then you get to have a whole identity crisis because now there are real people walking around in the real world thinking they just interacted with someone named Chris. And you don’t feel like a Chris but that person seemed to accept that your name was Chris, no questions asked. And so you go about the rest of your day, catching glimpses of yourself in windows and mirrors with “Chris” pinned right above your heart…some people would lose their head if it wasn’t attached; I would apparently lose my identity if it wasn’t pinned to my shirt. 

    Anyway, my new name tag comes in a week–just in time for the end of my program–and thank goodness because any longer and I might have had to write a post about names and identity, and that just sounds like a lot of work and research.

    And it would’ve probably given me flashbacks to certain EU chapels…

    1. Everything AND the kitchen sink

    As my program comes to an end, I’ve been trying to check a bunch of “bucket list” items off my list. It’s mostly different foods, and I finally got the orange milkshake I’ve been eyeing for the last few weeks: 

    Orange shake, hallelujah

    It’s the most orangest orange thing I’ve ever had (those who know me know I can’t describe flavors). And it is perfection. My favorite milkshake in the parks used to be the chocolate shake at Auntie Gravity’s in Magic Kingdom, but this is the new #1. 

    This shake was part of my last visit to EPCOT’s Flower and Garden festival, which was also on my bucket list. I think out of all the festivals, it ranks 3rd. Food and Wine is 2nd, and Festival of the Arts is officially my favorite. But I’m definitely not biased from working there or anything… 

    Anyway, Flower and Garden is also cool. They definitely have better food than FOTA, for what it’s worth. Besides the orange shake, I also tried a mango bubble tea and poke bowl that were both delicious. 

    Mango Boba
    Poke Bowl

    And, in the midst of all the resort hopping, park days, (and mostly food sampling), I also conquered one more bucket list item: 

    Behold: the Kitchen Sink

    My roommates and I went to Beaches and Cream and got the famous “Kitchen Sink.” Eight scoops of ice cream, every topping, and a whole can of whipped cream. 

    Just an FYI, when you do this, they turn on siren lights in the restaurant and then the cast members loudly announce that you have decided to try to eat the entire kitchen sink.  

    And I am pleased to report: we did, in fact, finish the whole thing 💪

    Good soup 😋

    Anyway, I hope you’ve enjoyed this little life update! I’ve had a lot of fun during these last weeks of my program, but it has also been very chaotic. Re: the procrastination, my time spent on this blog is starting to look like one of those vague graphs with a scary downward slope: 

    I would have made my own graph but I am drafting this at 3am

    Maybe one day I’ll have more free time, but for now, you’ll have to make do with the ramblings of a sleep-deprived Disney College Program cast member. Lucky you 🙂 

    P.S. One more last-minute non-update: I saw a bunch of people posting those Spotify “party of the years” things, so I decided to check it out. Big mistake. If anyone wants to know what the first song I ever streamed was–too bad. I’m going to the grave with that information. 

    If you really want to know, the lowest offer I’ll accept is coincidentally the same number as the remainder of my student loans.

  • The Film-ification of TV

    The Film-ification of TV

    Every week, when I’m deciding what to write, I look at my calendar and my photos to see if anything significant has happened recently. Well, this is what my calendar for the past week looked like: 

    Crickets, crickets…*cue tumbleweed*

    And, besides a couple shots of the EPCOT ball (and the screenshot I just took of my empty calendar), my Google Photos is also looking pretty bleak. 

    Editor’s Note (which–still me; I’m the editor): I *did* just complete a few Disney Programs classes and earn my Mouseter’s; however, at the time of my beginning to write this post, this was not yet the case.

    So, with no major life events to blog about, I turn to my current obsessions and see if there’s anything interesting about them. 

    Now, anyone who knows me knows I love TV shows. I’m always watching a show. Actually, I saw this stand-up special recently where the comic made a joke about how when her life flashes before her eyes, it’s going to be a reel of all of the TV series she’s watched. I’ve never felt so seen. And convicted. 

    Anway, I love TV shows, but it’s currently a hard time to be a TV fan. TV series have changed a lot recently. Because of streaming, weekly sitcoms are slowly fading out. In its place are TV dramas that release 10 episodes, each an hour long, all at once exclusively on one subscription streaming platform that costs $15 plus tax (your soul) every month. 

    A lot of my favorite series are from the 2010s era (think Modern Family, Parks and Rec, Big Bang Theory, etc.), but I didn’t watch them as they were coming out, since I was but a child at the time. I think it would have been really cool to be watching TV during a time when there were multiple shows with new episodes coming out every week. 

    It’s still somewhat around today; Abbott Elementary is one of my favorite sitcoms that releases weekly. But overall, weekly storytelling is something that is slowly slipping away from popular culture. Which is sad because serial storytelling has historically been an important part of the human experience. 

    Lately, I’ve seen many complaints about how TV shows are just 7-hour movies now or that we don’t have “filler episodes” anymore. And, like, if you take those two statements without really thinking about them much, you might just say, “Ok…so?”

    I mean, what’s the difference between ten 45-minute episodes and twenty-two 20-minute episodes? They both average out to about 7.5 hours of content. And if there’s no filler episodes, that means less time is being wasted, right? Right?? 

    No, not right. 

    There’s a lot more to consider when talking about how TV has changed, and when people complain about the length of episodes or the fact that there’s no more filler episodes, there’s a lot more beneath that. 

    Weekly storytelling has been a thing for, well, forever. Even before there were TV shows, there were short stories, periodicals, weekly comic strips, radio shows, etc. And because of the nature of having to produce something every week, not every episode/edition/article had the same “level” of storytelling, hence: filler episodes. 

    In the olden days, people used to complain about filler episodes because they did not further the overarching plot of the season. However, when these episodes went away, it became clear that they actually served other important purposes, such as furthering character development and continuing the worldbuilding of the show. Having episodes come out every week also gave people something to talk about that was kind of one step above small talk: “Oh, did you see the new episode of xyz show?” 

    So what’s happened now? Well, streaming, basically. It’s created a phenomenon that I like to call the “Film-ification” of TV, and the “TV-ification” of film. Basically, TV shows and movies have switched places. 

    What do I mean? I’ll try my best to explain. 

    We’ll start with TV shows turning into movies. 

    Before streaming, movies were a bigger deal than TV shows. When you went to see a Marvel movie, you probably expected it to be “higher” quality than whatever workplace sitcom was currently airing. A TV show was something to keep people entertained for 20 minutes when they turned on the TV at home, a film was a “work of art”–something that would shape the culture and conversation for the foreseeable future. 

    However, with the introduction of streaming, that all began to change. 

    Introducing: the limited series. 

    Suddenly, big studios were releasing big budget TV dramas that had film-style production value. These shows were anywhere from 6-10 episodes, 45-60 minutes per episode. This is different from the classic TV dramas, which were also 45 minutes, but there were still 20-24 episodes per season (think medical dramas/police procedurals). 

    At first, these shows were very popular. Marvel really capitalized on it, releasing many limited series such as WandaVision, Loki, Hawkeye…basically every character that didn’t have a movie yet got a series instead. 

    The problem with this format, however, was that once the series ended, everyone wanted a season two, because that’s usually how TV shows work. However, these shows weren’t intended to operate like traditional TV. They were a one-time thing, a limited release. Like a movie. 

    Still, the format worked for a while. Audiences were engaged with the shows, and because the shows were being released by such popular studios, they were getting a lot of views, a lot of attention on social media, and thus were regarded as wildly successful. The pros of a limited series were that you could make a 10-hour story and not have to shave it down to two hours because a theatrical release was no longer necessary. Everyone could just watch it at home on their own time. 

    So, the goal of TV became not to tell a story over an extended period of time, but instead to capture the audience’s attention for a specific point in time, and get them to talk about whatever was currently releasing as much as possible before they moved onto the next thing. 

    Another way these limited series became like films is that there was one plotline throughout the entire series. Because of this, the plot felt very drawn out, and character growth was minimal. 

    So, this combination of plots being drawn out while simultaneously feeling too short without multiple seasons created feelings of dissatisfaction among fans. 

    And now, because every company has their own streaming service, there are a thousand limited series, and none of them are connected to each other, and it is literally impossible to watch/care about all of them. 

    AND, even further, now that the production value of these series has increased, many series do not get a next season until many years later (*cough cough* Stranger Things *cough cough*). And everyone forgets what happened previously. 

    Ok, so to recap: TV shows have turned into movies by upping the production value, drawing out the plot, and releasing all episodes at once, for one time only…until 5 years later when you get “Season 2.” That is the Film-ification of TV: releasing what is basically one movie, just broken up into 6-10 parts.  

    But now, another, kind of strange, phenomenon has emerged, and that is the TV-ification of Film. How does this work, you may ask? Well, it basically boils down to two things: 

    1. Sequels, Sequels, Sequels
    2. Everything is One Big Series

    We’ll start with point number one. Literally every movie in existence has a sequel, or multiple sequels by now. A common criticism of Disney/Pixar/Marvel etc. is that they are releasing more sequels than original stories. Not only is making a sequel of a popular movie likely to make more money, it’s also significantly easier to work on a story with a world and characters that you already know. There’s also less pressure to convince the audience to watch movies; if they liked the first one, they’re going to want to see the second one. So now, we have film franchises that have more sequels than TV shows have seasons, and it used to be the other way around. 

    Okay, now point two: everything is one big series. I’m specifically thinking of Marvel for this one. Basically, there are, like, a thousand Marvel movies. And they’re not all sequels (although I think we’re on the…5th…Spider-Man movie??), but they all exist in the same universe, and each movie is critical to understanding the storyline. 

    This has made it pretty much impossible for people to be introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They look at the list of 35+ movies now that are all connected (plus the limited series because yeah, those are canon too), and it’s overwhelming. Even as someone who loves the Avengers films, I find it hard to convince myself to keep watching the movies as they come out. The plot is too complicated now, and I don’t have time to go back and watch the previous 100 hours every time something new comes out. 

    I mentioned in my last post that my sisters and I got introduced to all the major “nerdy” franchises (Star Trek, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Marvel) by watching them as a family as each of us became “of age.” So like, first my parents watched those series with me, then me and my parents watched them with Rachel, then all of us plus Rachel watched them with Sarah, then all of us plus Sarah watched them with Joanna and Bethany, etc.

    When Rachel and I were first watching the Marvel movies in 2019, there were 22 movies. Now there are 37 (almost 38) to show Joanna and Bethany as of 2026. That’s 15 movies in seven years; more than two per year. 

    And so, you can see that TV series and films have switched. Instead of getting a season of TV every year and a sequel film every few years, now we get multiple sequel films per year, and one season of TV every three-ish years. Because it’s quicker to release two hours of content (one movie) than ten hours (one limited series). 

    Now, all is not lost. Despite the major film/tv studios following this new trend, there are still good standalone films being released and good TV shows being developed. One of my favorites that I mentioned earlier is Abbott Elementary. This is one of the only examples of a classic sitcom that is still being released currently. There are five seasons, 20-ish episodes in each season, and a new season comes out every year. (It’s been renewed for a Season 6–I’m so excited.) 

    Another cool series that was released recently was the second season of a show called Jury Duty. If you haven’t watched this show before, I highly recommend it. The premise is basically “What if we made a sitcom, and everyone was an actor except for one person?”

    The first season was about an eccentric group of people on a jury. Everyone was an actor except for one guy, who thought everything that was happening was real. The second season was about a company retreat with the same premise: one person thought that the company was real, but everyone involved was an actor. Both seasons are filled with wild and comical circumstances that could only happen in a TV show, but the actors are so good and the scenarios are developed so convincingly that the regular guy of each season fully buys into it. They also managed to find the most genuine guys you can think of, and they both became the “hero” of the show by the end of their respective seasons. 

    It’s a really cool series, and even though it’s not a classic sitcom, and there were multiple years between Seasons One and Two, it still managed to capture audiences and be a major topic of discussion for a minute. It’s kind of surprising that a show like that can be made now, especially when you think about how easily just having a cellphone could derail a whole show like that. But somehow it still worked, and it was incredible to watch. 

    So anyway, now that I’ve nerded out about TV shows for a hot minute, I’ll get to the point. I feel like one of the problems streaming has presented is everything is getting made with the standard of perfection. Now that TV episodes aren’t being released every week, the pressure is on to make something literally perfect because otherwise it won’t be worth the five years the audience had to wait to watch it. The only problem is, there’s almost nothing that is actually worth multiple years of waiting to see. Sure, there are some exceptions, but overall, not every piece of media should be intended to be a “masterpiece.” 

    Sometimes, the best compliment you can give a piece of content, whether it’s a TV show, movie, book, podcast, etc. is that it kept you entertained. If you were able to get into the story, or buy into the world, to the point where you forgot you were watching a show and instead were fully invested in what was happening, that’s a success. And sometimes that means tuning in to watch your favorite characters in a workplace comedy every week, and sometimes it means going to a movie theater to see something new. 

    Not every form of media is intended to be the same; that’s why there are so many! Every story should be told in the format that best serves the story, not the format that the industry expects. (Maybe next time I’ll talk about how every podcast has a visual element to it now…) 

    The content that will become timeless is the content that changes the game, and you can’t change the game by conforming to industry standards. 

    The only way to begin is by beginning.

    So. 

    I hope you’ve enjoyed me nerding out (and borderline ranting) about movies and TV shows for six pages. But actually, that’s kind of why I created this blog–because I was starting to get into this mindset where everything I wrote had to be perfect, and so I wasn’t writing anything. And that’s the beautiful thing about blogs: they’re not supposed to be perfect, and more importantly, no one blogs anymore! There’s no expectations, and I can talk about whatever I want 😎

    Anyway, maybe one day movies will go back to being movies, and TV will go back to being TV. But for now, I guess I’ll start on my 4th rewatch of Clone Wars (Lucasfilm Animation knows how to make a TV show) until something else catches my attention. 

  • May the Fourth Be with You

    May the Fourth Be with You

    Since the dawn of time (c. 1977) Star Wars fans have been known as the most opinionated humans on the planet. Truly, there’s nothing that brings the Star Wars community together like a good debate. There are so many different topics: who shot first, what order to watch the films in, why are all the main characters human, who has the worst “sci-fi” name… (I’m looking at you, “Count Dooku.”)

    It’s a tale as old as time. 

    Now, every Star Wars fan also has one hot take that they will defend with their life. For example, here’s mine:  

    The Star Wars Prequels are Objectively Better than the Original Trilogy

    This is a hill I will die on, and honestly, it’s…probably a pretty nice hill to die on, all things considered. 

    Probably not too crowded, nice views, etc. 

    Now, because of many factors (mainly TikTok edits) this opinion isn’t such a hot take anymore. I can’t begin to tell you how many people have told me they want to watch the prequels because of seeing an AnakinxPadme (of all the couples…) edit on TikTok. A win is a win, I guess. 

    Anyway, when I was first planning this blog post, it was going to be more of a persuasive piece about why the prequel trilogy is better than the originals. But then I realized I would have to watch all the Star Wars movies again and do a bunch of research and, well, it’s Saturday, and I’m posting this on Monday.

    So, instead, because it’s May the 4th, I’ve decided to dedicate this blog post to the Star Wars Prequels: why they are awesome and why I, personally, love them. 

    Ok! Here we go! 

    Reason Number One why I love the Star Wars prequels:

    Anakin Skywalker.

    Anakin is the best (Skywalker) main character out of all the trilogies (between Anakin, Luke, and Rey). We actually get his whole story, from when he was a child, to becoming a Jedi, to (spoilers, I guess, if you’ve lived under a rock) becoming Darth Vader. And, we even see him get redeemed in the OG trilogy (or the tril-OG, as I like to refer to it). 

    Anakin is more relatable than Luke. Luke is your classic “good guy” character. He always does the right thing, is willing to make the sacrifice, and successfully defeats and redeems the “bad guy.” I think a lot of people like the idea of “being” Luke, or the “good guy.” We like to think that we’re always going to make the right choices and take the moral “high ground,” (hehe) so to speak. 

    Anakin, however, wavers. He starts out as a “good guy.” In the first movie, he’s a cute kid who cares about his mom and wants to become a Jedi to help protect her. But what’s interesting with Anakin is that instead of seeing him become the “hero” he was always meant to be, we see him fall into the traps of the Dark Side. Mwahaha. 

    In one of my writing classes, we learned that the difference between the protagonist (the main character/good guy) and the antagonist (the villain/bad guy) is that they are faced with the exact same choice, they just make the opposite decision. 

    When Luke learns about the Force, he learns that there is a “light side” and a “dark side.” He can either use the Force to help others or just help himself. Luke chooses the light side, chooses to help others, and joins the Rebellion to free the galaxy from the Empire. 

    When Anakin discovers he can use the Force, he’s told he is the subject of the prophecy and that he can “bring balance” to the Force. Instead, he chooses to use his power to protect himself and himself only (and still ultimately destroys himself…very Voldemort-coded). 

    When faced with ultimate power, Luke and Anakin are presented with the same choice: selfishness or selflessness. And as much as we would like to think that we would choose to save the galaxy, I think we can all identify a little bit with Anakin’s self-interest. And seeing his descent into becoming a Sith is more real because we can see all the tiny choices that lead up to it. We’re forced to admit that the line between “light side” and “dark side” is thinner than we’d like it to be. 

    Reason Number Two why I love the prequels: The Story 

    My number one complaint about the tril-OG is that it is So. Slow. There’s like, an extended scene in every movie that is either unnecessarily long or has absolutely nothing to do with the plot. Think the ice storm scene…and that time where they have to escape a giant sand monster…

    Runners Up include Yoda training Luke, and every scene with Jabba the Hutt. I fall asleep during these parts every time my family watches these movies, which is usually when we’re introducing them to one of my younger sisters.

    (Side note–my family treats the viewing of all major fandom movies or TV shows like rites of passage. Once you come of age, you must watch Star Trek, Star Wars, Harry Potter, and the Marvel movies. My youngest sister, Bethany, is now 11, and so far we’ve gotten her through Star Trek and Harry Potter, and apparently now she’s on Phase Three: Star Wars. She’s becoming a nerd, just like her sister before her, and her sister before her, and her sister before her, and her sister–)

    Anyway, I will admit that the prequels do have one, one unbearable plotline, and that is the pod race from The Phantom Menace. The only thing that saves this storyline is that there are actually some stakes and, like, a reason why Anakin has to win the race. 

    Otherwise, the prequels actually have a pretty tight story. Unlike with the tril-OG, there’s an actual plan for the ending of the prequels: Anakin becomes Darth Vader. And the process of seeing him slowly slip into the Dark Side, even though you know it’s coming, is actually very compelling. Every time I watch the prequels, I think, “Maybe this time he won’t turn evil.” 

    So far, this hasn’t worked, but I’ll keep hoping. 

    I usually despise prequels because it’s hard to see the point in a story where you already know the ending. But in this case, knowing the ending is part of what makes the story good. 

    Of course, there are other reasons why this story is good. Allow me to introduce you to my (and everyone’s) favorite character: 

    No, wait, not that guy–

    Yeahhh that guy. 

    Obi-Wan Kenobi. One half of the best friendship duo to ever grace the big screen. If there was a platonic version of “grumpyXsunshine,” it would be Anakin and Obi-Wan.

    Friendship duos are always my favorite character trope (Eugene and Lance from Tangled the Series, Shawn and Gus from Psych, Chris and Ben from Parks and Rec…the list goes on and on). But what I like about Anakin and Obi-Wan’s friendship is that we get to see it evolve from mentorship, to friendship, to brotherhood. So, when Anakin makes the ultimate betrayal, and Obi-Wan is forced to fight him and leave him for dead, we feel that pain.

    And, just another note on Obi-Wan, I also always love a character that can jump between being both intensely serious and also the comic relief. Because what do you mean the same character who says this: 

    is also incredible meme-able: 

    And now, for the final point of why the prequels are awesome, may I introduce you to the greatest love story ever told:

    Just kidding. Actually, this might be the weakest aspect of the series.

    I mean seriously, between Luke trying to date his sister and Anakin falling in love with someone twice his age, I can kind of understand why the Jedi aren’t allowed to get married/be in relationships. When it comes to love, the Skywalkers don’t have the best track record. 

    And as long as we’re talking about counterarguments, I do also have to bring up one more character: 

    Highly regarded as the most annoying character to ever appear in a feature film. However, I’d just like to argue that one annoying character is no reason to say that an entire trilogy is unwatchable. And, there’s absolutely no way he’s worse than this guy: 

    But meesa digress. 

    So…what’s the point of this blog post? Well, honestly, I think I just like talking about Star Wars, and there were favorable conditions for a Star Wars post (I needed an idea for a post…May the 4th was coming up…I really didn’t have a choice when you think about it).

    It’s like when there’s favorable weather for a tornado, but instead of a tornado watch there was a, like, fandom watch. Which is just as dangerous (you should always be alert on the major nerd holidays: Back to Hogwarts, First Contact Day, etc). 

    So, I guess all I’m trying to say is that the prequels are awesome, maybe even more awesome than the tril-OG, and if you like angsty characters, best bud friendship duos, problematic love interests, and also thoughtful and intellectual story themes, then you should definitely give these movies a chance. 

    Yes, I love the Star Wars prequels, and while I do like to joke and say that they’re “objectively” better than the Original Trilogy, I can admit that that’s probably not true. 

    However, there is one fandom, one series, that IS objectively better than the Original Star Wars Trilogy, even better than the Star Wars PREQUELS: 

    Star Trek. 

    But that’s a post for another time. 

    Happy Star Wars Day. 
    May the 4th be with you Live Long and Prosper 🖖

  • A Cascade of Chaos

    A Cascade of Chaos

    A couple weeks ago, I had one of the most crazy, chaotic, and calamitous shifts I’ve ever had so far on my Disney program. Like truly, it was one of those days that only happens when you think, “Huh, my life’s been going pretty good,” the day before.  

    Literally, nothing good happened the entire shift. Which was bad for me in the moment, but is now good for present-me, because I have something to blog about! See that’s the thing about a bad day: 

    Sometimes, there’s nothing you can do about it except get through it. 

    …and then maybe blog about it later. 

    As I was thinking about it, though, I was like “Well, I *could* write about it, but what would even be the takeaway, or the point?” 

    Well, dear reader, I have no idea. So let’s find out together. 

    I will say this is a rather funny story to me now, and I believe it also has some entertainment value, so here we go. 

    It all starts with the fact that for this particular shift, I was working outside of my home location (so not my regular stores in Disney Springs). I was scheduled to work in Candy Cauldron, a candy store on the complete opposite side of Disney Springs. I had worked a few shifts there in previous weeks, so I pretty much knew what to expect. 

    Or, at least, I thought I did. 

    The first thing you should know about this day is that the shirt I was wearing was about 4 sizes too big. This is due to the fact that costuming never has my size…ever. Luckily, the costume also has an apron that kind of hides the shirt, but here are some pictures just so you can visualize this more: 

    Full costume including apron and mushroom (hat)
    Big sleeves (also, sorry I’m not smiling–I wasn’t aware I was going to eventually blog about this when I took this photo. I’ll do better in the future.)

    As you can see, this is the flowiest shirt I’ve ever worn. However, I’m pretty used to crazy getups:

    I love twinning with Goofy every day

    Anyway, I’m in a giant shirt but otherwise in a pretty good mood. I was running a few minutes behind, but I managed to catch the bus on time, and that was all that mattered. People on the DCP love to complain about the buses (I can’t judge; there have been a few times where I’ve gone on a bus rant), but overall I have loved living in a walkable area with public transportation. As someone who hates driving, bus drivers are some of my favorite people in the world. However, sometimes the actual buses themselves can be a bit of an issue. And on this particular day, that turned out to be the case. 

    We had made it over halfway to Disney Springs. The bus that I take to work stops at a couple of resorts as part of the route, with Disney Springs being the last stop. We made it to the first resort with no problem, but then, as the bus was pulling out of the parking lot, we stopped at the stop sign to get back on the road…and then we stayed stopped. 

    And stayed stopped some more. 

    A couple minutes later…still not moving. 

    Then, the bus driver stood up and turned around to face us. 

    This is not a good sign, I thought. 

    I took out my earbuds and looked at her. 

    The bus driver explained that the bus was not accelerating like it was supposed to, and that it currently could not go more than 20 miles per hour. Because of this, she didn’t think we would be able to make it to Disney Springs safely, so she was calling a repair crew to come look at it, and in the meantime, we would have to wait for the next bus. 

    Well, I thought, this is inconvenient, but considering this is my first time being late for work ever, it’s not a big deal.

    And it can’t really get worse than this. ← remember those words 

    There was a big commotion as the people around me decided what they were going to do. This was a bus of about probably 30-ish people. A large group decided to get off the bus and walk to the guest buses at the resort that would take them to Disney Springs. One person booked an Uber and announced that there were 5 seats available to whoever would want to split the cost, $6 per person. And so she and a group of 5 left the bus. So that left me and about 7 other people on the bus. 

    I decided that I was not going to pay to go to work. My shift was supposed to start at 5pm, and the next bus was scheduled to arrive at Disney Springs *at* 5pm, so at most I would probably be 10-15 minutes late, which is not the worst thing in the world. (Now, if this situation had occurred while I was in high school/college trying to make it to Band class, or any Band event really…shivers. There’s a chorus of “early is on time; on time is late; late is unacceptable” echoing through my head at the moment.) 

    Anyway, about 30 minutes later, the next bus arrived, and we were back on track and on our way to Disney Springs. Everything was starting to look up, except for the clouds, which upon our arrival to the Disney Springs bus stop, decided to pour down on us. 

    And, as the heavens were opening up, so were the bus doors. Time to walk to work. 

    Luckily, I had my umbrella. 

    Unluckily, my umbrella did not have me. 

    The rain was attacking me from all sides, and my tiny umbrella could only do so much. So, when I got to work, my hair looked *fabulous*…but the rest of me was completely soaked. 

    There wasn’t really anything I could do about that (I’d never brought an extra pair of socks to work before, but guess what you can always find in my bag now?) so I clocked in to work, about 13 minutes late. 

    The first hour or so of standing behind a register with squishy socks wasn’t the best feeling in the world…but after a while either my socks started drying or I was just becoming numb to the dampness (a win is a win). 

    And, I knew that once I got my break, I would be able to just sit and unwind. I’d never looked forward to staring off into the distance more. The store was busy, my socks were wet, and my pants were so heavy from the weight of the water that they would have been falling down were it not for my belt. But my break was coming soon, and I was sure that was when things would start to look up. Because (say it with me): 

    It can’t get much worse than this. 

    About two hours into my shift, I got my break. (Hooray!) But when I looked at the assignment paper, it said my break was only 15 minutes. (Not Hooray!)

    Basically, because I clocked in late, my shift was less than 6 hours, which is the cutoff time for a 30-minute break. So, because I happened to be working 5 hours and 47 minutes that day, I got a 15-minute break. And, after the time it took me to ask about my break and then walk to the breakroom (a 4-minute walk each way), I was left with…5 minutes.

    And I forgot to pack my lunch. 

    Ok, not great, but at least I’ll have time to sit down for a second. It can’t get much worse than this. 

    So, basically what went down was I walked to the breakroom, drank some water, sat down, listened to one song on my playlist, drank some more water, and then headed back out again. To work the last 3 hours and 45 minutes of my shift. 

    It was at this point that I stopped thinking “it can’t get much worse than this.”

    One: because I was pretty sure I was jinxing myself, and

    Two: because I was actually starting to imagine how much worse it could get. 

    Some more time went by, and now it was later in the evening. The crowds were starting to dwindle, which was good in some ways (I don’t really know how much more human interaction I had left in me) but bad in other ways (I was left just staring into the distance, contemplating…everything). 

    And as I was contemplating, I realized something. In the midst of all of my negative thoughts (this sucks, I’m wet, I’m tired, I want to go to bed, the DCP never mentioned *this* in their Instagram Reels), there was another, quieter voice in my head: 

    Just keep going. You’re almost done. This isn’t forever. Tomorrow will be better. Tomorrow is so soon. Tomorrow is literally in 15 minutes, actually. (Yes, it was almost midnight.)

    Once I started paying attention to that quieter voice, my other thoughts started to shift. And suddenly, nothing else that happened that night mattered. 

    Still had 30 minutes left in my shift?

    You’re almost there. Keep going. That’s only, like, 6 more Disney songs. 

    Bus a few minutes late picking us up? 

    That’s ok, the shift is over now. Relax. You’re almost home. Tomorrow will be better. 

    Getting home and taking off my shoes and realizing that yes, my socks were indeed still wet, and my hypothesis that I had just become numb to the dampness was correct? 

    Whatever, it’s okay, you can dry your shoes before your shift tomorrow. Tomorrow. Tomorrow will be better. 

    Washing and drying my feet and then having, like a whole sheet of dead skin flake off because of standing in wet shoes for 6 hours? (TMI, I guess.)

    No worries, that was a bit gross but you’re still alive, and yeah…that was actually kind of satisfying. 

    And finally, finally, I made it to the end of the night, and to bed. 

    Before I continue, I would just like to state that my feet (and I) are perfectly fine now. In case anyone was wondering. 

    Now, when I started writing this I mentioned I had no idea what the takeaways were. Well, now that I’ve relived my trauma, I *can* actually think of a few: 

    1. In middle school/high school, I remember my teachers would always talk about the importance of having a “growth mindset.” Not sure if this was the exact scenario they were trying to prepare me for…but it ended up coming in handy. So…there you go. I guess I do have *some* practical real life skills. (Or at least one, anyway.)
    1. I also remember something my mom used to say all the time, which was that you can’t always control your circumstances, but you *can* control your attitude. I always hated when she said that. I even kind of cringed just now as I wrote it. But she was right. I guess. Thanks, mom. 
    1. Some days are bad. But tomorrow is so soon. (And depending on when you are reading this, tomorrow could even be 15 minutes from now!) 

    On the bus ride home that night, I collapsed onto the seat, put in my earbuds, and stared blankly out the window. I honestly don’t even remember anything between getting on the bus and then shedding my foot skin. (Imagery is my favorite literary device, can you tell?) 

    Here’s the last thought I remember having: 

    Today sucked. Sometimes that happens, I guess. 

    Tomorrow will be better. 

    And it was. ☀️

    A rainbow over the Saratoga Springs parking lot. Not from the same day, unfortunately. That would be too poetic.

  • From Knitting Sweaters to Burying Dead Bodies: My Experience with Improv 101

    From Knitting Sweaters to Burying Dead Bodies: My Experience with Improv 101

    On March 31st, I attended an improv class. 

    Yes, and now you get to hear about it!

    …in just a second. First, I would like to address my absence on this blog. I saw this tweet a couple of weeks ago that pretty much sums up my relationship with this blog at the moment: 

    Suffice it to say, I have enough ideas to write one blog post a week, but unfortunately not enough executive function. It’s like some backwards version of writer’s block. 

    Anyway, I’m back, at least for now, and today I will be talking about…drum roll please…improv and unscripted comedy!!! Hooray! (Please don’t click away, I promise* this will be fun and interesting!!)

    So, like I mentioned earlier, I attended an improv class last week. One of the cool things about the Disney College Program is that they offer a wide variety of classes and learning opportunities for all of the CPs to attend. (You know, because we have soooo much free time 🙃) 

    Now, I haven’t taken any kind of acting/theater/improv classes since my sophomore year of high school, and there is a reason for that. 

    Me in a church play
    Me as “the moon” in another church play
    Me in a play during my freshman year of HS. I like this picture because it looks like I’m flossing. Who knows. Maybe I was.

    I am what you might call a “Triple Non-Threat”: 

    • I can’t act
    • I can’t dance
    • and I *definitely* cannot sing (just ask my shower) 

    So you might be wondering: what was I doing in an improv class in the first place? Great question. Well, it all starts with a bad case of strep throat, Instagram reels, and a poor financial decision. 

    Back in November of last year, I got strep throat. (Thank you, Anonymous Disney Guest.) During this time, I was kind of in-between TV shows, which was a problem because I was trapped in my apartment for a couple days and had no shows to watch! So…enter Instagram Reels. I spent a lot of time scrolling and ended up getting a lot of reels from these shows called “Game Changer” and “Make Some Noise.”

    You may have seen one or two of these clips. There are a few that have gone extremely viral (which is how I ended up on this side of Instagram in the first place). Anyway, turns out these shows are part of a company called “Dropout” (formerly “CollegeHumor”). Now, I’m not going to waste too much time describing Dropout, but essentially it’s a comedy streaming service that mainly features unscripted comedy shows. And, after watching a million clips on Instagram, feeling generally terrible (re: strep throat), and some encouragement from my mom, I decided to get an annual subscription (the aforementioned poor financial decision). 

    Well, fast forward a few months, and I’m almost watching more improv than sitcoms (still watching Abbott Elementary every week, of course)! So, when I saw that one of the classes that the Disney College Program offered was a once-a-month Improv class, I thought: 

    YES, that sounds fun, AND I signed up. 

    So on March 31st, I walked into a class called “Improv for Improvement,” armed with all of my extensive Improv knowledge, including: 

    • memories of watching my high school’s improv troupe with my sister in the pre-COVID days
    • hours of various Dropout shows 
    • and also having seen some random improv shows that I found on Netflix (everyone should watch Middleditch and Schwartz) 

    …and no practical experience. At first, I thought I was just going to be thrust into a group of people and then just have to improvise a scene based on a prompt or something, so I was very prepared to just fail. And maybe die. 

    Luckily, this was not the case. 

    After everyone sat down, the first thing we did was listen to the instructor talk about the purpose of the class. This particular instructor is a Disney cast member who is also part of a local improv comedy group, and she teaches this improv class to different Disney teams to show how improv can be helpful in the professional world. After she introduced herself, we went over three basic principles of improv: 

    1. Yes, And 

    This one is basically in the title. You accept what the other improvisers give you, and also add to it. 

    1. Don’t Think

    I liked this one because of the sheer impossibility of it. Basically, there were two parts to this: don’t overthink your choices in the moment, AND don’t think about what you could have said that would have been better/funnier afterwards. (Which, how dare they–those are, like, my main shower thoughts!) 

    1. No One is the “Star”

    The purpose of improv is working as a group. If one person walks away as the “star” of an improv show, then it probably wasn’t a very good show! I’ll mention Dropout again–one of my favorite things about their shows is that all of the cast members work really hard to make each other laugh and have fun, instead of trying to make themselves the main focus. 

    After this brief intro to improv, we broke into groups of ~6 and basically played improv games for the rest of the class. Once I figured out this is what we would be doing, I started to relax. I also started to get flashbacks to playing “Zip Zap Zop” in my high school Theater 1 class. 

    The focus of this particular class session was “Teamwork,” so all the games we played relied on working together. 

    The first one we played was called “Yes, Let’s!” Basically, you stand in a circle, and then one person jumps in the circle and suggests an activity and mimes doing that activity. Then, everyone else shouts “Yes, let’s!” and does their own interpretations of that activity. 

    My suggestions in this game (“Let’s knit a sweater!” / “Let’s paint a mural!”) were rather boring compared to some others… (“Let’s bury a dead body!”)

    …but it was oddly affirming to suggest something to a group and have everyone enthusiastically agree (even if they were quite literally obligated to). 

    In the next game we played, we had to work together to create a physical representation of different spaces or concepts with our bodies. We did a couple rounds of this, creating shapes like Mickey Mouse, an airplane, and a living room. During this time I got to represent Mickey’s ear, an airplane wing, and the other half of a 2-piece end table set. All in the span of 10 minutes! 

    After that, we had an extra bonus round where we had to create the shape without speaking to each other. The prompt was “Disney attractions,” and when the instructor asked my group which ride we were supposed to be, we found out that half of us thought we were Tiana’s Bayou, and the other half thought we were Tower of Terror…whoops. 

    Hakuna Matata though, am I right? 

    The final game we played was kind of a classic icebreaker game, where we had to line ourselves up by birthday order without speaking. This went surprisingly well; we only had two people out of place in a room of probably 40?? Ish??

    Ok, so why am I telling you about this not-even-Improv-101 class? Well, because after the session was over, I started thinking (critical mistake) and realized that my whole life has kind of been improv recently, and that the instructor was right–having improvisational skills can really be helpful in all aspects of life. 

    Let’s go back through the three basic improv rules again.  (“Yes, let’s!”)

    1. Yes, And 

    Anyone who has ever worked in retail or any guest service role knows the phrase: “the customer is always right.” This means more than just providing excellent customer service, it means that when a guest walks up to you, no matter what they say, you kinda have to just roll with it. 

    I won’t get into any examples this time…but maybe one day I’ll make a post about the time I had to guard a pile of vomit for 20 minutes. 

    The point is, “Yes, and” has more applications than just in an improv class. Even with something as simple as just having a conversation, I’ve discovered that being able to talk with random strangers about any subject is a very useful skill to have. 

    1. Don’t Think 

    As a chronic overthinker, this one is probably the hardest for me. I’m always thinking about the things I could have said that would have been “better” or “funnier.” 

    During the improv class, our instructor explained that there’s no need to think about it, because everyone else is so focused on what they’re saying, that truly they are going to forget whatever it was you said, whether it was good or bad. 

    I have found this to be mostly true; it’s been a week or two since that class and I really only remember a couple of things other people did, haha. 

    All this to say, the spotlight effect is real. Everyone’s not always looking at you, and you have the freedom to make your own choice, even if you’re not sure if it’s the “right” one. 

    I might be just preaching to myself here. 

    1. No One is the “Star” 

    I like how this one applies to real life. If you’re always trying to be the best, or the star of the show, not only will that hurt your relationships, but also you will always fall short. There’s always going to be someone who is “better”/has more experience/etc. But it doesn’t matter because no one is the star! We all have unique experiences and perspectives that we can bring to the table. 

    I remember being in writing classes and being amazed when everyone got the same assignment, or prompt, but all wrote completely different pieces. None of them were the “best,” because they were all so different they couldn’t really be compared against each other. Similarly, we as people are all so unique, there’s no point in playing the comparison game. 

    I guess my main point is: improv is cool and it has practical applications in real life and you should definitely watch as many unscripted comedy shows as you can.

    Please.

    I need someone to understand my references.

    After the class was over, our instructor showed us a slide of improv resources, which included Dropout! Which made me feel very vindicated. Maybe that subscription wasn’t such a bad financial decision after all…

    Anyway, am I “good” at improv?

    No.

    Have I already signed up for the next improv class? 

    Yes, and hopefully it won’t be my last : )

    *the word “promise” here was used in the…metaphorical sense. Yeah, that’s a thing.

  • On A.I.

    On A.I.

    When ChatGPT first released back in, like, 2023, I was so annoyed with people always wanting to talk about Generative A.I. and its consequences. Not because I didn’t care, but because I thought it was so obvious that A.I. was bad that it was physically frustrating for me to hear people argue about its “good uses.” And, I thought that maybe if everyone ignored it, it would just go away. 

    Well. 

    Flash forward to 2026, and I don’t think there’s ever a 20-minute period where I’m not looking at, hearing about, or even interacting with some form of artificial intelligence.

    All of this to say, I’ve been thinking about A.I. a lot the past few weeks, and that mostly has to do with my current job. Most of you reading this probably know that I’m on the Disney College Program right now, and that my role is merchandise in Disney Springs. But for the last six weeks, I was temporarily deployed to EPCOT for the Festival of the Arts, which started in mid-January and ran until February 23rd. I worked merchandise, which meant I got to work at all the booths that featured artwork from various Disney artists. It was so cool to get to learn about all the art and meet the artists, too. 

    Besides the artist booths, the festival had other experiences, such as a museum of original Broadway costumes and props, performances every night from the original Broadway actors from different Disney shows (I got to watch some of those while I was working–the dream), animation/drawing classes, a giant paint-by-number mural, and of course very good (and very colorful) food. 

    Original Broadway Costumes
    Artist Palette Cookie
    Pop Art Latte
    Dole Whip Flight
    Popcorn, Popcorn Chicken, and Waffles
    Strawberry Bubble Tea

    During this festival I got to experience probably the best night of my entire life, which was hearing James Monroe Iglehart (!!) sing “Bigger Than That,” one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite TV shows (“Tangled: The Series”). I could write a whole blog post about that. 

    James Monroe Iglehart

    But I digress.

    Anyway, seeing all of this art, music, and performance got me thinking. Because during the midst of this festival, as I was experiencing all of this human art, I was also hearing a lot of news about A.I. “art.” From the announcement that Disney Plus will eventually platform A.I.-generated videos, to seeing more and more A.I. content on social media, it seems like the world is becoming enamored with the artificial.

    So in this age of constantly having to decipher what is real and what is too good to be true, how do we define what actually makes a work of art? Is it the creation itself? Or does the creator have something to do with it? And if so, what makes a good creator? In this essay I will–

    Just kidding 🙂 This will not be an essay. Just a silly (but potentially long) blog post 😁 

    So…buckle in. Lol. 

    We’ll start with the art itself. What makes a good creation? And what makes something “art”? In my opinion, every good work of art has a story. Story is, arguably, the link that connects all of humanity. We all have stories, and there are even many specific stories that transcend culture and language (like “Cinderella”– there are a thousand different versions of this one story). In order for any song, painting, or movie to connect to its audience, it must have a story. 

    Think about going to a band or orchestra concert. What happens before the musicians start playing? Usually, the director talks a little bit about the composers and the pieces that will be performed that night. Although it’s obvious that there is a story behind the music, and the music can carry the story on its own, knowing the story heightens the impact of the notes. Meaning comes from that connection between the audience and the sound. 

    And if you’ve ever watched one of those reality TV talent shows (The Voice, American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, etc.) what do they include before every act? That’s right: an incredibly sad story about the person who’s about to perform. Why? Because they know that the story is going to be what ultimately captures viewers. 

    Even sports have stories. Athletics, in my opinion, is not that different from theater. We love sports for the “story.” It’s live entertainment, we assign teams “roles” like “underdog,” and we root for a specific outcome for our favorite characters (oops, sorry–“teams”). We even judge games based on how fun they are to watch and criticize the actions of the players. “Can you believe that last play?” Sometimes there are even unreliable narrato– referees.

    It all comes back to the story.

    My favorite part about working at the Festival of the Arts this year was getting to hear the artists’ stories. Sometimes they talked about what inspired the piece, how they decided what media to use, or just their artistic process. One sentiment that many of them expressed was the fun/joy that they had in the creating process. There are many pieces that I look at differently now because I’ve heard the story behind them. 

    And speaking of artists, if a good creation must have a story, then that story must have a creator. So what makes a good creator? Well, I think that in this case, maybe we should look at the Creator. And here’s where my Christian worldview kicks in. 

    First and foremost, I think a good creator is intentional; they create with a purpose. If I were to say that nothing about the world mattered, everything was random, God just kind of snapped His fingers and everything appeared, and then He stepped back, most Christians would probably have to disagree. Every single piece of the universe has a purpose. The Earth is situated in the exact position to support life. All life on Earth is part of the same give-and-take life cycle. Every organism in this cycle has a purpose and plays a part in what makes life possible here. I think that was all very intentional. 

    I think good creators are also thoughtful and create in their own unique voice or style. And when we create like this, we are following the example of our Creator. Many Christians subscribe to the idea that we are made in God’s image. What does this mean? Essentially, we have God’s fingerprint indented into us. Just like how you can tell if something is written by C.S. Lewis, painted by Picasso, or composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda (That was probably the most random list of people I’ve ever come up with!), we all have a similar “touch”: God’s. 

    To finish out this section, I think good creators take pride in their work and care about their creation. And both of these ideas are needed. Sometimes we don’t care how the work is done. The process is just a means to an end, and as long as it gets done, who cares what happens in the middle? 

    This is where generative A.I. comes in. It’s so easy to just say, “I want a painting of this sunset,” and plug a photo into any A.I. generator and get an instant result. There, the work is done, and you have a “painting.” Or you can say, “I need a four-page paper on the history of film,” and plug in the assignment details and get an essay in three seconds instead of three hours. 

    But if, at the end of the day, we’re all plugging prompts into machines and sending in identical “it’s not x–it’s y” sentences and “uncanny valley” images, what is the point of any of it? When we’re applying to jobs and all sending in the same A.I.-generated cover letter, how are any of us going to stand out? When we’re submitting portfolios of our work and it all looks the same, how can we expect anyone to recognize our artistic styles? Twenty years from now, will you be able to point to anything you did and say, “That’s my work, and I’m proud of it, and I can defend it”? Or will we become so dependent on a lifeless technology that we forget that the work, the human touch, is the whole point? 

    The problem is, we’re conflating premise and plot. This is something that many writers run into when planning their novels/screenplays/etc. Essentially, a premise is an idea. When someone says they have an idea for a book or a movie, it’s a premise. A premise is usually a “what if” question: 

    “What if toys were sentient?” (Toy Story) 

    “What if cars were sentient?” (Cars) 

    “What if emotions were sentient?” (Inside Out) 

    When we plug prompts into ChatGPT or any generative A.I. platform, we’re plugging in premises, not plots. 

    Plot is what actually happens in the story. When writers have an idea for a story, they start with the premise, or the “what if.” But they soon learn they need more than that to actually write the book. Who are my characters? What is my story structure going to be? How will my main character move through the Hero’s Journey? 

    Many stories exist that have good premises, but the actual plot, or story, didn’t really quite live up to it. That’s because a premise, no matter how good it is, is not enough to create a story. A.I. generates based solely on premises, and no matter how “good” the premise is, the final result will always fall short, because there is no mind creating a story, only a computer generating a product. 

    Ok, now I’d like to present some common arguments I’ve heard in favor of generative A.I., and my thoughts on them: 

    1. Everybody’s doing it/we have to keep up with the times/keep up with the rest of the world

    This argument is interesting to me, especially when it comes from a Christian perspective because, for the most part, Christians place a large emphasis on not conforming to the world or doing something just because everyone else is doing it. 

    And if your argument is just that “everyone else is doing it,” let me channel my inner ‘cliche sitcom dialog enthusiast’ and say, “If ChatGPT told you to jump off a cliff, would you?”

    1. It evens the playing field 

    There’s this myth that you have to “have the best stuff to make the best stuff.” Some say that A.I. evens the playing field for those who want to create art/produce songs/make movies that don’t have all of the resources that industry professionals do. 

    I’d like to argue, however, that some of the best art has come out of places where resources were limited. Because creativity is about doing more with less. Think about all the Disney movies that have come out in the past six years. How common has it become to see movies that are almost instantly forgotten? Strange World, Moana 2, Wish, the live action Lilo and Stitch, etc. These are not movies that did badly in the box office (it’s Disney–they’re going to make money no matter what), but they are movies that didn’t really leave much of an impression on the audience (generally). This is because of the opposite effect that having resources can create: the more money and support you have, the less pressure there is to create something “good.” Disney is now implementing A.I. into their streaming service. Why? Because they don’t need the human touch anymore, they need products that sell. 

    1. It saves so much time/I can focus on “more important” things 

    This argument is, again, interesting from a Christian perspective. Many Christians believe in a literal seven-day creation, in which the world was created in seven 24-hour days. Now, of course, we cannot “for sure” know how the world was created (and this topic would also be a whole other post). But I have a hard time believing the entire world sprang up in seven days when everything else about God’s creation suggests that growth takes time. Seeds take weeks to produce fruit, seasons come around in months, the earth takes a year to orbit around the sun, a human brain takes 25 years to develop, etc. Nothing worth anything happens instantly. There’s value in struggle, reward in patience, and worth in the work. 

    Now, it is possible that artificial intelligence has its uses, especially non-generative A.I. My youngest sister was recently diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Apparently, A.I. is being used to develop an insulin pump that automatically calculates how much insulin your body needs and provides it, without you having to pre-calculate how many carbs you’re going to eat. This is the kind of tech I can get behind. 

    A.I. may even have its uses in other aspects of the world. I’m sure some of the elements I used to design this website are somewhat A.I.-powered, so I really can’t judge anyone. The point of this blog post is not necessarily to campaign for A.I. to be eradicated…but I do think we would probably be better off without it anyway 😂

    So what to do with all of this? I’ve just written five Google Doc pages (and if you’ve made it this far, you’ve just read five Google Doc pages) about A.I. How to conclude?

    I guess my main point is this: It’s important to engage in humanity. The world is so divided right now; what we need is more human connection, more of a human touch, not less. As an English major, my field of study was under the “humanities” umbrella: an area of academics that studies art, religion, history…essentially what it means to be human. But, of course, you don’t have to have majored in the arts to engage in humanity.

    There is so much to be gained from human creation: reading a book, watching a movie, going to a live performance, listening to music, etc. And there is so much to be gained from being a creator: writing, performing, crafting, painting, etc. 

    In a world of instant gratification, find joy in the process before the product.

    A poem I like that I found recently

  • Pieces of Liberty

    Pieces of Liberty

    Author’s Note:

    I have another blog post that I’ve been working on–just something fun, but with all the recent events I feel strange posting a bunch of silly stuff right now. So, I’ve decided to wait on the first idea and post this instead.

    “This” is a short piece I wrote for my expository writing class a little less than a year ago about my family’s experience visiting New York City in 2024, braided with the history of the Statue of Liberty and a family member’s immigration to the United States in the 1920s.

    With all of the horrible things ICE is doing in our country right now, I thought I would share this piece again. Every person living in the United States is an immigrant. We all deserve to feel safe in our cities and our homes.We are all created equal. We are all people.

    Final note–this is a creative non-fiction piece. It is loosely based on a family member’s immigration to the U.S., but I took a lot of creative liberty, as I do not have much information on the family member.

    Pieces of Liberty

    When the Statue of Liberty was completed, it had to be sent over in 350 individual pieces, packed in 214 crates. These pieces were shipped from France on the frigate Isère, finally arriving in New York Harbor on June 17, 1885. Unfortunately, the base for the statue had not been finished yet, and all of the pieces of Liberty sat, waiting, for another year until they would be put together again. 

    ***

    Before August of 2024, no one in my immediate family had ever been to New York City. Like everyone else who’s never been to New York City, all of our expectations were based on what we’d seen in movies and TV shows: shiny skyscrapers, lots of bagels, and maybe even meeting a celebrity. Technically, we weren’t even staying in the city; we had a hotel room in New Jersey. There are a few ways to get to New York City from New Jersey. You can drive there (which we did the first day), or you can take a ferry (which we did the third day). There are a lot of moving parts when you’re a family of seven trying to get everyone from New Jersey onto the ferry and to New York City all in one piece. It’s a lot easier to use a buddy system. We split into groups of two or three and found spots on the ferry. We sat, and we waited. 

    ***

    Somewhere in Poland, in the late 1920s, a young woman is about to board a ship to America. Her parents are already there, waiting for her. What were her expectations? Had she heard the myths about streets of gold? The American Dream? Maybe her parents had already told her what it was like. Mildred Bloom sits with the other passengers on the ship, and she waits. 

    ***

    We decided to take the ferry for a few reasons. One, because we were visiting my great uncle, and he likes the ferry. Two, this is how we would see the Statue of Liberty. Of course, it would be kind of far away, so we wouldn’t get to see it up close, but we’d still get to see it. I frequently get motion sickness, and unfortunately I left my non-drowsy motion sickness pills back at home. I only had the regular ones that made me sleepy. I decided I could tough it out. It’s not like we would be going over the real ocean. Rachel [my sister], who also gets motion sickness, decided to take one of my sleepy pills. “Don’t do that,” I tell her. She shrugs, and pops one in her mouth anyway. “You’re going to regret that,” I say. 

    ***

    Mildred Bloom was Jewish. Who knows why her family decided to move to America? This was Poland during the 1920s. Maybe they could already sense what would be coming in the next decade. Maybe they knew they should leave before it was too late. During the 1920s, almost 3 million Jews lived in Poland. By 1945, only about 300,000 would remain. 

    Mildred would not have had motion sickness pills. 

    ***

    On October 28, 1886, the Statue of Liberty was officially unveiled and celebrated by thousands of spectators. But before that, in 1883, the United States was still attempting to raise funds to build the pedestal. One way that funds were raised was through auctions. Poet Emma Lazarus submitted her sonnet “The New Colossus” to an art and literary auction. In 1903, this poem was put on a plaque in the pedestal. The most famous line of this poem reads: “Give me your tired,

    ***

    I look over at Rachel on the ferry. She is conked out, her head resting on the window. I smile. I knew this would happen. “Look,” I say, shaking her awake, “there’s the Statue of Liberty.” It’s small, a little green figure in the distance. I pull out my phone and zoom in. There is Liberty, holding up her golden flame, welcoming our little ferry. 

    ***

    your poor, 

    ***

    Also aboard the ferry are locals. For them, this is their commute to work. You can tell who the locals are by looking at who’s standing at the windows, zooming in with their cameras to catch the slightest glimpse of a green statue, and who’s sitting down on a bench, looking at a newspaper, or a phone, unbothered. The city isn’t all glitz and glamour. The city is also shadows, people doing whatever they can so they can survive just one more day. 

    ***

    your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

    ***

    Sometime in the late 1920s, Mildred Bloom sees the Statue of Liberty as her ship approaches the city. When the boat docks, hundreds of passengers exit with her onto Ellis Island. In the next few years, Mildred will marry Leo Falk, another Jewish immigrant, and have two sons: my grandfather and my great uncle. But that’s later. For now, Mildred breathes. 

    ***

    About 100 years later, my family steps off the ferry and disappears into the crowd of 10 million people that day, breathing, in New York City.

    Photo I took from the ferry
  • On “Writing Poorly” and Perfectionism

    On “Writing Poorly” and Perfectionism

    Last week, I noticed I accidentally left a space between the last word of a sentence and the period in my blog post. One post in and the perfectionism is already up and running, lol. (Side note–there have been many times I’ve wanted to put “lol” in my academic papers…words cannot describe the joy I feel right now.) The funny thing is, I’m sure there’s something more important that my brain could have latched onto as a “mistake” in my last post, but I kind of love that it was the extra space. Something easily fixable. I may leave it, though. For posterity. (I am well aware that phrase makes no sense here; I just love saying “for posterity.”)

    I feel like most writers/creatives struggle with some version of perfectionism, and I think a lot of that comes from how we’re trained to judge things in society. In school, all of our writing/art/music is graded on a scale from 0-100. Movies are rated with percentages on Rotten Tomatoes. Songs are ranked on Spotify. Books are rated out of five stars on Goodreads (and there are no half star options)! Everything has a number nowadays, and I think that this “easy” rating system is hard to escape. So, writers such as I end up spending days staring at that vertical blinking line on a blank Google Doc, almost begging it to “do something, please.” 

    A while back, I saw this Reddit post on a writing subreddit discussing editing as you go/making the first draft perfect vs. writing “poorly” and editing later. I think most people do a combination of both, depending on what they’re writing. As I was thinking about it though, I’ve realized that I love writing “poorly” for my first drafts. I love placeholder names, saying “insert correct word here,” word vomiting…all of it. Even as I write this post, my paragraphs are filled with highlights and brackets and things to come back to. The truth is, I’m going to end up editing what I think is “good writing” anyway, so I might as well work on the bigger story first and the small things (like, say, extra spaces) later.  

    But thinking about all of this has made me realize how much of it I can apply to “real life.”  I’ve always hesitated to do things that I didn’t think I could be “good” at or get praise for. I procrastinated on my pre-calc homework in high school, not because I didn’t want to do it, but because I was going to get the questions wrong anyway, so why even bother? I had an art class my freshman year of high school that I switched to a piano class after the first semester because I was “better” at piano. I don’t sing along to songs because I don’t like my singing voice. 

    To some degree, I think I even chose to be an English major because I knew that’s what I was “good” at, and it seemed like that’s what everyone else did, too. The music majors were good at music; the math majors were good at math; the Biblical Studies majors memorized whole books of the Bible (small Christian college, remember?). Over the course of three years, however, that choice became more than just about whether or not I was a “good” writer. Specifically, there was one semester of my senior year where there was a unit on poetry, and I had to come to terms with the fact that this was not going to be something I was naturally “good” at. (I’m a rambly writer, and I love my filler words…the poets do not appreciate this.)

    Since then, and this past year specifically, I’ve realized it really does not matter whether or not I or someone else thinks I’m “good” at something. I’ve started doing things because I enjoy doing them. Just a few minutes ago, as I was writing this, I took a brief pause and realized how much I love the writing process. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle–the fun part is putting it together. (At least, that’s what I’ve heard; I actually loathe jigsaw puzzles.)

    Two weeks ago, I bought a set of three canvases from Five Below. I am going to paint something on them and hang them above my bed. Do I think it’s going to turn out well? No! I’ve already messed up multiple times and am shooting for mediocre at this point. But I love painting, even if I’m horrible at it and can’t visualize things in my head. 

    Some recent artwork (I will not be showing the Five Below canvases yet…)

    This morning, I made a salad, and I cut the cucumbers unevenly and sprayed tomato water everywhere and had to text my mom every five minutes because I was scared of messing up hard-boiled eggs. But it was fun, and it was the best salad I’ve ever had because I was the one who made it (and also it was just genuinely an S-tier salad with all the toppings). 

    The aforementioned salad

    Obviously, I’m still working on all of this perfectionism stuff. When I was setting up this website, I spent like three hours trying to figure out how to add a “like” button to these posts. Gotta love external validation. 

    So why am I writing this? I have no idea. Originally, this post was going to be about perfectionism and encouragement to do all the things we’re “bad” at (and I think we eventually got there), but it’s sort of also ended up being some kind of self-therapy thing. I guess I’ll leave with this: we’re 10 days into the new year. It’s already (definitely) not a perfect year. But that’s ok. We’re still on the first draft. And while this isn’t like writing, and we can’t go back and “edit” the past, we can definitely still edit how we will respond in the future. 2026, like every other year, will be a year of mistakes and learning from those mistakes, and that’s perfectly ok. 

    P.S. anyone who finds the extra space in my previous post gets 5 extra credit points

    If you recognize this quote we need to be friends

    P.P.S. I have now added a “subscribe” button…do with that what you will

  • All About Me

    All About Me

    I am making this post with slight hesitation. As a recent college graduate who has spent [redacted for absurdity] amount of time in the job-searching trenches, my least favorite question has quickly become something along the lines of, “So, tell me a little bit about yourself.” 

    I just threw up in my mouth a little as I wrote that. 

    It’s so vague! What should I talk about? And what qualifies as a “little bit”??? You can look at a thousand different job interview “tip” websites and get a different answer on each one. And yes, I know, I’m overthinking it. 

    Anyway, all this to say, I’m starting a blog, and I have no idea what I’m doing. And as I was coming up with ideas for my first post, one of my thoughts was, “Well, maybe I should introduce myself.” But how to do it… I thought about going the “tell me a bit about yourself” route, but that unfortunately triggered a PTSD response from the job interviews, so it was quickly a “nope.” 

    Then I remembered another way I used to introduce myself: using one of those “All About Me” posters from elementary school. 

    You know the ones I’m talking about. Or at least, you should, especially if you’re a fellow Gen Z who was in elementary school during the 2000s/early 2010s. The way I remember it was that each week a new “student of the week” got to fill out the “All About Me” poster and present it to the class. You filled out your name, age, birthday, and there were categories like favorite color, favorite activities, favorite books…etc. 

    A goated way to introduce yourself for sure (it has very clear instructions on what to say), but the formatting would be a little awkward for the blog medium. 

    So, then I decided that this is my blog, and I can introduce myself however I want, and so this will be an introduction that is somewhere between “tell me a little bit about yourself” and an “All About Me” poster. 

    *clears throat* 

    Hi, my name is Naomi. I am 22 years old, I like to read and write, my favorite color is blue, and all I’ve ever wanted since I was young was to be able to tell people about myself.  

    Unfortunately, being a more naturally quiet person and never really knowing what to say or when to say it has made this…difficult. Maybe that’s why I loved making the “all about me” posters–I knew exactly what the people wanted. (I could expand on this; someday I might.) 

    I was an English major in college, something I am still very proud of (which is good, as it’s been less than a year since I graduated). Part of the reason I’m starting this blog is so that I still have something to write. I guess I’m finally over the burnout, and the realization that I can write anything that I want is exhilarating. Sure, it might be judged by the general public, but at least I know that nothing I write now will affect my grade point average. (At least, I don’t think so…can you get an ‘A’ in ‘blog’????) 

    I am also a Christian–something I probably should have mentioned before talking about being an English major (oops). I guess I’ll go ahead and mention that these aspects of my identity are in no particular order 😂. Now that I’m no longer attending a Christian university/living in a Christian community, I’m learning how to prioritize my relationship with Jesus in my life and in my schedule. It’s very different when you’re not attending mandatory chapel twice a week. 

    I have four younger sisters–a fact that is very useful in ‘two truths and a lie.’ It has also historically been useful for when I needed minions to do my bidding, although now that they’re older and discovering their free will, I’m losing my influence. 

    I have two cats who can do no wrong and are the pride and joy of the entire family. The reason I know this is that my mom’s Facebook/Instagram page, which used to be 100% her children, is now 50% her children, 50% the cats . 

    Hazel: An Angel
    Junior: An Angel…still earning his wings

    As for the job, I currently have an internship at Walt Disney World on the Disney College Program, which has been a lot of work and a lot of fun. I’m in a merchandise role, and I’m really enjoying it, but I’d also really appreciate it if the guests would stop giving me colds and strep throat. I’ve extended my program through June which is really exciting! The opportunities I’ve had to meet and serve people from all over the world have been rewarding. 

    Mickey Ice Cream!
    New Starlight Parade
    Cinderella’s @ Sunset

    As the new year approaches, I’ve realized that in my busy schedule I’ve not made a lot of time to do the things I love (i.e. writing), hence: blog. I’m hoping that this can be a space for me to write whatever I want to write about, and hopefully it will become a nice time capsule for this ‘era’ of my life. Both of my parents have blogs from the early 2010s that they’ve since abandoned, but they’re fun for me to look back on, since many of the posts (especially my mom’s) are about me and my sisters when we were younger. 

    Honestly, what will probably happen is that I’ll look back on these blogs one day and cringe, as I do with all of my writing. But just because something is cringeworthy doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing–at least, that’s what I’ll keep telling myself. 

    P.S. Yes, I use em dashes in my writing. No, I do not use A.I.

    “All About Me” poster from 6th grade…I think this is actually a perfect encapsulation of who I was 😂
    (And I still don’t have a favorite sport!)