24. HELLOS AND GOODBYES
and everything in between
hi, wow — there are over 100 of you reading this! and you’re not all blood relatives or college roommates of mine! (much love to my blood relatives and college roommates. you just may have a sense of obligation that these new stranger friends do not.) if you’re new, welcome. if you’re old, i appreciate you. and if you’re a theater artist in your twenties just trying to figure it out, i’m right there with you.
this week, i’ll have to say goodbye to walking with ghosts (for now, at least). i’m thinking a lot about hellos and goodbyes. salutations and valedictions. i so love arriving at the music box every night and saying hello to everyone. it will be a series of little holes in my life to lose those greetings, and the conversations that live in between them. my chats with gabriel, the two of us sitting on the velvet couch in his dressing room, are consistently the best part of my day. we talk about all kinds of things — the safest spots to stay in johannesburg, what i should be looking for in a partner (his advice: “funny and kind, that’s all you need”), censored shakespeare speeches, remedies for anxiety, photography, silly stories from the past. every night, i bring in new jokes to tape up and a sheaf of printed notes. when i leave after the show, i raise my hand in a salute. he looks right in my eyes and points at me: “there you are.”
the “resident” part of my “resident director” title suggests, well, residence. staying put. longevity. belonging. perhaps there hasn’t been enough time for longevity, but there has been time for belonging. it’s a good reminder to me that a sense of belonging and community can be cultivated in any process, no matter how close together our hellos and goodbyes may be.
reading.
the theatre of les waters: more like the weather. this came highly recommended from gabby and is a truly inspiring read. (that word feels so corny to me, but it’s true! i feel inspired when i read about the way les and his collaborators see the world!) i’m only a few essays in but am excited to keep dipping into it.
following up on my journal guilt from last week, this substack piece was a balm. i also read some of journal as altar, particularly the series “when journaling doesn’t feel good or easy,” which was deeply validating — see below.
this latest series from sheila heti, detailing her conversations with artificial intelligence. legit mad i didn’t write this. why am i so fascinated by chatbots?
continuing to read father of the rain by lily king.
haley jakobson’s excellent mailing list, which you can subscribe to here. i am so excited for her first novel — and her second! (content warning for ocd in the below excerpt.) i love how she writes about her brain.
seeing.
my policeman. much better than expected! a totally unembarrassing performance by harry styles — the film leans into his innate charisma and sense of naïveté, which helps immensely. meanwhile, david dawson is genuinely excellent. the cinematography and setting are also gorgeous (and may have been my and gabby’s primary motivator for watching).
the below tweet and replies. discuss.
mercury’s footpath, a new play by ellen mclaughlin at yale, starring my favorite sister as mercury.
was totally surprised and delighted by the opening scene of the wonder, which i am now doubly committed to checking out.
the crown, season 5. dominic west remains too hot to play charles. elizabeth debicki is uncanny. jonathan pryce is so sympathetic it feels like full-on prince phllip propaganda. i offer you the following tweet.
many, many youtube videos about traveler’s notebooks. this is my asmr.
hearing.
josh groban and jennifer hudson sing “the impossible dream.”
the first two episodes of “and that’s what you really missed”, which feature some really candid revelations about the experience of making glee from jenna ushkowitz, kevin michael, and ryan murphy. yes, i was a gleek as a teen! you were too! don’t lie!
my country era continues. (i am cringe, but i am free.) tell me martina mcbride didn’t write this song just for me!
also included in my country era: kelsea ballerini’s latest album.
making.
after all that journaling reading, i’m trying out a new system — wish me luck! yes, it’s a traveler’s notebook. anyone else out there use these? i feel such sturm and drang about my urge to archive my entire life. trying to view my journal as a non-judgmental little ally. also: genuinely curious if other folks have journaling / planner practices they really enjoy. please let me know!
thrilled that i can share the results of my outdoor photoshoot with sofía campoamor from last week. i love love love how the concert poster came out. and it turns out the news is even better than a single… she’s got an album release show coming up soon!
currently planning for a little internal reading of the latest draft of cityscrape, which some of you may remember from earlier this year, when i directed a zoom reading of it. we’re getting the band back together for a chat and a read at sophie’s… what could be next?
the soup mug pictured at the top of this email — i painted it at color me mine. (i did not actually sculpt it / throw it / whatever the correct pottery verb is, alas.)
and if you want to catch one of the final performances of walking with ghosts and you want a code for 20% off, just reply to this email and let me know!
