I'm being published!

As I have recently announced, a play that I wrote earlier this year is going to be published. For those of you who haven't been in direct contact with me to hear the whole story as it's developed, here's the basic plotline of how all of this came to be:

1. The story begins in my sophomore year, when I took Dr. Schwartz's Classical Philosophy course. I always suspected I loved Plato, but I didn't really know it until then. As Dr. Schwartz was skillfully explaining the cave allegory, he off handedly said: "It would be neat if we could perform this in the Dell (our college's outdoor Greek theater)". Being bright eyed and bushy tailed, I wrote this down immediately, and started playing with the idea of staging such an event in the future.

2. Senior year roles around and I need a senior project. I start out by looking into the archaeology of Greek theater spaces, but soon lose interest and voice to Dr. Cohen my now 2-year-old idea to turn Plato's philosophy into something that could be shown in the Dell. She bravely agrees to let me attempt a creative project for my senior project.

3. As the year progresses, my project begins to take form and becomes a full-formed play based on the trial and execution of Socrates modelled after the Old Comedy of Aristophanes that expresses the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle, discussing mostly philosophy of drama and justice. I write a 50 page play complete with a 20 page commentary citing everything imaginable, from verses of Plato to explanations of Athenian democracy.

At this point, all I really hope for is that my professors will be satisfied that I made a creative project academically relavent and let me graduate with my BA in Classics.

4. Everything after that snowballed, in an incredible way. Dr. Cohen and Dr. Stevens (my Classics professors) were in fact so pleased with my project that they not only granted me an A but also submitted for consideration for the college's Best Senior Paper award.

5. In the meantime, I also have the delight of seeing part of the play performed for the future cast of Dr. Cohen's Hecuba. My wonderful actors were several of my wonderful and incredibly supportive friends: Dr. Cohen, Sam Henderson, Megan Barrett, Alex Barrett, Rhiannon Knol, Eric Struble, Lindsay Wood, and Lorenzo Alvarez. Thanks again, guys. :)

6. My project won the Best Senior Paper award for my college, and one of the options I was offered as a result of this was to submit it to Apollon, a new academic journal that would consider my project for publication. I agreed to try for it.

7. In mid June, I got the following email from the Apollon office:

"Based on our initial reading of your play, The Jurymen, we believe that your paper has the potential to be considered for publication. We are interested in publishing material that are distinct both in content and style. However, your paper does not fulfill our submission requirements, as we seek to publish research papers that are within 2000-6000 words. Having said that, I would stress here that we are willing to make an exception and ignore the word limit for your paper as it seems unique and polished."

I do a few edits and sent the play off again, with the expectation of hearing back in August.

8. Tuesday I sent an email asking about the progress of my play. I got the following in response:

"The editors were highly impressed by many things in your work and have come to the conclusion that “The Jurymen” is a highly creative and an exceptionally well written play that strives to educate and entertain both Classicists as well as the average reader. Although we had initial reservations about your work due to its length being much longer than our usual submissions, we are glad we have had the chance to receive your work..."

9. After a few "minor changes", I'll send it back, and they'll publish it! :) It's a small and new academic journal, so it's not incredibly visible, but it's still a big step for me. This whole experience has already been far more rewarding than I was expecting; all I wanted to do was pass senior sem! xD

Thank you so much to everyone who encouraged and supported me while this was coming together. I couldn't have pulled it all off on my own.

I received a review from Apollon, as well, which I will post here in a few moments.

A Paradise in Prague

Street musicians on Charles Bridge

I've been avoiding writing an entry on my time in Prague because, while I went there to study creative writing, I have a hard time finding the words to describe the experience. In fact, a part of me feels that explaining it at all would only cheapen the experience, but I guess that's a risk I'm going to have to take.

The words I've come up with, so far, to describe my two weeks in the Czech Republic are: underwhelming, overwhelming, welcoming, alienating, inspiring, unifying, terrifying, exhausting, sweltering, fascinating, exhilarating, titillating, and last of all, heartbreaking. And that's all I might say about my many reactions to Prague. Onto the facts of what I did.

On the right: my photography instructor, Jan Pohribny. On the left: Jindrich Streit

First of all, I learned *so much* in my playwriting and photography workshops. I met so many amazing people and got very close to some in the short two weeks I spent there. The feeling of being surrounded by artists who all share that need to create was incredible, and being taught by such brilliant artists was even better. On top of that, Prague is bursting with creative energy and inspiration: a celebrated freedom after the Velvet Revolution and downfall of communism in CZ. During a photography field trip, I had the honor of meeting Jindrich Streit, a celebrated Czech photographer who resisted the communist regime and ban on art and who was arrested and spent time in jail for having a contemporary art gallery in his home (which I was lucky enough to visit). Through my photography class I was able to visit the studios of many renowned Czech photographers, and met many wonderful people that way. It was these visits and that field trip that helped me really find myself in the Czech Republic, and begin to love the experience of being there.

Three playwrights and a poet: Avi, Laura (my roommate, luckily for me), myself, and Aleks

As for my playwriting workshop, I was blown away by the amount of talent present with me three days out of the week. Actually, the amount of talent in the whole program was shocking. We had student readings in a small theater on Friday evenings and the first reading--featuring the illustrious playwrights along with fiction and poetry writers--was incredible. I met so many inspiring writers, in and out of my own workshop. Our class formed a nice group and we went out on adventures, such as seeing Henry IV in Czech at the foot of Prague Castle. Talk about an experience.

The stage for the Czech Circus

Speaking of theater, Czech theater is... wow. It was one of the many things I fell in love with there. Laura and I had the extreme pleasure of going to one of the showings of the Czech Circus our first week in Prague and it was an experience that I know I can't find the words to describe. The basic idea is that it follows the life of two clowns, but just saying that doesn't do the whole thing justice. The first half you're amused and entranced, delighted by the scenes before you. By the second act, you're shown images of beauty and love and hurt so fresh that you forget everything else entirely. Perhaps the effect was stronger since we weren't expecting it; we were just looking for a lighthearted time, but by the end found our hearts breaking. In a way, that experience alone pretty much sums up Prague for me.

But we (Laura, Erinn, Aleks, and I) also got to see a Black Light Show. That was a rose of a different color. It was entertaining and fun, but nothing like the intensity of the circus.

The Astronomical Clock

I saw many sights around Prague, including the Astronomical Clock, Jubilee Synagogue, Dancing House, and Cathedral + Castle. They were all nice, but the tourist area of Prague unnerved me in a way. It was beautiful, yes, but almost too much so. At night it felt genuine, but in the day, it felt like a street in Disney World. It seemed difficult to believe that anyone actually *lived* there; it seemed to be filled with tourists and visitors.

Me with two of my favorites--Erinn and Aleks--at the World Cup Spain vs Germany game in downtown Prague

One of the other fun experiences I got to partake in was World Cup gushing with the Europeans. It was amazing to be in Europe during the World Cup, seeing as Europe actually cares. Like, really, REALLY cares, as they should. Prague was projecting each game in the Old Town square for whoever wanted to come watch, and hundreds showed up. We couldn't pass up this opportunity, and enjoyed a very rambunctious and very exciting front-row view of football enthusiasm. The first half of the game we were mostly on the German side, trying to blend in. By the second half, we'd all switched over the the Spanish side, which turned out to be the right place to be. Viva Espana!

Sedlec Ossuary in Kutna Hora, CZ

I got one day of adventurous exploration on my own. There was one place I needed to go outside of Prague: Kutna Hora, home of the Sedlec Ossuary, aka, the Bone Church. Sadly for me, there was a tour arranged to go here while I was on my photography trip so all the people I'd want to travel with had already been. But it was fun/terrifying to figure out the Czech train system and get there all by my lonesome. I walked around a bit too much of Kutna Hora (getting lost was involved) and got to walk through the beautiful pastel Cathedral.


And then the Ossuary. For those unfamiliar with the place, it's basically a church that's decorated completely in, you guessed it, human bones. Most of the bones are from victims of war and plague in the area, and are hundreds of years old. For some reason a nearby monastery had a large storage of these bones just lying around, and then one day one monk took a look at them and thought "I could make me a pyramid out of that," and so he did. And this is reason #27465 why one should never trust a monk.

Kutna Hora Cathedral

And that's pretty much the gist of it. Sure, there's much more that could be said, but I'm not a good enough writer to do it all justice, so this'll have to do. It was a life-changing experience, and I'd do it all again in a heartbeat.

Prague's St. Vitus Cathedral at night. Goodnight, folks.

Attention Recent Grads!

We've been in school our whole life. What do we do now that we're not longer in that environment? How will we make friends? How do people actually meet other people when they don't have classes to break the ice? Here's a must read article by the wise and wonderful Rebecca if you, like me, are a recent grad nervous about making friends outside the world of academia.

Click to read the article A Relatively Painless Guide to Making New Friends, and make sure to follow her other insightful articles at Musings on Life After College.

Chicago Uncharted: Intro and Lianna Carrera

As I will be living in Chicago for the next year and wish to keep up with my sense of travel, adventure, excitement, discovery, and blogging (the essentials of life), I have decided to kick-start a project which I will call--until I change my mind and rename it--"Chicago Uncharted". The basic principle is simple and not original: I will document the lesser-known restaurants, shops, people, experiences, etc that I find in and around Chicago that I think are especially worth one's interest, in hopes of spreading the word.

Lianna Carrera, photo by DuckDuckCollectiveBlog

This first installment of Chicago Uncharted features one fantastic female. Her name is Lianna Carrera and I had the honor of attending college with her for one year at Randolph-Macon Woman's College. During her last two years at the college, she treated her fellow students to the budding beginnings of her comedy career, and after graduating in 2007 she travelled to Chicago to follow her comedic dream. Her quick wit and unique view on life (courtesy of being a lesbian raised by a deaf mother and Southern Baptist Minister father) make her a unique and refreshing voice in the world of comedy. She has massive potential and To provide an example, here's a video of one of my favorite bits from her, performed at the R-MWC student center in 2008.

Check out the rest of her stuff on her YouTube account; it's all hilarious and pure gold. In fact, you should probably just Subscribe to her now. While you're at it, Bookmark her Site, Like her on Facebook, and Follow her on Twitter. You won't regret it, and it doesn't take a Macon Woman to know that Lianna Carrera is going places. In fact, she already has! Her tours have taken her to Europe and Africa and back, and Chicago's lucky to have her between her jaunts abroad to rock the world.

Keep an eye on her now, you'll be able to brag about how you-knew-about-her-before-she-was-famous, and everyone will think you're cool. And isn't that what life's all about folks? Help Lianna help you: follow her early and follow her often.

Except, you know, not literally. That's illegal.

Graduation

I am now a Randolph-Macon Woman's College Alum. It's a bit weird to say, and I'm not sure if I'm totally used to the idea, but one thing is for sure: I had a wonderful weekend. Tony drove down from Chicago and my Mom, Dad, brother, and sister all gathered from Houston, Princeton, and Durham to join me at Macon for my final weekend.

Graduation weekend at Macon begins with the Baccalaureate Ceremony in the Chapel Saturday morning. The speaker this year was Dr. Schwartz, my philosophy adviser, one of my very favorite professors, and overall one of my favorite people. So, of course, we had to go, and I'm thrilled that we did because his wonderful speech made me cry.

Reena and I carrying the Daisy Chain

Later the day on Saturday is Daisy Chain. The sophomores (our sister class, as we are both Evens, aka graduating in an even year: '10/'12) wake up extra early and weave us a chain of daisies. The seniors gather on the steps of Martin and wait while the sophomores walk down the hill singing to weave through the seniors. Once the seniors and sophomores are reunited, we sing a few songs, then the seniors weave away with the chain to the Sundial, where Garden Party begins and we all get refreshments after standing out in the sun wearing robes and button stoles for an hour. It's also a good opportunity for families to meet the professors whom their daughters/sons have known and talked about for the past four years.

Dr. Schwartz, Dr. Cohen, and I at Garden Party

And that concludes the frivolities on Saturday. Sunday is all serious business, when we lose the button stoles and silly hats for honor cords and... well, silly hats.

Our hall: Reena, myself, Megan, Sam, Alex, Kelly on the steps of Webb

Our day began at 8:15 sharp, and thankfully, it began in the Dell. One of the most desired events for a Maconite is to have graduation in the Dell, and that's a huge thing I wanted from the year. After all the shit our class has had to go through, it seemed the least the world could do to make our exit from Randy Mac much more pleasant than our entrance. It looked shady for awhile, and I nearly bruised my knuckles with all the knocking on wood I did all year to ward of jinxes, but thankfully the storm clouds cleared up Saturday night and it was sunny and beautiful all Sunday morning. I can not express how thankful I am for this.

Me with my sister and squire

The reason we had to be up and ready at 8:15 would of course be for graduation rehearsal, where we practiced walking and the squires practiced hooding their grads. A squire is someone whom the graduate chooses to walk with them and drape over their fancy hood in the middle of the ceremony. I was my sister's squire at her graduation from R-MWC in 1999, and 11 years later my sister was my squire at my own R-MWC graduation. I love it when things come full circle; it's the playwright in me.


The ceremony itself was wonderful and featured the 97 year old ex-President Quillian as the commencement speaker (and an all-too-fitting performance of Minnie the Moocher by Touch of Harmony). It was a beautiful day and ceremony, and I'm so happy that so many of the people whom I love could be there. Speaking of the people whom I love, here are just a few of them.

Me, Mom, and Dad

Me with my brother and sister, Jenny and Jody

Caleb, Rhiannon, Kelly, Sam, me, and Struble

Dr. Cohen and Dr. Stevens, my Classics professors and the two best mentors I could ever hope for. Also two of my favorite people, on and off campus.

There are many other people who helped make my graduation special simply with their presence and support, but I'm afraid if I don't stop the pictures now, I will be here all night uploading them.

As for honors, this semester I managed (with a GPA over a 3.9) to qualify for Cum Laude, and graduated with that honor after years of working to recover from a rough first semester, and without my entire junior year to help (since I went abroad, all my credits that year counted as Pass/Fail and didn't affect my GPA). I wore an honor cord from Eta Sigma Phi, the Classics Honor Society.

Also, Dr. Cohen submitted my senior paper for consideration for an award from the College's Writing Board. Out of the other papers submitting, four out of four judges voted my paper first place, earning me the title of Best Senior Paper. After working on my project (a play on the trial and death of Socrates) all year, it was a huge relief and honor to receive such an amazing award.

Oh, yeah, we rocked college.

Appearances online

Click on the link below to read an article from Randolph (mw) College Magazine about Tina Johnson--director of the CDC--, Penny Rozen--a fellow senior--, and myself discussing Katharine Brooks' book You Majored in WHAT?! We also share our chaotic experiences in college that led us to where we are now.

"Connecting the Dots": Experiential Learning Center uses new journey mapping technique to guide students on career path

And click below this blurb for a short listing of my senior project and current aspects for the summer, listed on the departmental news website.

Classics Students Accepted to Prestigious Programs

Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Alfred Werker.

My first movie review! This one is going to be published some time this week in the Sundial and is on Sherlock Holmes (2009).

Downey as Holmes and Law as Watson

Source: Wikipedia

First of all: Robert Downey, Jr. is to Sherlock Holmes as David Tennant is to Doctor Who. In other words, this isn’t your grandma’s Basil Rathbone, deerstalker cap wearing, armchair in front of the fireplace Sherlock Holmes, and thank goodness for that. Don’t listen to what the critics tell you; Sherlock Holmes needed a makeover. Downey’s Holmes provides a refreshing new look at this really rather shady character, showing the audience his rougher side featuring fist fights and drug abuse. But don’t worry, his wit is still as sharp as ever.

But let’s not forget Jude Law’s depiction of the more grounded, less suicidally rash Dr. Watson. Downey’s Holmes and Law’s Watson are an absolute delight to watch, and are the driving force behind the film. Sure, the special effects are great, but if there were a movie that was nothing more than these two men locked in a room together bantering, I’d watch it. The greatest strength of Sherlock Holmes is found in the gem conversations of this star-crossed bromance, and the actors who make it happen.

So come for the brilliant acting of Downey and Law, but stay for the style. Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes is the height of Victorian fashion and innovation dragged through the mud with an eye for the rising fad that is often titled “steampunk”. Wild Wild West attempted the look in 1999 and failed, as have many films since then. But Sherlock Holmes is the closest to embodying this grungy fashion without becoming obsessed with the gimmick of it. In the same way, the action and special effects are present and interesting without being overpowering. The movie manages to be a detective movie with a bit of action, rather than an action movie that attempts a bit of mystery.

The plot of the movie is one of the hottest topics among critics. The story does at first seem to be ridiculous, involving a mess of supernatural suspicions. However, an avid reader of Sherlock Holmes might agree that many times the story line is supposed to be ridiculous. It seems both in reading the books and in watching the movie unfold, the more ridiculous the plot line and the more that people buy into it, the more Holmes feels intrigued and prodded into discovering the truth behind the suspicious events. Your average crime won’t hold the attention of this impulsive detective, and you’re expected to know, like him, that the magic is just a red herring: the real adventure lies in uncovering the man behind the curtain.

Sherlock Holmes can be an enjoyable, thrilling experience, but should be approached with the right expectations and attitude. Don’t expect Basil Rathbone. Don’t expect Nigel Bruce. Don’t expect BBC Masterpiece Theatre. Everything after that, dear Watson, is elementary. So if you have a chance to catch it at the dollar theatre, do so! If not, look forward to its DVD release on March 30th.