#Engagement photographers Pittsburgh

[phoddophotography]

Click Stunning Engagement Photos with Pittsburgh's Finest Photographers

Capture magnificent engagement photos by top Engagement photographers Pittsburgh, who bring your love story to life with stunning, artistic shots. Trust their expertise to create timeless memories against the city's beautiful backdrops. Check out our website for more details!

[buckgettingstruck]

You can say hearts dont break around here yay…. They really should dance to this …. in the kitchen or on the firehouse roof or at their wedding or all of them…

Also unrelated to the wedding stuff but Im now going through my ed sheeran playlist now and well. So (the song). It might be theeeee 8x08/8b buddie anthem. Im filled up with doubt I have to move home but I want to stay with you for all of the summer …. !!!!!!!

FUCK oh that hurts. ed sheeran white boy of all time maybe

[scotianostra]

November 9th 1903 saw the birth near Pittsburgh of Margaret Fay Shaw, the American writer who did much to record the music and culture of South Uist.

Margaret Fay Shaw was one of the most notable collectors of authentic Scottish Gaelic song and traditions in the 20th century. The arrival of this young American on the island of South Uist in 1929 was the start of a deep and highly productive love affair with the language and traditions of the Gaels.

Shaw was also an outstanding photographer, and both her still pictures and cinematography contributed to an invaluable archive of island life in the 1930s. She met the folklorist John Lorne Campbell on South Uist in 1934; they married a year later and together helped to rescue vast quantities of oral tradition from oblivion.

She came of Scottish Presbyterian and liberal New England stock. The family owned a steel foundry in Pittsburgh and her parents were cultured people. Margaret was the youngest of five sisters and her early years were idyllic. Her first love was for the piano and she continued to play throughout her life.

By the age of 11, however, she was orphaned and obliged to develop the independence of character which was to lead her into a life's work far removed from her upbringing. At the age of 16, she made her first visit to Scotland at the invitation of a family friend and spent a year at school in Helensburgh, outside Glasgow, where she first heard Gaelic song.

Wanting to hear it in its "pristine" state, in 1924 she crossed the Atlantic again, this time engaging in an epic bicycle journey, which started in Oxford and ended at the Isle of Skye, where she remained for a month. It was during this trip that she began to use photography to earn a living, selling prints to newspapers, and magazines such as the Listener.

But it was not until she arrived on South Uist that she found her spiritual home. She was invited to the "big house" in Lochboisdale for dinner, and two sisters who worked there, Mairi and Peigi Macrae, were brought in to sing for the company. Margaret had never heard singing like it. For the next six years, she became their lodger and dear friend. They shared with her all of their immense stock of oral tradition which she faithfully transcribed, learning Gaelic as the work proceeded.

Her most important published work was Folksongs And Folklore Of South Uist, which has never been out of print since it was first published in full by Routledge and Kegan Paul in 1955. Not only was it a scholarly presentation of the songs and lore which she had written down during her sojourn on the island, but also an invaluable description of life in a small crofting community during the 1930s.

This classic work was undoubtedly the centrepiece of Shaw's career, though she also wrote several other books, including an autobiography, From The Alleghenies To The Hebrides.

On the neighbouring island of Barra in the early 1930s, an extraordinary social set - a kind of Bloomsbury in the Hebrides - had developed around the presence of Compton Mackenzie. One of his closest collaborators was John Lorne Campbell, who came from landed Argyllshire stock and had developed his interest in Gaelic at Oxford.

The two patricians set about producing The Book Of Barra, a collection of the island's history and traditions, to raise funds for an organisation called The Sea League, which they had established to campaign for the exclusion of trawlers from Hebridean waters.

Hearing great reports of an American woman's photography on South Uist, Campbell crossed over by ferry to seek her involvement in illustrating The Book Of Barra. He walked into the Lochboisdale Hotel one rainy evening in 1934 and found Shaw sitting at the piano; a suitably romantic initiation to a relationship which was to last for more than half a century. They married the following year and made their home on Barra until, in 1938, Campbell bought the island of Canna, where they lived for the rest of their scholarly lives. The island was given to the National Trust for Scotland in 1981, and John Lorne Campbell died in 1996.

There was nothing dry or academic, however, about Shaw. She travelled regularly to America until her late 90s. The fearsome ferry journey between Mallaig and Canna was regularly undertaken with equanimity, and she fortified herself to the end with the finest Kentucky bourbon. Her love of the Hebrides was, above all, for the values and lifestyle of the crofting people, and, particularly in South Uist in that 1930s heyday, it was deeply reciprocated. It is there that she will be laid to rest.

During her latter years she stayed at Canna House until her death at the grand old age of 101 in 2004.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 6.25 (before 1950)

524 – The Franks are defeated by the Burgundians in the Battle of Vézeronce. 841 – In the Battle of Fontenay-en-Puisaye, forces led by Charles the Bald and Louis the German defeat the armies of Lothair I of Italy and Pepin II of Aquitaine. 1258 – War of Saint Sabas: In the Battle of Acre, the Venetians defeat a larger Genoese fleet sailing to relieve Acre. 1530 – At the Diet of Augsburg the Augsburg Confession is presented to the Holy Roman Emperor by the Lutheran princes and Electors of Germany. 1658 – Spanish forces fail to retake Jamaica at the Battle of Rio Nuevo during the Anglo-Spanish War. 1678 – Venetian Elena Cornaro Piscopia is the first woman awarded a doctorate of philosophy when she graduates from the University of Padua. 1741 – Maria Theresa is crowned Queen of Hungary. 1786 – Gavriil Pribylov discovers St. George Island of the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea. 1788 – Virginia becomes the tenth state to ratify the United States Constitution. 1848 – A photograph of the June Days uprising becomes the first known instance of photojournalism. 1876 – American Indian Wars: Battle of the Little Bighorn: 300 men of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment under Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer are wiped out by 5,000 Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho, led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. 1900 – The Taoist monk Wang Yuanlu discovers the Dunhuang manuscripts, a cache of ancient texts that are of great historical and religious significance, in the Mogao Caves of Dunhuang, China. 1906 – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania millionaire Harry Thaw shoots and kills prominent architect Stanford White. 1910 – The United States Congress passes the Mann Act, which prohibits interstate transport of women or girls for "immoral purposes"; the ambiguous language would be used to selectively prosecute people for years to come. 1910 – Igor Stravinsky's ballet The Firebird is premiered in Paris, bringing him to prominence as a composer. 1913 – American Civil War veterans begin arriving at the Great Reunion of 1913. 1935 – Colombia–Soviet Union relations are established. 1938 – Dr. Douglas Hyde is inaugurated as the first President of Ireland. 1940 – World War II: The French armistice with Nazi Germany comes into effect. 1941 – World War II: The Continuation War between the Soviet Union and Finland, supported by Nazi Germany, began. 1943 – The Holocaust and World War II: Jews in the Częstochowa Ghetto in Poland stage an uprising against the Nazis. 1943 – The left-wing German Jewish exile Arthur Goldstein is murdered in Auschwitz. 1944 – World War II: The Battle of Tali-Ihantala, the largest battle ever fought in the Nordic countries, begins. 1944 – World War II: United States Navy and British Royal Navy ships bombard Cherbourg to support United States Army units engaged in the Battle of Cherbourg. 1944 – The final page of the comic Krazy Kat is published, exactly two months after its author George Herriman died. 1947 – The Diary of a Young Girl (better known as The Diary of Anne Frank) is published. 1948 – The United States Congress passes the Displaced Persons Act to allow World War II refugees to immigrate to the United States above quota restrictions.

[ultraheydudemestuff]

E.J. Kulas Estate Historic District

W. Hill Dr.

Gates Mills, OH

The main house on the E.J. Kulas Estate, located at the end of Hill Drive in Gates Mills, Ohio, United States was built in 1929.  Elroy J. Kulas, known as “E.J.”, was born in Cleveland in 1880. He received his education in Cleveland Public Schools. At age 18, he commenced his working career in the freight department of the B & O Railroad. Three years later, 1901, E. J. Kulas joined the National Electric Lamp Association (NELA). NELA had been formed through a joint venture of three organizations: Franklin S. Terry’s Sunbeam Incandescent Lamp Company of Chicago, Burton G. Tremaine’s Fostoria Incandescent Lamp Company of Fostoria, Ohio and General Electric Company, in which Kulas had a secret participation as a 75% stockholder.

     During World War I, “E.J.” left NELA and became one of the founders of Cuyahoga Stamping & Machine Company, which made cartridge cases for the Allied Armies. In 1917, Burton G. Tremaine and Franklin S. Terry, the co-founders of NELA, joined others in purchasing the Peerless Automobile Company and soon thereafter engaged E. J. Kulas as Sales Manager for that company.  In March 1923, “E.J.” left Peerless and formed the Midland Steel Products Company by merging the Parish & Bingham Company of Cleveland with the Detroit Pressed  Steel Co. and the Parish Manufacturing Company of Detroit. Years later and after  “E.J.’s” death, Midland Steel Products Co. became the core of Midland-Ross Corp.

     “E.J.” remained President of Midland Steel Products Co. from its founding until hisdeath in 1952. But in a highly unusual step, in 1925, he took on the additional responsibility of being President of Otis Steel Co., a position he held until 1942 when Otis Steel was bought by Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation. During 1928, “E.J.” permitted Margaret Bourke-White to photograph steelmaking in the Otis Steel plant. Later he became so enthusiastic about her work that he published and distributed a small booklet of 16 of her pictures to the stockholders of Otis Steel Company. That booklet and those photographs caught the eye of Henry Luce, who engaged her for his new magazine, “Fortune.” Several years later, when forming Life Magazine, Henry Luce asked Margaret Bourke-White to become one of the four original staff photographers.

    Industrialist E.J. Kulas had his large, impressive Tudor Revival estate erected in the early 1930's by Boston architect Charles R. Greco.   “E.J.’s” other business interests included directorship in the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad, the Pittsburgh & West Virginia Railroad and the North American Coal Company.  In addition to his business career, “E.J.” was very interested in music and served as a vice-president of the Musical Arts Association as well as a trustee of both the Northern Ohio Opera Association and the Cleveland Chamber Music Society. He had a particular fondness for Baldwin-Wallace College, where he was a trustee for many years. The first major grant of the Kulas Foundation was $50,000 to Baldwin-Wallace for its Conservatory of Music.  Elroy J. Kulas died in his home in Cleveland on May 12, 1952.  The house was listed with the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district on March 23, 1988.

[photoghraphy]

Capturing Timeless Moments: Wedding Photographers in Pennsylvania

Your wedding day is a chapter in your love story that deserves to be told with all the splendor and elegance it holds. In Pennsylvania, the key to preserving those unforgettable moments lies in the hands of the talented wedding photographers in Pennsylvania. These skilled artists are ready to transform your special day into an eternal masterpiece that you can cherish for a lifetime.

Why Wedding Photographers in Pennsylvania ShineWhen you think of Pennsylvania, lush green landscapes, charming cities, and a rich history may come to mind. It's the perfect backdrop for your wedding, and Pennsylvania wedding photographers know how to use these diverse settings to their advantage. Whether you're exchanging vows in Philadelphia's iconic cityscape, amidst the rolling hills of the Poconos, or in a rustic barn in Lancaster County, these photographers are well-versed in capturing the unique essence of your day.The magic of Pennsylvania wedding photographers lies in their ability to blend traditional and contemporary styles seamlessly. With a keen eye for detail and a deep appreciation for the subtleties of your wedding, they create visual narratives that are rich in emotion and authenticity. Each snapshot is a brushstroke in the grand canvas of your love story.Finding Your Perfect MatchChoosing the right wedding photographer in Pennsylvania is a crucial decision in your wedding planning journey. It's essential to find someone whose style aligns with your vision and who can capture your personalities, the atmosphere, and the love that surrounds you. Whether you're looking for candid, documentary-style shots or timeless, posed portraits, you'll find a range of talent among Pennsylvania wedding photographers.From Pittsburgh to Erie, Allentown to Harrisburg, you'll discover a diverse pool of photographers ready to make your dreams come true. Some may specialize in outdoor ceremonies, while others thrive in the elegance of indoor venues. Don't forget to check portfolios, read reviews, and engage in conversations to ensure that your photographer is the perfect match for your special day.Preserving Your Pennsylvania Love Story Wedding photographers in Pennsylvania are not merely professionals; they are storytellers. They take your precious moments and weave them into a captivating narrative that will leave you breathless. With each click of the shutter, they etch your love story into the history of this picturesque state, making it a timeless piece of art.So, when you're planning your wedding in Pennsylvania, remember that the wedding photographers in Pennsylvania are your silent narrators. They're ready to create the visual masterpiece of your love story, one frame at a time. Embrace the beauty of this charming state and make your wedding day an unforgettable moment, captured by the very best in the business: the wedding photographers in Pennsylvania.

[slempbrantsaundersinsva]

Safeguarding One’s Treasures: Protecting Valuables with Renters Insurance in Pittsburgh and Monroeville 

Renters insurance is a valuable safety net for tenants in Pittsburgh and Monroeville, Pennsylvania. It covers damage to one's rental unit and safeguards personal belongings, including valuable possessions like electronics, jewelry, and collectibles.  

1. Take Inventory of the Valuables

Before one even purchases renters insurance, creating a comprehensive inventory of one's valuable possessions is essential. This can include electronics, such as laptops, smartphones, and gaming consoles; jewelry, including engagement rings and heirlooms; and collectibles, like rare coins, artwork, or vintage toys.

Document each item's estimated value and, if possible, include photographs or receipts. This inventory serves as a valuable reference in case a claim needs to be made. 

2. Understand the Policy's Limits

Once one has a clear picture of the valuables, review the renter's insurance policy to understand its coverage limits. Most standard policies have coverage limits for different categories of belongings, such as electronics, jewelry, and collectibles. It's crucial to know these limits, as they can vary significantly.

If the coverage limits in the policy seem insufficient to protect one's valuables adequately, one has options:

Scheduled Personal Property Coverage: This option allows one to individually add specific, high-value items to one's policy. The renter typically needs to provide appraisals or receipts for these items, but they will have more substantial coverage.

Increased Coverage Limits: One can request higher coverage limits for certain categories of possessions, like jewelry or electronics. This might involve paying a slightly higher premium, but it provides added peace of mind.

3. Document all the Valuables

As a proactive step, document all the valuable possessions. Take clear photographs of each item, including any distinguishing marks, engravings, or serial numbers. Keep these photographs and any appraisals, receipts, or certificates of authenticity in a safe place, such as a digital cloud storage account or a physical safe.

4. Consider Replacement Cost Coverage

When choosing renters insurance in Pittsburgh and Monroeville,PA opt for replacement cost coverage if available. This type of coverage ensures that one receives the amount needed to replace the valuables with items of similar quality and value, regardless of depreciation. It can be especially valuable for electronics, jewelry, and collectibles that may be appreciated over time.

5. Notify the Insurer of Changes

If the renter acquires new valuable possessions or makes significant changes to the existing collection, promptly notify the renter's insurance provider. Failure to update the policy with these changes may result in underinsurance, meaning the valuable items may not be adequately covered.

6. Install Security Measures

Implementing security measures in the rental unit can also lead to potential discounts on the renter's insurance premiums. One can consider installing security systems, such as burglar alarms or surveillance cameras, to deter theft and vandalism. Additionally, using fire-resistant safes for storing valuables can reduce the risk of damage or loss due to fire or water damage.

7. Be Mindful of Deductibles

Remember that renters insurance policies often come with deductibles. The deductible is the amount one must pay out of pocket before the insurance coverage kicks in. Ensure that the renter chooses a deductible amount they can comfortably afford in case of a claim.

8. Read the Policy Carefully

Lastly, reading and understanding the terms and conditions of the renter's insurance policy thoroughly is crucial. Pay special attention to any exclusions or limitations that may affect the coverage of the valuables. If one has any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to reach out to the insurance provider for clarification. This applies to other insurances like auto insurance in Abingdon and Bristol, VA. 

Renters insurance in Pittsburgh and Monroeville can protect one's cherished possessions, including electronics, jewelry, and collectibles. By taking inventory, understanding the policy, and implementing security measures, one can safeguard their valuables and have peace of mind knowing that the treasures are protected. Remember to regularly review and update the policy as the collection or circumstances change to ensure adequate coverage. 

[nataphotoroll]

Pittsburgh Engagement Photographer

Natalia Baqueiro Photography focuses on capturing the deep love in your engagement photos in Pittsburgh. We know how special your connection is, and we aim to keep those precious moments forever. Whether it's a cozy coffee date, reading your favorite book, or enjoying a glass of wine together, we'll capture your real bond. Choose us as your go-to Pittsburgh Engagement Photographer and turn your love story into long-lasting memories.

[kathrynstabile1]

Kathryn Stabile: Capturing Timeless Moments as a Pittsburgh Photographer

Are you looking to capture those unforgettable moments in your life? Whether it's legacy photography or a maternity portrait session, finding the right photographer is crucial in preserving those precious memories. In the bustling city of Pittsburgh, there are countless photographers who claim to be the best. But how do you choose the perfect one for your special moments? Don't worry – we've got you covered! In this press release, we will provide you with valuable tips and expert advice on selecting the best Pittsburgh photographer. From understanding your unique style preferences to considering their experience and portfolio, we'll help you find the ideal photographer to capture picture-perfect memories that you will cherish for a lifetime.

Kathryn Stabile is a highly experienced and skilled Pittsburgh photographer who understands the importance of capturing special moments in the lives of her clients. With a keen eye for detail and a passion for photography, she has garnered a reputation for creating picture-perfect images that truly capture the essence of every occasion. Whether it's a engagement or a maternity portrait session, Kathryn Stabile's expertise shines through in her ability to tell a story through her lens. By carefully considering factors such as lighting, composition, and perspective, she is able to create stunning photographs that encapsulate the emotions and memories of each moment. Whether you're looking for a photographer to capture your big day or to commemorate a special event, choosing Kathryn Stabile as your Pittsburgh photographer is a decision that will result in timeless and beautiful photographs that you will cherish for years to come.

With years of experience in the industry, Kathryn has garnered a reputation for her exceptional skills and artistry behind the lens. Her expertise in photography, particularly in Pittsburgh, is unmatched, making her the go-to choice for anyone in search of a professional photographer in this vibrant city. Choosing Kathryn Stabile as your Professional Photographer in Pittsburgh guarantees beautifully crafted images that will serve as cherished memories for a lifetime.

In conclusion, Kathryn Stabile's unparalleled skills and artistry in photography have earned her a well-deserved reputation as the go-to professional photographer in Pittsburgh. Her unmatched expertise and keen eye for detail make her the perfect choice for capturing your most important moments. With Kathryn behind the lens, you can be confident that your images will be beautifully crafted, serving as cherished memories for a lifetime. Don't hesitate to choose Kathryn Stabile as your professional photographer in Pittsburgh – you won't be disappointed.

For more details, Visit: https://www.kathrynstabile.com/

Contact

334 Freeport Road, Pittsburgh, PA, United States, Pennsylvania

+1 412-403-5878

hello@kathrynstabile.com

[xtophotographypgh]

From beginning to now. What a great opportunity to have photographed so many great moments with this wonderful family. This is one of the many reasons I thank God for this wonderful job! #donebyHisgrace #photographybyxtophotography #photography #instagram #portrait #wedding #engagement #newbornphotography (at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) https://www.instagram.com/p/CgDFPYVJmes/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[phoddophotography]

Find the Perfect Wedding Photographer in Pittsburgh

Discover the most recommended wedding photographers Pittsburgh. Our curated list features top professionals renowned for capturing every moment beautifully. With exceptional skills and a keen eye for detail, these photographers ensure your special day is immortalised in stunning images. Choose the best for your unforgettable wedding memories.

[carnegiemuseumnaturalhistory]

Naturally Pittsburgh: Big Rivers and Steep Wooded Slopes

by Patrick McShea

Pittsburghers are accustomed to seeing their hometown visually portrayed with its river-hemmed Downtown as a focal point. If your goal is to understand how the city’s geographical position in the greater landscape of southwestern Pennsylvania influences its wildlife and plant cover, images from different perspectives are useful.

Nine Mile Island, left, and Sycamore Island, right, in the lower Allegheny River. Photo credit: Allegheny Land Trust.

The picture above offers a bird’s eye view down the Allegheny River at a point nine miles upstream from the 325-mile-long waterway’s confluence with the Monongahela River. That much-photographed merge point, which creates the Ohio River, can be spatially located in the frame’s right-of-center background by the hazy blur of Downtown’s tallest buildings. The eye movement required to locate the spot involves tracing steep left-bank wooded bluffs from suburban Penn Hills and along the Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Lincoln-Lemington, Highland Park, and Morningside.

This simple exercise has relevance to the upcoming City Nature Challenge (CNC) for the visual attention it brings to the paired Pittsburgh physical features that keep nature in continual view here - our river system and the steep wooded hillsides carved by these big winding waterways and their tributaries.

Corridors Support Biodiversity

Both features create habitat corridors that serve to enrich the city’s biodiversity. The pair of Bald Eagles with a long record of nesting success on a wooded Monongahela River hillside in Pittsburgh’s Hays neighborhood are the most prominent evidence of this phenomena. Some of the fish they feed their young at this time of year can be regarded as additional evidence.

Pittsburgh fish displayed in tank set-up by the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission.

Many of the organisms supported by Pittsburgh’s wooded and flowing water corridors do not, however, lend themselves to the photo-documentation of the CNC. Some notable tree specimens and spring wildflower stands are found on high inaccessible ledges, river visits by diverse forms of waterfowl occur more frequently in the winter rather than the spring, and the predictability of the dozens fish species found in Pittsburgh’s waters challenges even the anglers who pursue them.

Importance of Incomplete Survey

The solution to this dilemma, as you record CNC observations and interpret the collective results, is simply to regard this important citizen science initiative as necessarily incomplete. In a recent BioScience paper co-authored by Nicole Heller, Curator of Anthropocene Studies at CMNH, analysis of urban biodiversity studies from all over the world pointed to the importance of enhancing public engagement and environmental stewardship. That is something that can certainly happen this year between April 30 and May 3, in a City Nature Challenge that recognizes some unavoidable bio-survey gaps.

Patrick McShea works in the Education and Visitor Experience department of Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Museum employees are encouraged to blog about their unique experiences and knowledge gained from working at the museum.

Citations for research paper:

“The Biological Deserts Fallacy: Cities in Their Landscapes Contribute More than We Think to Regional Biodiversity,” BioScience, Volume 71, Issue 2, February 2021, Pages 148–160,

Erica N Spotswood, Erin E Beller, Robin Grossinger, J Letitia Grenier, Nicole E Heller, Myla F J Aronson, The Biological Deserts Fallacy: Cities in Their Landscapes Contribute More than We Think to Regional Biodiversity, BioScience, Volume 71, Issue 2, February 2021, Pages 148–160, https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biaa155

[litafficionado]

Four Questions with Garielle Lutz:

I’m extremely beholden to Garielle who took the time to respond to my silly, garbled, childish, intrusive questions. You can purchase her latest book Worsted here and here, among many other sites.  --------- Q.  You've attributed the resuscitation of your literary career in quite considerable measure to your teacher and editor Gordon Lish. It seems like you guys are particularly close, even as you seem to have largely confined yourself to Pittsburgh(mostly driven by your erstwhile teaching career but also by your liking the city over time). How does it feel to hear someone like Gordon speak so highly of you, “I think there’s more truth in one sentence of my student [Lutz] than in all of [Philip] Roth. Lutz gives [herself] away. “The speaking subject gives herself away,” says Julia Kristeva. I thoroughly believe that. What you see in Lutz, [her] lavish gift, is [her] refusal to relax [her] determination to uncover and uncover. It is, by my lights, quite wonderful, quite terrific.[…]Lutz is entirely the real thing?” Does one feel vindicated? How do you navigate the waters of self-effacement and self-indulgence as a writer and as a person? A.  I haven’t had a literary career before or after studying with Gordon Lish.  I don’t think one finds one’s way to him in hopes of launching a career.  Anyone with vulgar ambition along those lines would have been shown the door pretty quick.  I would never presume to be close to Gordon or to feel that I am part of his life other than in my role as a student. He dwells in another realm entirely. I attended his classes and tried to grasp, to the best of my abilities, the things he was saying about how to get from one word to the next.  He also talked about how to free a word from the constricting range of its permissible behaviors, how to drain it of every sepsis of received meaning, until there is nothing left of the word but the skeleton of its former self, just the lank, gawky letters sticking out this way and that, and then how to fill the thing up again, to the point of overspilling, but this time with something that would never have been allowed to belong in there before, and then see whether the word, now close to bursting, can hold up and maybe have a new kind of say.  I’m always surprised and relieved whenever Gordon says anything approving about anything I write.  I think that for a lot of his students, his opinion is the only one that counts.  

Q.  You've said, "A typical day goes like this: noon, afternoon, evening, night, additional night, even more night, furtherest night, then bedtime, though I don’t have a bed or furniture of any kind.” Have you always been a lychnobite, sensing the overwhelming superabundance of life after the sunset or is it a relatively recent development facilitated by your retirement from teaching? Do you consider yourself in any way to be a minimalist? Does your room bear any resemblance with a sparsely lit opium den where all exchanges happen at the floor level?

A.  I think the pandemic has had a lot to do with it.  Lately I’ve been up until five, sometimes six.  But I’ve always found mornings the harshest and ugliest part of the day (maybe it’s just because of the place where I live, but I never open the blinds anyway).  There can be something awfully scolding about a sunrise the older you get  Evening seems to extend every form of leniency, and in the dead of night, expectations go way down, which is where they maybe ought to stay.  I do spend all of my time on the floor, but my apartment doesn’t bear any resemblance to an opium den.  It’s more like a crawlspace or the back of a  dollar-store stockroom.    

Q. Even with your reputation of being a page-hugger than a typical page-turner, how do you decide which books to read apart from your line of work? Do you try to keep it largely in the familiar territory, like exploring the oeuvre of a time-tested writer? How does one unshackle oneself from this constant niggling that one ought to read so many books? Here's Ben Marcus: “When I was in graduate school, there was this sort of cautionary adage going around by the poet Francis Ponge that we can only write what we’ve already read and one way to hear that is you’re just sort of doomed to kind of regurgitate everything you’ve read and so if you’re just reading all the popular books, the books everyone else is reading, in some sense you’re maybe unwittingly confining yourself to a particular literary practice that’s gonna look pretty familiar. I remember at the time thinking, okay well if that’s true, if I’m just fated to that, then I’m gonna read things that no one else is reading. I loved to just go to the library and pretty randomly grab books, because I think for a little while, and I’m kinda glad this passed, but I really just had this feeling that a writer just consumes language and just sort of spits it out. So it didn’t matter. Like it didn’t have to be a great novel for it to be worth-reading. And I still read very little fiction in the end compared to non-fiction, essays, works of philosophy, science. And the other sort of dirty secret is: I don’t finish a lot of books. I just don’t care enough. I only finish a book if I have to or if I really want to. And, often, I’ll stop reading a book three pages from the end. I think that as writers, we probably feel a lot of pressure about what kind of a reader to be, what kind of a writer to be in, and we feel this shame, like “I haven’t read DH Lawrence, I’m such an asshole.” You begin to feel like you’ve these deficiencies and you gotta make them up and you never will and a lot of it is just kinda tyrannical. Of course, obviously, we must be naturally motivated to read and read and read and read but I guess I just started to notice that…I got a lot of my ideas by just reading…e.g. a gardening book…like the weird way a sentence was structured.” Then there's Moyra Davey: “Woolf famously said of reading: “The only advice … is to take no advice, … follow your instincts, … use your reason.” A similar thought was voiced by her elder contemporary Oscar Wilde, who did not believe in recommending books, only in de-recommending them. Later, Jorge Luis Borges echoed the same sentiment by discouraging “systematic bibliographies” in favor of “adulterous” reading. More recently, Gregg Bordowitz has promoted “promiscuous” reading in which you impulsively allow an “imposter” book to overrule any reading trajectory you might have set for yourself, simply because, for instance, a friend tells you in conversation that he is reading it and is excited by it. This evokes for me that most potent kind of reading — reading as flirtation with or eavesdropping on someone you love or desire, someone who figures in your fantasy life.”“What to read?” is a recurring dilemma in my life. The question always conjures up an image: a woman at home, half-dressed, moving restlessly from room to room, picking up a book, reading a page or two and no sooner feeling her mind drift, telling herself, “You should be reading something else, you should be doing something else.” The image also has a mise-en-scène: overstuffed, disorderly shelves of dusty and yellowing books, many of them unread; books in piles around the bed or faced down on a table; work prints of photographs, also with a faint covering of dust, taped to the walls of the studio; a pile of bills; a sink full of dishes. She is trying to concentrate on the page in front of her but a distracting blip in her head travels from one desultory scene to the next, each one competing for her attention. It is not just a question of which book will absorb her, for there are plenty that will do that, but rather, which book, in a nearly cosmic sense, will choose her, redeem her. Often what is at stake, should she want to spell it out, is the idea that something is missing, as in: what is the crucial bit of urgently needed knowledge that will save her, at least for this day? She has the idea that if she can simply plug into the right book then all will be calm, still, and right with the world. […] Must reading be tied to productivity to be truly satisfying […] Or is it the opposite, that it can only really gratify if it is a total escape? What is it that gives us a sense of sustenance and completion? Are we on some level always striving to attain that blissful state of un-agendaed reading remembered from childhood? What does it mean to spend a good part of one’s life absorbed in books? Given that our time is limited, the problem of reading becomes one of exclusion. Why pick one book over the hundreds, perhaps thousands on our bookshelves, the further millions in libraries and stores? For in settling on any book we are implicitly saying no to countless others. This conflict is aptly conjured up by essayist Lynne Sharon Schwartz as she reflects on “the many books (the many acts) I cannot in all decency leave unread (undone) — or can I?”” What way out do you suggest? Do you deem it worthwhile to eschew any shred of obligation and be propelled in any direction naturally? Like you said you found grammar books and lexicons more engaging and enjoyable than the novels.

A.  I seem to remember that in some magazine or another, James Wolcott once said “Read at whim.”  That has always sounded like the best advice.  And I assume it means to feel free to ditch any book that disappoints.  Like Ben Marcus, I’ve had experiences of abandoning a book just a few pages from the end, but I often don’t make it that far in most things anymore.  I came from a long line of nonreaders, so I’ve never felt any guilt about passing up books or writers that so many people seem to talk about a lot, and I don’t expect other people to like what I like. Some books I’ll start about halfway in and then see whether I might want to work my way back to the beginning.  Others I’ll start at the very end and inch my way toward the front, one sentence at a time, and see how far I can go that way.  I seem to remember that in The Pleasure of the Text, Roland Barthes recommends “cruising” a text, and maybe something like that is what I’m doing at least some of the time, if I understand what he means.  And every now and then I’ll read  a book straightforwardly for an hour and afterward wonder whether the time might have been better spent staring off into space. Too many books these days seem ungiving.  It’s the ungivingness that disappoints the most.  A lot of contemporary fiction has the gleam and sparkle of a trend feature in a glossy magazine, and I can appreciate the craft and the savvy that go into something like that, but I am drawn more toward stories and books that demand being read slowly and closely, pulse by pulse, the kind of fiction where everything--what little might be left of an entire blighted life--can pivot on the peal of a single syllable. Q.  I'd like to ask you so many questions. But let this be the last one for matters of convenience. Also, in a capitalistic world, one's enshrouded with guilt for taking one's time without being remunerative in any way. Among the books and films that you recently encountered, which ones do you think deserve rereads/rewatches? A.  I used to feel like the woman you’ve described so movingly above, someone who questions her choice of books almost to the brink of despair.  At my age, though, I no longer have a program for reading, a syllabus or a checklist, and I’m okay with knowing there’s a lot I’ll never get around to.  I’m happy being a rereader of a few inexhaustible books and chancing upon occasional fresh treasure.  The one book that has shaken me the most in the longest time is Anna DeForest’s  A History of Present Illness, which will be out next August.  It’s a blisteringly truthful novel written with moral grace and unsettling brilliance and an awing mastery of language.  A couple of recent books I have read in manuscript, books that totally knocked me out with their originality and uncanny command of the word, are Greg Gerke’s In the Suavity of the Rock (a novel) and David Nutt’s Summertime in the Emergency Room (a short-story collection).  I haven’t watched many movies in the past few months, and the ones I watched aren’t ones I’ll probably be rewatching anytime soon.  

[zashamalkin]

Geno and Anna’s Match TV interview

ABOUT THE RETURN TO RUSSIA AND THE RETURN OF THE NHL

- It's so good in Moscow, our parents have now arrived to babysit their grandson. We get high, we feel good. But, of course, it's hard to be in the dark - we, like everyone else, are waiting for specifics: when, what, why. Because the very preparation for the season gets confused when you do not know what will be ahead. Hopefully things will start to settle down soon.

I would like to return to hockey already. I've already started thinking about age - not much remains until the age of 40. Moreover, when you performed unsuccessfully, there is a desire to go on the ice again and prove that we have a good team.

Do I want to play at the Olympics? I always wanted to, but again - I am for justice. I agree with the coaches that the best should play in the national team. If I am ready and fit the style of the team, I will come with pleasure.

ABOUT THE FUTURE AT PITTSBURGH

- In the new season, the team will be new. Would I like to spend my entire NHL career in one club? Let's not guess, but everything suits me in Pittsburgh. I am not the kind of person who likes to move from city to city in search of warmth or the ocean. Of course, I want to be where the child is better, but this team chose me 16 years ago, and I'm going to serve her faithfully.

But I really don't know how it will turn out. Maybe we will lose, and the line-up will begin to change - no one is safe from this. In America it is doubly noticeable that hockey is a business.

ABOUT WHAT MALKIN IS AT HOME

Anna Kasterova: I understand how Zhenya is generally perceived. And all this is true. He is really very kind, he has a soft heart. He is very helpful and calm. But at home Zhenya is a little different. And I, of course, understand that, given his workload in training and games, he needs to throw it all out somewhere. In general, he is very explosive - he can be a very dangerous comrade. But I am not so simple either.

In a relationship, someone has to give in. And I concede more. In some key events, Zhenya always acts very right in relation to me: there is both support and concessions on his part.

Evgeni Malkin: I would like to add that my mood depends on my work. In times of failure and injury, I cannot go out and do something like that - I leave all the negativity at home. I understand that sometimes I break down and cross the line, but this is not related to family problems.

FRIENDSHIP WITH CROSBY

- I think this is my closest friend. We are friends with families. I have said more than once and will repeat that Sydney no longer impresses me as a hockey player, but as a person. I know both his family and his fiancee. (This likely does not mean actual engagement. It's a translation hitch.) If this person comes to your studio, he will be the most humble athlete of all with whom you had to communicate - despite all his regalia, medals and cups.

ABOUT THE SCANDAL AROUND DZIUBA

- We all understand that this is natural and there is nothing illegal in this. Especially my personal opinion: the reason why Dziuba should be in the national team is that he should enter the field and forget himself. Now he will not be able to sleep, he will wind himself up - a person's career can simply break down. A person can drink after this at all. I would not want his career to break down because of this.

If he was called to the national team, then he would be busy in training and in communication with the boys. They will support him.

ABOUT CORONAVIRUS

- Yes, I had it, I had it. Heavy? No. The story is really strange. Friends with whom we were in the same company said that they had a coronavirus. The whole family passed the tests, Anya and I were positive, the child and the nanny were negative. We handed over in three days - the same situation. There were no symptoms at all - not even the sense of smell disappeared. There was no fatigue either. When I passed the second positive test, I was told to stay at home. In a week we donate blood - there are no antibodies, no virus - nothing. After three weeks, antibodies had just begun to appear. It was all a month ago.

I don't want to say anything bad about people, but even now the statistics are very serious, plus 20 thousand infected per day, and when people come to training, I understand that they want to be photographed, and the children run to hug you. You don't know how to act in such a situation. People may not understand the refusal and be offended. And I see that they are offended.

Anna Kasterova: In general, he is 100% recognizable in Pittsburgh. You go out with him on the street, and everyone knows him. It was very hard to get used to it - I just did not expect this.

ABOUT LIFE AFTER SPORTS

- The question of retirement is the most difficult one. I thought about this a lot. There is no answer yet. Life is such that you do not know what will happen tomorrow. With all the events that take place in the world, I don't even want to guess anything.

It will turn out to end his playing career in “Pittsburgh” - so it happened. If you manage to play for Magnitogorsk last year, then so. Again, your level must match. If I am a 40-year-old pedestrian, it will not be a very beautiful story.

WORKING AS AN EXPERT ON MATCH TV AND TONGUE TWISTERS

- Ask questions as an expert on Match TV? Until the contract is signed - what questions can we talk about? Do you think I could do it? Would you take it in 5 years? How the channel would explode! Tongue Twisters? Let's not make Zagitov out of me.

As a result, Malkin gave up and repeated the tongue twisters. We recommend watching them and further comic skirmish with Guberniev in video format. Heat.

FINALLY: THE WISHES OF THE SPOUSES TO EACH OTHER

Anna Kasterova: I want to wish my husband health first of all and so that he never loses his sense of self-confidence, because he is really one of the coolest hockey players in the world. I want him to always remember this. And I also want to wish him to win the fourth Stanley Cup. He has everything for this - I would really like that ( with these words Anna began to wipe away her tears).

Evgeni Malkin: I will not say much, I will just say: "I love you very much."

X

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 6.25

524 – The Franks are defeated by the Burgundians in the Battle of Vézeronce. 841 – In the Battle of Fontenay-en-Puisaye, forces led by Charles the Bald and Louis the German defeat the armies of Lothair I of Italy and Pepin II of Aquitaine. 1258 – War of Saint Sabas: In the Battle of Acre, the Venetians defeat a larger Genoese fleet sailing to relieve Acre. 1530 – At the Diet of Augsburg the Augsburg Confession is presented to the Holy Roman Emperor by the Lutheran princes and Electors of Germany. 1658 – Spanish forces fail to retake Jamaica at the Battle of Rio Nuevo during the Anglo-Spanish War. 1678 – Venetian Elena Cornaro Piscopia is the first woman awarded a doctorate of philosophy when she graduates from the University of Padua. 1741 – Maria Theresa is crowned Queen of Hungary. 1786 – Gavriil Pribylov discovers St. George Island of the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea. 1788 – Virginia becomes the tenth state to ratify the United States Constitution. 1848 – A photograph of the June Days uprising becomes the first known instance of photojournalism. 1876 – Battle of the Little Bighorn and the death of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer. 1900 – The Taoist monk Wang Yuanlu discovers the Dunhuang manuscripts, a cache of ancient texts that are of great historical and religious significance, in the Mogao Caves of Dunhuang, China. 1906 – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania millionaire Harry Thaw shoots and kills prominent architect Stanford White. 1910 – The United States Congress passes the Mann Act, which prohibits interstate transport of women or girls for "immoral purposes"; the ambiguous language would be used to selectively prosecute people for years to come. 1910 – Igor Stravinsky's ballet The Firebird is premiered in Paris, bringing him to prominence as a composer. 1913 – American Civil War veterans begin arriving at the Great Reunion of 1913. 1935 – Colombia–Soviet Union relations are established. 1938 – Dr. Douglas Hyde is inaugurated as the first President of Ireland. 1940 – World War II: The French armistice with Nazi Germany comes into effect. 1941 – World War II: The Continuation War between the Soviet Union and Finland, supported by Nazi Germany, began. 1943 – The Holocaust and World War II: Jews in the Częstochowa Ghetto in Poland stage an uprising against the Nazis. 1943 – The left-wing German Jewish exile Arthur Goldstein is murdered in Auschwitz. 1944 – World War II: The Battle of Tali-Ihantala, the largest battle ever fought in the Nordic countries, begins. 1944 – World War II: United States Navy and British Royal Navy ships bombard Cherbourg to support United States Army units engaged in the Battle of Cherbourg. 1944 – The final page of the comic Krazy Kat is published, exactly two months after its author George Herriman died. 1947 – The Diary of a Young Girl (better known as The Diary of Anne Frank) is published. 1948 – The United States Congress passes the Displaced Persons Act to allow World War II refugees to immigrate to the United States above quota restrictions. 1950 – The Korean War begins with the invasion of South Korea by North Korea. 1960 – Cold War: Two cryptographers working for the United States National Security Agency left for vacation to Mexico, and from there defected to the Soviet Union. 1975 – Mozambique achieves independence from Portugal. 1975 – Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declares a state of internal emergency in India. 1976 – Missouri Governor Kit Bond issues an executive order rescinding the Extermination Order, formally apologizing on behalf of the state of Missouri for the suffering it had caused to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1978 – The rainbow flag representing gay pride is flown for the first time during the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade. 1981 – Microsoft is restructured to become an incorporated business in its home state of Washington. 1991 – The breakup of Yugoslavia begins when Slovenia and Croatia declare their independence from Yugoslavia. 1993 – Kim Campbell is sworn in as the first female Prime Minister of Canada. 1996 – The Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia kills 19 U.S. servicemen. 1997 – An uncrewed Progress spacecraft collides with the Russian space station Mir. 1997 – The National Hockey League approved expansion franchises for Nashville (1998), Atlanta (1999), Columbus (2000), and Minneapolis-Saint Paul (2000). 1998 – In Clinton v. City of New York, the United States Supreme Court decides that the Line Item Veto Act of 1996 is unconstitutional. 2007 – PMTair Flight 241 crashes in the Dâmrei Mountains in Kampot Province, Cambodia, killing all 22 people on board. 2022 – The prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina inaugurates the longest bridge of Bangladesh, Padma Bridge 2022 – Russo-Ukrainian War: The Battle of Sievierodonetsk ends after weeks of heavy fighting with the Russian capture of the city, leading to the Battle of Lysychansk 2022 – Two people are killed and 21 more injured after a gunman opens fire at three sites in Oslo in a suspected Islamist anti-LGBTQ+ attack.

[iandeleonwrites]

Ian’s Case: A Personal Statement for Grad School Admission

Personal Statement, Ian Deleón

“He felt something strike his chest, and that his body was being thrown swiftly through the air, on and on, immeasurably far and fast, while his limbs were gently relaxed.”

It was more than a decade ago when I first read those words. Written by the American author Willa Cather, Paul’s Case: A Study in Temperament has always felt to me like an intimate account of my own life penned by a woman one hundred years in the past. 

That is a feeling which makes me proud; that my personal whims, fears, and desires, could find their echo long ago in a story about a young man and his pursuit of a meaningful life. Because of it, I felt a pleasing sense of historicity at a time when I was struggling so much with my own. 

I grew up in Miami Beach. Literally not more than a block away from water for most of my life. My father had emigrated from Cuba with his family in 1980. My mother had come on a work visa from Brazil a few years later. They met on the beach, had an affair, and I came into the world in May of 1987. 

My life was marked with in betweenness from the very beginning. My parents’ relationship did not last long, so I grew up traveling between houses. I had two families. I was American, but I was also Cuban and Brazilian. I even have a Brazilian passport. I spoke three languages fluently, but I couldn’t dance salsa or samba. I felt at home with the working class immigrants and people of color in my neighborhoods, but I often had to work hard to prove I wasn’t just some gringo with a knack for foreign tongues.  

[A quick note on Paul’s Case––If it happens that the reader is not familiar with the short story, let me briefly summarize it here:  A disenchanted youth in turn of the century Pittsburgh feels increasingly alienated from his schoolmates, his teachers and his family. His only comfort is his position as an usher at Carnegie Hall, where he loses himself in the glamour of the art life. Having no drive or desire to become an artist, however, the dandy Paul makes a spur of the moment criminal decision and elopes to New York City. There, he is able to live out his fantasies in a financial masquerade for about a week’s time, until the authorities back home finger him for monetary theft. Learning that his father is en route to the city to collect him, Paul travels to the countryside and flings himself in front of a speeding train, musing about the elegant brevity of winter flowers.]

When I first encountered Cather’s short story I was blown away by the parallels I saw between my own life and Paul’s. In 2005, fresh out of high school, I was living mostly with my father as my mother had relocated to faraway West Palm Beach. I was an usher at the local concert hall, a job I cherished enough to volunteer my time for free. I became entranced by the world of classical music, opera, theater, and spectacle––often showing up for work early and roaming the performance spaces, probing high and low like some kind of millenial phantom. 

In school, however, I had no direction, no plan. I had good enough grades, but no real motivation, and worst of all, I thought, no discernible talent. I probably resented my father for not being cultured enough to teach me about music, theater, and the arts. No one in my family had ever even been to a museum, or sat before a chamber orchestra. And it didn’t seem to matter to them either, they could somehow live blissfully without it. 

Well I couldn’t. I began to mimic the fervor with which Paul immersed himself in that world, while also exhibiting the same panic at the thought of not being able to sustain my treasured experiences without a marketable contribution to them. But here is where Paul and I take divergent paths. 

I was attending the Miami Dade Honors College, breezing my way towards an associate’s degree. I took classes in Oceanography, Sociology, Creative Writing, Acting and African Drumming. I was experimenting and falling in love with everything. 

But it was my Creative Writing professor, Michael Hettich, who really encouraged the development of my nascent writing talent. Up until that point my ideas only found their expression through class assignments, particularly book reports and essays on historical events. My sister had always felt I had a way with words, but I just attributed this to growing up in a multicultural environment amongst a diversity of native languages.  

As a result of that encouragement I began to write poetry, little songs and treatments for film ideas based on the short stories we were talking about in class. Somehow, thanks to those lines of poetry and a few amateur photographic self portraits, I was admitted to the Massachusetts College of Art & Design for my BFA program. 

There, I attended classes in Printmaking, Paper Making, Performance Art, Video Editing, and Glass Blowing. I was immersed in culture, attending lectures and workshops, adding new words to my vocabulary: “New Media” and “gestalt”. I saw my first snowfall. I had the dubious honor of appearing at once not Hispanic and yet different enough. I was overwhelmed. I felt increasingly disenchanted and out of place in New England, yet my work flourished and grew stronger. 

It was during this time that I developed a passion for live performance and engagement with an audience. I also worked with multi-channel video and sculptural installations. Always, I commented on my family history, grappling with it, the emigrations and immigrations. I even returned to those early short stories from Miami Dade, one time doing an interpretive movement piece based on The Yellow Wallpaper. Most often I talked about my father. He was even in a few of my projects. He was a good sport, though we still had the occasional heated political disagreement. We never held any grudges, and made up again rather quickly. It would always be that way, intense periods of warming and cooling. A tropical temperament, I suppose. 

I continued to take film-related classes in Boston, but my interests gradually became highly abstracted, subtle, and decidedly avant-garde. I had no desire to work in a coherently narrative medium. This would eventually change, but for now, I let my ambitions and aspirations take me where they would. 

I returned home to Miami for a spell after graduation. I traveled the world for five months after that. I moved back to Boston for another couple of years, because it was comfortable I suppose, though I was fed up with the weather. 

Finally, I wound up in NYC. Classic story: I followed a charming young woman, another performance artist as luck would have it, a writer too, and a bit of an outsider. We were quickly engaged and on the first anniversary of our meet cute we were married on a gorgeous piece of land in upstate new york, owned by an older performance-loving couple from the city. Piece of land doesn’t quite do it justice, we’re talking massive tracts, hidden acres of forest, sudden lakes, fertile fields, and precocious wildlife. As they say in the movies, it really is all about location, location, location. 

Nearly all of our significant personal and professional achievements in the subsequent years have centered around this bucolic homestead. After meeting, courting, researching and eventually getting married there, we soon decided we would stage our most ambitious project to date in this magical space––we would shoot...a movie.

We hit upon the curious story of an eighteenth century woman in England called Mary Toft. Dear Mary became famous for a months-long ruse that involved her supposed birthing of rabbits, and sometimes cats. The small town hoax ballooned into a national controversy when it was eventually exposed by some of the king’s physicians. My wife and I were completely enthralled by this story and its contemporary implications. Was Mary wholly complicit in the mischievous acts, or was she herself a sort of duped victim...of systematic abuse at the hands of her family, her husband, her country? 

We soon found a way to adapt and give this tale a modern twist that recast Mary as a woman of color alone in the woods navigating a host of creepy men, a miscarriage, and a supernatural rabbit. 

Over the course of nine months, our idea gestated and began taking the form of a short film screenplay. This was something neither of us had done or been adequately trained to do before. But we knew we wanted it to be special, it was our passion project. We knew we didn’t want it to look amateurish––we were too old for that. So we took out a loan, hired an amazing camera crew, and in three consecutive days in the summer of 2017 we filmed our story, Velvet Cry. It was the most difficult thing either of us had undertaken...including planning our nuptial ceremony around our difficult families. 

It was an incredible experience––intoxicating––also quite maddening and stressful. But it was all worth it. Because of our work schedules, it took us another year to finish post production on the film, but throughout that process, I knew I had found my calling. I would be a writer, and I would be a Director. 

Perhaps I had been too afraid to dream the big dream before. Perhaps I had lacked the confidence, or simply, the life experience to tackle the complexity of human emotions, narratives, and interactions––but no longer. This is what I wanted to do and I had to find a way to get better at doing it. 

In the intervening months, I have set myself on a course to develop my writing abilities as quickly as I could in anticipation of this application process. I know I have some latent talent, but it has been a long time since I’ve been in an academic setting, and in any case, I have never really attempted to craft drama on this scale before. 

I’ve read many books, listened to countless interviews, attended online classes, and most importantly, written my heart out since relocating down the coast to the small college town of Gainesville in Central Florida with my wife in June of 2018. It was through a trip to her alma mater of Hollins University that we learned about the co-ed graduate program in screenwriting a few months ago. After all the debt I accrued in New England, I didn’t think I would ever go back to college, though I greatly enjoyed the experience. But what we learned about the program filled me with confidence and a desire to share in the wonderful legacy of this school that my wife is always gushing about. 

Our Skype conversation with Tim Albaugh proved to be the deciding factor. I knew instantly that I wanted to be a part of anything that he was involved with, and I had the feeling that my ideas would truly be nurtured and harnessed into a craft––something tangible I could be proud of and use to propel my career. 

I continue to mine my childhood and adolescence in Miami for critical stories and characters, situations that shed light on my own personal experience of life. I’ve found myself coming back to Paul’s Case. No longer caught up in the character’s stagnant, brooding longings for a grander life, I’m now able to revisit the story, appreciating the young man’s anxieties while evaluating how it all went so fatally wrong for Paul. There was no reason to despair, no cause for lost hope. I would take the necessary steps to become the artist I already know myself to be. The screenplay I am submitting as my writing sample is a new adaptation of this story, making Paul my own, and giving him a little bit of that South Florida flavor. 

I will close by reiterating how I have visited Hollins, and heard many a positive review from the powerful women I know who have attended college there. As a graduate student, I know Hollins can help me to become a screenwriter, to become a filmmaker. This is the only graduate program to which I am applying––I have a very good feeling about all this.

I want to be a Hollins girl.