Sunday Night Catchall: November 22, 2015

Not going to lie: one of the most satisfying moments of my week was beating my dad and brother at Catan. (Okay, fine — the most satisfying moment of my week ...) Anyone else play board games with your family that get really awkwardly competitive?

Speaking of competitive board games, I'm dying to know the answer to this: my friend Rebecca and I have been playing very intense games of Bananagrams (which, for those of you who don't know, is like Scrabble but about speed more than anything). I use nothing but super short words; she mainly uses longer words to free up board space. For those of you who play, which strategy do you use? Now I'm curious.

Obligatory cat photo! Sorry to be clogging up the internet with more cat pics than it already has. If I had a pet wombat, I'd post those pictures instead, but I'm stuck with this guy (who does not seem happy that my mom's taking a picture of him).

If you haven't already perused the hashtag on Twitter, check out some highlights from yesterday's #TransYAChat! It's interesting regardless of whether or not you're a writer.

Oh, and if you've followed my Twitter account this weekend, you know I spent my entire weekend working on a novel instead of writing an essay. Welp, want to guess what I'm supposed to be doing instead of writing this blog post? Oops.

Sunday Night Catchall: College Edition!

I'm back. And on a new website! Subscribe to the newsletter (hint: on your right) to get occasional writing updates! (And cat photos!) Now, in honor of failing to post over the past few months, I thought I'd try to give a rundown of not just this past week, but the past few months (because, you know, that sounds easy to do after the first few months of college):

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Finally got that obligatory activist-holding-a-megaphone photo of myself that I've been lacking for years, courtesy of speaking at a rally about sexual violence and discrimination.

On a separate but still activism-related note, mad props to all the activists at Mizzou, Yale, Howard, and other schools nationwide that have stood up against discrimination even in the face of threats.

I discovered that all the seasons of House are now available to stream on Netflix, as are some campy crime shows and The Office. In other terms, I've got limitless things to watch when procrastinating.

Friday the 13ths are cursed, as, apparently, are the days before and after them. My heart goes out to everyone in Beirut, Paris, Japan, Syria, and anywhere else I'm sadly failing to mention who has been lost in the deluge of media coverage about those first four things. Try to remember to treat everyone with respect, dignity, and compassion.

I found an Onion article that sums up exactly what I wonder if my creative writing professor is thinking every time she gives me feedback. (I'm kidding — her name is Ellis Avery; she's wonderful and writes kick-butt LGBTQ-related books that you should read!)

And for a new thing I'm adding to these weekly roundups, a weekly YA book recommendation: Traffick by Ellen Hopkins!

Sunday Night Catchall: July 12, 2015

... aaaaannndd back on schedule with this post. Yay! (Okay, I'm going to kind of cheat and do this in list form, so maybe I only deserve a half-yay.)

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Favorite Onion article this week: "Parents Formally Announce Transfer of Expectations to Second Child"

Most interesting serious article this week: "Women's World Cup Was Most-Watched Soccer Game in United States History"

Favorite experience this week: seeing the U.S. win the Women's World Cup last Sunday! And being a member of the large contingent of spectators who booed the FIFA officials when they walked onto the field.

Least favorite experience this week: coming to the realization that soon I will have to do homework again. 

Wackiest experience this week: binge watching Jon Stewart episodes from 2003 and 2004. 

Thing I'm most looking forward to next week: writing more! (I'm very predictable.)

Monday Night Catchall: June 29, 2015

It has been too long since I posted last. Eek. Okay, quick weekly round-up:

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The Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage. Perhaps The Onion describes it best here.

Facebook is covered in rainbows right now. 26 million of them, in fact!

My cat decided to "help" me with my writing (picture on the right) ... so obviously I got nothing done.

NBC was apparently surprised by the things Donald Trump said. I don't know why.

My brother is getting a lot of pleasure out of calling me his "fellow freshman." (He's going to high school; I'm going to college.) Ugh. 

February 15, 2015: Sunday Night Catchall

The New York Times front page on the day of Nelson Mandela's release

“As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison." - Nelson Mandela

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If you know me well, you now I love Nelson Mandela. Long Walk to Freedom is my favorite book. Madiba proved that peaceful revolutions are possible and effective. This week was the fifteenth anniversary of Madiba being released from prison.

The San Francisco Panhandlers Steel Drum Band

Had a blast playing in a concert with my fellow San Francisco Panhandlers Steel Drum Band members at Ashkenaz last night. I still think drums are romantic. My lack of a love life means I must be right about that ... okay, on second thought, ignore me completely. And congrats to the Trinidad All Stars for winning Panorama last night (biggest steel drum competition in the world)! I linked to their song above.

Discovered that my beloved school badminton team follows some anti-social/outcast stereotypes when I tried to make a Facebook group for team members and discovered that 70% of members did not have Facebook accounts. Badminton is cool. I say this with the conviction with which I say that drums are romantic. :)