Sunday Blog post

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LOOKING FORWARD TO OCTOBER

Last Saturday, I went to an event at Hamline University called Beyond Bars:Voices of Incarceration.(Mnprisonwriting.org) . The Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop works with the Creative writing programs at Hamline University to help prisoners learn how to write essays and express themselves. I spoke with a man named Paul who also works with Veterans Telling Stories, which is a Minnesota-based project dedicated to teaching creative writing to military Veterans and their family members. This program offers a 10 -week free course online to veterans and their families.

 

 I listened to essays that explored prison life.  It was very emotional and uniting.  They have something called the Reentry lab that helps those previously incarcerated.  They are calling people who work in capacities like duplex owners or spiritual leaders to help the community get rehabilitated.

This week,I went to Writers group and wrote a few stories and read them for a room of 25 people.

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On Monday, I went to the periodontics to do more work towards a crown on my back molar. Boy did that hurt! Luckily not as much as the previous time, because I didn't have any exposed nerves during this visit.

We also performed improv inspired from "Whose Line is it Anyway" 

I'm in the Video posted below  on YouTube

That's my week. Tell me about yours in the comments below.

ON THE BLOG

Reading

American Precariat

a Book of Fifteen essays coedited by a collective of award-winning incarcerated writers, pre-order the book here

Sunday Post

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LOOKING FORWARD TO january

 Christmas day was spent with my sister and brothers, nieces and nephews.  There was non-stop games and fashion shows. We listened to the yule log while opening gifts. My son got a ton of fun stuff including a Sonic-the-race-car and a hologram target- practice game.

On Saturday, we got invited to eat oodoon noodles at a friends house. In the evening, I did online improv, we usually start with games and then move into long-form which is prompted by acronyms. In this case, we used 

A mural In South Minneapolis (near Chicago and Lake)

I may spend New Years Day inside, we'll see how I feel. But in the morning, we'll have an improv marathon on Oozebear.com

ON THE BLOG

Reading

Draco is married to a dark witch when Hermione becomes his enslaved surrogate, and she has no idea how he rose in Voldemort's ranks during the war. As Hermione's memories slowly come back, she will not only piece together how the Order fell apart but also discover a history with Draco she could have never anticipated.

I think it would be cool to go to the Tisderine bends in Morocco one day.

Sunday Blog Post

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LOOKING FORWARD TO December

On Tuesday I went to the theater to see 

Mrs. Doubtfire.

I made some cookies with a friend of mine. I get nostalgic 

Grateful

For getting up on time

Playing balloon ball with my son.

ON THE BLOG

Reading

Sunday Blog post

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LOOKING FORWARD TO DecemBER

This week I met with a friend at her office to watch movies and hang out. 

We saw "Leave the World Behind." 

I loved this movie a lot and the themes in it surrounding the idea of an apocalypse.

It's been a slow week. I went to Writer's group and wrote a few stories about language learning while drinking espresso and laughing at other writer's stories.

 Last night it snowed while I was leaving from a friends house.

I forgot... I also met a YouTuber while driving for UBER, and supposively he pulls pranks on people (especially women). It was interesting to talk with him because he wasn't as extroverted as he comes off in his videos in some ways, and it took several questions to figure out what "Kind" of pranks he does, including approaching women in cars and asking them questions about whether they are golddiggers.

 and I included a video of his channel

Here is my Grateful list.

Grateful for meeting so many people on the language app.

For friends who pack me rice to go

for friends who reach out.

Grateful for taking risks in my writing

That's my week. Tell me about yours in the comments below.

ON THE BLOG

Reading

This gender-swapped When Harry Met Sally retelling is for anyone who craves romance novels with realistic and flawed characters. Ari and Josh circle each other for years in the kind of delicious, slow-burn tension that only comes from a well-executed enemies-to-friends-to-lovers arc

"You Again" by Kate Goldbeck. I loved this book because the MC is an improviser and comedian!!! I have never seen a romance book with a character whose job is in comedy.  I liked that the book started with the character's rocky past and how the love birds were friends at first who worked in New York.  Each of them would text back and forth while negotiating their new romantic lives. It's so cute! and I think it got turned into a movie! 

Here is another book whose character works in comedy.

Funny Feelings by Tarah Dewitt

Sunday Post

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LOOKING FORWARD TO NOVEMBER

This week I met with the theater bloggers and we went to eat at a restaurant in Downtown Minneapolis. I had this amazing lobster macaroni. 

Twin Cities Theater Bloggers 

(theater Blogger Jill Schafer receiving her birthday dessert

)

I also did some improv online

We did jokes of association like an actor was a character who always sweats, and someone said "Don't sweat it."

I played some Quiplash games with language Learners.  It was so incredibly fun.  Sometimes when I'm laughing it literally sounds like I'm so out of breath.

Grateful list

Grateful for meeting with the theater bloggers and my friend Shelly coming with

Grateful for all of the fall leaves that I keep kicking up.

For all of the love of friends and family this week.

For friends who meet me on a whim to help me with things and send me great texts.

Grateful for all of the creativity during Quiplash games

For people taking my improv ideas and running with them.

For my son trying to squeeze next to me on an early Sunday Morning.

That's my week. Tell me about yours in the comments below.

ON THE BLOG

Reading

Something about this Novel, "Better than fiction" reminded me of "The Noel Diary" which is on Netflix

Synopsis of "The Noel Diary,"---Cleaning out his childhood home at Christmas, a novelist meets a woman searching for her birth mother. Will an old diary unlock their pasts — and hearts? 

Synopsis of "Better than Fiction"--Love isn't always by the book in this charming romantic comedy about a bookseller discovering how to be the main character in her story when she meets a famous Romance novelist.

Sunday Post

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LOOKING FORWARD TO November

This week I spent some time on Tandem app helping English learners. We played a game similar to Quiplash called Votesout (the free version).  In this game, you answer fun questions for example you may get a question like this:

What is the best way to scare a burglar?  And you add your response and it's voted on.

I made a new friend in my building named Nicki and we spent some time declutering my apartment and moving things around. I felt pretty great afterwards, like I could take on any project.

Earlier in the week, I went to a dental appointment related to putting the actual crown on the teeth. Then I learned that because my general dentist at the University of Minnesota closed its building, I'd have to get another appointment to ensure that my teeth were up to par before the procedure. Wow!  They asked me if I wanted the gold crown or porcelain or some other, and I was like "I'll choose the one that looks the most like my other teeth." 

I also learned that the dental student would be transferring to Mankato to work in their mobile clinic and I learned that mobile clinics are a great way to cut costs from building rentals.

HUGE Improvathon will be coming up Nov 16-17 and this will be 28 hours of continuous improv. Our Disability access team will be performing in it at 11:40 at night.

That's my week. Tell me about yours in the comments below.

ON THE BLOG

Reading

Sunday app

 

LOOKING FORWARD TO OCTOBER

This week, 

I laughed with people on the Tandem language app, while learning a bit of Russian including the letter system. 

Tandem Language app

I did an improv event at Invergrove Town Center theater on Saturday. I did a scene where I interrogated Taylor Swift about her involvement in stealing girl scout cookies and also played a woman who liked to sell Life Insurance. Earlier in the week, I did improv at a local park.  

Our team having gathering for pizza after

That's my week. Tell me about yours in the comments below.

ON THE BLOG

Reading

intertwine in unexpected ways.

Sunday Post

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LOOKING FORWARD TO october

This week, I went to practice languages with a lot of people at a big event at HeadFlyer Brewing.  We got a name tag and put all of our known languages from best to worse, and started mingling.  I was extremely nervous and thought I would stick around for 15 minutes but then stayed for two hours.  Everyone was so nice and I got invited to eat afterwards, and go to a concert.  

I also went for the second time to Red Rabbit.  This restaurant has the greatest lasagna I ever had, and my brother ordered their cavatelli.  It was my birthday last Saturday, so it's been one fantastic day after the next. A friend of mine took me out for lunch after the writer's group and then bought everyone else lunch! And my brother gave me $170.

Food from Red Rabbit

That's my week. Tell me about yours in the comments below.

ON THE BLOG

Reading

intertwine in unexpected ways.

Sunday Blog post

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LOOKING FORWARD TO SEPTEMBER

This week, I was invited to eat at Master Noodles on University in Saint Paul.  This is a nice little Chinese restaurant that has noodles spun from long ropes.  I literally watched the chef cut the noodles and it was amazing!

Yesterday, I went to a writers/Actors gathering in my area and we wrote monologues for actors.  I've been there several times but this time I noticed how people were addressing the monologue.  These monologues were

-Pep talks

-Conversation in your head about a sales clients in Halloween stores.

-That time someone remembered creating their own home-made Halloween costume with duct tape. 

This is my Grateful list

-Grateful for that moderator who conducted a talk that centered around, who is waiting for you when you come home at night

-Grateful for friends inviting me to eat in their homes

-Grateful for people who cut my brand new carpet (smells great btw)

-Grateful for the person who helped me take out the old carpet

-Grateful for people who liked some of my contributions about motivational quotes

That's my week. Tell me about yours in the comments below.

ON THE BLOG

Reading

Watched

Be Melodramatic

In this K-Drama Jin-joo is a writer who gets her first chance to write a 16-episode television series and, in the process, falls for her director, Son Beom Soo (Ahn Jae-hong), and he for her, although not without a number of prickly moments. As Jin-joo writes the show and Beom-soo develops it, their personal and professional lives intertwine in unexpected ways.

This is like a film within a film, because the writer characters will be discussing the series they are writing and then other actors will reenact the drama as the writers envision it happening. There are some really quirky characters in this one and fantastic ideas. Like I remember the director was pulling his romantic interest in a electric wagon and it was so cute!

Summer Strike is about people who start finding themselves after leaving their lifestyles in a complicated city, and moving to an unfamiliar place to do nothing.

I like this drama because the main character leaves Seoul to live in a smaller city and start over and she moves into a building that is haunted and the people in the city hate her for moving there and she feels like she is affecting everyone involved but she plows through with her  decision and it really shows some intense moments that would make most people run for the hills.

I chose to watch unlocked because it has the same character from Melodramatic, Jin-Joo and I really loved her acting.  There are some very scary moments-the main character sees someone entering her home with a personal code, and I sat there assuming it was an assailant and then was completely caught off guard.

Sunday post

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LOOKING FORWARD TO september

This week I had to go for a root canal procedure and that was quite painful, but they were able to remove the pulp. They had two types of anesthesia because the first dose didn't have the necessary effect.

I also went to a workshop on Authentic relating. This was the first time going to a workshop like this but I believe it won't be the last. It encourages individuals to cultivate empathy and compassion and to create a safe space for vulnerability and authentic expression. I was put on the hot seat and everyone in a circle asked me questions about my life.  It was quite empowering to hear everyone's authentic stories. 

I watched two entire episodes of K-Drama in Spanish and Portuguese.  I was surprised I was able to understand a good amount,  (mostly the subtitles).   

I also caught a bit of the Mexican Independence Day parade. It was quite acoustic to hear the rhythm of the drumming as I was sitting in my car under a bridge.

Grateful list

Grateful that my friend invited me to the authentic workshop

For someone remarking kindly on my Tandem Language App: "Trin is super cheerful and bubbly. I love the vibe she brings to the conversation.  She's nice and considerate and too observant for her own good.  Her indian accent is impeccable.

That's my week. Tell me about yours in the comments below.

ON THE BLOG

Reading

I really liked listening to Jon Kabot-Zinn talk about how wherever you go, you are. It means like no matter where you are in life you have only the moment, we don't have the past or the future, so we can change the thoughts that we have currently to address how we want to feel.