The Magic Violinist: April 2020

I turned 20 on the 11th and even though I had to stay at home, I still had a wonderful day. My dad made tons of good food (homemade mac and cheese, quiche, poke bowls, Portuguese codfish fritters, etc.), we played board games and virtual escape rooms, made s'mores in lieu of a traditional birthday cake, watched a half-hour long surprise video of virtual birthday messages from friends and family all across the country (Mom had a brilliant idea and Max did all the editing), and did all of this while carrying Josh around on my phone with us via video chat.

20 feels big to me even though it isn't really a huge milestone in terms of American culture (I'm kind of in between milestones: I've been an adult for two years, I can already vote, I can't drink yet, etc.). But on the other hand, I'm no longer a teenager, I've been alive for two decades, and there's a whole different number at the start of my age. For the next several months, I suspect I'll write a "1" out of habit when starting to list my age on some form.

So to celebrate this "kind-of" milestone, I wanted to list a bucket list of sorts for the next twenty years of my life with all kinds of goals (dreamlike and achievable) I've wanted to do for a while now. I've already done so many big things in the past twenty years (traveled to Europe, seen Broadway shows, been to "Supernatural" conventions and "met" the actors through photo ops, met up with friends I made online, gone to college, started dating, etc. etc. etc.), so I can't wait to see what I'll do in the next twenty years.

1. Publish one of my YA novels
2. See one of my books adapted into a movie
3. Meet some of my favorite authors in person (J.K. Rowling, Rainbow Rowell, Becky Albertalli, etc.)
4. Go to YALLFest
5. Win an award for something creative I've done (writing a book, writing a play - do I dare dream of a Tony Award before 40? 😬)
6. Meet Lin-Manuel Miranda in person
7. Create a concept album or put on a concert/performance for a genderbent "Les Mis"
8. Perform on Broadway (even as a walk-on role!)
9. Write a musical and see it performed (anywhere, but especially on Broadway in my dreams)
10. Play the lead in a non-junior musical
11. Check Eponine off my list of dream roles
12. Get married
13. Have a kid or two
14. Have a house of my own
15. Adopt dogs (so many dogs)
16. Dye my hair a crazy color (I've wanted to do this for years and will actually be doing this in the next week!)
17. Be an extra on a TV show
18. Find a day job/long-term career I love (something that will support me on its own without artsy endeavors)
19. Dabble in screenwriting (I wouldn't want to write for TV or movies long-term, but I'd love to have that experience of being in the writers' room just once to see how it works)
20. Go on a book tour/be a part of book conferences

Are many of these goals pie-in-the-sky or out of my control, no matter how hard I try? Probably. Yes. But many of these things are within my control and the rest are fun to dream about. I'll be curious to look back on this list when I'm forty and see how much has or hasn't happened. And I'm sure even the things that don't happen will be replaced by so many other amazing experiences.

Here's to the next twenty years!

What are some of your bucket list goals, both "realistic" and "unrealistic?" Leave a comment!

Books I Read

3.5/5

This would be a really fun show to put on with a student theatre group. It's simple and pure fluff, but it could be hilarious if played by the right people. Some things were so over-the-top or stilted that it lost the humor for me, and it's no great work of art or anything, but it's a lot of fun.

3.5/5

So I was super dumb and thought this was the sequel to One of Us Is Lying and spent the first forty pages or so really confused as to what was going on and who these characters were (granted, it has been forever since I read One of Us Is Lying, but still), so once I realized that this was an entirely different story, I was good to go. It was a little slow to start, so it took me a while to actually read because I wasn't getting into it, but once it got going it got going. I loved the whole second half. Excellent small town mystery/thriller!

3.5/5

I was expecting a ghost story, and I definitely got one, but it's nothing like any ghost story I've read before. It was a really cool look at the indigenous people of Australia. Because it was so surreal and full of magical elements that didn't get explained very clearly at first, it was hard to follow sometimes, and because of how short it was you don't get a lot of time to connect with the characters. But because it's so short, I recommend picking it up if you want a paranormal story that not your typical ghost/vampire/werewolf/zombie story.

4/5

Yayyy, more Simon and Baz!! This was an excellent sequel! I loved the change of venue and road trip vibes; seeing British young adults explore non-magical America was an amusing experience. And these characters are just fantastic and I loved spending time with them. The only part I wasn't too sure about was a new character that was introduced but didn't seem to have a ton to do with the plot, so it took up a little time and slowed down the plot, but I didn't hate him. I think he's being set up as a bigger character for the third book, so hopefully that's true, because he could be a really good addition to the story.

Movies I Watched

2.5/5

I didn't like this sequel very much because I wasn't connecting with the characters like I thought I would. I wasn't a huge fan of Peter to begin with and he wasn't winning any points with me in this one either, and it was a little slow and had a disappointing ending. It definitely should've gone in a different direction in my opinion, but I sometimes have unpopular opinions when it comes to rom-com love triangles.

3.5/5

This was really good! I'm biased towards the musical since I was in it and experienced the story that way before watching the movie, but this was fun too. It was a good cast with nice chemistry and it was still pretty funny 40 years later.

4.5/5

This was a fantastic movie! Definitely worth all the hype. It's a work of art and worth watching for the way music is infused alone, but the fancy car maneuvers and high-stakes heists were awesome too. I felt breathless the entire time I watched. The only thing that could have been better was (once again) the ending. I would've preferred something more ambiguous than what they did; there were several points at which I thought the movie would end, but then it kept going to wrap the story up more neatly.

4/5

Funny, entertaining, good actors, very weird scenarios throughout the story (but in a way that worked). There were some parts that were a little long/rambling or too weird, but overall it was a very solid movie.

4/5

(Or "The Spider Thieves" in English). I had to watch this for Spanish class and really enjoyed it. It never bored me and it was fascinating to see the culture of a homeless village in Chile. I both sympathized with the characters and didn't like them at certain points, especially the main girl; I didn't like how her character developed and once I started not to like the characters, it affected how much I liked the movie. But all in all, I would still recommend it.

4/5

I definitely like Tarantino movies, and this one might have been even better than "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," in my opinion, though the jury's still out on that one. I was intrigued by the mystery and the different characters and their motivations. It kept me hooked the whole time, even when there wasn't any action. Some parts were a little longer than they needed to be, but not so much that I was bored.

3.5/5

See the above review. ^ I didn't like this one quite as much because I thought even though a few parts were longer than they needed to be, the ending was somehow still rushed. But overall, it was a good conclusion.

Quotes I Wrote

Nothing new here, but I'm deep in revisions, as well as braving the querying trenches.

Obsessions I Acquired

None this month!

Pictures of the Month

My boyfriend and I are both huge theatre people and love singing together (in the car, in shows, in cabarets, in recitals, while baking cookies, etc.) and being apart from each other has been really hard, but luckily he is a whiz at audio editing and we've figured out how to sing "virtual duets!" I record my vocals, he records his, and we mash it together with our backing track. It's been a fun way to keep creating art during this quarantine. This is one of my favorite so far, so I hope you enjoy it!

My vocal teacher has been giving all of us challenges to record and post to our Facebook group so we can keep up on our vocals during this social isolation time, so this was the result of me singing a song with the word "friend" in it ("Sonya Alone" from "Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812"). This was one of my favorite videos I recorded so far for the challenges.