No. 3: Jersey Shore and Chesapeake Bay
These places have an abundance of crabs.
Hello from Easton, MD! I really meant to write a post last week but I kept putting it off and then it seemed prudent to just wait until today and do a double edition. The wedding with Hope and the Perrys a few weekends ago was great—I tore it up on the dance floor and met her cool friend from Columbia, then we went to our first ever Tisha B’Av service. During the day, we went to the Howell Living History Farm to help with the honey harvest. Here’s a picture of Hope with her dog (Shamrock) and and me with one of the sheep on the farm (name unknown).
Last week was very hectic—I packed up my dorm in Morristown, and Mom came to stay in Jersey for a few days to help me move out and see a few shows. We saw POTUS and Into The Woods (more details in now consuming!) and she got to see Music Man and Funny Girl, both of which were well received. After the end of my internship, my mom finished moving me out and and I drove down to Princeton to pick up Zoey. We spent a relaxing weekend in Sea Isle with GAP, GUP, and the McFrasiers (for non-family, various relatives). It was so nice to enjoy the sun and beach and explore the town (and of course spend time with family!).
Then I dropped Zoey back off in Princeton and we met up with Katie to start moving our stuff into Spelman 41. Since then, I’ve been in Easton with Lola, Uncle Amer, and Adam, trying to relax and get ahead on scheduling for the year. My first three weeks on campus are going to be uber-busy, per the usual, and it’s crunch time for me and my planner. I just had to take a break from writing the newsletter to put all my orientation events in there.
The other day we drove to Tyson’s Corner so my Lola could pick out a purse at the fancy mall there. Yesterday was a work-on-A4P-research day, and today I learned how to make pancit and found some treasures at the consignment store for Spelman. Next up on the cooking list is adobo. Tomorrow we’ll attend my cousin Sasha’s birthday party (and maybe go fishing?), and I’ll depart on Sunday to start getting situated for orientation. I’m excited for everything to get started, but looking at my schedule is already starting to give me hives. I’ve also been digging around in Lola’s photo books, and found these kid pictures of Dad. I know they’re him because they look just like baby photos of me and my sisters.
This photo is also appropriate since Ellie is moving into her dorm at Notre Dame today. Once my mom finishes up and leaves for Singapore, we’ll be the only ones still in the States. And Ellie and I will be doing freshman orientation at around the same time!
I was tweeting a lot last week, but social media usage has gone down since I’ve gotten to Maryland. I’m hoping to get into a place where I consume little and post even less, but we’ll see what happens once pwitter gets off the ground again for the school year. I think I’ll also be busier during school, which may help me just stick to the newsletter. Either way, I’m still enjoying the practice of collecting tidbits and photos from the week.
Update me with what’s going on in your life! I’m excited to see my friends on campus again, at which point the newsletter may become obsolete for you, but it’ll be nice to catch up and get back into the routine of the school year. I’ve still been spending lots of time in my car.
Best,
Bethany
NOW CONSUMING:
The entirety of Creamerie on Hulu. It’s a fabulous dark comedy set in a post-apocalyptic world where a virus has killed all men—or did it? It’s prescient, given the pandemic, funny, and thought-provoking, and has a cast of Asian leads. TW for sexual assault and some violence.
Also been watching my weeklies and old standbys of Bob’s Burgers and Elementary. I shudder to think of what will happen when I run out of episodes of those.
The Girls Like Us podcast—I became a patron this week so that I can have extra episodes to entertain me on the drive back to Princeton.
Never Have I Ever season 3 with Sierra while she recovers from a tonsillectomy. It was delightful.
Into the Woods and POTUS on Broadway, as previously mentioned. I loved the production of Into the Woods and the cast was extraordinary, but Mom and I agree that the show is not Sondheim’s best or most entertaining. I liked POTUS—great farce with an amazing cast, even if it had kind of a corny ending. Don’t know what else I expected from a farce, to be honest.
The occasional snippet of a baseball game, courtesy of Patrick.
My Year of Rest and Relaxation, which I had to read for school. It was… fine. Neither as good nor as bad as people have said.
LOTS of articles in the Princeton Alumni Weekly and Mudd Manuscript Library blog about Asians at Princeton for A4P. See below a photo of Potenciano Sylvestre José Mendoza Taoatao, or just José, who was a chef on the Princeton Pullman and a surprisingly talented geologist.
This text from David, which I found funny enough to screenshot and share.
Also a movie and another book, neither of which I will tell you about. Bye!