Measuring Life in Prestige TV

I’m about to finish the final season of The West Wing. It will probably happen in the next week, and I know that finale will leave leave me teary-eyed and with a strange, empty feeling.

I started watching The West Wing almost a year and a half ago. I’m a savorer when it comes to television, especially when there are many seasons and a finale that aired long ago. I have nibbled on this show month after month, often falling asleep to Allison Janey’s soothing voice. The specifics of The West Wing are not what’s important here, though I do love Aaron Sorkin and political dramas and workplace television. And I’m not writing about this to convince you to watch a show that premiered in 1999 (though I will say that it feels like a comforting alternate universe — a liberal White House that never quite was, if you’re into that sort of thing). 

What’s important about The West Wing is that it has measured out a period of my life. Longer than a year, though not nearly as unwieldy as a decade. Like a relationship that has come and gone. The calendar is a construct, blah blah blah, but the amount of frames of The West Wing that have reflected through my eyeballs, that feels concrete. This is a sort of a silly way of saying that personally, watching The West Wing finale will signal the end of an era. The specific feeling that the show brought me, measuring out the events of my life, will have concluded. And this West Wing era was one so full of massive transformation — my short marriage beginning and ending, losing my dog, reprioritizing my life, facing hard diagnoses of loved ones, finding luck in publishing.

There have been other eras too; before The West Wing, I had The Sopranos playing as I planned my wedding, made decor, moved apartments. Mad Men before that, Girls, and going further back, the period of time marked by my mom and I, when I was thirteen, watching an episode of Gilmore Girls before bed every night with a cup of peppermint tea.

It feels impossible that I will find the same comfort in another classic television show that could rival The West Wing, or anything else that has measured out my life so far. But obviously, I will. It’s just an Aaron Sorkin show. 

Easy Digging updates

After an entire year of submissions, we have officially submitted to our final festival. We have paid our final fee. We have updated the Google Calendar with notification dates one last time. We’re still waiting to hear back from nearly half the fests we’ve submitted to, so there will be news to come. I’m just incredibly relieved for the researching and cover letters and deadlines to be well and truly over. I’m so proud of this film, no matter the outcome. And the plan, as of now, is to have Easy Digging available to stream in Fall of 2026!

But in the meantime, we do have a public screening in Austin coming up on November 21st at Fo Guang Shan Xiang Yun Temple! It’s free, there will be snacks, some cast and crew in attendance, and it starts at 6pm. You can RSVP here!

The Hideout Theatre’s Celebration Weekend!

I believe I wrote about this in my last newsletter, but in case you missed it, The Hideout Theatre has to move locations. Originally, 11/13-11/17 was going to be the final weekend of shows at the Congress location (after 26 years!). Luckily the landlord is letting them stay for a few more months, so now this weekend will just be a big celebration of The Hideout, plus a way to fundraise. A lot of help is needed to turn the new location into a dream home. My troop, Hometown, formed at The Hideout in 2017, and we will be performing at 6pm on November 17th as part of the celebration. Come see the show and/or any of the other amazing groups performing all weekend long!

Spells to Mend Broken Hearts news

Publishing is very slow. I knew it was slow when I began pursuing traditional publishing over ten years ago, but it turns out that it is even slower than I understood. I announced my book deal with Scholastic back in April (and I had known about the deal for nearly a year prior to announcing; that’s the scale we’re working with). In recent months, final edits were completed, copyedits turned in, and now, with less than a year until release, things really feel like they’re moving.

I have seen my cover, ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT, and will be sharing it, along with more info about the book, soon! This whole process has been so many years in the making that it hardly seems real. 

Until next time!