pennsylvania + colorado

porch’n’toesies/poconos/july 2012

Man, this has been a busy couple of weeks! I have spent my time researching grants, scholarships + loans for my trip, working like a dog, playing Stella from A Streetcar Named Desire in scene study class + trying to enjoy my last NYC summer for two years.

If you have ever spent a summer in the Big Apple, you understand that enjoying summer in the city often also means getting the hell out! So, two weeks ago, I went to my aunts’ country house in the Poconos to visit my grandmother who is up north from St. Augustine, FL for the summer.

the house/poconos/july 2012

We had pretty slow days up there: just lounging, reading + watching the news. We enjoyed a trip to our favorite lunch spot in Milford + there was even a blackout for a couple of hours due to a major storm the evening after the following pics were taken!

up the way/poconos/july 2012

the neighb/poconos/july 2012

the sights/poconos/july 2012

clouds + electricity/poconos/july 2012

The tragedy in Aurora, CO was fresh (+ remains fresh) in our minds. All of the news coverage I heard + read seemed to be about it. Questions about U.S. gun laws + mental health services seemed to be all I could think about.

It has been easier for me to keep up with the news (as discussed in my last post) than I thought it would be, because I am fascinated by the beautiful + scary ways that people operate. I have always thought that this is one of the reasons why I love being an actress: I get to explore the ins + outs of how people operate + why they make the choices that they make.

The most interesting articles that I read in the wake of the massacre in Aurora are: One More Massacre by Adam Gopnik + Battleground America by Jill Lepore, both from The New Yorker.

I wish that I could figure out the “right thing” to say about the incident… At this point, all I can offer up is that I have continued to send good thoughts to the families + loved ones of the people who were killed + injured early that morning.