Do Listen Read: Camp, Bar Mitzvah, Lady Gaga

DO

 

CAMP/ BAR MITZVAH/ NOVEL

What I’ve been doing lately: Two of my kids are leaving soon for three weeks at an overnight camp in Wisconsin so I’m gathering and labeling their clothes, etc. I try not to confuse that activity with actual stress nor do I send them anything beyond what’s on the list. My kids are extraordinary lucky to attend camp. Period. I’ve read some disturbing things about the happenings at some East Coast camps. I know there’s a spoof of all that coming up on the Bravo show I love, Odd Mom Out. I find it all terribly embarrassing (as a Jew). I can at least have some Minnesota pride because I have never witnessed any of that over the top stuff here.

In other family news, my son’s bar mitzvah is happening a week after he returns. We are all busy preparing for that in one way or another. (Sam most of all.) Maybe I will write about the bar mitzvah experience at some point. We are doing Sam’s a bit out of the box and whether I have the desire to explain why/how remains to be seen. I did write quite a bit on the topic a few years ago when we were deciding which path to take before creating our own. Here’s one at The Forward. Another at Tcjewfolk.com. And one more at Tcjewfolk.com.

I’m writing fewer essays/blog posts and working on some fiction again for the first time in a long time. Novel writing is time consuming, and I know enough to know it may never see the light of day. I’m having fun with it anyway. My drive to Chicago AND my new desk/corner inspired me.

LISTEN

 

My girls are doing some random day camps that are further away than we normally drive, which has me succumbing to their top 40 stations more than I normally do. Despite the fact that the same songs are played repeatedly, which annoys me to no end, I don’t mind multiple listens of the two below.

Castle On The Hill by Ed Sheeran: This song’s lyrics feel like a novel, and the tune is so catchy. 

The Cure by Lady Gaga: This song kind of annoyed me at first and now I can’t get enough. It has something of an 80s Madonna/Janet Jackson vibe. You can listen below!

As for audiobooks, I’m currently listening to Roxane Gay’s memoir, Hunger. As always, I appreciate Gay’s writing style (direct) and the observations of society she shares (truthful and unrelenting).

Podcasts: I haven’t had as much time for podcasts with my kids in the car more and my audiobook happenings. But I have been walking around the house listening to podcasters I like talk about The Handmaid’s Tale. (NPR Pop Culture Happy Hour and Slate’s Double X had good ones.)

READ

 

An interesting way to handle “pick your brain” requests that gives people some of your time, but in a way that establishes firm boundaries. I like it!

Fun to see a blurb in St. Louis Park Magazine about the writing group I co-lead with Julie Burton!

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Nina Badzin hosts the podcast Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship. She's been writing about friendship since 2014, co-leads the writing groups at ModernWell in Minneapolis, and reviews 30+ books a year on her website.

14 Responses

  1. I love that Ed Sheeran song, I listen to it on repeat! I get a kick out of people in their mid-twenties being so nostalgic about their youth, even though I’m sure I was the same way 🙂 Best of luck with the bar mitzvah!

  2. I love that Ed Sheeran song too. I love what you say about trying not to confuse what’s going on with actual stress. I wish more people had that perspective!

  3. I have often thought that you and I seem so similar, and this post basically confirmed it. 🙂 My last post, which should link below, is on the same Ed Sheeran song, and reflecting on my daughter’s bat mitzvah. My kids left for camp a week ago (and their East Coast/New Hampshire camp is nothing like Odd Mom Out – visiting day is a trip to Wal-Mart to replace the lost toothbrush or broken flip flops – but I still love that show). I hope you do find a way to write about your son’s bar mitzvah, as I would enjoy hearing about what you did differently. My daughter’s was fairly routine, but my husband is starting cantorial school in the fall, so my son might end up with a very different experience down the line. Happy summer, Nina!

    1. Oh I love this comment so much! I will head over to your site in a minute. And SO cool to hear about your husband’s career change. That is a MAJOR undertaking.

  4. Lots going on with your family this summer! I’m going to need a new audiobook soon, so thank you for the suggestion.

    Btw, my daughter just started her bullet journal – I can see how it can be life-changing! She’s having a ball with all the pens, etc – that’s my kid.

  5. Ohh.. now I need to listen to that Lady Gaga song!
    As for the camps, I’m on the east coast and have heard some stories lately. Not to anyone I know personally, though! All good things!

  6. Nina, I hope you do find the time to write about the Bar Mitzvah experience. You have a unique way of expressing yourself which I appreciate. Also, since I already had a traditional Bar Mitzvah we are actively looking right now at a totally different kind of experience for our next one (May 2019). I may ask you about it in person if I run into you sometime once school begins again. If you have time and want to, share your story with me.

  7. I always love these posts, and so happy to share and learn. Esp on the audiobooks/podcast topic. Now that I spend more time driving I have more time to listen . I have been trying to listen to David Serseis’s new book but it is not at all engaging. Too disjointed for me. Perhaps I will call it quits and go for Roxanne!

  8. Sounds like a busy summer. We didn’t do the road trip this year, but it was still, go, go, go. I have been listing to a few audio books (mostly self help), but reading a lot of beach books to help me chill. Kids went back to school today. Insane! Another summer has passed:(.

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Hi, I'm Nina

HI, I’M NINA BADZIN. I’m a writer fascinated by the dynamics of friendship, and I’ve been answering anonymous advice questions on the topic since 2014. I now also answer them on my podcast, Dear Nina! I’m a creative writing instructor at ModernWell in Minneapolis, a freelance writer and editor, and an avid reader who reviews 50 books a year. Welcome to my site! 

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Hi, I'm Nina

HI, I’M NINA BADZIN. I’m a writer fascinated by the dynamics of friendship, and I’ve been answering anonymous advice questions on the topic since 2014. I now also answer them on my podcast, Dear Nina! I’m a creative writing instructor at ModernWell in Minneapolis, a freelance writer and editor, and an avid reader who reviews 50 books a year. Welcome to my site! 

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I send an email once or twice a month with the latest friendship letters, podcast episodes, book reviews, recipes, and more.

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