Crucify her.
Posted by: Faith Swymer on: April 22, 2009
As anyone who’s ever written a public review knows, any negative review that is written is going to get you a lashing.
When I walked into the lobby of the Temple to check out their production of “Little Women” last Wednesday, I was excited to see how it would be portrayed — it’s a story I know very well and have loved for years. I love musical theatre (just ask my bank account) and I thought the merging of the two could produce something memorable, emotional and entertaining.
But I wasn’t impressed, I wasn’t entertained… I was pretty bored. That’s not to say the actors on stage and the crew are not incredibly talented individuals, they are. It’s very rare that I am just left totally unfilled at a production and it just happened to occur last Wednesday night.
So what do you do? As a reviewer, you have to be honest. I know not everyone shares my opinions (and believe me, I know this to be true after the hate mail I have received). It’s not to say that other theatre-goers won’t appreciate it, but I didn’t. As someone who’s seen close to 10 productions ranging from Broadway in New York City to community theatre in the last year, I think I have a bit of a gage as a theatre-goer.
One criticism I find interesting is that I’m trying to “sink the Temple” with my review. I don’t think anyone who’s written a review would ever want a theater to fail — after all, where would the majority of my stories come from? I find the accusation totally baseless since I have (very recently) written flattering previews of the theater’s fundraisers and productions, even writing positive reviews for every other production besides this one. To me, this production was the least satisfying of all the ones I’ve seen this season — and I stand by that. It’s incredibly idealistic to believe someone will love every production… and if you’re going to rank them honestly, one production would have to always fall last. I am also saddened by those who think I am trying to hurt the Temple’s financial situation. Not at all. It is my job to say how I honestly feel and if I sacrificed that to help out a struggling theatre, I wouldn’t be a journalist. I need to do my job. If the theater can’t stand the impact (pretty funny, since none of my positive reviews have been praised for increased ticket sales before) of a negative review, maybe they shouldn’t allow reviewers.
By writing this, I hope it provides some understanding about my article. I realize it was short (I only had 20 minutes to write it) and if I had more time, I probably would’ve worded it differently… but in the end, I stand by it. I do hope the Temple continues to put on great shows that it has in the past, especially ones like “Hamlet” and “Moonlight and Magnolias,” which were both phenomenal.
I do take requests.
Posted by: Faith Swymer on: April 21, 2009
My cousin has requested I write a blog explaining how to use rag rollers, or, how my hair gets crazy curly.
On a very lonely weekend, I stumbled across rag rollers on the internetz and decided to give ‘em a whirl — and you know what? It’s easy, effective and nearly free.
What you need:
1. An old cotton t-shirt, sheet, etc. that can be cut into pieces.
2. Clean, wet or damp hair.
3. Mousse/hairspray/volumizer (optional)
Take the pillow/t-shirt/sheet and cut a dozen to two dozen strips about 1 inch wide and 6-10 inches long (depending on hair length). Take a piece wet hair and twist/twirl around a cotton strip towards your scalp. Tie a bow. Use smaller patches of hair towards the top of your scalp and larger patches towards your neck, it varies the curls and makes them appear more natural.
When you have bows covering your entire head, wait until almost completely dry. The more dry your hair is, the tighter the curl. Since the bows are made of cotton, it’s very easy to shower the night before and sleep with the bows in.
When dry, untie each bow and run your fingers through them to spread the curls apart. Apply mousse/volumizer/hair spray if desired. Curls should stay until next hair washing. Do not brush, unless you want a head full of frizz.
Just wondering
Posted by: Faith Swymer on: April 21, 2009
What do you pack for a trip to Portland, Oregon besides an umbrella and a poncho?
I’m always good for a bet.
Posted by: Faith Swymer on: April 17, 2009
As evidenced, I’m a pretty die-hard Red Sox fan. One who admittedly likes to run her mouth from time to time. Gordon Anderson, our crime reporter at the paper and an Oakland Athletics fan, does not like the Red Sox — in fact, it’s one of his most-hated teams.
So, we put the money, so to speak, where our mouths were. That sounds wrong. Anyway, when the Sox headed over to Oakland for a series this week, we made a friendly wager. If the Red Sox win, Gordon would have to sing “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond during open mic night at Steele Street Coffee and Wine Bar. If Gordon won, I would have to. Apparently Gordon lacks real imagination when it comes to wagers.
At any rate, as my Red Sox have tumbled into last place of their division, I quickly lost the bet after game 2 of the 3-game series. But I owned up to my responsibility and Gordon was nice enough to accompany me on guitar during my singing debut.
There was no mic for “open mic night” so I had to belt my way through the Neil Diamond classic. I don’t think I’ll be releasing a CD anytime soon, but the audience got into it… and that’s all I could ask for. I did have a cell phone video of the performance, which will never be released because of my instinct to wave my hands like I’m a member of the Wu Tang Clan.
Gordon explaining the terms.
Owning “Sweet Caroline.”
Being consoled by reporter Erin Zureick after my performance.
And if you look at those photos and notice that Sox hat looks familiar… look a few posts down to see whose it is. I wore it for good luck.
She said, “I think I’ll go to Boston.”
Posted by: Faith Swymer on: April 17, 2009
From time to time ,my blog updates that are published in The Herald are non-existent or old. I learned this week on Steele Street — after a very confused and complicated conversation — that a tease had been made to my online blog about a post that referenced my upcoming departure from The Herald. Indeed, I had not written a blog post about it, so maybe it’s time I did.
Yes, it’s true. My last day will be this Wednesday, April 22, a little more than a year since I started as the lifestyles reporter. This fall, I’m heading to New England Law | Boston for law school and decided to take some time to travel, volunteer and prepare for school before Colin came home mid-summer. Do not fret, I will still be within the area until this fall and right now, Colin is considering moving to Sanford while he stays at Fort Bragg. So, really, he’ll just be taking my place in Sanford.
I’ve enjoyed the time I’ve spent at the paper and all the people I’ve been able to meet, who were wonderful to share their stories with me. I am planning to maintain my blog to share information on my travels (Portland, Ore., NYC, Boston and New Hampshire are planned in late April and May) and my life as I approach homecoming and law school. I hope you still stop in from time to time, because I hate goodbyes and I’d love to keep some ties with those I’ve gotten to know in Lee County.
Thanks for the memories!
A year down.
Posted by: Faith Swymer on: April 15, 2009
It’s incredible how fast — and slow — a year can go. On one hand, the anniversary of my husband Colin being deployed to Iraq seem to come quickly, after all, it seemed like January was yesterday with all the work and activities I’ve been involved in. On the other, when you think back to last April, it feels like my life was a distant cousin of itself.
Back then, I had just landed a correspondent job with The Herald and was enthusiastic to work after a freelancing lull left me bored. I contemplated law school as the deployment approached and at his send-off, we discussed how we wanted to renew our vows, travel to San Francisco for R&R and plan for a trip abroad after he came home.
Now, my hair has grown nearly 8 inches, been dyed blonde, I’ve been accepted into law school after taking the LSAT twice, I’ve written probably hundreds of Herald stories, R&R in San Francisco has come and gone and I’ve gotten involved with my FRG as a treasurer and key caller. Dozens of care packages have been sent, hundreds of letters were handwritten and probably thousands of e-mails have bounced back and forth between us.
He’s still the same, but tired and skinnier. We still talk playfully about our now-fat beagle Kennedy, our birds, our plans for the future and joke about our jobs, friends and general lives. In a way, our relationship has stood still while everything else has zoomed forward. By the time he’s home this summer, he will have been abroad for 15 months, minus 18 days of R&R. I will not be working, but preparing to move to Boston for law school. He’ll be transitioning to a new job at Ft. Bragg after we renew our vows and take our second honeymoon overseas.
It’s a funny thing, a lot of people ask if I’m bitter and/or resentful, but honestly, I’m not. I get lonely sometimes and the void will never be filled, but I’m happy I’ve been able to fill it the best I can with my work, my friends, my hobbies and volunteering.
Here’s to another three months of this deployment and the similarly crazy full years that will follow it.
April 15, 2008… morning that he left. See how red my eyes are?
Also day he left.
During a sandstorm.
A picture I attached in an e-mail.
Re-enlisting another soldier in Iraq.
At Golden Gate Park in San Francisco during November’s R&R.
Our Christmas 2008.
Update #2 to Silas’ bench
Posted by: Faith Swymer on: April 14, 2009
Back in January I wrote about how my college friend Silas had passed away from cancer and the community had come together to raise money for a bench to memorialize him outside our old journalism building at our alma mater. Well, the day has finally come where the bench will be unveiled during a ceremony May 16 at Keene State College. Silas passed away last May from stage four lung cancer and I’m at least happy to know there is a permanent fixture at the college now, and that it was completed by the one year anniversary of his death.
Happy Eastah.
Posted by: Faith Swymer on: April 14, 2009
Last weekend I jetted up to the northeast by plane, train and automobile to reunite with my Swymer family, as is tradition, for Easter. I took a flight from Raleigh to Kennedy Airport on Long Island, took a train to NYC, walked from Penn Station to Grand Central Station, took a train to Stamford, Conn., was picked up by car and driven to Willimantic, Conn. and Wrentham, Mass. After a night of dyeing eggs with my cousins, we headed up to Kingston, N.H. for the rest of the weekend. And I got to stay in the Ariel room. Who’s special now!?
It was a nice getaway to spend time with family, eat Dunkin Donuts and Panera and enjoy home-cooked meals with family. For the third year non-consecutively, I was selected as an egg hider in the New Hampshire woods (watch out for ticks and snakes!), but the best part was teaching my 5-year-old cousin Ruby to ask people to be “Be Fierce!” (America’s Next Top Model reference) before taking their picture on my camera. Needless to say, there were a lot of floor and waist-level photos when I went to load them.
Here are some memorable photos from the weekend:
My first speaking engagement
Posted by: Faith Swymer on: April 8, 2009
I had no idea what I was doing.
I apparently needed to brace for impact.
But everything went ok… in my mind, at least. I hope I was able to bring forth some valuable information on my job and my personal life to the ladies and gentlemen who are retired school personnel within the county. I think they were most interested to hear that I moved to North Carolina without any furniture besides a TV and a bookcase.
My boys did it.
Posted by: Faith Swymer on: April 7, 2009
It’s so refreshing to follow my Sox again… on the internet. Unfortunately, the opener was out of market and only shown on NESN, so I had to sport my Sox cap, clock out from work and watch the game on ESPN.com. Not the same, but they took the opener from the Rays, who we fell to in the ALCS. Still hurts, but at least winning this game is the first step to a full recovery. Here’s to hoping the rest of the season is as rocking as Dustin Pedroia, Josh Beckett and the rest of the guys were tonight.
This photo shows Coco Crisp (who’s no longer with the Sox) pummeling James Shield (who pitched in today’s opener at Fenway) during a brawl last year. I really just Google Image’d “red sox rays” and this is what I got… I can’t help it if it works as a metaphor.
