Hello. Welcome or welcome back to “In the key of E.” Let’s get started.
Weekly recap
This week was much calmer than the last. A big project is behind me, and though I have another to work on now, this one stresses me out a lot less than the previous one. This one is a photo essay instead of an audio project. Being confident in my photography skills, I think this one will go well.
In all honesty, I don’t have a whole lot to recap you all on. It was a much calmer week of classes, but I know things will get hectic again once the deadlines for final projects creep closer. Graduation is in five weeks which is scary. Then I have to do the whole adulting thing.
I took three stories for The Spectator, though I’m not sure this one really counts as a whole story. It takes me 15 minutes to write. But I got to go to the International Poetry Reading to cover that, and it was really cool to hear poetry read in so many different languages.
Blugold Radio was just as it usually is. Cora and I talked about our weeks and then talked about the treatment of women statues. If you want to read more about the topic, there should be an op-ed out about it soon.
This weekend, I slept more than I’m willing to publicly admit. It felt good to truly catch up on all of the sleep I had lost in the last few weeks. You never know just how long you can sleep for until you try. And boy, did I try it.
After I get done writing this, I’m finally going to sit down and read for the first time in what feels like forever. I’m excited. So apologies if any of this recap stuff seems under-detailed. Not that there’s much to tell anyway. The next section is more important regardless.
From me to you
If you were paying even the slightest bit of attention toward what I wrote in the section above, you’d know that I went to the International Poetry Reading last week. With poetry in mind, I feel it’s necessary, as one of those people who gives recommendations even when you don’t ask for them, to share with you my favorite poet: Richard Siken.
I first discovered his poetry, and don’t laugh at this, via someone reading the poem “Straw House, Straw Dog” from his book “Crush” in a TikTok video a few years ago. I must have watched the video a dozen times before I decided to learn who this wonder of a human is.
He’s one of those poets who leaves both nothing and everything up to the imagination. He’s real and honest, and he isn’t afraid to paint what some may consider ugly or grotesque pictures. But he leaves pieces of those pictures up for interpretation.
When I read some of his poems, I understood them on the first try. Others take me ages to try to understand. I don’t freak out over celebrities or public figures very often, but I think I would if I met him. That being said, his presence online makes him seem, in the best way possible, undoubtedly human.
Last year, I covered the university’s annual celebration of the Robert Frost collection in our archives. One of the readers mentioned in her introduction that she was mentored by Siken and my jaw dropped all the way to the floor. I genuinely almost jumped out of my seat.
His other book, “War of the Foxes,” I have yet to read. I’m in the middle of annotating and re-reading “Crush.” My favorites of his from “Crush” are “Straw House, Straw Dog,” “Scheherazade,” “Boot Theory” and “Snow and Dirty Rain.”
I cannot recommend him enough. He has a new book, “I Do Know Some Things,” which is expected to be released later this year. When that time comes, leave me alone.
Weekly R.E.P.O.R.T.
Reading: For class, I’m reading “Tomboyland” by Melissa Faliveno and “Body Work” by Melissa Febos. For fun, “Me Before You” by Jojo Moyes and “My Life With Words” by Barbara F. Luebke.
I’m so excited to finish “Me Before You” so I can start “Weyward” by Emilia Hart. At the same time, I’m not at all prepared for the emotional damage “Me Before You” will cause. Wish me luck.
Eating: Leftovers.
Like I said last week, my mom sent me back to school with a bunch of leftovers. So I was set for the whole week.
Playing: “Calico” by Ryan Beatty.
I‘m so in love with this album it hurts me.
Obsessing: All my free time.
If you read last week’s edition of this column, you’d know that I have had absolutely no free time whatsoever the past couple of weeks. Last week, that was different. I felt surprisingly relaxed, which was much needed after going non-stop for an embarrassingly long amount of time.
Recommending: Take time for yourself.
Like I already said, I didn’t have any ounce of free time the past couple of weeks. Having time to myself now, it feels like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. And read some Richard Siken while you’re relaxing.
Treating: Do I even need to say free time again?
Thank you so much for joining me once again. Take care of yourselves. Sending lots of love.
-E.
Braun can be reached at [email protected].
