Hi everyone! How is Leo season treating you all? For me, people just randomly keep telling me that I am glowing which is lovely to hear of course but I know it’s just *~mY TiMe~ *. Still, you guys are welcome to keep the compliments coming. Things have been extremely busy for me. I turned in the final proof-read copy of my third book this week and that is exciting (yay!) but also challenging. I experience such a deep sadness when a project is ending because now I need to start another one but also because the characters that I have spent the last year with are going off to meet the world. That’s scary! The world might not like them. The world might not understand them and there’s always such a risk in your book baby flying free but it is time. Nothing is permanent. Releasing has never been easy for me but I am getting better at it. I am excited to hear what you all think of the new book. I can’t really reveal much more than that. For now, you can pre-order it which would really help me!
I did go back to the State Fair last week but I promised that I would keep the commentary about it short. So I will. I had a fantastic time on my second trip there, despite having to spend a significant portion of the day at Spin City because that was Ryan’s daughter’s preference. I have nothing truly negative to say about Spin City except for that their value proposition is totally out of proportion. Let me explain. Each ride requires tickets. Each ticket is $1 but each ride costs at least 8 tickets which means that anytime the three of us wanted to get on a ride, it would cost $24. That is insane!!!! What are people with multiple children doing? How is anyone affording this? On the last day of the fair, news of multiple fights across the grounds were reported. I did tell y’all that things get a bit too litty after dark but what has been disappointing is seeing the really racist commentary in response to it. After multiple news networks published footage of the fights, people offered their suggestions on segregating the State Fair (which, hello! At one point, it definitely was already segregated) and/or racially profiling attendees (which, hello! This must already happen). This was a very disappointing end to what I think are the best ten days of the year. Hoping that next year we can have less drama and more fun. I’d also like it if Spin City could get real about their prices.
Speaking of segregation, in my last letter, I didn’t really touch on the GooGoo Dolls concert, which I thought was fantastic. I’ve had great luck in seeing a lot of the 90’s and 2000’s performers later in life. Last year we went to Boyz II Men which was simply incredible! The Goo Goo Dolls sounded great and considering that the band formed in 1985, I would say 41 years of doing the thing you love to do and still getting paid to do it is THEE Dream. Lead singer, John Rzeznik is 60, which to put that in perspective, he is Karen Huger’s contemporary. He sang and played live. He switched his guitar for every song, I kid you not. Because of Iris’ viral popularity on social media apps, the crowd was very mixed in terms of age but I have to say, I think I might have been the only Black person in attendance. It was a bit spooky. Like, surely there are other suburban-raised Black millennials in this area, no? It made me genuinely concerned that I had missed a racist incident in their past. I know that my presence, specifically, was noticeable because the next day at the State Fair, a girl approached me and said “I saw you last night at Goo Goo Dolls. You were sitting behind me,” which was a crazy thing to hear because why were you looking behind you when the stage is in the front? But also she was right and I knew I had to stand out because I didn’t see anyone else of a similar hue. I didn’t mind though because the songs still slap and I was too young to be listening to songs that emo but I think that it went really far in helping me to develop taste. So thank you, Goo Goo Dolls.
Last weekend, I did another horse show, the last one of the summer. I am really proud of myself for pushing through these but this one I think went a bit worse than my first. I was very anxious and tight which translated to poor Stewart. When I called my dad to tell him about it, he was like “Danielle, don’t you do this for fun?” and that was an important question for me to hear because technically, I do do this for fun and so I need to remember that. I am good at putting pressure on myself. There’s something about knowing that I am going to be judged that freaks me out. I am hardwired to want to do well and succeed, whatever that looks like but I also need to remind myself that this is totally voluntary and doesn’t really matter! Whether or not I “succeed” in a horse show as an adult has no material effect on my life whatsoever. In fact, I pay either way so really I am being silly. I didn’t even stay for ribbons but I should find out how I did when I go back to the barn tomorrow. And this is what I am going to tell myself in case I get 6th place.
Aside from the State Fair, we also had another small neighborhood festival which was so fun! It was the Third Ward Full Moon Fest and this town really loves to attach the word “Fest” to things in the loosest of terms but what you can reasonably expect is music, beer and vendors. The Third Ward Full Moon Fest had all three. Though I have a distaste for most of the local festivals here because they just get so monotonous and I don’t drink so it is a bit boring (IMO!), this festival was really fun and well done. Perhaps part of the appeal was that I could walk home whenever I wanted but I had a great time. The festival organizers had an inflatable moon installed and it is a traveling art exhibition. For some reason on the last night, the moon was not lit up and everyone was disappointed but we went all three nights and we saw the moonlight for the first two.
In case you’re wondering, here’s some outfits that I’ve worn over the last week or so. I haven’t bought new clothes all year except for the jacket I bought myself for my birthday so I am challenging myself to make new combinations and to get creative with the clothes that I already own:
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