Laura's blog

This May Term, I had the experience of taking a course called Writing Creatively About Science, taught by author Dava Sobel ( Longitude , The Planets , Galileo's Daughter ). We read and analyzed pieces ranging from New Yorker articles, nonfiction science books--like The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (which I recommend to everyone who likes science, human stories, social and legal issues, or a good read), self-selected science writing and science fiction, and science-themed poetry. We looked at content, writing style, grammar, craft, and ways different authors treated their topics. I think everyone came away with a clearer understanding of what "science writing" means. My conclusion: if artists are so stereotypically fluid and flexible, like water, they should logically possess some of water's fascinating properties. For example, being able to fit to the shape of their container as well as being able to sprawl across the floor in an abstract blob. They should als...

It's been a year--and what have I done? "That's what my daddy always used to ask me on my birthday. 'What have you done for yourself this year, honey?' And if I didn't have a good enough answer, he'd eat the whole cake himself. He made smashing cakes...It is my personal opinion, Abby, that a person should have an interesting accomplishment added to their existence at the end of each year. I, for one, have had a different job every year since I was twenty-six. Aside from this one, of course." - from the one-act play Abby's Birthday, by Matt Minachino Abby's Birthday is about an assassin who kidnaps Abby--a typical, Paris-Hilton-type spoiled rich kid and aspiring actress--on her 20th birthday. The above is a line from the assassin, Diane. In answer to that, I can say that I played Abby in Abby's Birthday for the one-act festival this May Term. :) I also played Katherine Howard (wife #5 of Henry VIII) in another one-act, The Rose Club. In ...