Book Review: The Devil Wears Prada

In my quest to find a good book to read, I stumbled upon Revenge Wears Prada, the sequel to The Devil Wears Prada. I was immediately intrigued! I had seen the movie, but had not read the first book. My book publishing class kicked in and figured that if the sequel is being released, then the first book will be at the bookstore. Surely enough, it was, and I purchased with glee...okay, maybe a little disappointment. I bought it a day after Employee Appreciation Week at work, so my discount was back to normal, but I digress.

For those who are not familiar with the story, here's a quick run-through. Andrea Sachs somehow lands the job that "a million girls would die for": the assistant of the most powerful woman in publishing and fashion. Andy has her own dreams, but is willing to take this job for a year just to get ahead and later work at another publication. What Andy discovers is that her boss is super-no-nonsense, lacking compassion, and super demanding. Within the span of that year, she learns what it takes to make it and how much she is willing to sacrifice to appease her boss in any way possible.

I quite enjoyed the book. I was able to finish it within a week, which is a record for the past year. While reading, I thought of two people: myself and Mia. I want to eventually get into the world of publishing, more in particular the fashion magazine industry, but with the two degrees I'll have in the next year and a half, I feel I'll have to start from the bottom of a publishing house and work my way up for fear that I do not know enough about fashion to score a higher position fresh out of school. And Mia, as in Princess Mia from The Princess Diaries series, because Mia was awkward in some ways, but she had spunk and big dreams. The great irony of these two stories is the fact the Anne Hathaway played both Mia AND Andy. How fitting, huh?

Truth be told, I had thought about buying the book a year or two ago, but I read a review that turned me away. It was actually recommended in another book I have about making it in the fashion industry. Now that I have read it, I think I would have enjoyed it regardless, but now that I have done one year of graduate school in publishing and writing, I have a better understanding of the industry and experience. I highly recommend this book for any other ladies (or gents) that want a good laugh and some look into publishing (it is said that the story was influenced by the author's experience with Anna Wintour, editor in chief of Vogue.)

$14.99 at Barnes and Noble, or less on Amazon, but go to a bookstore. Down with Amazon!

Note: this is my first book review. I usually fly through a book and move on, but I decided to finally share my thoughts on one.

The Inspiration for the Hip Hop Blog!

My Love for Hip Hop

If you know me, you know I love music, and not only that, but hip hop has a special place in my heart. Growing up, there was no more space for anything other than hip hop and R&B. That is the music of my people and my culture and my time. I mighty not have understood fully was the subject matter was, those songs carried so much.

Why am I talking about hip hop, you ask? I just saw this spoken word on YouTube in the wee hours of the night, and I was feeling it from beginning to end. I mean phenomenal. I caught most of the references the poet made, and that says a lot for me being the 24 year-old who was perceived to not be much in tune with her own culture. Oh no, I listened to it. I still remember my mama telling me time and time again to stop listening to that music. That never stopped me.

I know about the Sugar Hill Gang, KRS-One, Erik B & Rakim, NWA, Public Enemy, Snoop Dogg, Tupac AND Biggie, Missy and Lil Kim, and countless others. The genre has done so much in the last 30 or so years alone. Yet to me there is a decline.

For some odd reason, the content of the most popular songs today is very bland and rather vulgar. Either "you mess with me and you die" or "pop that, bust it wide open." I mean what is that? I am not a stripper, and you need to grow up before you decide to take someone's life over some altercation at the club.

I'm not quite sure why hip hop music has gone down this path. You could blame the artists themselves or the songwriters, the managers and record labels, or the audience for even accepting such crappy music. What happened to lyrics that made you think, not lyrics you wanna forgo for a good beat? The last I checked, songs are a form or poetry. I wouldn't put this stuff next to Keats or Shakespeare. Shoot, not even Dr. Suess's rhymes have more clout than the music today.

Most of the artists today are easy to forget. I feel that they want to be famous for some reason, not having a genuine passion for making music and sharing it with others. Are we past that age? I hope not. I'm not even 25 yet. I want to enjoy this music before I'm considered too old for it.


*I typed this out on my phone last night, so here it is!

Why I Write

Hello again! I am back in Boston from my illustrious trip to Houston. On my final flight, I decided to write a little. I couldn't get to my journal, so I typed on my iPhone. This is what I came up with, give or take some corrections.

I'm reading this book…

So I’m reading this book called Why We Write. It’s a compilation of 20 writers that are talking about their experiences as writers and essentially “why I write.” I really like the book so far. I’m about halfway through at the moment. I haven’t read this much in a long while, and I’m glad that I’ve kept at it, even while being at home and traveling all over the place. I may want to get into magazines, but these authors have some great wisdom that I can use for myself. It has me thinking about my own writing and whether or not it’s worth reading.

Do I even want an audience? I have come to learn that I do not have the desire to captivate an audience, but I can talk to big groups of people without getting stage freight. How can such a shy girl be able to project her voice and…dare I say it…socialize? I have developed a fondness for my regulars at work, and there’s quite a few of them. I like them more than some of my co-workers sometimes. But I digress.

Here’s a good question to ask myself: why do I write? Why do I write for school? Why do I write in my journals? Why did I write to my cousin Rodrick while he was incarcerated? Do I like writing more than I really think? Why have I run away from writing so much, for years on end even? Why do people find my major so fitting for me? Am I the last person to see what I am destined to do?

Well, I write for different reasons. I wrote my short stories growing up because I was inspired by an idea and other things around me. I just gathered it all together and formed a story in some way. I still feel some kind of way about my story from eighth grade. My middle school was having a digital book fair, and they were going to take submissions from students. I wrote this lengthy short story in a matter of eight days. I was crushed when my story was immediately shut down. At the time, some of the content I wrote was too mature for someone my age to be writing; I was 13. Nonetheless, I had been writing like a madwoman, and I couldn't do anything with my creation. I think it was at this moment that I wanted to do music more. I love music so much, and I understand it more than the average person. I was able to see that in college, but I also learned that you cannot pursue something you don’t have much practice in.

Sure, I performed here and there throughout school, but I was not dying to take piano lessons. Otherwise, I would have begged my mom to enroll me somewhere. Instead, I did more reading and writing than anything else. My reading was off the charts in middle and high school. I don’t remember so much in middle school, but I visited the library a lot and found all of the new non-fiction titles.

In high school I switched to fiction because I wanted a boyfriend, and that didn't seem to be happening anytime soon. Writing for school assignments were always a drag to me. I just didn't want to do it. I would wait until the eleventh hour and then try to crank out something…or I would just not work on it and take the zero. I still feel that way in graduate school, thought I’m not as simplistic in my writing as I used to be.

In the last few months I've noticed something. I may not want to start writing anything, but once I get going, then things starts to flow out, and then it’s hard to stop. Sometime the outflow was too late for me to capture it all and form a paper worth reading. I have done a disservice to myself just because I don’t like writing papers. I have no writing method like the great authors of Why We Write. My writing just comes straight from my head either after too much has been stored inside or too much time has been wasted and I need to produce something in order to get a grade. I wish to stop this way of writing. I have a gift that I don’t even try to cultivate. Writing should be fun or some escape for me. I do like it. I communicate better in writing, I know.

This is why I am in graduate school. Sure, I may have learned how to be a better writer if I went straight into the workforce, but I doubt I would have totally appreciated the experience as much. I love my professors so much. I wish my work would show how much they are influencing me and opening my eyes to a world I have never known.

The Journey Back Home

I am in a writing mood, so I'll do another much shorter post. Tomorrow I will go back to Houston for a visit. I have a cousin graduating college (one of three this year), and I haven't set foot in Texas since last August. I am very excited to see everyone once again and spend a little time with friends and family. After the Boston Marathon bombings, the trip as a whole will be that much sweeter. Since I've just finished my first year of grad school, I'll treat this as a mini vacation of sorts. Ready or not Houston, here I come!

Start Spreading the News....

About six weeks ago now, I went on a very exciting trip to New York City! I have yet to get my life together, so now I am sharing the wonderful details of this trip. I hope you enjoy :)

It all started in December when an email was sent out to Emerson grad students about this program that they do every year: Graduate Experience New York. Students from three of the ten grad programs have the opportunity to visit major companies in their field in one day. Registration was $25, and we were basically on our own as far as travel, lodging and other expenses. At first I wasn't too interested because I wanted to see more details, but by January I decided to take a leap of faith and register. I had my travel arrangements made, booked a hotel that set a block for Emerson students, packed my bag, and was ready to go when I received an email saying the trip was cancelled. I was sad, but the trip was the second Friday in February, and if anyone remembers that far, a blizzard was coming to New England with a vengeance.

Nemo came and went, and the trip was rescheduled for Good Friday. Thankfully, no major storms were headed our way. I took the bus down with a fellow classmate and stayed with another classmate of ours. We made a Target run, bought ice cream, and watched Scandal in HD. 'Twas a great night.

Friday morning started off with a slightly rushed pace trying to get to the commuter rail. It was pretty neat being dressed up heading down to Manhattan. It was the dream of many, I would suppose. After some confusion with some MTA trains, we made it to our first company very close to on time. It was a miracle.

Our first company was Random House. They are THE book publisher in North America, and maybe even the world. Some of the biggest classics have been published by this company. We met in the Dr. Seuss room in their building, which says more than enough. RH was definitely ready for us, since they had a presentation for us and a panel of employees including two Emerson alums that were able to answer questions. I was very enamored by the world of books though I would like focus more on magazines. The first hour went by too quickly.

Off we went afterward to Hearst, the obscurely-shaped diamond like building in NYC's skyline. Architecturally, the Hearst building was very impressive. We were brought into a dimmed conference room, the natural light of the gorgeous sunny day breaking through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Waiting for us were two employees: one from Seventeen and another from Esquire. They told us about their positions and how they got to where they are today. Though it was nice to hear about all that, I would have rather heard some more about Hearst as a company itself, seeing as how they are celebrating 125 years of publishing magazines and such. The visit was nice nonetheless.

After a stop at Starbucks, a group of us walked south, passing Broadway, The Late Show studio, and MoMA along the way. Company number three was HarperCollins, my favorite of them all. We were welcomed to free books on the table and a digital welcome sign. I'm not sure I remember what was being said because I was so impressed by the free books. I did learn the Zondervan, a major Christian publisher, is part of the HC family. Good to know.

Last but not least was the company I was most anticipating: Conde Nast. Conde Nast publishes Vogue, GQ, and Vanity Fair, among other great publications. I could not wait to see what they would tell us. I was slightly discouraged to learn that they try to reach out to their interns when it comes to hiring. Kinda hard to accomplish when you're already a graduate student hoping to work for them one day. They were very hospitable, though. The host wanted to answer as much as possible while we were there; I think we were there for two hours instead of one.

Thirty minutes and muddling through Times Square later, all of the participating students came together for a reception with a few Emerson alums. There weren't too many doing publishing, but I met one woman: Georgette Pierre *waves hi if you see this*. She really talked to everyone and gave out some great advice for how to make the most of our time right now. We may be graduate school, but we also have the chance to work on personal projects. That's you get your name out in this business, and this is why I'm going to try my best to create more posts.

The night ended with a trip to Turntable, a restaurant a block away from the Empire State Building. Three words: Korean fried chicken. You should go try it. It will change your life.

Ever since my trip, I have thought more about moving there to pursue some publishing opportunities. Most of the companies I would like to work for are in the Big Apple, so we shall see. In the meantime, I look forward to visiting the city again as a tourist-like person.

Until words meet a screen again,
Drika

Establishing My Voice: Re-entering the Blogosphere

This blog post is an attempt to start writing again and have others read it. It's the only way to improve my love/hate relationship with writing. To celebrate this milestone, I will publish something I wrote and originally intended to post in January. I still think the idea holds true two months later. Enjoy.

January 22, 2013

Today I learned a very valuable lesson, and I learned it in two different ways. It was one of those things I was pondering about, and then later on I heard something about it, almost like a response to an unasked question.

In the earlier part of my day, I ran into an issue at work. I was hoping my shift was going to be covered by a kind soul, but my written plea on the bulletin board was virtually bypassed. I went into work to see what I could do in light of the conflict-- I was willing to work the hours surrounding my class-- but instead, I was reprimanded and asked why I didn't say anything sooner. Unfortunately, it didn't occur to me to notify a manager in advance of the situation, that way they would have had ample time to help me out. Instead, I came off as a letdown. They were expecting me to be there for my late 8-hour shift, and to suddenly bring to their attention that I couldn't work was just not a good look. I felt horrible and was fearful of losing my job. The only relief I felt was in the fact that next week's schedule is relative to my class schedule. It was a very hard lesson to learn in speaking up and letting my voice be heard. My lesson: using my voice can really turn a situation around.

With my work debacle still on the brain, I headed to my first Tuesday night class of the semester: Book Publishing Overview. I primarily want to do magazines in the long run, but I am a bookworm first, so I was looking forward to it. I was pleasantly surprised! Sitting in class and intently listening to my professor made me think of the interests I have. I'm really getting into fashion now, but growing up, I loved puzzles and reading and building things with K'NEX. It was the building part of architecture that made me giddy. I love putting things together. I find joy in working with my hands, whether it’s with a crafty project or following a Paula Deen recipe.

We made introductions in class, and my professor talked to us about one thing he took out of it, a point of interest, you could say. For one girl, it was entering the editorial side of the magazine industry. He suggested she start a blog to establish her voice. The phrase jumped out at me, so I wrote it down for myself. I knew that I had a blog of my own that has been abandoned, and what better chance to re-enter the blogosphere than with this post?

For those who know me well, they know that I am a quiet individual at my core. Sure, I can be animated and opinionated, and maybe a little funny, but for the most part, I'm used to keeping my mouth shut. I'd like to say now, in retrospect, that was because I had no one to really talk to growing up, and the concept of being around people outside of school was extremely foreign. I oftentimes felt that I was tensely quiet at school, but when I got home, the true essence of myself would come out and relax in the comfort of my own home...with no one to really see it. I didn't really appreciate having a voice until college, when I met all kinds of people and developed new friendship. I was finally being heard by others, and people liked being around me. It was very an eye-opening and pleasant experience. Great college memories were made from it.

Unfortunately, I still struggle with establishing my voice. Since becoming a Christian, I have developed a level of transparency with other believers, but I still hold my tongue when I should really speak up. Today served as a reality check. I was shown the consequences of my lack of action, and it was hard to bear. I was even tongue-tied as I became flustered at work. The world is not going to be gracious to me if I continue to hold my tongue at the wrong time. If I want to be known for how I see myself, I must speak-- and write-- of what's going on in my world. It's the only way I can escape being inside of my head all of the time.

As an aspiring editor, I gain such valuable wisdom. I have a vision to share and a story to tell, so I must tell it. Otherwise, it will stay in my head, only to later vanish, and the world will never hear me. But I have a dream. My dream...is to be heard.

Drika