Personal updates!
kvsc...@gmail.com
So now I'm in Berkeley, CA and loving it! I work full time at
Half-Price books which I fondly refer to as the hippie-commie-bookstore
because they really are a great place to work for and really care about
and take care of their employees. I will be starting an MA program in
Human Sexuality in the fall which should be super exciting. In July, I
will be moving into a lovely house with some friends including Monica
Foote '03. I moved here almost a year ago, but before that I was in
Philadelphia living with the fabulous Danielle Young (DMY!) '03 where I
worked as a Education Director for a couple of sex stores (The Mood and
Condom Kingdom). But now I'm in the sex industry on my own terms and
started the company www.orchidtoys.com at the beginning of this year.
It's still in it's getting started phase, but it's all about
sex-positive education no matter what your gender, orientation,
kink-level, or identity may be.
So I guess that's the elevator version of what I"ve been up to the last
few years. Please feel free to post your own personal updates as I'm
afraid I've lost touch with many of you and I'm sure there are others
of you living in the Bay area I don't know about (in addition to Vera,
Besha, DMY, Monica, and myself).
Incidentally...anyone living in the bay area, I hear the Merry Wives
that CalShakes is putting on is fantastic an involves massive puppets.
I haven't been yet but I plan on going. Perhaps we can have a field
trip!
-Kat Scoggin '03
Mama_Meggers
A message board--what a fabulous idea!
Kat I checked out your website, and it is fantastic :) I am all about
non-traditional items. I hope you don't mind but I passed it along to
a bunch of women in my area. So glad that you are finding a way to do
what you love! We should all be so lucky. Sound like between working
and your own business you must stay pretty busy.
I have been super busy, too. I got married almost 3 years ago to a
great guy named, Clay. We now have two beautiful children, Emmett who
is almost 2 and Skylar who is nine months old (though she was a preemie
by almost 3 months so technically she is closer to 6 months old). We
bought a house on Cape Cod, and I am currently a stay-at-home Mom (the
hardest job I have ever had). I am going back to school(at night) in
the fall to complete the clinical portion of my nursing school, and I
will graduate an RN in May of '08. From there I hope to go right on,
delaying payment on my student loans, to my Masters program. There are
definitely struggles, but all in all life is really good.
I guess that's it in a nutshell! Can't wait to hear from everyone!
Be Well~
Meghan Foster (formerly Meghan Melville '01)
caroline...@gmail.com
This is a wonderful idea! I have never been part of an online community
because I am computer retarded and I am not even sure that I am posting
what I am writing right now but I hope I am. I am ready to come out of
the Dark Ages and connect.
I am living in Brooklyn, just got my first apartment in Bushwick, a far
cry from the treelined streets of Park Slope where I was bred, but it
is a delicious, warehouse ridden wasteland, where I reside in a
railroad apartment with a fellow named Joey ( who is not actually MY
fellow, though that one lives nearby) and am surrounded by puerto rican
and mexican families, and drunk men who call me "bonita" and if I'm
*lucky* "girlfriend" as I sweat in my shorts "running" early in the
morning. My life is filled with " " lately. As in I'm an "actress". I
did a wonderful Russian play with a mysoginist, Russian tyrant of a man
in the fall and late winter where I was a PRINCESS!! Co-ed theater
ROCKS!! He actually thought I could play a GIRRRRL!! Yeehaw!
Despite this honour, I am considering other professions. Having always
assumed I would follow in my mother's footsteps and steal the stage or
screen, this is a big consideration, and not so easy. Sigh. It is
inspiring to hear about where everyone is, those who I know, and those
who I have not had the pleasure of meeting yet...so please share!
with love, caroline in the city
jamie....@gmail.com
last few years. I'm sorry for not posting earlier, but I have been
traveling and working a lot over the last few weeks.
I'm still with Nicole Scholtz '01 (for five and a half years now, if
you can believe it), and we're living in Ann Arbor. Nicki's a grad
student, and I'm working half time for the University of Michigan and
half time as a studio assistant for a textile artist. I like having the
stability and benefits of working for the university, but I can also
get creative and dirty at my other job. I dye a lot of silk, wash a lot
of dishes, and design weird databases. I get paid like a serf. I also
knit a lot and walk my cat on a leash. I don't know. It's fun.
Nicki and I recently went back to Boston, where we saw a lot of
Shakers: Erika Reinfeld, Kit Gette, Kate Stebinger, and Andrea
Hodgins-Davis. We missed Annette Adamska by about two days, and were
within an hour's drive of Emily Henderson.
I don't have any Shakespearean news. The Royal Shakespeare is coming to
Ann Arbor for a few weeks in the fall, and Nicki and I are going to see
The Tempest, Antony and Cleopatra, and Julius Caesar. Patrick Stewart
will be performing, so I get to indulge my love of Shakespeare and my
even stronger passion for Star Trek.
Jamie Eidsath '03
kat
those 'mask and quill - 1 new message' emails a few weeks ago. ;)
so, since we are doing lives in a nutshell, here's me. i live in new
zealand as of 4 years ago, and let me just take this opportunity to
endorse it to you all heartily - we have a liberal woman prime
minister, are one of the greener western countries, and there's no
place on either island that is more than 100 miles from the ocean!
plus, for all you sheep peeps - 16 times as many sheep as people. yes,
that's right, 64 million sheep. yeah baby.
i'm working on my PhD on squid (so, i guess marine biology, or zoology
or something) - specifically the taxonomy of a particular group, which
means putting the right name on the right species and figuring out how
they're all related. nz has more species of squid than any other
country in the world. and again i say, yeah baby.
on the home front, i live with my boy of 3 years (that's partner, NOT
son) and our 13 lb black cat. they both rock. we also have a spare
room, by the way, so if you ever find yourself passing though auckland
spontaneously (or in a planned fashion), you are more than welcome to
it.
we actually just got back from two months in the states including
boston, where i caught up with the shinkwoman, serena and some other
shakers at the annual alum meeting! it was great to be back in the
haus, but sad to hear what the wang construction has done to it. :(
and sorry to hear that i missed you, jamie & nicki!!
theater- and shakespeare-wise... nothing. most disappointingly.
music-wise... also nothing. i guess when i finish the hardcore science
phase of my life (hoping to submit the thesis next december) i can get
back to a better-balanced, more artsy existence... i hope so anyway,
because i miss it!
and, um, that seems like plenty for now. great to be back in touch
with you guys though! and i'm serious about visitors. :)
- the other kat ('beest)
andrea.m...@gmail.com
it is so good to hear about everyone. congratulations all around!
jamie, i was just thinking about you and wondering if you and nicki
were still in the area.
i am living in medford now with victoria george (who was not a shaker
but who is damn amusing just the same). i've been working at wellesley
in the theatre department because i found i missed my daily dose of ken
loewit (well that's what he will tell you). i've been doing some
directing and doing quite a bit of teaching. i actually directed a
bunch of 3rd and 4th graders in a shakespearean scene night. i taught
them all about iambic pentameter and they ran around the room like
crazies saying "in sooth i know not why i am so sad" in rhythm. it was
pretty entertaining.
i am leaving wellesley and preparing for a new phase in my life. in
the fall, i will begin my master's program at bu. i'll be attending
the same program as thu nguyen '02 except my concentration will be in
playwriting. i'm pretty terrified and pretty excited. however, the
prospect of going back to school isn't half as terrifying and exciting
as other big event in my life. i am expecting my first child and i am
due in december. it's going to be rough juggling school, a full-time
job, and parenting but i know that it will be well worth it.
so that is what is new with me.
good to hear from you all!
Kate
Thought I'd better report in now that we're a bit more settled... I
just finished seminary in May and was ordained an Episcopal priest two
weeks ago. I started a month ago as the assistant priest (or curate) at
St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Falmouth, Massachusetts. Andrea
(Hodgins-Davis) and I moved into the assistant's rectory
(church-provided house) this week, and now we have two guest bedrooms,
so if you're in the area you should look us up and stay with us! I'm
learning quickly since our rector (head priest) has gone on vacation
for the month of August, so I'm all by myself with a large
congregation. It's exciting, challenging and all those good things. And
I haven't got the foggiest idea what else to say...
Kate Stebinger
kge...@gmail.com
favorite sonnet sibling, but that's because Emily Henderson is in
California. I, on the other hand, have a tendancy to descend on her
from trees when she's not paying attention.
I'm living in Boston, working at the Museum of Science as a
professional stalker (also known as a developement researcher. I look
up information on rich people. I don't actually descend from trees). I
have the best boss in the world, who is possibly the most sarcastic
person alive. And a prankster. I still haven't forgiven her for putting
up a tent in my cubicle. At least it wasn't the threatened pink.
I've had a very Shaker filled life recently, what with visiting not
only the aformentioned Kate and Andrea (and passing around a phone with
Jamie Eidsath on the other end), but the aforementioned Emily, along
with Vera Hannush (certain Berkeley residents were unfortunately out of
town).
Other than that, my life is very boring. But I'm working on it.
-Kit Gette '04
bigmamakatz
My turn, my turn!
Wow, Kate, a minister! How fantastic. That's what I like to see:
Shakers in the clergy. Well, if this whole PhD thing falls through and
I end up in rabbinical school (a possibility still on the radar), you
and I could have beautiful flower Sunday moments at reunions
forevermore.
So, speaking of grad school, yep, that's where I'm headed in a few
weeks. I'm starting the PhD program in English at the Graduate Center
of the City University of New York, and will be teaching the little
buggers 'n punks freshman composition at City College. It's a bit
premature, but feel free to call me Dr. Debs now. I also answer to
Kap'n Katz.
For those of you who don't know, I spent my first 2 years out of the
womb o' Mother Wellesley teaching middle school in Japan. I was tickled
pink to see Shakers (including Dani Norris, Elana Hayasaka, Jochelle
Perena, and Serena Hui) taking over the great Asian continent, although
it seems that most of us have returned stateside... for now. Anywho,
after that I worked at a nonprofit that very nearly sucked my will to
live, and then I sold my soul to the Man (at a very good price) for
about 10 months at an investment bank. Anyone who remembers me from
Shakes would find this utterly hilarious. I still find it pretty funny.
But I survived, stolen office supplies in hand!
If anyone is in the New York area in the next 2 weeks and craving free,
enjoyable Shakespeare, I recommend Shakespeare in the Parking Lot's
production of "As You Like It." Check out www.drillingcompany.org
Lovely to hear from everyone! Keep us posted!
lovies,
Debs '02
clare mcbee
i too apologize for taking so long to write anything on here! since
it's the summer, it was not for lack of time...i'm just a lazy fool.
it's really awesome to get updates from all of you and hear about all
the cool stuff you're getting involved with.
WELL as for me, i'm still in the boston area. i live in somerville now
(right next to union square) and am going into the second year of a
master's program at brandeis university in anthropology and gender
studies. i'll be writing my master's thesis on the same topic i did my
undergrad honor's thesis on at hellesley, which is
violence/discrimination against the transgender community. i really
like the program and my teachers, and it's unbelievably awesome to be
in an academic environment that unfailingly supports this kind of
research. i'm about to start the heinous application process for Ph.D.
programs this fall as well, except i would like to move out of the
gender studies focus for my disseration research and instead, go back
to tibet and study a funeral ritual called the "sky burial."
i know...i'm all over the place but what's new!! hah.
i was working full-time and going to school this past year. i work for
a mental health non-profit called families for depression awareness. i
do a lot of regular admin stuff for them, but also answer phone calls
from folks with bipolar disorder and depression who can, at times, be
very distressed. it's certainly been a challenging experience for me,
but i have learned so much. i got enough financial aid from brandeis to
be able to go back as a full-time student this year, so i'll be able to
finish up my master's program with more classes and am leaving my
non-profit job at the end of this month.
i'm not sure where i'll be one year from now. it all depends on whether
i get into a Ph.D. program. it's all very exciting and uncertain.
i'm sorry to ramble on and on...also what's new!
i do see ms. kennedy quite a lot, and talk to farida about twice a week
on the phone. but aside from that, i have sadly lost touch with the
rest of you. and am glad there is now a way for us to be more involved
again. wherever you all may be, i hope you are happy and healthy and
all of that corny stuff ; ) and thanks for reading my long-ass update.
-clare "puck/feste/ladymac" mcbee
dana...@gmail.com
This group is amazing... As a few of you know, I attempted to start an
alum group on the ever impressive and grow-up "myspace.com" but that
one didn't do too well- ah well.
I am back in Boston (for about a year and a half)- somerville,
actually. I just finished a year of full time classes, substitute
teaching, and even some Shakespeare (Much Ado About Nothing- and once
again, I played a moody young boy. What's up with that?) and
am about to start a year of intern/student teaching small children to
complete my masters in early childhood education. i've newly been
inducted into an improv troupe here in boston. it's very exciting.
I, too, am at the cusp of Phd application hell, and looking forward to
the process of trying to "sell myself" to yet another school. I don't
see anyone, really, but miss everyone, REALLY, and talk to heather boas
'03 fairly often, sarah barton '02 when i can find her, and morgan
carberry '04 when i can catch her online.
Congratulations to everyone on their respective exciting news and I
hope to see you boston-ites sometime soon. Anyone planning on taking
part in war of the roses? I would love to see people and catch up.
kat, i am dying to check out your website for all reasons imaginable.
this is the website of my improv troupe if anyone is at all interested.
www.kitschinsync.org
ah, shakes. love and miss it, every minute.
-dana mele '02
oui...@gmail.com
for two days to get MacDaddy tickets (foolishly, oh! foolishly!) the
last weekend it was in Central Park, to no avail. And now I'm missing
Meryl Streep's Mother Courage because I'm heading out to Cali. I feel
I'm continuously in the hiatus of new york theater. I tried to go see
a show called Food for Fish and somehow ended up in the wrong theater
watching Beckett. As much as I like to see young new york actors
dressed in old man makeup crooning "spooooool" and eating bananas, it
was not exactly the highlight of my summer.
In other news, Jess Hardie '00 and I had a little trip to the archives
during my reunion this summer. The archivist librarians, dark souls
that they are, could not locate a box with the president's diaries
(which I think were recently updated all the way through at least Joyce
Chiang '99, if not later), but they did find us some pretty cool
pictures and letters about the rearrangement of the societies way back
in the day. It made me really curious about someone doing a proper
society history. And damn, could those ladies in the early part of the
century sport their donkey heads.
Serena also went to the breakfast, I know, and an old alum was there to
tell the tale of the prohibition plum pudding. I think that stuff
would be cool to collect, too. For the Studs Terkels among us.
cheers!
lis
alison.buchbinder
It's lovely to see what you're all up to.
After graduation in far off '05, I spent the summer at Wellesley (they
has to force me out kicking and screaming) as a fellow at the Davis
Museum doing research on women artists at the turn of the century. I
really loved it. I went home for a few months to regroup and to apply
to grad schools. I needed to watch a lot of The L Word to cope with
southern suburbia. In January, I moved to the fair isle of Nantucket
and developed and wrote gallery tours for the historical association's
new gallery spaces.
I really enjoyed my time on Nantucket (despite the exorbinant prices) -
I ran to the beach every morning and hung out with the seagulls. I
also got involved in the theatre community - it was a bunch of "old"
men and me. Sort of hilarious, lots of fun.
I just moved to Delaware to start the Winterthur Program in Early
American Culture - it's a fully funded MA where I study the formation
of America's decorative arts and cultural history from the landing of
the Mayflower up until the Civil War. We're in Summer Insititute right
now, affectionately called "Connosseur Boot Camp" - by the end of this
I'll also be my own Antiques Roads Show (I can't wait to get back to
the haus and start appraising the furniture). And hopefully after
these two years, I'll be getting a Ph.D. in Am Civ. We'll see how it
goes.
I talk to Annette Adamsa '05 a lot and just went down to Princeton a
couple weeks ago to see her before she moved to NYC. She's doing
wonderfully. Other Shakers seem to pop in and out of my life as
need/circumstances dictate. Christiana Molldrem '06 (who I also got to
live with for a month on Nantucket!) kept me apprised of all the Shakes
gossip from the last year, so it still doesn't seem so very far away.
In faith and service,
Alison '05
daniell...@gmail.com
focusing on or a time period or what? i'd love to read it!
ehay...@gmail.com
group, Kat.
Here's my quick update: after graduation I spent two years chasing
after snow leopards in Mongolia with the Peace Corps. We didn't
actually see any, but we did see lots of snow leopard poop and maimed
mountain goats, so we *know* that they're there! The goal of the
project was to figure out their rangeland so that we could delineate
boundaries for a new national park. So yes, the boundaries of that park
are purely based on a few random piles of poop that we found on a
couple of rocky ledges.
After Mongolia, I moved back to Boston and started a grad program in
journalism, focusing on environmental and public health issues. I
graduated last January, and got a job as an editor for a non-profit
organization that publishes books on women's health, namely "Our
Bodies, Ourselves" (you know, the book that encourages women to look at
their vaginas with hand mirrors). We recently published our 35th
anniversary edition, and we're now working on a single-topic book about
menopause--it's coming out in October, so if you're looking for a gift
this holiday season for that special menopausal woman in your life...
I'm also moonlighting as the arts editor of a local street paper--if
any of you folks in the Boston area would like to get articles/short
stories/poems published, or your plays/band/performance/art work
reviewed, give me a holler.
I'll probably be still be in Boston next June, so if any '02-ers are
thinking about coming back for reunion, instead of shelling out a
couple hundred dollars to stay in the dorms, come stay with me for
free! Seriously, we've got an extra bed, a futon, a comfy couch, an air
mattress, and at least 7 wooden chairs in case Prince happens to come
on the radio (which did happen at the '01 reunion a few months ago...)
-Elana ('02)