Miranda's Recital 2018

I took too many photos of this cuteness. I couldn't handle it. Miranda had a superhero costume for her first dance performance complete with a gold cape. The performance was at the very professional Stony Brook University Staller Center. She performed to three numbers, two with her age group only, and one large finale with the older girls. I took video too, let me know if you want to see that.

Posed strong photos

Showing me some of her moves

At the Staller Center. She's not nervous!

Dad walking her.

The first performance was about the costume theme. The girls danced to Megan Nicole's "Get Your Cape On!" and then JoJo Siwa's "Every Girl's A Super Girl."

 

 

 The second number to the song "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun":

 

Third number with the big girls:

She's hard to find in this one.

Cna you see her now? Peekaboo!

With mom

With our family's superhero

Erika Swyler at PWR Reading 2017

On Wednesday, Erika read from her book, The Book of Speculation, at Stony Brook University for the Program in Writing and Rhetoric's Reading Series. This is the reading series that Kevin created and organizes at work. It went really well!

Reading in the Shared Faculty Lounge

Erika reading

Students listening attentively

Catherine Lacey Residency 2015

Last year, Kevin applied for and won a grant for the Creative Writing Program at his university. The grant, the President’s Visiting Artists Series Award, is for bringing practicing artists to campus to work with students and faculty.

He brought Catherine Lacey, author of Nobody is Ever Missing, a Granta New Voice in 2014, awarded an artist’s fellowship from New York Foundation for the Arts in 2012, and has taught in the Creative Writing Program at Columbia University.

She gave a public talk on the craft of writing on Wednesday. Throughout the week she hosted fiction and creative non-fiction workshops with undergraduates at Stony Brook, and MFA candidates in Southampton.  But most fun for me, I got to go to dinner with her on Monday night. Her book is awesome so it's no surprise that so is she.

Public lecture about the craft of writing on Wednesday, November 4

Personal essay workshop

James Goes to Work 2014

On Wednesday, Kevin had a department meeting on a day he doesn't ordinarily work so after some negotiating we decided on an unofficial "take your son to work day." I thought it would be good for him to see where Dada works because he's been fairly confident for most of his young life that when Dada leaves for work he's just nearby on the other side of the front door. Opening the door and going outside doesn't persuade him otherwise.

The "visiting professor" in Kevin's office

Checking out the fountains at Stony Brook

At home, James loves helping out where he can. He brings Miranda toys, and brings me her burp cloth, and shows an interest in helping with diapering or bathtime.

The boys missed Miranda while they were at work

At dinnertime he brings a stool over to watch me cook and I let him help by picking herbs or adding salt and pepper to dishes. On this particular day he helped me make stuffed peppers for dinner.

 

Adding cheese to the top of the peppers

Great job!

He's such a little man already!

Kevin's New Job at Stony Brook 2008

Kevin started his new job as a Creative Writing lecturer in the Program in Writing and Rhetoric at Stony Brook University. Thanks for coming with me to New York!

His office

His degrees and of course, Fenway! 

Pretty fountain on campus