The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

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More Locals with a Writing Flair: Kat Nemec

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Graphic artist Kat Nemec didn’t originally intend to write a blog. A few years ago, she took her college age son on a cross country trip to the West Coast to help him relocate there. Along the way she chronicled their journey on Facebook with twice daily photos and posts. She posted frequently to keep her daughter updated on their journey as she felt mom guilt that her daughter was missing out on the experience. Facebook readers liked her posts so much that they encouraged her to keep writing and start a blog. One of her Facebook followers was writing coach Wendy Fried who owns Pleasantville-based Wordcraft. She strongly encouraged Nemec to start a blog and suggested the Swoon name as Nemec frequently used that word or signed off her posts with it.

Nemec describes herself as an over-sharer who uses a lot of adjectives and prefers stream of consciousness writing. Topics covered include childhood memories, her parents love affair and the joy of cooking. She is not afraid though to tackle more difficult subjects such as talking about sex with your kids, 9/11, and even her family’s experience with the Armenian genocide. 

“I’m not a writer,” claims Nemec but after reading her refreshingly honest posts you may feel differently. “People are savvy and they will respond to something that is truthful and comes from the heart.” Nemec isn’t interested in amassing a huge number of followers, monetizing her blog or cross-promoting products. She writes her blog as a creative pursuit. “I’m not doing this for fame or fortune. When you do something creative for yourself the need for approval goes away and the best stuff is going to come out.”

Before starting her blog in February 2020, she read books on the subject that suggested she had to write 2-3 posts per week with no dry spots. It didn’t work with her schedule initially. When COVID hit though the timing proved to be fortuitous as a lot of her workload decreased and she was able to write more frequently. “If I don’t feel it, I’m not writing it,” explains Nemec. For example, this past October and November she was depressed about the upcoming holidays and not being able to be with her son. “We are a big holiday family. Writing at that time just wasn’t in my bandwidth.” 

As someone who works in a creative field, Nemec encourages others who want to start a creative pursuit to do it for themselves. “If people respond and like it, then that is just the cherry on top,” she says.

From Kat’s Swooning: “T-Rex and Kong”

“Pleasantville is about 30 miles north of Manhattan. More suburb than vacation destination, people fleeing the city due to the pandemic drive right past our exit while heading upstate. We do have one new family since lockdown…a family of dinosaurs. First, it was just one lone T-Rex, checking things out for the rest of the clan, he* ran through the neighborhood feeling out his welcome. We did not tell him to go back to where he came from, we embraced his uniqueness. After a few weeks, the rest of the family showed up. They are a healthy group…some days they run together, other times they take a solitary stroll. Their presence brings joy and laughter during this time of ever growing fog and confusion. T-Rex sightings posted in real time on FB update us when they are out and about…they are on Romer Avenue, they just turned onto Bedford Road…quick go look! The family made an appearance at the farmers market and at the teacher appreciation day drive by at the elementary school. They remind me of one Halloween during elementary school…when I was kidnapped by the Son of Kong….

People who are willing to be ridiculous…are gifts to the universe. I would like to imagine, years from now, someone will be writing their memories of being a child during “The Pandemic of 2020”. There was no school, no parties, no trips to the pool, no playdates, and no grandparent hugs… but there was a T-Rex, who jogged through town, spreading so so so…very much joy.”

Read more from Kat at www.swooning.me

More Locals with a Writing Flair: Rich Monetti

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Rich has been a freelance journalist in Somers since 2003, and like anyone in the business knows, jobs come and go. He adds wryly that changes in the industry over the last few years has had more stuff go than come. Add in Covid-19, and “there has been almost a complete collapse,” he said. So, by default, Monetti found blogging an outlet with less certain returns.

That said, Rich said he earned a grand total of $400 writing stories for Vocal.Media last year, and “the paltry total,” as he phrases it, begs an obvious question. Why bother? Here, Rich’s answers to “why blog”…

“Well for one, I love to write, and some money is better than nothing. I’m a firm believer that work leads to work, and I have the proof. In 2016, the newspaper work was sparse, so I starting going up to Somers High School to cover the varsity football games. A half a cent per click netted me no more than $2 for any one game, but one particular view made all the difference. The sports editor from the local Somers paper saw my articles and brought me aboard as a sideline reporter. I’ve been with the paper ever since.

“The same perseverance/love of writing landed me my latest gig. One of my regular movie review readers heard that a site called Take 2 Indie Review was looking for writers, and he recommended me to the publisher. She liked my work, and a steady stream of reviews has me off to a great start.”

Rich reminds aspiring writers: “No matter what you do, and where you are in your career, don’t sulk. You need to turn the passion into something concrete and keep putting yourself out there.”

From Rich’s My Movie Reviews: “The Trial of the Chicago 7 on Netflix Feels Pretty Good”

“My study of American History makes me no stranger to the 60s and the Vietnam War. That said, I know very few details about the Chicago 7. In fact, I didn’t even know that Abbie Hoffman was among those on trial. At the same time, I’ve also realized that learning history from the movies is a poor substitute for understanding. So I was reluctant to take my curriculum from the Netflix movie, but with some encouragement, I gave it a go.

I couldn’t help keep my laptop nearby, though. I wanted to fact-check every time I saw something suspect. But I mostly decided to let it go, and let the drama play out for enjoyment.

The set up reveals that the Chicago Seven are far from homogenous, and that “the man” isn’t the only source of conflict. Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Bobby Seale, John Froines, Lee Weiner and David Dellinger divvy up the agendas, and the opening splice has the main characters marking their territory.

Literally completing each other’s sentences, the novice quickly sees the divergence. Foremost, the editing has Hayden and Davis play perfect contrast to Hoffman and Rubin. No nonsense, student activism to end the war versus opened ended visions of social revolution and a kinder, cooler nation.

In turn, the invasive deadpans of Sacha Baron Cohen continually deepens the chasm… ”

For more by Monetti, please visit his My Movie Reviews on Facebook.

More Locals with a Writing Flair: Deborah Raider Notis

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Deborah Raider Notis is the mother of four boys, ranging in age from 21 to 14. She and her husband, James, have lived in Pleasantville, New York for over 16 years. Nine years ago, Deborah, and her business partner, Marilyn Rifkin, started GAMECHANGER NOW, Westchester’s answer to academic match-making which offers the most personalized process for connecting families to academic, music, and art tutors, as well as certified college counselors, interview prep specialists, and resume building specialists. The company helps families from preschool through post-college, simplifying every step of their journey. In addition to connecting families to these hard-to-find resources. The website at www.gamechangernow.com has an informative, entertaining blog with information about family life, education, and navigating academia. Many of these blog posts were written by Deborah. 

Deborah has been writing for newspapers, magazines, and blogs since the early 1990’s on topics ranging from home golf courses and online dating to Rhodes Scholars and college campuses during the COVID-19 pandemic. She is currently working with her agent, Barbara Rosenblatt at 22MediaWorks, to publish her children’s book, Shipwrecked on Fudgepop Island. This book, written with her 14-year-old son, is loosely based on a story that Deborah wrote in third grade with her father, Stanley Raider. Additionally, Deborah has kept her own writing journal since high school, jotting down thoughts, collecting quotes and articles, and writing her own short essays, poems, and stories. In 2017, she moved her thoughts, essays, and short stories online, creating her blog, The Purge Chick. The Purge Chick is a collection of essays on family, friendship, and funny, heartfelt perspectives on life. 

From Deborah’s Purge Chick: “In the Blink of an Eye”

There are days that I still think that I am 22. Really. Maybe it is the delusion of old age. Maybe it is emotional survival. Maybe it is that everything after 22 happened in the blink of an eye. And then there is today.

Today, my college roommates messaged me to reminisce about the olden days in our decrepit dorm. We talked about boys who are now men. Inside jokes that still make us chuckle. Familiar places that no longer exist. Parties at which we lingered until dawn. People whom we no longer know, some of whom are no longer with us. At the time, every moment seemed incredibly important, utterly vital to our everyday existence. Yet it was all so incredibly fleeting, and now these moments are simply memories. Mostly fond memories with people who will mostly hold a special place in our hearts.

And then it hit me. My child will be leaving my home in about a year. I will have a child who is around that age. I cannot be that age, because I will have a child who will be leaving our home and starting a new life without me, without his father, without his brothers. A life that will consume him, a life that could take priority over his life in our home.

And then it hit me. My child will move into a dorm room and meet people who will have some sort of, hopefully positive, imprint on his life. A child who will be meeting people with whom he will forever share the bond of college. He will visit new places, make new memories without us, and start his separate life.

And then it hit me. Twenty some odd years from now, he will communicate with his college roommates and reminisce about familiar ….

Read more from Notis at https://thepurgechick.wordpress.com/

Local Poet Scott Mason’s New Haiku Book Celebrates the Wonder of the World

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PHOTO COURTESY OF SCOTT MASON

Listening to Scott Mason wax poetic (pun intended!) about haiku, a traditional form of Japanese poetry, it is clear that he has a true passion for the subject having published close to 400 haiku in edited literary journals or anthologies. And that passion has helped him earn more than 150 awards, including more than 20 first place finishes in international competitions– more than any other North American, in the genre. To coincide with National Poetry Month coming in April and the launch of his latest book, The Wonder Code, Inside Press had the opportunity to sit down with this prolific poet and learn more about this art form.

Mason claims writing and also reading haiku (it is the same in both singular and plural form) has changed his outlook on life. Admitting that it sounds grandiose, Mason claims that haiku has made him “more attentive and more appreciative.” The Chappaqua resident though never intended to become a haiku poet. “If you told me twenty years ago that I would be doing this, I would have looked at you like you have three heads,” he chuckles.

As an undergraduate at Dartmouth College, Mason majored in art and did a minor in math and physics. He obtained his MBA at Harvard Business School and worked in advertising at Prudential. Following that he consulted for advertising agencies to help them strategize and win new business opportunities. “My background isn’t what people typically think of when they think about poets.”

Always an avid traveler, Mason and his wife Carla Gambescia (the former owners of the now defunct Via Vanti in the Mount Kisco train station) took a hiking trip to Japan in the early 1990s with a company called Wilderness Travel. The tour guide challenged the group to write their own haiku over dinner one evening in the traditional Japanese format of three lines with, five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second and five again in the last line. Mason wrote one but didn’t think much about it at the time.

Fast forward a decade later and Mason found himself wanting to express himself poetically. As he took his first attempts at writing, he noticed that his poems were short and resembled haiku.

He later learned that haiku poems in English do not need to conform to a 5-7-5 structure since English and Japanese word sounds are not comparable in duration. On a whim, he sent some of his poems to Modern Haiku magazine and they accepted one of his haiku for publication.

Since then he has become the co-editor of The Heron’s Nest, an online and print haiku journal with an international readership. Having an analytical mind, Mason sought to figure out why this form of poetry resonated with him so deeply and what characteristics the best haiku have in common. He poured through 9,000 haiku that had been published over the years in The Heron’s Nest and eventually chose his favorites writing each one on index cards. He sorted through them and found to his surprise that the poems wound up naturally being organized into five piles. “Each poem had one common denominator and that is wonder. Now wonder is both a verb and a noun and they operated on me in both ways. These poems brought me to wonder in some ways but also caused me to wonder in a verb sense,” explained Mason.

The five groups also had some imperative that eventually formed the five chapters of The Wonder Code. So for example, think small was an imperative and the haiku in that particular pile all focused on things like small animals or bugs. It struck Mason that this was the “diametric opposite of our culture and our times. Each haiku seemed to offset some aspect of our Western culture that tend to estrange us from wonder. Americans want big cars, big restaurant portions. Bigger is better is our credo but there is so much wonder and beauty in small things.”

Mason is gratified that this book has been so well-received in the haiku community but hopes to expand its readership to a wider audience. Kirkus Reviews magazine noted that is “ a superb haiku collection for readers who thought they didn’t like poetry, richly expressive and very accessible.” The first five chapters feature haiku written by various authors and the last chapter features haiku written by Mason. The book also received a Kirkus Star which signifies a book of exceptional merit.

As we wrap up the interview, Mason reminds us that “haiku is the people’s poetry. It is the opposite of elitist and truly treasures the everyday.” Mason will be giving a presentation on “Looking at Nature the Haiku Way” on March 27 from 7-8:30 pm at Teatown in Ossining–a place where he enjoys hiking and of course has inspired many of his haiku. Tickets are available at teatown.org/events/haiku-way where his book will be available for purchase at the event.

Haikus

By Scott Mason

how deer
materialize
twilight

Venetian canal –
lifting fog reveals
another mask shop

summer moonglow
the crescent
of toe prints on sand

Greeley Alum Shapes a New Era of Theatre

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Carly Brooke Feinman, a Chappaqua native and Greeley alum, is making a splash in the theatre world just two years after graduating Wesleyan University. This past summer, her original musical co-written with Cassie Wilson, If Sand Were Stone, made its Off-Broadway debut as part of the New York Music Festival. As if that wasn’t enough, her play Reflux was selected to premier Off-Broadway a few weeks later as part of the Broadway-Bound Theatre Festival.

Feinman loved growing up in Chappaqua.  She always enjoyed poetry and writing and assumed that would lead her to a career in journalism or poetry.  Her favorite teacher at Greeley was her creative writing teacher, Mrs. Chadwick. She “was the first teacher to really take interest in me and encouraged me to continue writing. I’m so grateful for her,” Feinman says.

Feinman’s road to musical theatre began when she took a class in college with the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes, who wrote In the Heights with Lin Manuel Miranda. “She changed everything for me… She is an epic human and one of my dearest friends and mentors. She showed me that the things I love about poetry and the fun language gymnastics I get to do really do lend themselves to theatre.  She pushed me to dig deeper and take more classes and I found that I loved it,” recalls Feinman.

If Sand Were Stone Actors (L-R): Mari Uchida, Jhardon DiShon Milton, Jennifer Reed , Alexis Floyd and Tabatha Gayle PHOTO BY HAYIM HERON

It was in Hudes’ musical theatre class where Feinman was paired together with Wilson for an assignment. They immediately clicked and became great friends and collaborators. “To find someone that you want to work with for the rest of your career is such a gift to receive at a young age.  We’ve been working on the musical for two and a half years. There will be future iterations of it and it’s more fulfilling every time we touch it,” says Feinman.

If Sand Were Stone is a musical that follows a poet as she and her family grapple with her early onset Alzheimer’s Disease at the peak of her career. It’s based on a true story about Wilson’s grandmother. Despite the sad subject, there is joy to be found in the moments on stage between family members. In preparation for writing this musical, Feinman and Wilson volunteered at an assisted living facility for memory care. “Just as many times as we would leave crying, we would leave laughing.  Where there’s sadness, there’s joy. That’s a fundamental belief of ours,” says Feinman.

Feinman is proud of the fact that the musical’s creative team was all female, under 25, and included women of color. “Cassie and I are from very lucky backgrounds, we are hyper aware of the advantages we’ve had, and we have no interest in doing anything besides trying our best to be inclusive and to use what we’ve been given and share,” she explains.

Her other production this past summer, Reflux, is an absurdist comedy in a dystopian world where a man and woman are paired together randomly, and sent by boat to navigate the ocean to the honeymoon island where they must have sex. They try to figure out what sex and marriage is and how it fits into society’s expectations spoonfed to them since birth. 

In Reflux, the couple is played by two gender non-conforming people of color. “We have all seen the man-woman romantic comedy and I was really interested in disrupting that whole Adam and Eve archetype… I’m interested in centering historically marginalized places and including people who have historically been disenfranchised by the institution of theatre. That’s not something that I’m looking for applause for. I just think it needs to be more of the norm,” says Feinman. Generally, she is drawn to art that disrupts and is different than anything she has seen previously. She was greatly inspired by the musicals Hamilton, In the Heights and Fun Home.

PHOTO BY HAYIM HERON

Feinman is not afraid of laying bare her creative work.  “I don’t think you could fail if you try. This summer, if both of the shows were flops, that wouldn’t have been a failure to me. The failure would’ve been chickening out and saying that it would be too much to do in one summer,” she contends.

Feinman is living her dream career. “I’ve only ever wanted to be a writer. To be a songwriter was one of my early goals as a young girl but I don’t know how to play any instruments. In writing musicals, I’ve been able to call myself a songwriter. I’ve always wanted to be a poet and in writing plays, I’ve been able to do that.  I’ve always wanted to collaborate with artists I admire and I’m getting to do that now. I’m so happy,” she concludes.