by Nania Lee

HBO’s Enlightened is on the chopping block. Despite a flood of Emmy nominations and critical praise, the series has not garnered the viewership it needs to be safe from cancellation. In an interview with The Huffington Post, the show’s writer and co-star, Mike White, says Enlightened’s fate will be decided within the next week as the Season Two finale approaches on Sunday, March 3. If you’ll give me a blog’s worth of your attention, I’ll tell you why this matters.

The opening scene of HBO’s Enlightened finds Amy Jellicoe at her corporate workplace in the midst of an emotional meltdown. After being demoted for sleeping with her married boss, a tearful Amy blazes forth from a bathroom stall, spewing profanity in a foot-stomping, mascara-stained spectacle that, at its peak, evokes an uncomfortable blend of horror, sympathy, hilarity, and sadness. The sadness is what lingers though, as you’re certain you’ve just witnessed an event so destructive and unforgettable that surely no career, no reputation, and no sense of sanity could be salvaged from its aftermath. But Amy Jellicoe is no ordinary woman.

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by Nania Lee

Just the other day I received a letter in the mail from my friend James who, at the time, was completing a writing fellowship in Moveen, Ireland–a remote town that from what I’ve been told boasts scenic green pastures, writerly solitude (with the exception of an occasional peeping-tom-type visit from the neighborhood goat), and complete radio silence. That’s right… it’s a technological freezone… a place to escape the quick and easy distractions of cell phones and the internet so you can focus on reading and writing. As I read James’ letter, I realized something: It was the first real letter I’d received in years. It wasn’t mail sent for an occasion, not a birthday card or a baby announcement. It was just an honest to goodness, hand-written letter to say, “Hey. What’s up? I’m in this great place doing this and that. What are you doing?” Granted, the letter was written on 3rd of the month and I didn’t receive it until the 19th, so “this and that” probably changed quite a bit. But as I held the paper in my hand, I knew it was something I’d keep forever–not an email that would get filed away into the virtual abyss–but a paper letter marked with a culturally relevant stamp redeemed at the Cork Mail Centre, flown across the Atlantic Ocean and hand-delivered to my Chicago address. It’s a painstakingly slow process–but I think this time makes the writing and sending of letters precious and it’s sad to think that the fast-moving electronic age may be putting an end to this careful, age-old craft.

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by Nania Lee

Hello from Turkey! My husband and I have made our second stop of our Turkish travels in the region of Cappadocia, which is famous for its ancient cave ruins and fairy chimney rock formations (see photo above.) During our daylong hike of the cave cities with our guide, Kezban, I learned something surprising… something that makes me feel a bit ashamed for some of my past attitudes, beliefs and actions. (Oh, my actions!) In order to explain this fully, I’ll have to backtrack to December 2011, where, from my Ann Arbor apartment, I waged a war of territory with one very stubborn pigeon.

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by Nania Lee

All eighteen students in my College Writing course this fall showed up prepared and on-time for their 15-minute, one-on-one meetings with me during week three of the semester. I had a short list of questions for them — what’s your intended major? do you like to write? and what are your goals for this course? Now, many would say there’s no point in asking a Freshman about their major, as it’s likely to change at least once before the end of this….sentence. (…and several times throughout their college careers.) But it’s the way in which they answered — their delivery and the words they used, that helped me see past the student to get glimpses of the writer.

Their answers varied, but many of them had a common tone: “I’m going to work on Capitol Hill so I’m majoring in Political Science and Minoring in International Studies”… “I’m getting into Ross [UM's very prestigious and competitive pre-business program] and then I’ll be an I-Banker” … “Pre-Med. I’ll probably be a doctor but I’d like to try out surgery to see which one I like better.”

I loved their confidence. Many of them spoke in firm declaratives about their futures and felt their paths were hammered in stone. Bold, brave, and ready to take college by the horns — my Freshmen were gunning for success. But with the very next question, these first-year lions turned into lambs.

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by Nania Lee

I’ve recently gotten into the habit of tuning into AM radio while getting ready in the morning — sometimes listening specifically for the news; other times just enjoying the voices and occasional musical interludes that make for relaxing background noise. The other day, to my initial delight, I heard a guy mention one of my favorite literary protagonists: Emma Bovary, passionate and tempestuous heroine in Gustave Flaubert’s mid-19th century classic, Madame Bovary. But as the young man on the radio continued, it appeared that he didn’t share my admiration–instead calling Emma Bovary a “heartless, superficial (_insert your favorite expletive_),” who deserved to “burn in hell for her selfishness.” Zoinks! Now, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but this guy seemed a little too riled up. Let’s be honest, Emma was no angel, but the woman had her reasons.

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