Pour Me A Story, Vol. 42
feat. Erica Boland, a budding basketball star and more
greetings everyone! welcome to the latest edition of Pour Me A Story.
this is hitting inboxes a few hours after the regularly scheduled timeslot due to me actually leaving the house last night, a rare occasion indeed. as it happens, last week’s special guest Mikey Kerwin is in town to visit over Labor Day Weekend, so we went out for a nice meal that left me with a food hangover this morning.
by the time I got in, with a takeout piece of peanut butter pie (it’s a holiday weekend, calories don’t count), I was exhausted and couldn’t fathom the idea of looking at the computer for another 90 minutes. but I was safe in the knowledge that I already had this week’s interview in the bag, and you’re a forgiving lot, so I figured I’d just get it done by lunchtime for y’all.
Ball Is Life
for the baby’s birthday back in late April (i.e. a whole lifetime ago), I bought her a Little Tikes basketball hoop, much to Alex’s chagrin. we had 1,000 square feet of living space in Denver, and a gaudy plastic basketball hoop the kid couldn’t even really use wasn’t a great use of that space.
now that she’s a little taller and more coordinated, and we have a little more room to move in Cincinnati, the hoop is starting to become a more viable entertainment option for the baby.
as I posted above, she’s learned that when she puts the ball through the hoop, mommy and daddy will clap and cheer for her athletic accomplishment. so now she’ll grab the ball, hold it at the rim, pointedly look at us to make sure we’re watching, hold eye contact then drop it through the hoop, prompting our applause (and her own.)
a couple days ago, she was having a little meltdown moment and I said to her, “Marley? why don’t you go shoot some hoops honey?” to my surprise she stopped fussing, got up, found her basketball and dropped it in for an easy 2. do we have a prodigy on our hands?
the kicker, of course, is that she went for her 16-month pediatrician visit on Wednesday and the doctor did whatever test they have that determines, within two inches on either side, how tall she’ll grow up to be, and 5’7” was the verdict. according to the Washington Post, the average WNBA player is 6’ even…but the shortest active player clocks in at 5’5”, so there’s hope! (y’know, if she wants to. she can do whatever she likes.)
Anyway, We Have Company
as is often the case, this week really crept up on me, so I had to put the call out for interested parties who might wanna chat with me for the 42nd edition. and one of the (surprisingly many) volunteers was my pal Erica Boland, who lives in New Jersey with her husband Dan and their twin 4-year-old boys. anyway I’ll let her tell you all about herself because what the hell would I know?
AC: the past 18 or so months have been an incredibly long decade, especially for parents. how are you guys holding up?
EB: Just... tired. Although I feel like that's the norm for a lot of parents lately! There's the usual Scary Parent Things™ all mixed up with Scary COVID Things™ so it's just a lot of Scary Things going on with not a lot of breaks. The first few months of the pandemic the twins were home with me, so I was working full time while mom-ing full time too which was A LOT. We're still super cautious since the kids can't be vaccinated yet, but we try to make the most of it. Mostly just holding our breath for the foreseeable future and teaching them to enjoy the little things in life.
AC: being a parent of twin boys sounds like a wild ride at the best of times, before even adding "outside is dangerous right now" to the mix. how has that changed your life (that sounds like a dumb question) and has it matched up with the expectations you may have had before they arrived?
EB: Not a dumb question at all! I saw an Onion headline recently that was something along the lines of "It May Be Genetic, But Most Twins are the Result of Parents Agreeing to Have One Child and See Where They Are Financially in a Few Years," and it was a little too real for Dan and me. We planned, budgeted, and prepared for one, only to be surprised at our second doctor's appointment by lil baby number two hiding behind his brother. (The doctor said "Hmmm... how many babies does that look like to you?" and then it was a lot of me yelling "OH MY GOD" and her nodding and confirming "Oh my god." if that gives you a look into how prepared we were for that.)
It was a super high-risk pregnancy because of the type of twins they are so it really taught me a lot about going with the flow and just trusting the universe. I know people say that you can never truly be ready for what having and raising a baby is like until they get here and that's a fact, but we learned lots of little tricks and managed to survive! It's also super cool to watch them grow up and be curious and be each other's best friend and just become little people. On particularly challenging days, Dan and I will ask each other pensively "what do you think it's like to only have one???" but neither of us would change a thing.
AC: you recently started a new role with New Jersey Policy Perspective (which, congrats!). how are you enjoying it and what does it entail?
EB: Thank you! I started in May as the Digital Comms Manager so I handle a lot of our digital effort, including social media, emails, website, and our video strategy, along with just general backup for Louie, our Comms Director. We're a nonpartisan think tank that strives to advance economic, social, and racial justice through evidence-based independent research and analysis. So, we use vetted data to illustrate the importance of equitable policy decisions in New Jersey.
Before starting, I was working as a social media manager during the pandemic. I had people literally begging me to help save their homes because they lost their job or couldn't work and what I could do personally was really limited. It was a lot and really taking a toll on me emotionally. I felt like it was time for me to pursue something that actively promotes change and I definitely feel much more fulfilled with this position than any other that I've held before.
Not to mention everyone I work with is just so brilliant and truly dedicated to making the world around us a better, more equitable place. Working here is really helping me find my voice and I'm really grateful for that.
AC: like so many of my online-and-hopefully-future-IRL pals, we met via the amorphous entity that is Philly Twitter. how did you come to find that incredible group of people and what has it come to mean to you?
EB: When Dan and I met, our first few dates were Sixers games because he had partial season tickets. The team was awful at the time but they were great seats and we had a lot of fun! Once I started to get more into the team, I also started to dip my toes into Philly Twitter and luckily, was accepted into the fold. I did some content creation for a few blogs here and there before deciding I just wanted to be a fan and designed a few shirts — one of which led to me meeting Mike Scott which was wild. Also, seeing people wear something I made for fun was so cool. It's just a really cool, supportive community to be a part of. Even though a lot of us haven't met in person yet, that doesn't really matter. We're still buddies!
AC: and also, what the hell is gonna happen with the Sixers this year?
EB: Omg I wish I knew! Sixers lore is just becoming more ridiculous by the day and if there's one thing I've learned about being a Sixers fan, it's to just expect the unexpected.
AC: the special guest of the week gets to pick the tune of the week. it can be something you've been jamming to lately or an old favorite or something particularly pertinent or new or whatever!
EB: Oh man, where do I even start! I feel like any time anyone asks me for a music, movie, or TV show rec, I immediately forget every single piece of media I've ever consumed.
But scrolling through my recently played songs, I really love Feels Good by Okey Dokey and Devon Gilfillian right now. Just a great feel-good tune to bop around to, especially when everything going on now feels like too much. Devon's also from the Philly area and an old buddy who makes great music so I'm a little biased there!
AC: the second "special guest" privilege is getting a free plug -- something meaningful or important to you or just something cool you've done lately or whatever. sky's the limit!
EB: It would be so cool if folks followed NJPP (@NJPolicy) on Tik Tok, Instagram, and/or this little website called Twitter dot com — not sure if you've heard of it. We have some cool stuff planned in the coming months!
Worthy Consumables
this week, this segment is just gonna be a lazy plug on my behalf, considering I’ve already written about it at length in a prior edition. but next weekend is the 11th annual Rhode Island Seafood Festival, which has been my passion project for almost a decade now (!!!!), and I’m excited to get back after it after a pandemic-induced year off.
if you’re in the Northeast and you’re down to make a trip to Providence, the festival will be at India Point Park on Saturday, Sept. 11 from 11am to 7pm and Sunday, Sept. 12 from 11am to 5pm. we’ve got live music all day long on both days, entry is a very reasonable $10 per person (or $5 if you snag tickets before Monday!) and kids under 12 are free. entry doesn’t cover food, but we’ve got some killer local restaurants who come along and feed the hungry masses with some incredible seafood and non-seafood dishes.
and if you’re planning to come along, please don’t hesitate to drop me a line via email or on Twitter or IG and let me know. it’d be great to have a beer with you and shoot the shit!
Parting Note
as Erica requested, here’s this week’s jam, and then I’ll call it a day.
thanks for hanging again this week pals, and forgive me for the lateness of the delivery. if I somehow spoiled your Friday morning routine, I’ll refund you for this edition. until next week!
— adrian ✌🏻