Lise's Lens: October 20, 2022
This week, Lise starts a new Netflix series, "The Empress," considers ways we can acknowledge and support today’s change makers in the LGBTQ+ community, and is excited about the new library renovations!
WHAT I’M READING
- Every year, I try to stay au courant with a few French authors—typically one already known to me and one new. This year my new author is Clara Dupont-Monod. Her book, S'adapter is the winner of this year's Prix Feminina and Prix Goncourt des Lycéens (High School Goncourt Prize). It is beautiful. There’s a bit of a magical element to this superbly described story of a special needs child and the impact of his birth on his three siblings. I highly recommend it!
WHAT I’M LISTENING TO/WATCHING
- I just started "The Empress" the new Netflix series (now #2 in popularity). I actually can't believe I'm watching this, because as a teenager growing up in Haiti, it was a Big Deal to get my mom to pack up my friends in her VW Bug and bring us to the Drive-In theater to watch Romy Schneider in the "Sissi L'Imperatrice" trilogy. Though we couldn't be more different from her, we loved Sissi's sense of adventure and stubbornness, and, of course, her beauty. Recently, before I knew this series was even a thing, I was thinning out the VHS cassettes from my house—I just couldn't get rid of my Sissi series. While I am pretty certain that it contains some elements that I wouldn't approve of today, the sight of these tapes brings me back to a very happy place in my life, and I think that’s reason enough to justify hanging on to them a bit longer. I wonder if anyone else out there has anything they hang on to for similar reasons?
WHAT I’M THINKING/TALKING ABOUT
- As we celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month, I’m considering the ways we can acknowledge and support today’s changemakers, individuals like the young adults profiled in this Teen Vogue piece about the GLAAD 20 Under 20. One comment from the piece was particularly inspiring to me: “Despite a wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, rhetoric, and misinformation that could otherwise dissuade queer youth from stepping into their light, there is a particularly bright group of people building an unapologetic tomorrow for all of us.” How are you supporting the next generation of visionaries and change agents in your personal and professional sphere?
WHAT CAUGHT MY EYE
- Books and more books! The joy and challenge of setting up the library after a summer of renovations! A huge shout out to our library staff and student ambassadors—and the facilities team. You’ll have to come see it when it’s ready!
The Cambridge School of Weston is a progressive high school for day and boarding students in grades 9–12 and PG. CSW's mission is to provide a progressive education that emphasizes deep learning, meaningful relationships, and a dynamic program that inspires students to discover who they are and what their contribution is to their school, their community and the world.