Coming to you from San Antonio! 🌴

aka the location of Miss Congeniality: a Leading Ladies Update after 2 months of transition and radio silence

Ladies and Gents,

I’m writing to you from the semi-arid climate of South-Central Texas – my new home. While a Google search boasts that my new city enjoys 250 days of sunshine per year, my current mood would be more suited to a slightly gray, cool day with a breeze wafting through leafy trees ready to turn to their autumnal hues. For all the good things I have going here, the lack of a seasonal shift is coloring everything else!

Another thing about my new home? It’s the location of the “scholarship program” in Miss Congeniality. One pageant competition takes place in front of the Alamo (still haven’t been). Another takes place along the River Walk (I’ve been and it’s quite touristy and humid in August). Even though Gracie Hart’s love interest is the worst (but played by Benjamin Bratt who stars in one of my husband’s new favorite films Blood In, Blood Out), Sandra Bullock is a star and we love her in the wacky 2000 action rom-com.

The Talent Portion of the Pageant in front of The Alamo

Two months of transition from the Blue Ridge Mountains to Texas Hill Country have certainly been an adventure: 30 plus hours of driving across the country, trailing our car behind the U-Haul only for it to be stolen from our apartment complex a month later; my husband starting his new job and learning to climb and prune wild trees like live oaks whose branches spread far more horizontally than vertically, like a natural jungle gym; and my school year beginning less than a week after arriving, jumping into a full-time job and clocking around 12 hours per day of teaching, reading, prepping, and grading. 

Needless to say, it’s been quiet here at Leading Ladies for a reason! But I have not forgotten you all or given up on this project of cultivating conscious consumption about film & television featuring strong female leads. And neither has our brilliant contributor and Leading Ladies mastermind Tory Crowley, who had her own recent transition to Europe to teach English abroad! 

If you’re new to Leading Ladies, welcome! I know that many of you have recently subscribed – thank you! It’s because of you that Leading Ladies hit 100 subscribers! I’m truly thrilled for this milestone and I hope you’ll stick around as we try out different rhythms or publishing over the next several months. 

While I haven’t had as much time for film – although this review from Kat Rosenfeld on Megalopolis has me ready to run over to the Alamo Drafthouse today – television has been one of the ways I can take a break and wind down from my current work. I love that my teaching job involves so much reading. But now that reading is work, television is a fun change of pace. I’ll be sharing a series of micro-newsletters, little tidbits here and there about what we’re watching and loving. 

And with that, I’ve got to sign off to work on some heavy duty reading and essay grading. Enjoy your Saturday, your autumnal weather if you’ve got it, and whatever you plan to watch this weekend!

Xo

Heather Wright