Passion Projects & Theme Songs

Passion Projects & Theme Songs is a series in which we profile people’s passion projects and let them explain their work in their own words, with the caveat that they have to pick a theme song for their project. Some of these people would love to turn these into full-time jobs and be the next chapters of their lives, while others are OK keeping these somewhere between hobby and second job. Some of the folks have been at this for years, others only for months. But they all bring a passion to what they do.

Project #11
The passions of Aprill Brandon: A Q&A about writing, cheese, and stick figures
Aprill Brandon is a writer and humor columnist who writes screamingly funny observations and insights into daily experiences. Often she’s able to get a joke about burping, farting, or boogers in there. She graciously answered questions about her writing projects.

Project #10
The passions of Patrick Rollens: A Q&A about Comrade’s Wargames
Patrick Rollens is a miniatures painter and wargamer based in Oregon. Through his website, Comrade’s Wargames, Rollens has connected with other enthusiasts and shared his detailed miniatures. And when we say “detailed,” we mean detailed.

Project #9
The passions of Darian Wigfall: A Q&A on St. Louis music collective, FarFetched
Darian Wigfall is an activist and organizer in St. Louis. FarFetched is his passion project. As Wigfall said, “FarFetched is a music collective, it’s an art imprint, it’s an idea and a lifestyle. Most people would describe it as a record label.”

Project #8
The passions of Robert Skole: A Q&A about Journalese
Veteran journalists Robert Skole and and Paul Dickson decided to put together a glossary of terms that appear in news reporting but that don’t match everyday speech. The result was a book — “Journalese: A Dictionary for Deciphering the News” — and a companion website. Skole answered our questions about how this all came together.

Project #7
The passions of Danielle Soto: A Q&A about her “Golden Girls” podcast, “Dr. Cheesecake”
Danielle Soto is a Los Angeles-based comedian from Boston who loves “The Golden Girls.” A lot. So much so that she has her own “Golden Girls”-themed advice podcast, “Dr. Cheesecake,” which you can listen to here and here.

Project #6
The passions of Peter Muise: A Q&A about New England Folklore
Peter Muise is a Boston-based fan of legends and weird traditions. He has turned that interest into a blog: New England Folklore. Additionally, he has written a book, “Legends and Lore of the North Shore.”

Project #5
The passions of Diana Middleton: How news reporting led to writing plays
Diana Middleton worked for years as a reporter before getting into financial services. Her first play, a one-act called “Love in the Time of Layoffs,” was inspired by her time as a journalist. She followed it with a one-act called “Look Good, Smell Good, Don’t Act Crazy,” based on a particular bad first date. “Statues,” her most recently finished play, was shaped by the recent passing of her grandmother.

Project #4
The passions of BLOWW: A Q-and-A with Heather Mack about the Boston League of Wicked Wrestlers
Heather Mack is part of the Boston League of Wicked Wrestlers, which takes the premise of pro-wrestling and turns it on its head. Mack spoke to us about BLOWW and its mission. BLOWW’s next event is BLOWWloween I: Kick or Treat.

Project #3
The passions of Feminist Killjoys, PhD: A Q&A with Raechel Anne Jolie and Melody Hoffmann
Feminist Killjoys, PhD is a podcast by Raechel Anne Jolie and Melody Hoffmann. They both were gracious enough to answer some questions about the podcast, the inspirations behind it, and some of their favorite things in pop culture.

Project #2
The passions of Jamie Krakover: A Q&A about her St. Louis-based sci-fi story, “Arch Nemesis”
Jamie Krakover is a St. Louis-based engineer who also writes. Her story “Arch Nemesis” was recently included in the anthology, “Brave New Girls: Stories of Girls who Science and Scheme.” Krakover explained about how the story came about and how she got involved in the anthology series.

Project #1
The passions of Emily Theis: A Q-&-A about The Breakup Survival Guide
Emily Theis is a digital designer who made The Breakup Survival Guide based on an episode of the WNYC podcast Death, Sex & Money hosted by Anna Sale. Theis explained what The Breakup Survival Guide was and how it came to be.