A note from the editor:
Breanna Cooper is Mirror Indy's arts & culture reporter. This is her take on this week's Culture Journal, a series that shares a week in the cultural life of an Indy resident.
Interested in submitting a journal? Please email Jennifer Delgadillo, arts & culture editor, at jennifer.delgadillo@mirrorindy.org
Day One
7:15 a.m. I’m getting ready for work while listening to “These Are Their Stories,” a podcast that breaks down episodes of “Law & Order.” This is, unfortunately, not my nerdiest pastime. I’ve already spilled coffee and concealer on myself, so I’m hoping this isn’t an omen for how the rest of my day is going to go.
11 a.m. Today, I’m sitting in on a virtual, one-hour Associated Press Style seminar on comma usage. I’m notorious for overusing commas and em dashes, so hopefully this workshop helps repair fragmented relationships with my editors. (See what I did there?)
5 p.m. On my way home to feed the small zoo I’ve adopted – two hyperactive cats and a bearded dragon – I listen to Nirvana’s “In Utero” at full volume (as it was meant to be listened to) after learning about the death of producer and engineer Steve Albini. Founder of production studio Electronic Audio in Chicago, Albini lent his talents to some of the most monumental albums in grunge, punk and indie music over the past four decades.
6:30 p.m. Hanging out at the Kan-Kan Cinema & Brasserie, one of my favorite spots, to see the 2020 documentary “John Lewis: Good Trouble,” with a friend. The documentary highlights Lewis’ work to further civil rights and enhance voting rights to all citizens. When Lewis died in 2020, I was moved by a posthumous letter published in the New York Times.
He wrote: “Democracy is not a state. It is an act, and each generation must do its part to help build what we called the Beloved Community, a nation and world society at peace with itself.” The documentary was a powerful reminder of the fragility of our democracy and the responsibility we all have to maintain it.
Day Two
11 a.m. I’m at the Bicentennial Unity Plaza basketball court to learn more about a bike share program, sponsored by the city, allowing Marion County residents free bike passes. This is one of four stories I’m working on this afternoon, so luckily the cold brew I downed this morning is doing its job.
6 p.m. After work, I settle in for the night by working on a collage. I can’t make the World Collage Day event on Saturday at the Tube Factory space, so I’m celebrating from my living room using old People magazines.
Day Three
9 a.m. The office today is the Mansion Society coffee shop on the grounds of the old Central State Hospital. The shop is surrounded by construction projects to tear down some remnants of the psychiatric hospital, which housed thousands of patients over its 150-year history.
When I was younger and dumber, I used to…let’s say, explore the grounds, because that sounds better than saying “trespassed after researching local ghost stories.” Before a work meeting, I take a quick walk around the grounds.
7 p.m. I’m at Edington Gallery near the Indiana University Indianapolis campus to check out Becky Wilson’s “Senior Show.” I met Becky while writing a story last week about her graduating 43 years after she first enrolled at Herron School of Art and Design. She dropped out in 1985 after being violently attacked. Not only is her story inspiring, her work is very fun. My favorite piece was “Sad Hotdog Charcuterie,” which for some reason reminded me of “Alice in Wonderland.”
Day Four
8 a.m. Getting ready for the upcoming semester by reading “The Perils of Peace: America’s Struggle for Survival After Yorktown” and working on the book report I’ve been procrastinating on. I’m a grad student at the University of Indianapolis working on a master’s degree in history.
4 p.m. I spend a little while browsing the racks at Indy CD & Vinyl in Broad Ripple. I leave with Camp Cope’s 2022 album “Running With the Hurricane” and a copy of the shop’s newspaper, “The Indy CD and Vinyl Spinner.”
11:30 p.m. While trying to stay awake for a chance to see aurora borealis (I was not successful), I’m working on a short horror story I’ve had in the works for a few months. It incorporates crime, ghosts and early American history.
Day Five
11 a.m. It’s Mother’s Day, so I’m spending the day with my mother and family. Unlike most family gatherings, this one is pretty quiet and low-key.
Day Six
9 a.m. I’m working on the second installment to a series about baseball in Indianapolis. This one will focus on Black baseball in Indy and required a good amount of research. One of my former professors at IUPUI, Dr. Chris Lamb, connected me with Dr. Geri Strecker, a former Ball State University professor and scholar of Black baseball. A few months ago, I interviewed her for a little over an hour and learned more from her about the Indianapolis ABCs than I would have doing months of research on my own. I had no idea Oscar Charleston, one of the stars of the ABCs and a Baseball Hall of Fame inductee was buried in Floral Park Cemetery, just a few miles from my neighborhood.
7 p.m. I’m juggling tasks: working on a book report, watching the Cubs lose to the Atlanta Braves and packing for a quick trip to Chicago to see the Cubs hopefully beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, fingers crossed. If former Indianapolis Indian pitcher Paul Skenes is pitching for the Pirates, my hopes aren’t very high.
[Catch up on Breanna’s first installment about baseball in Indy.]
Day Seven
4:15 p.m. I can’t make it to the “I Made Rock ‘n’ Roll” festival on Saturday, but I’m listening to the Spotify playlist by guitarist Malina Moye. Black contributions to rock have long been overlooked, and I’m excited to see what kind of conversations the festival starts in Indianapolis, which was a hub for Black arts and culture throughout the 20th century.
6 p.m. I’m wrapping up my day – and my culture journal week – with an online class on the role of religion in 19th century America. Other than journalism classes, religious studies classes were always my favorite during my undergrad years, so I’m looking forward to this course.
Mirror Indy reporter Breanna Cooper covers arts and culture. Email her at Breanna.cooper@mirrorindy.org. Follow her on X @BreannaNCooper.
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