by Monica Wiant | May 15, 2018 | Personal
Congratulations on this huge milestone! For months, your parents have been lecturing you on the “Don’ts” of how, when, where, and with whom you may NOT use your phone. Here is the other side, the positive side, of our parental wisdom. 1. Take pictures. Now that you...
by Monica Wiant | Apr 17, 2018 | Personal
I’ve always loved milestones and the way they inspire me to look back and look forward. Ten years ago, on my 30th birthday, I wrote a blog in which I listed meaningful memories of my 20s and set three goals for my 30s. Move to a nicer house: Check. Have another...
by Monica Wiant | Mar 24, 2018 | Personal
Voicemail is among my least favorite forms of communication, somewhere between “barely legible Post-It note” and “swift kick to the shins.” It’s visually stressful. Seeing the red light on my work phone makes me feel like I’ve...
by Monica Wiant | Oct 31, 2017 | Personal, Poland Project
Two years ago, The Poland Project found me. I think there are ideas that you discover, and there are ideas that find you. Writing a novel based on my grandparents’ experiences in World War II feels like the latter.After my mother handed me that stack of brittle...
by Monica Wiant | Jul 1, 2017 | Personal, Poland Project
The final blog of my Poland trip is dedicated to my traveling companions. As I sit in a Warsaw hotel on the eve of our flight home, I am overwhelmed with appreciation for them.Evie.She learned the Polish words lody (ice cream), niegazowane(non-carbonated water), tak...
by Monica Wiant | Jun 29, 2017 | Personal, Poland Project
I blame the lack of yesterday’s blog on Polish hospitality. At 2 a.m., full of food and wine and good cheer, the only words I could find were Polish ones. Specifically, one, which I learned this week: Zapraszamy. The literal translation is “We invite...
by Monica Wiant | Jun 28, 2017 | Personal, Poland Project
There are three speeds on Polish highways: 147 km per hour in the left lane while the Mercedes driver behind you flashes his lights because you’re driving too slowly 68 km per hour in the right lane behind an enormous tourist coach from Greece or a semi truck...
by Monica Wiant | Jun 26, 2017 | Personal, Poland Project
We did not go 135 meters underground into a salt mine, nor did we go to the top of a 1,120 meter mountain. In spite of our plans to do both, Earth kept us on her surface today.On our way out of Krakow, the three of us attempted to visit the Wieliczka Salt Mine, one of...
by Monica Wiant | Jun 25, 2017 | Personal, Poland Project
Today, we visited the hills south of Krakow, the area where the second half of my grandparents’ World War II story takes place. It is a primary setting for the novel I’m working on. I will find many, many words to write about this place.But today, I just...
by Monica Wiant | Jun 24, 2017 | Personal, Poland Project
On a Sunday morning in the fall of 1942, my grandfather, Major Antoni Wegrzyn, walked into the Church of St. Wojiech in Krakow at 9 a.m. sharp. He was scheduled to meet with his new commander, Major Galica, of the Polish Underground Army, or Armia Krajowa.Major Galica...
