The first time I met Sally I was a 4-and-a-half-year-old immigrant who did not speak English. She was my babysitter and despite my origin, she was always persistent and demanding because she only wanted the best from me. Usually when she is babysitting she is the most unique person out of the crowd, even though she is swarmed by kids, dogs, teenagers and babies. She has dark sandy hair, multicolored clothes, zany glasses, different colored stockings usually matched with strange wooly socks and finally a nice pair of clogs. Her personality is so unique that even she makes fun of herself, thus her many nicknames, such as the Wicked Witch of the West, from the Wizard of Oz or Barbie.

This unique lifestyle she holds is full of humor, strictness and also something easy to love. She is charismatic and alongside her regular jobs as a fundraiser, caterer and neighborhood babysitter she is also a teacher and a very good one at that. She taught me a lot, like how to spell and use grammar, proper mannerisms, and the power of good old negotiation. In total, Sally was the real deal. Her motto is, “You can always wear a suit and tie but you’re never fully dressed without a smile!”

A story that I find funny with Sally happened when I was little, maybe seven or eight. It was after wine time, meaning she had already had her glass of dark red wine, and she was relaxed but that not sedated.

I was sitting down waiting for the food to be ready. Sally and I were talking about trains. When I was talking I hadn’t realized that my elbows were on the table and also didn’t know that it was rude.

She told me once sternly, “Daniel, don’t put your elbows on my table.” 

I thought it was funny and did it again and again, thinking no disciplinary action was going to happen. Who disciplines people for putting their elbows on the table in the 21st century? All I can tell you is that Sally does.

She told me, “If you do that again, I will throw your food out the window.” 

I laughed and did it again thinking little of it.Then almost like the north wind with the gust of her hand, she grabbed the plate, opened the window and threw the plate out, almost like she had done this to kids many times. 

Then she defiantly said, “And you thought Sally was playing.” 

To me it was a catastrophe because who is crazy enough to do this? What happens if the plate hit someone? That is just what I asked.  

Unexpectedly, she said comically, “Then my mission is accomplished. You learned not to put your elbows on the table and the person outside who got hit knows not to cross in front of Sally’s house again.” 

If you go outside in the North End and you ask someone who has grown up there, there is a high chance that they know Sally. Looking at how locals treat her is like watching how people treat grasshopper in “A Bugs Life.” She does eccentric things a lot and everyone turns their heads because no one doubts the ways of the good old Witch of the West.

I was escorted by City Councilor Michelle Wu’s media manager, Cassie, to a hallway surrounded by offices. There, Wu showed me to a somewhat large room, pushed a chair out from one of the rows, and sat down across from me. I could clearly tell she was very down to earth, as she sat by me like we were two friends talking. And it really felt that way.

Wu has been an active city councilor for six years now. She is from Chicago, Illinois where her parents owned a small business. From there, she journeyed to Boston for college, where she attended Harvard Law School (and, fun fact, was a former student of Sen. Elizabeth Warren). In 2012, she was elected to city council, and as of 2016, is the president of the council.

However, she didn’t really have much of a relationship with public speaking before then. “I’m not naturally very outgoing or loud and never met anyone in politics. I think a lot of what I work on now, it just comes from the sense that I want to help you.”

As for Wu’s road to success, the journey was not easy. From her mother battling mental illness to having to raise her siblings to working at the family business, her life was constantly in motion. But, defying all odds, she graduated as valedictorian from Barrington High School, which led her to Harvard Law School and in the long run her election to the council. 

Wu has proven countless times that she regards community engagement highly. “It's the most important part of being a counselor and trying to make a change,” she says. “What I have learned over my time in government is that you can write laws that change the policies on the books. But unless you're connecting with communities on those issues and empowering people to advocate and then implement the solution, you're not actually changing much.”

As important as it is, community engagement is only the beginning of Wu’s struggles when it comes to Boston’s problems. Currently, Wu is working on getting people active in the Boston Community, such as protesting the new MBTA prices.

“[R]ight now, the traffic is so bad around Boston almost any time of day, any day of the week, that we should be trying to get as many cars off the road and people onto the T as possible.” 

Going back to community engagement, she explains, “we are trying to engage riders. Let people know they can have a voice it's not hopeless and here is very specific things that you can ask for.” 

Her focus on Boston’s problems span far past the MBTA. “I focus on three big issues: income inequality, racial disparities and climate change.” She assures me that the way to solve this problem is yet again the engagement with the affected community. 

“The way to fix all of those three is what we were just talking about; getting people involved to implement the changes that they are already making in their part of the city,” she explains. “[A]lso certain communities in Boston have a much harder time getting to where they need to go, and often the neighborhoods are of the working class and color.”

Once we finished up, she led me out where a man was waiting for her. After we said our goodbyes, she left with him to possibly and probably engage more people in their communities. Although most of Wu’s current and public political standings were presented in our interview, there is much more to her than what met this interview’s eyes. With a promising future in politics and supporting base that is only growing, more and more Bostonians are becoming confident in her capabilities as a city councilor. 

Have you ever expected absolutely nothing, then not only be pleasantly surprised but almost immediately enthralled by a theater performance? Well, that feeling and I got pleasantly acquainted Thursday night at the Huntington Theatre during “The Lightning Thief”. 

 For those who haven't read the fantastic Percy Jackson and the Olympians book series, “The Lightning Thief” is about outcast Percy Jackson, a demigod living in New York, and his quest to retrieve Zeus’ stolen lightning bolt from the depths of the Underworld. A pretty tame story as far as Greek mythology goes, but enthralling nonetheless. Along his journey, we’re introduced to a pantheon of characters from  Grover, Percy’s goat-man best friend, to Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena and brain of the group. Together the unlikely trio is pitted against a “greatest hits” of Greek gods, monsters and titans.

 My biggest concern as both a closeted musical fan and a diehard fan of the Percy Jackson books was the translation from page to stage. How would they handle the fights? The witty dialogue? The very literal presence of gods and monsters? My fears were quickly diminished by the obvious thought and care that was put into this production.  As a musical, “The Lightning Thief” is a rare example of an adaptation that is arguably better than the source material. In particular, the music stood out as entertaining and catchy. A particular favorite was Mr. D’s hilariously negative, “Another Terrible Day,” in which he gives much-needed exposition about the world the play inhabits by describing just how much he hates his life. 

The entire cast's performances deserve commendation, especially Ryan Knowles’ performance as a variety of characters including a centaur.  Through his commanding stage presence and high-energy delivery, his performance made this cynic “LOL” a multitude of times.  The ensemble also deserves recognition, providing no small amount of laughs to an already humorous show along with providing a sense of atmosphere to the definite benefit to the performance overall.

All in all, despite a hit or miss situation, “The Lightning Thief” rarely seemed to miss, with a campy and self-aware, yet heartfelt tone throughout the 110-minute show.  It is not going to change your life, but it's also not going to sour the reputation of a Gen-Z classic, in fact, it may even make you wanna take another crack at the source material. While it still seems utterly bizarre, this is the crossover that gets it right and it’s without a doubt a fantastic way to spend a summer night.