I have five pots of gleaming, ruby red freezer jam sitting on the window sill, and am feeling exceedingly proud of myself.
I have smashed and compounded peak-of-the-season fruit from last year, and my inspiration to make them was because I needed the freezer space for this year’s incoming strawberry bounty, already jockeying for position, as I strong-arm the lid down on our smallish freezer. [Read more…]
I am spending this weekend learning how to describe theatrical performances for vision compromised patrons.
It is a highly specialized skill, and I have been in awe, watching and listening to four of my skilled colleagues as they describe 2 hour long performances, inserting descriptions between dialogue, and painting the picture of the story, without any subjective terms or personal interjections, so as to leave the patron with a clear, objective view of the story.
This all happens as the play is going on! [Read more…]
I have been working every Sunday since September, with a group of teen acting students, on a play close to my heart: Thornton Wilder’s Our Town.
The play is one of the most oft-produced in North American Theatre, and features some pretty big themes: Life, Love and Death. Not exactly a light-hearted farcical romp, this quietly moving play has demanded a great deal of commitment and maturity from our students – and I am proud to say – they have risen to the challenge. [Read more…]
Okay, so this week I am winging it – plunging in and attempting my first signature piece, as a student chocolatier. I have been studying the gorgeous, inspired work of Ecole Chocolat graduates, and am trying very hard not to feel daunted, but rather inspired, by their vision, good taste, and precision.To give myself the confidence I need to plunge into the kitchen and start creating something new, I try to relate this nerve wracking experience to a world with which I am already familiar. I think about walking into an audition. [Read more…]