tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27778157909207292512024-03-08T01:49:20.302-05:00Garret GirlGarret Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01530390185615165587noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777815790920729251.post-57304802511705112322014-03-15T15:26:00.003-04:002014-03-15T15:32:15.114-04:00Quick-and-Easy Patternless Skirt TutorialSo. It is rather evident that I have been very bad about updating my blog in the past year. I guess I had a very busy spring in 2013 and got out of the habit, and since then it has been hard to jump back on the bandwagon. Of course there have been changes: I'm back in America, making it easier to get in touch with family and friends, and I'm usually quite busy at school.<br />
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However, in this brief lull between opera performances<br />
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<tr><td><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-quYL4_yqWyw/UyRc3dUJT8I/AAAAAAAAAoc/t3S2SYeMFgg/s1600/miles+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-quYL4_yqWyw/UyRc3dUJT8I/AAAAAAAAAoc/t3S2SYeMFgg/s1600/miles+1.jpg" height="425" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Photo credit: the amazingly talented <a href="http://kimkamp.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Kimberly Feltkamp</a></td></tr>
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I bring you...<br />
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<b>HOW TO MAKE A SKIRT IN ONE DAY OUT OF A METER OF FABRIC</b></h3>
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<b> AND SOME LITTLE SCRAPS</b></h3>
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We had a day off on Thursday, so I finally got around to making something out of this beautiful piece of Martha Negley fabric I bought last year in Toronto. (And look at this new design! I want to make a dress out of this <a href="http://www.westminsterfabrics.com/pub/singlefabric.jsp?designer=Martha%20Negley&pattern=Radish&color=Aqua&image=&collection=Market+Mix&category=0&catname=&newitem=1&new_desc=New!%20Available%20Dec.%202013" target="_blank">new print</a>!) I didn't measure the fabric before I started working, but I think it was about a meter. If you wanted to make a skirt with a coordinating waistband (and approximately these measurements), perhaps you could buy 1.25 yards?<br />
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<i>Of course I didn't take pictures as I was going, but I've tried to supplement images of the finished product with a few drawings. Unfortunately I'm bad at drawing... </i></div>
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It was a little bit too small for a dress, although it probably could have become a shift with a side slit (perhaps an idea for this other <a href="http://woolleywaffle.typepad.co.uk/woolleywaffle/images/2007/03/27/martha_negley_strawberries.jpg" target="_blank">piece of fabric</a>, which looks a little like a <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=wayne+thiebaud&espv=210&es_sm=91&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=RWIkU9PxM8uh0gGnzIC4Aw&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1362&bih=806#q=wayne+thiebaud+cakes&tbm=isch&imgdii=_" target="_blank">Wayne Thiebaud</a> painting?), so I settled on a skirt. </div>
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I cut the rectangle of fabric in half horizontally to make two pieces (each now about twenty-two inches high and 44 inches wide). I then joined the two pieces together with a seam along the side to make one long piece of fabric.</div>
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At this point I started pleating and pinning in 3/4 inch pleats. (This worked out to make a waistband large enough to sit on my hips, but the pleats could be sized to accommodate anyone.) I sewed over the pleats to hold them in place with a seam 1/4 inch from the edge of the fabric. </div>
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Next I took a waistband from another skirt which I had repurposed for scraps. It would be easy, however, to make your own: it's just one large strip of fabric, folded in half, with the edges folded over for seams. I took this waistband and attached it to my skirt.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ngxq5lz2Nes/UySlzEjIIeI/AAAAAAAAAqg/zRVLLF_R8fg/s1600/photo+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ngxq5lz2Nes/UySlzEjIIeI/AAAAAAAAAqg/zRVLLF_R8fg/s1600/photo+2.JPG" height="315" width="640" /></a></div>
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Luckily this old skirt also had an acetate lining, which I carefully removed. This I sewed to the seam holding the pleats and the waistband together. I used a small zigzag stitch because I was worried about the integrity of the acetate, which has a tendency to fray.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zcknRjQa7AM/UySlz-UrvqI/AAAAAAAAAqs/3ABp9sEJRH8/s1600/photo+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zcknRjQa7AM/UySlz-UrvqI/AAAAAAAAAqs/3ABp9sEJRH8/s1600/photo+3.JPG" height="380" width="640" /></a></div>
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Then, I folded the waistband in half twice, to make four layers of fabric (I didn't have any interfacing). I pinned and sewed this, making a 1/8 inch seam along the bottom of the waistband. Next, I sewed up the seam on the other side of the skirt fabric, leaving room closer to the waistband for a zipper.</div>
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I was lucky to also be able to repurpose the zipper from the old skirt. With the help of the handy-dandy instruction manual for my beautiful Janome sewing machine (thanks, Mom!), I used the zipper foot to sew on the coordinating zipper. It involves pinning and sewing and being sort of confused, but I did manage to persevere.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NfEZrJnLZnA/UySIUNcN5fI/AAAAAAAAAos/oevwLxrHI30/s1600/DSC00421.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NfEZrJnLZnA/UySIUNcN5fI/AAAAAAAAAos/oevwLxrHI30/s1600/DSC00421.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
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And with that, the skirt was almost done! It looked like a skirt, and quacked like a skirt, and all it needed was a hem on the bottom!</div>
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For that, I first sewed on a strip of Flexi-Lace Hem Tape (leftover from another sewing project--see below). Then I realized I didn't feel like hand-sewing the entire hem for my skirt, so I decided to brave yet ANOTHER foot on my sewing machine... the INVISIBLE HEM FOOT! And after quite a bit more experimenting than the zipper needed, I managed to figure out how to coordinate all the various pieces of fabric and get a really beautiful, and truly "invisible" hem.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fD7xbyLq2Mk/UySJpX9TU6I/AAAAAAAAAo8/ihRuW2tvdjU/s1600/DSC00419.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fD7xbyLq2Mk/UySJpX9TU6I/AAAAAAAAAo8/ihRuW2tvdjU/s1600/DSC00419.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here you can see the hem tape and acetate lining</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--H_qq2r6lzU/UySMFAmmBsI/AAAAAAAAApE/wRQWxEJiGF8/s1600/DSC00425.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--H_qq2r6lzU/UySMFAmmBsI/AAAAAAAAApE/wRQWxEJiGF8/s1600/DSC00425.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And here you can "see" the "invisible" hem!</td></tr>
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And then it just needed a little hand-sewing and snipping to clean up the zipper, attach a hook and eye, and cut off loose threads.<br />
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<b>TA DA!</b></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XGJB0CtOvUQ/UySP9BJnKUI/AAAAAAAAAp4/FKms2Na2vrs/s1600/DSC00424.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XGJB0CtOvUQ/UySP9BJnKUI/AAAAAAAAAp4/FKms2Na2vrs/s1600/DSC00424.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
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Now excuse me while I go back to rubbing spirit gum (the glue that holds wigs to your head) from off of my temples...</div>
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But before I do, here is a dress I made last semester out of some fabric Comrade M gave me (from the thrift store in Toronto!):<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6q4KM65L7_o/UySQqKszU6I/AAAAAAAAAqI/oFc5e_PTtQ0/s1600/DSC00427.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6q4KM65L7_o/UySQqKszU6I/AAAAAAAAAqI/oFc5e_PTtQ0/s1600/DSC00427.JPG" height="640" width="424" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JcikrVkYjPY/UySQpEqIA0I/AAAAAAAAAqA/mb0fPyGOIKQ/s1600/DSC00428.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JcikrVkYjPY/UySQpEqIA0I/AAAAAAAAAqA/mb0fPyGOIKQ/s1600/DSC00428.JPG" height="640" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look at those button holes! And those buttons!</td></tr>
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Garret Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01530390185615165587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777815790920729251.post-70661284827319790412013-12-30T12:45:00.000-05:002013-12-30T12:45:15.406-05:00Gluten-free Pizza Crust! And hello!Hello from Davis!<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vxJo89C_NZc/UsGv9xzXb5I/AAAAAAAAAnE/7GpG4WhSxac/s1600/DSC00013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vxJo89C_NZc/UsGv9xzXb5I/AAAAAAAAAnE/7GpG4WhSxac/s640/DSC00013.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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The promised gluten-free pizza crust recipe! Since it has been over a year since I last posted on this blog, and since I have little time before 2013 morphs to 2014 and I lose the chance to write anything in this calendar year, and since so many people expressed interest in the recipe, and since I might want to be able to find it myself later (since I'm leaving the originals with my mom), I thought I'd actually just type it up here.<br />
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In other news: still alive, moved back to America, living in New York state, still singing, glad 2013 is almost over (weird year; many sicknesses and deaths despite many other joys).<br />
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The recipe is from Gourmet magazine's November 2005 issue. I have been going through all my old magazines, culling interesting recipes and recycling the rest, in order to free up some space around the house, so that's how I found it.<br />
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The recipe begins with a rice flour mix that is used for a few of the recipes in this little bundle.<br />
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Brown Rice Flour Mix<br />
Makes 3 cups<br />
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2 c brown rice flour<br />
2/3 c potato starch<br />
1/3 c tapioca flour<br />
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Mix up, store what you don't need. When I was making this last night, I thought it seemed silly and wasteful to mix up a lot of something and the potentially never use it again, or not for a long time, but the pizza dough recipe is small enough that you might actually want to double it, particularly if you're baking for a crowd. And it's good! So you will make it again.<br />
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Pizza Crust<br />
Makes one smallish pizza crust (served three adults last night)<br />
Start to finish: 1.5 hr<br />
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1 c brown rice flour mix (see above)<br />
1/2 c millet flour (may be a little hard to find, but Bob's Red Mill makes it)<br />
1 tsp xanthan gum<br />
1/2 tsp salt<br />
2 tsp sugar (don't omit! I think the yeast needs it, and it doesn't affect the flavor much)<br />
2 1/4 tsp dry active yeast (or one packet)<br />
3/4 c + 1 tbsp warm water<br />
1 tsp olive oil<br />
olive oil for brushing and preparing pan; cornmeal for sprinkling<br />
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Oil and sprinkle cornmeal over your pizza pan (or cookie sheet).<br />
Mix dry ingredients (flour mix, millet flour, xanthan gum, salt, sugar, and yeast) in a bowl until combined. Add the warm water and olive oil and mix until combined. The recipe recommends using an electric mixer; I found that a wooden spoon did the trick without any trouble. I also found that my dough was not as sticky as they predicted. It came together into a nice ball, though of course the texture was different that glutinous bread. I oiled my hands and then pressed the dough outwards into the desired shape, and to a thickness of about 1/8 in.<br />
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees, and place the rack on the lowest level.<br />
Allow the dough to rise for 40 minutes (until doubled).<br />
Pre-bake the crust for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown.<br />
Remove from the oven and decorate as you choose! I used tomato sauce, zucchini slices, onion, spinach, and garlic, along with mozzarella, romano, and pepper jack cheeses.<br />
And bake until everything is heated through.<br />
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Yum! It turned out to be an excellent crust. I think it's on par with "regular" crust! The one drawback, perhaps, is that it is not particularly filling. If you're making it for a crowd, I'd recommend doubling the recipe.<br />
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This packet of recipes also includes recipes for chocolate chip cookies and a lemon layer cake.<br />
Here's the recipe for the cookie: http://gourmet.com/recipes/2000s/2005/11/ultimate-gluten-free-chocolate-chip-cookies<br />
And here's for the cake: http://gourmet.com/recipes/diaryofafoodie/2007/01/lemonlayercake<br />
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I haven't tried these ones, but I bet they'll be good!<br />
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<br />Garret Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01530390185615165587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777815790920729251.post-35581331685776478582012-12-21T17:13:00.000-05:002012-12-21T17:13:39.744-05:00Some thoughts<br />
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Back in August I was visiting Ryan for a few days at Tanglewood in between summer festivals and got a call from a violinist I knew from Yale. She was looking for someone to perform two pieces as a soloist with an ensemble she leads in some concerts in Connecticut in December. I was so honored and excited to be asked to work with some of the most talented musicians I know, people who did their graduate work at Yale and Juilliard while I was doing my undergrad. I only hoped that nothing would get in the way of the performances and that it wasn't all a dream! </div>
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There were some difficulties in arranging the logistical details: both concerts were offered free of charge to the public and only the second was part of a regular concert series that was offering the ensemble--a relatively large one, with 13 total players--a modest fee. Katie, the ensemble's leader, explained that she and the other musicians largely did this as a labor of love and that there likely wasn't enough money going around to pay for my travel expenses. After both of us fruitlessly searched for applicable travel grants, I wrote to the dean of my school to see if he had any other suggestions. Thanks to the incredibly supportive administration, I wound up applying for and receiving a grant from the Student Opportunity Fund, which paid for my flight and other transportation costs and made the trip possible. </div>
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Katie and I decided to program Handel's beautiful motet <i>Silete Venti</i> alongside a piece the ensemble was premiering, a setting of 10 African-American spirituals from an 1896 publication the composer arranged for string orchestra and harpsichord. I had performed the Handel before, on my recital in the spring, and I have been in love with the piece since my early years of college so I was very excited about having the opportunity to sing it again. I was admittedly a little nervous about performing spirituals, though, as it's a genre with which I'm relatively unfamiliar and I was consequently concerned that I wouldn't be able to do them justice. It does seem strange and sad to feel more culturally connected to, say, operas written in Italy 400 years ago than more recent songs from my own country, but I suppose my trepidation comes from being the recipient of so much privilege and worrying that people who do identify with this music will find me somehow disingenuous in my performance of it. I was somewhat comforted by the composer's own musical predilections ("standard" english pronunciation, classical technique) and also by his treatment of the songs, which were both harmonically interesting and also incorporated rhythms and extended technique in the ensemble to approximate traditional African music. I also do firmly believe that all of us--no matter our race, ethnic background, class, age, income level, you name it--feel pain and suffering, joy and elation. It is impossible to discount someone else's life experience as somehow lacking because A) you have no idea what goes on inside their head and B) we are all capable of empathy, and if we weren't, art (in all its myriad forms) wouldn't exist. So, as I prepared for these concerts in Connecticut I tried to do some research about the various songs and did my best to stay true to their original intention but also anchor them in my own experience. </div>
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I traveled down to New York after a whirlwind of graduate school recordings and applications, classes, and the last New Music Ensemble performance of Unsuk Chin's <i>Akrostichon-Wortspiel</i> and had a great first day of rehearsals with the composer and ensemble. It was such an unbelievable joy to work with this immensely talented and responsive group of musicians. There's nothing quite like finding other people who also deeply care about the music you're performing and who are so professional, respectful, and focused--but also creative and curious and open to new ideas. I really can't articulate well enough what an honor it was to be able to work with such fantastic players. But really, none of this was a surprise: I knew that it would be like this four months ago when Katie asked me about participating in these performances.</div>
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On Friday morning I was able to attend a dress rehearsal of the new production of The Barber of Seville at the Met (opera) thanks to a generous friend from Yale. Afterward I met up with my dad (also in town for a conference and the performances) to rest a little before rehearsal in the evening, and that's when I heard about the shooting in Newtown. In a pattern repeating all too often these days, the news unfolded first in a nebulous haze and then, as the weekend progressed, more and more sickening clarity. Though I wasn't performing in Newton, Connecticut is small enough that everyone was reeling from the shooting. The Saturday concert in Hamden began with a moment of silence for the victims. As I sat backstage, listening to the first piece on the program (Corelli's Christmas Concerto), I couldn't help but wonder what I had done to deserve to be surrounded by such unadulterated beauty. Sometimes going into music seems like the most overwhelmingly selfish choice I could make: I depend on the generosity of other people to support my quixotic pursuit when the money that makes all of this possible could be going to so many other worthy causes, and when even I could be doing something so much more tangibly productive with my mind and body. Then come these moments of clarity, when I realize that perhaps I truly am able to make some sort of difference, that perhaps I am blessed with music because eventually words and medical care and legislation and whatever social safeguards we employ to prevent such tragedies are not enough. We need art because it allows us empathy, to express and to absorb what words alone are insufficient to convey.</div>
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In the light of these events, singing the spirituals--music transcending years and years of institutionalized violence, music created to help a people rise above dehumanizing slavery with hope--was very fitting. Attending the first concert was also a group of homeless men staying at the church hosting the event, many of whom were African-American. As I began to sing, I realized that perhaps what they, and what all of us, needed to hear was not someone who came from their own experience, but someone who wanted to honor it. I will never know what it is like to suffer racism, to come from a background which is not my own, and I pray that I will never know the pain of losing a child, a sister, a brother, a mother, a father, to senseless violence. What I do know is that I am capable of fighting prejudice, ignorance, and evil with--as hokey as it may sound--the truth, beauty, and love with which I hope to imbue all music I sing. I remain humbled by the opportunity to try to help begin the healing process, to try to reach out to strangers and to brighten their lives or to bring them some small amount of peace and solace and, above all, belief in the greater good of humanity. And I remain humbled by the power of sound, of notes written down hundreds and hundreds of years ago to remain not only relevant but necessary in our lives today.</div>
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I wish you all a joyful holiday season.</div>
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love,</div>
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Lucy</div>
Garret Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01530390185615165587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777815790920729251.post-43358380376561603742012-11-22T14:42:00.000-05:002012-11-22T14:42:04.459-05:00Thanksgiving breadHappy Thanksgiving! And look at that! It's almost one month after my last post! How time does fly...<br />
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Really, it's been crazy, crazy busy. This past weekend Ryan and I performed in the school's fall opera production, which means the previous week was filled with daily rehearsals. We had one day "off" on Sunday to recover and prepare for coming week. Monday was a busy day of classes (and a happy meeting with a friend from college, in town to look at schools). Tuesday was class and the New Music Ensemble concert at the Canadian Opera Company, also filmed for a TV broadcast, which thankfully went very well! Yesterday was a meeting with the man coming in to asses the school for the Canadian Heritage Fund, who then also observed my lesson. And then finally I had the afternoon off! Holy mackerel! It feels like it has been ages since that happened (and let's not even think about the rest of the week...). So Ryan and I made vegetarian stuffing for dinner (homemade sourdough with mushrooms, celery, leeks, chestnuts, and apples--recipe below) along with a salad with pomegranate seeds (the pomegranate was given to me by Rubana at Economy Fruit). I also put together another batch of bread to retard in the fridge overnight and to bake today. Per the request of one of my classmates, I measured the ingredients in volume in addition to weight so that I could make a version of the recipe for people who don't have a scale (though investing in a kitchen scale is probably a good idea if you're going to be doing a lot of bread baking because it makes measuring really easy and largely reduces the large margin of error found in volume measurements).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One loaf made last week.</td></tr>
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So here is Susan's recipe for Norwich Sourdough from her <a href="http://www.wildyeastblog.com/2007/07/08/my-new-favorite-sourdough/" target="_blank">blog Wild Yeast</a>, adapted for volume measurements and with my little addenda.<br />
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<b>Yield:</b><br />
Two big loaves, or 10 mini loaves (which is what I made today), or one loaf plus a pizza, or... you get the picture. It's a lot.<br />
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<b>Time:</b><br />
Mixing -- 5 minutes<br />
Autolyse -- 30 minutes<br />
First fermentation -- 2.5 hours<br />
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If you're baking that day, then you divide/rest/shape<br />
And then you proof -- 2.5 hours<br />
And then you bake -- 30 minutes max<br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">If you're not baking that day, I've been (in a probably incredibly unorthodox move) just transferring the dough directly to a container, usually a big tupperware, to retard for up to two days. Then I form the loaves as quickly as possible before throwing them in the oven. I've found that the sour flavor really improves after the two days in the fridge.</span><br />
<br /><b>Ingredients:</b><br />900 g white flour -- or 6 cups<div>
120 g whole wheat flour -- or 1 cup</div>
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600 g water at about 74F -- or 3 cups</div>
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360 g mature starter -- or 1 3/4 cups (which in my case is about half white and half wheat)</div>
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--later--</div>
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23 g salt -- or 2 tbsp</div>
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cornmeal for dusting</div>
<br /><b>Method (for a completely handmade, no mixer 'cause I don't have one, bread): </b><br />Mix the flours, water, and starter until just combined, which usually I'm not quite strong enough to do with a big wooden spoon, so usually I just use my hands.<br />Let the dough rest (autolyse) for 30 minutes. <br />Add the salt and mix until the dough reaches a medium level of <a href="http://www.wildyeastblog.com/2007/07/07/gluten/">gluten development</a>. (Her pictures are really nice, so check them out.) I usually wind up sort of pulling the dough between my hands until it actually stretches. In the beginning it sort of breaks and won't stretch very well, but then as the gluten develops you can stretch it farther apart.<br />Transfer the dough to an oiled container (I usually just oil the bowl I mixed it in).<br />Ferment at room temperature (72F – 76F) for 2.5 hours, with <a href="http://www.wildyeastblog.com/2007/07/07/fold/">folds</a> (again nice instructions here, but basically you just stretch and then fold up) at approximately 50 and 100 minutes.<div>
At this point I sort of deviate from Susan's instructions. If I'm baking that day, I might shape one half of the bread into a ball, which I'll place on a piece of parchment paper dusted with cornmeal. Otherwise I'll take my nicely oiled ball, find a big tupperware container, and dump the whole thing inside. Make sure there's some room for it to expand because it will keep growing. And then I put it in the fridge and wait a day or two. I've found that 48 hours in the fridge results in a really nice and sour bread.</div>
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<a href="http://www.wildyeastblog.com/2007/07/07/fold/"></a>When I'm about ready to bake, I preheat the oven to 475 and put in the vessel I'm using for a cloche along with a baking tray (I don't own a bread stone, but I hear those are great). Thanks to Susan's website, I recently started using this technique instead of trying to make steam in the whole oven. First of all it's a lot safer. Second of all it basically doesn't require any equipment (except the cloche). Third of all it actually works. </div>
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So what is this cloche thing? Basically it's a heat-proof vessel like a big ceramic casserole or something that you can turn upside down and create a seal with a baking sheet. You can also purchase a real one, or apparently make one out of a flower pot (instructions on her website), but really a deep ceramic baking dish seems to work perfectly. The cloche traps the moisture that's already inside of the bread, allowing the dough to rise much more and ultimately creating a better crust. You bake for 12 minutes or so with the cloche over the bread and then remove it for the last part of the baking. Easy peasy. No trays of boiling hot water or squirt guns or whatever. No giant steam cloud threatening to cook you to death like a squishy lobster. </div>
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So, you set the oven to 475, put in your big ceramic pot and your tray for baking the bread. When the oven reaches the proper temperature, take a piece of parchment paper and dust it with your cornmeal. Take your dough out of the fridge and quickly and gently shape (pat, coax) it into a size that will fit underneath your cloche. Using a sharp knife, cut two long slashes into the dough. It sometimes helps me to oil the knife blade a little first. Then, I usually take the baking tray out of the oven and put it on the stove; transfer my dough to the baking tray using the parchment paper; and then take the cloche out of the oven and invert it over my piece of dough. Then the whole thing goes back in the oven and you set the timer for 12 minutes and turn down the oven to 450. After 12 minutes, carefully remove the cloche. Mine's a little hard to grip, so yours might be too. Just don't burn yourself. And then keep baking until the bread is brown and done looking. Depending on the size of the loaf and the temperature of the oven, this might be another 10-20 minutes. And it's as easy as that!</div>
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And what will I be doing with my 10 mini loaves of bread? I'm bringing them to a few of the people I'm really thankful for here in Toronto, including Rubana at Economy Fruit and my teachers and administrators at school. It is sad not to be able to take the day to celebrate with my friends and family the way I have growing up, and I would especially like to be able to personally contribute to the storm clean up effort in New York, but I figure that I can at least do this small thing to give thanks for my innumerable blessings and the bounty that is in my life.</div>
Garret Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01530390185615165587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777815790920729251.post-57724691620810672522012-10-25T10:55:00.000-04:002012-10-25T10:55:28.480-04:00Garret Girl's Kitchen Spooktacular: Bones, bones, bones!<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Just in time for halloween, I bring you this blog post about eating bones! So, please be forewarned if you think this is a subject that might make you upset (there are pictures).</b></div>
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I was under the weather for two weeks just recently, felled by this nasty bug everyone in Toronto seems to have gotten (some virus I've dubbed "the plague"). It wasn't anywhere near as terrible as influenza or mono, but it was a quite nasty cold that ended with laryngitis and left me struggling to get up the stairs. Plus, I'm not usually sick for that long!<br />
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Probably related to this, on Sunday I suddenly had a craving for roasted marrow bones. I had them for the first time back in May, I think, at <a href="http://www.prunerestaurant.com/">Prune</a>, a restaurant in New York City where I dined with my Aunt KS. They were served with a parsley and caper salad and a small dish of sel gris as well as little bits of toast. They were also really, really delicious.<br />
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Now, I imagine that this might be a turn-off to some of you, vegetarians and omnivores alike. Given the way we generally consume meat in America/Canada/the West, the concept of bones is a little different (though I'd think much more "familiar" than some organs). Ryan says it makes him think I'm going to cut off his leg and eat it. Ya never know, I guess... Still, there are a few reasons why I think they might be an interesting foray for those of you who do eat meat.<br />
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I constantly think about, and second-guess, my own desire (and perceived need) to eat meat. It's not something I feel morally justified in doing, though I also notice myself feeling more energized and "healthier" after I eat a moderate amount of meat--particularly red meat. I also feel satiated for longer periods of time and do not crave simple carbohydrates. However, I eat meat, especially red meat, very infrequently. Aside from the obvious ethical problems with raising inhumanely and then killing sentient beings for food, cattle--particularly industrially-raised cattle--are enormously bad for the environment and contribute to the failure of antibiotics and the rise of drug-resistant bacterial strains.<br />
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So, part of what I try to do when I eat meat is to be conscious of the choices I'm making as a consumer (i.e. eating meat infrequently but trying to purchase more ethically-raised animals when I do) and to use the meat I purchase in a respectful and thoughtful manner. This is somewhat easier when it's chicken (after eating the meat I can use the bones for stock) and a little more difficult when I'm purchasing a part of an animal (such as a cow) and know I'm not prepared to deal with all of it. Perhaps this just makes me a self-deluding hypocrite, but I do hope that eating the bones is one way of trying to be a bit more "nose-to-tail" even if I'm not brave enough for stomach, feet, noses, or the other sobering items available in many shops in our neighborhood.<br />
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Another plus is that bones aren't very expensive. I guess most people give them to dogs rather than eating them, though they're also great for soup stock (both straight from the freezer and also post-roasting and marrow-eating, which is why I put my "empty" bones back in there). All in all, though, it means that you can purchase better quality bones without setting yourself back too far. I got mine from the local Italian butcher, Gasparro's Meat Market (or, as their website says, "Vince Gasparro's Qaulity Meats"). One of the sons pulled two big bones from the freezer in the back and the father cut them into small, 2-3 inch segments using his giant saw. [I meanwhile tried to surreptitiously inspect their hands for small warts (I heard in my microbiology class at Yale that butchers are usually infected with papilloma virus; you can read more about it <a href="http://www.nature.com/jid/journal/v76/n2/abs/5615767a.html">here</a>), all to no avail.] A big bag of them cost me ten dollars. I slung it into my bike basket and then stopped by Economy Fruit for a cornucopia of delights, all for the tune of six buckaroos.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paulie is the "No Groceries Left Behind" inspector. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yum!</td></tr>
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At home, I preheated the oven to 450 degrees and set a few bone segments standing upright in a pie dish. When the oven was hot, I put them inside and roasted them for about 30 minutes until the marrow was bubbling and the bones were light brown. Most of the recipes I've seen call for about 20 minutes of roasting and some recommend 350 degrees. I don't know if this is because some bones are frozen and some are not, but I have to say that my method seemed to work just fine. It seems like it might be a little messier if the bones were warmer, plus I'm storing my extra bones in the freezer and it's just easier not to have to thaw them first.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pre-roasting</td></tr>
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Meanwhile I cooked up some onions and mushrooms, adding a little lemon and a lot of parsley for some extra flavor. It seems that a parsley salad is a traditional pairing with marrow bones, but I thought my method was pretty tasty too. Because marrow is so rich (i.e. it is mostly fat), it helps to have something lighter and a little acidic to help cut through and lighten the flavor. I also toasted some of my homemade whole-wheat-and-spent-grain bread and sliced up some cucumber... et voilà! You spread the marrow on the toast and you're set to go. I found a knife and a spoon worked just fine for extracting the marrow, though of course you can use a marrow spoon if you're so accoutered (are you allowed to use that word with cutlery?). And what does it taste like? The coordinator for the pre-college program at school said it tastes like "meaty butter." I guess that makes sense. It's a little bit gelatinous, it's a little bit meaty. It's not really like butter, though. It's just different. And tasty.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1WIfWeWlEBA/UIlIEzm2BdI/AAAAAAAAAic/VptAClmsKi0/s1600/PA244490.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1WIfWeWlEBA/UIlIEzm2BdI/AAAAAAAAAic/VptAClmsKi0/s640/PA244490.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A somewhat unappetizing photo, I'm afraid--but I promise it was scrumptious!</td></tr>
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Now, the nutritional benefits (and dangers) of marrow are somewhat disputed. What seems abundantly clear is that the bones are full of fat. Marrow was a food of choice for our scavenging paleolithic ancestors, namely because it is... full of fat! And when you're a scavenging cave person, something like marrow is a ticket to survival. However, I am not a cave person. (Sort of, anyway; I do live in a basement.) Proper nutritional analysis of marrow does seem to be lacking. I read that the fat isn't saturated, so that's a plus. Some places on the internet say that it's a wonderful source of all these things you need, like vitamin K and iron, and will solve all your problems; some places say it's a source of fat, which makes you fat. I say this: <br />
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Bone marrow is delicious.<br />
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Bone marrow makes me feel really good after I eat it: satiated but not over-full or greasy, and with lots of energy for hours. I ate the bones yesterday for a good-sized late lunch and didn't eat dinner or any dessert because I was full and energized all evening. And I didn't just sit around! I speed-walked to the post office and back, rode my bike to school (second trip of the day), had opera rehearsal in which I was running around, waltzing, and generally working up a sweat for a few hours, and then I rode my bike home and did homework.<br />
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It's surely not a good choice for every day eating, but then I don't think any kind of meat ever should be.Garret Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01530390185615165587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777815790920729251.post-61627281338660302762012-10-08T16:49:00.000-04:002012-10-08T16:49:00.866-04:00Giving ThanksSometimes it feels hard to believe that I've already been in Toronto for more than a year, yet here I am passing milestones for the second time: labour day, the first day of school, Nuit Blanche, and now Canadian Thanksgiving. I still find that this latter event (celebrated this weekend, with the official holiday falling today) comes at an odd time in the calendar year, being used to American Thanksgiving, but after the past week it seemed like the stars had aligned to remind me to be grateful for my many blessings.<br />
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It's not that the past few days have really been horrible; in fact, many wonderful things happened to counterbalance the bad. And even the negatives, when viewed contextually, have a bright side. Two family members took ill, but thankfully--though the mishaps or diseases are serious--they seem like they will recover fully. Some of the other misadventures seem perplexing, but even these frustrations have been assuaged by opportunities which may turn out to be more beneficial in the end, both in terms of career and also in terms of my personal growth, than what I had originally hoped might transpire. Funny how our desires may indeed be less salubrious than our response when we feel they are thwarted... Finally, it's just good to remember how blessed I am to have such friends and family and music in my life, and that even when some of these things seem to have gone awry, the reason I notice is because I am lucky to have them there in the first place. It's hard to complain about that.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The festive dining room.</td></tr>
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Comrade M cooked and baked an excellent Thanksgiving dinner, per usual. The turkey was divine, the stuffing scrumptious, the kale salad refreshing, the sweet potatoes creamy, the vegetarian option ironically to-die-for, and the mashed potatoes fluffed to a T. And the desserts... all I can say is that the pumpkin pie should become a standard. It's amazing! And the apple and cherry rustic tart, baked in a cast iron pan and with a ginger cookie topping, was as delicious as it was beautiful.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Boiling potatoes</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kale for the salad </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pumpkin pie</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apple and cherry tart</td></tr>
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With fewer people this year (i.e. just one extra) there was less to prepare and thus less for me to do--except, of course, borrow Comrade M's nice work camera and take pictures of everything! Comrade M used some of my homemade bread for the stuffing, something I baked last weekend with spent grain from Ryan's brewing, but I hadn't even been planning to cook anything myself until I found an email from Smitten Kitchen in my inbox with a recipe for <a href="http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2012/10/pumpkin-cinnamon-rolls/" target="_blank">pumpkin cinnamon rolls</a>. Now with something like a recipe for pumpkin cinnamon rolls, you'd think there would be little to improve upon--and of course since I only made the recipe once, it's hard to tell if I improved anything. So instead we will say that I did some characteristic fiddling and made the following adjustments:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Rather than using active dry yeast, I substituted my very own wild yeast sourdough starter. (I've been growing it for the past week and this was my first experiment.) I wound up using 1/2 cup of sourdough starter to replace the yeast called for in the recipe. Consequently (and also due to the oven being occupied by the bird) I also allowed the buns to rise for several hours rather than the time she calls for. I can't really tell if the sourdough starter influenced the flavor, especially due to the following point...</li>
<li>... which is that rather than using brown sugar (since I had run out) I replaced the 1/4 c brown sugar in the dough with 1/4 c molasses. This yields a strong molasses flavor, which I like but which perhaps overpowers the pumpkin and other flavors. Ryan likes it, though. I might stick to brown sugar next time to see how it compares.</li>
<li>Rather than just brushing the rolled-out dough with the butter (these are by no means healthy), I also added a layer of pumpkin puree. Ryan and I roasted our own pumpkin (he had an extra one lying around after making a pumpkin beer a few weeks ago) and we had/have a lot left over.</li>
<li>I also added a few tablespoons of pumpkin puree to the cream cheese frosting rather than adding milk to change the consistency (and ultimately used two times the amount of cream cheese because I found it too sweet with two cups of powdered sugar). In retrospect I would have just halved the amount of sugar since the recipe yields a ton of frosting no matter how much cream cheese you include. I guess I'll have to freeze the leftovers for the next several time I make these cinnamon buns...</li>
<li>I also sprinkled the buns with pepitas before baking, though if/when I make these again I'd also include the seeds inside of the rolls. I just didn't think of it until I had finished.</li>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1V-YV6m524Y/UHMvAB28GHI/AAAAAAAAAgg/4_Q5bUSsDik/s1600/IMG_8693.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1V-YV6m524Y/UHMvAB28GHI/AAAAAAAAAgg/4_Q5bUSsDik/s640/IMG_8693.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rising rolls</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-REV87FOqoCw/UHMvhLXfuRI/AAAAAAAAAg8/RdWei8VcsWI/s1600/IMG_8726.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-REV87FOqoCw/UHMvhLXfuRI/AAAAAAAAAg8/RdWei8VcsWI/s640/IMG_8726.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finished rolls with some glaze</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I-0RZ9RV1Lg/UHMvsllZ5KI/AAAAAAAAAhI/1I3kbUfz0YY/s1600/IMG_8730.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I-0RZ9RV1Lg/UHMvsllZ5KI/AAAAAAAAAhI/1I3kbUfz0YY/s640/IMG_8730.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And some without</td></tr>
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Now it's Monday and Comrade M and I are embarking on a painting project. First up? The dining room, in "semolina" yellow. It already looks beautifully bright and sunny! I'm so excited. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--13ZCikvm4I/UHMwI8YL6iI/AAAAAAAAAhk/rNjfLvN7jHg/s1600/IMG_8750.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--13ZCikvm4I/UHMwI8YL6iI/AAAAAAAAAhk/rNjfLvN7jHg/s640/IMG_8750.JPG" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the works...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4yL9qC8_oQ0/UHMwTEvTznI/AAAAAAAAAhs/5wnmF0EUb1w/s1600/IMG_8758.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4yL9qC8_oQ0/UHMwTEvTznI/AAAAAAAAAhs/5wnmF0EUb1w/s640/IMG_8758.JPG" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meanwhile, Ryan was concentrating on his latest batch of beer (this time with a holiday twist).</td></tr>
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Garret Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01530390185615165587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777815790920729251.post-90672005803487114142012-09-17T08:50:00.000-04:002012-09-17T08:50:18.675-04:00One man's trashI spoke to many people when I was trying to decide which school to attend for this degree, soliciting opinions about teachers and facilities, about the merits of staying in America or moving to another country, about anything anyone had to offer. An overwhelming majority of those spoke rapturously about Toronto: "If I could live anywhere in the world, it would be there!" "Such a nice city!" "You'll love it!"<br />
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I have to confess that my opinion after one year is almost... "meh."<br />
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Toronto is nice enough, for sure. Maybe--most likely--it's that I don't like cities. Maybe it's that I don't live in a particularly beautiful neighborhood (sorry, neighborhood). Maybe it's that I don't have a bus pass. Maybe it's that the city is so spread out, the subway service is so minimal, and the traffic is so bad that getting from point A to point B seems even more daunting. Maybe it's that the sun sets at about 4:30 PM all the overcast, grey-brown winter long, and I live in a basement.<br />
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Despite these misgivings, there are things I really do like about this city--especially now, with the long, sunlit evenings and green trees. This neighborhood is actually kind of pretty at the moment: gardens are blooming, houses seem cleaner and less littered with trash, people sit out on their porches and watch others go by. The weather is so nice (except when it's pouring rain) that I am happy to hop on my bike any moment and ride away. Riding is a joy now, and I love using my legs to get around. The longer ours of sunlight make me feel safer, too, both when riding my bike and generally being out in the city (let's ignore the man in my neighborhood who's been grabbing people at night). I've finally had the time to explore some areas of Toronto that had been out of reach, either due to time or weather. There's the West Toronto Railpath just a few blocks from my house. It's sort of like a smaller, less-cool version of the High Line, but it's nice all the same. I've finally been to High Park, the large city park a little bit like a smaller, less-cool version of Central Park. There are new places opening up in my neighborhood, coffee shops and restaurants, as it gentrifies. And, of course, there's my favorite place of all (except for school): Economy Fruit!<br />
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But really what I wanted to write about in this post is the somewhat unique practice of giving things away that seems so integral to Toronto. Instead of taking their unwanted belongings en masse to thrift stores, many people leave them outside their houses (especially, it seems, in my neighborhood). I know they do this all around the world. Montreal is known for September 1st, when many people change apartments, and the city apparently becomes one giant free bin. I'm sure that other cities have their own traditions; even in Davis some of us would go collect things the UCD students were giving away or leaving for trash. Still, in Toronto it seems like it's a way of life. Sometimes it's something big (furniture) and sometimes it's a box of small things. Sometimes it's stuff you really don't want (used mattresses) and sometimes it's exactly what you've been looking for. Most of our place seems to be furnished with found objects. A few days ago, the Comrades brought home a bookshelf that some people had left down the street. It fits perfectly in the living room. Ryan and I found a beautiful white armoire with golden handles that now serves as our pantry. Comrade M found a big teal-blue desk/table back in June, replacing a less-satisfactory table that had been in the craft room for sewing, when she was out for a run. She got a friend to bring it home, but we didn't have a chair to fit. I had a rehearsal at a friend's house a few days ago and when leaving I noticed a wooden blue chair sitting on someone's front yard. I couldn't take it with me to school but returned later in the afternoon to check if it was still there. Sure enough it was, so I brought it home, cleaned it up, and put it in the craft room. When I sent Comrade M to see the surprise she didn't even notice it at first because the color matches so perfectly. The list goes on and on: cast iron pans, a weird piece of art, a microwave, a newer microwave to replace the old microwave, a toaster oven, a panini press, a nice metal basket that holds our fruit, a book I'd wanted to read, a dish to hold coins, a pink lamp, a toy piano I gave to the neighbors with young children... <br />
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Every few days, something new will show up. If you wait long enough, it seems that the things you've wanted most will appear. It reminds me of a story I once read, though I can't remember where. In it, a journeying man comes to a place where the people are poor in possessions but not in spirit. They set up nets in the stream and collect everything that comes to them, sorting and piling and holding for future use what they cannot value immediately. Sure enough, the stream always seems to deliver what they're looking for: not just because they need it, but also because they know how to see value in what others toss aside. It's not quite like that here, but some of the same principles apply. Every time I pick something up, I feel grateful that someone else left it for me to find. It makes me wonder about its story, about why it was discarded and about what replaced it. (Usually these items are worn but not broken.) Ultimately it makes me think about what I don't need, and what of my possessions someone else could use.<br />
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So, to those who have shared with me, thank you! I hope to someday give you something of value.<br />
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... and I thought that you readers might be interested in checking out my new <a href="http://www.lucyfitzgibbon.com/">website</a>!Garret Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01530390185615165587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777815790920729251.post-31207293497811775192012-09-02T16:22:00.001-04:002012-09-02T16:22:59.950-04:00Babies!!!It seems that all of a sudden many of my friends, ones who are only slightly older, are having babies or getting married. I'm not sure I can count how many have tied the knot or started hoarding pacifiers just this summer, though that could also be due to the difficulty I have counting... once I reach a certain point I just start saying numbers out loud which may or may not have anything to do with the preceding digit. I wonder if this is related to my difficulty walking up and down stairs? Does anyone else get stuck in the middle? Or perhaps that's a discussion best saved for another day...<br />
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Anyway, a friend of mine recently announced she was pregnant, so after being really excited, and then some thinking and exploring and cooing over the cuteness of little tiny things (Ryan had to save me by sending me pictures of ugly babies to counteract their charm) I decided on a free dress pattern from the blog <a href="http://www.made-by-rae.com/">Made by Rae</a>. She had originally designed something for a <a href="http://www.made-by-rae.com/2008/04/free-itty-bitty-baby-dress-pattern/">small newborn</a>, but another blogger (<a href="http://craftinginspiration.blogspot.com/">Amber</a>) resized it for a <a href="http://www.made-by-rae.com/2008/05/itty-bitty-dress-take-ii-only-not-as-itty-bitty-this-time/">2T-3T</a>. Now, everyone tells me that new parents consistently receive clothing for their newborns, who subsequently outgrow them and then they are faced with naked children or have to go shopping or something. Thus I am always advised to get clothing that's a little bigger. What confuses me is that everyone always says that parents have too much newborn clothing--so isn't everyone giving them clothing for the next year? Who out there is causing the glut in newborn onsies? Anyway, I decided to go for the 2T-3T because what if it's a really big baby? What if they already have 500 little tiny shirts and little tiny dresses and little tiny booties and little tiny hats and sweaters? Ooohh... focus... focus... (I almost got stuck in the Baby Gap I visited for inspiration--all those super adorable pea-pod patterned tiny garments? Who could resist?)<br />
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I already had the fabric because I'd gone to Jo-Ann's while at home in California and picked up some bits and pieces during their July 4th sale, some of which was just perfect for a little child. What I lacked was a selection of notions for binding or piping, but I figured I could easily make those myself with another coordinating fabric. <br />
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After reading over the patterns I decided I liked them a lot, but that it would be <i>that</i> much cuter (and not <i>that </i>much harder) to make it completely reversible. I also added a wider band of material at the waist to join the bodice and skirt rather than deal with piping, and then added that as binding for the bottom hem. <br />
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So, my instructions for the "fully-reversible-not-so-itty-bitty dress" are as follows:<br />
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Print and construct your super easy pattern, either for the <a href="http://theteachingexperience.com/Other-PDFs/Itty-Bitty-Dress-Enlargement.pdf">2T-3T</a> or for the <a href="http://www.made-by-rae.com/patternfiles/ITTY%20BITTY%20BABY%20DRESS.pdf">newborn</a>. Also, you might want to download your instructions from Made by Rae (only found on the newborn pattern), though I'll provide my own here. But I'm not used to writing instructions, so perhaps they'll be a little opaque.<br />
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Cut out four sets of the bodice, two in each color you plan to use. (For cutting purposes you may be interested to know that the bodice is symmetrical on the vertical axis.) If you want to cut everything now, you can also cut two pieces of fabric that are 36 x 15 for the skirt. I actually did mine in four 15 x 18.5 pieces and pieced them together because of the pattern and size of my fabric, but really what you need are two big rectangles that are about 36 x 15. You'll also need three strips of a contrasting fabric. Two are twice the width of the bodice (the long flat edge) long and three inches wide. The other is a long strip of 36 by 3 inches.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7120DA3pmu4/UDxFuSOCk5I/AAAAAAAAAd8/Cx7KnVdRIWU/s1600/P8264366.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7120DA3pmu4/UDxFuSOCk5I/AAAAAAAAAd8/Cx7KnVdRIWU/s400/P8264366.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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My cutting station, the floor (I did vacuum first).</div>
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Let's start with the bodice. Make pairs with one of each color. Pin right sides together and sew the curvy edge of the bodice, from armpit over the sleeve ties and neck to the other armpit, with 1/4 inch seams. Turn and press each pair. Then, to attach the "front" to the "back" of the chest part of the bodice, sew like fabric to like fabric, right sides together, along the sides (the short straight edges).</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BVMBp0z-F6E/UDy_I0nR8BI/AAAAAAAAAeM/pUstxApitDQ/s1600/P8264367.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BVMBp0z-F6E/UDy_I0nR8BI/AAAAAAAAAeM/pUstxApitDQ/s400/P8264367.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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You can see the bodice turned inside-out here, with pins to sew the two fabrics together. When you flip it right side out (and press), you'll have...</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IQ2jrk5C5JQ/UDzAgpJnEmI/AAAAAAAAAeU/QpnHFc292Lk/s1600/P8264369.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IQ2jrk5C5JQ/UDzAgpJnEmI/AAAAAAAAAeU/QpnHFc292Lk/s400/P8264369.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Ta da! Finished bodice! What's hard to see in this picture is that the inside and </div>
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outside parts of the bodice aren't attached together so you can slip the skirt inside. </div>
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That's why the last step was important!</div>
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Next, we'll work on the skirt. Take your giant rectangles and sew a 1/2 inch seam along the side of each. Press the seams open. Then, fit them together, right sides out, and pin along the top/waist edge. Since it's currently just a giant rectangle we want to put in some gathers to make it fit the bodice. With the sewing machine making the largest stitches possible and with the tension on its loosest, sew one seam 1/4 inch from the top of the skirt. When you're done, carefully tie together the threads from one end of the seam and then take one thread from the other end, pulling gently until the skirt gathers to the same size as the bodice. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v_RuToQd5Wk/UDzFlze-jCI/AAAAAAAAAek/XpTunyHk2Wo/s1600/P8274370.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v_RuToQd5Wk/UDzFlze-jCI/AAAAAAAAAek/XpTunyHk2Wo/s400/P8274370.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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See those easy-peasy gathers up at the top of the picture?</div>
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At this point I start diverging from the Made by Rae pattern. See, I didn't have any piping and I wanted to make my dress reversible, so I figured that a band of fabric around the waist, concealing the join, would help. I used the pattern for the bodice to measure out the length of a strip wide enough to go around the entire dress (so two bodice widths) and cut it three inches wide. Then I made another for the other side of the dress. I then folded each so that the two edges joined down the middle, pinned, and pressed it to stay. See the photo of one above.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--G4HCR6zKWU/UDzFz4keqTI/AAAAAAAAAes/eVyL24phPjY/s1600/P8274371.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--G4HCR6zKWU/UDzFz4keqTI/AAAAAAAAAes/eVyL24phPjY/s400/P8274371.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Next, I wanted to attach them to the bodice. So, unfolding one side, I pinned it to be ready to sew along the crease (just like attaching binding tape!). Sew like this on both sides of your bodice, being careful not to sew your bodice together.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lYeeAjGO6Xc/UDzF_Fk80fI/AAAAAAAAAe0/9XXgdr4vbAk/s1600/P8274372.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lYeeAjGO6Xc/UDzF_Fk80fI/AAAAAAAAAe0/9XXgdr4vbAk/s400/P8274372.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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After you're done you'll want to press the seams away from each other on both sides, as in the picture above. </div>
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Now, there's probably a better way of attaching the skirt to the bodice that involves no visible seams, but I was feeling a little unsure of myself and the whole reversible thing, so I simply folded the bodice so it was right side out, matching the skirt fabric with the bodice fabric as I desired, and carefully inserted and pinned the skirt between the two layers of bodice fabric. Then I sewed close to the edge along the bottom of the waist band and then along the top (about 1/8 inch). </div>
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And now the dress is almost done! The only thing remaining is a hem for the bottom. I wanted to have it bound in the same fabric I used for the waist, so I took my strip of 36 x 3 inch fabric and turned it into wide binding tape. (Which means I folded it in half and pressed, and then folded each edge in toward the center to fold it in quarters lengthwise.) I then pinned and sewed just like regular ol' binding tape. (For a tutorial on binding tape see <a href="https://sew4home.com/tips-resources/sewing-tips-tricks/bias-tape-how-make-it-attach-it">this link</a>, also featured on my last blog post, but know that I didn't bother with making it actual bias tape, so it's just a regular strip of fabric.)</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pDUFRNyBqaA/UDzGHEiBpUI/AAAAAAAAAe8/hsx8EiO3uq8/s1600/P8274373.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pDUFRNyBqaA/UDzGHEiBpUI/AAAAAAAAAe8/hsx8EiO3uq8/s400/P8274373.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Sewing away, with the other side of the skirt featured.</div>
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And that, my friends, is it. So easy! And hopefully it will fit my beautiful friends' beautiful baby... in a couple of years! (Maybe it was weird to make something so big?)</div>
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Side one and...</div>
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... side two!</div>
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I did this over one evening and one morning, with probably about 2.5 hours of work each time. Part of what took so long was deciding on the fabrics and figuring out what I wanted to do with the pattern, so it might not take so long if you were all decided ahead of time. I had originally wanted to use another yellow for the skirt on side #2 and have a blue top, but unfortunately the pattern with the animals showed through on the other side of the fabric and you could consequently see it through any of my lighter colored fabrics. I hadn't wanted to pick a dark color because I'm worried it might create some problems when doing laundry, but hopefully that won't prove to be the case! </div>
<br />Garret Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01530390185615165587noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777815790920729251.post-22224053430761254602012-08-28T17:07:00.000-04:002012-08-28T17:07:02.524-04:00A tart by requestI was having fun coming up with slightly off-color titles for this post about the rosewater tart pictured in my last blog entry, but then I felt terrible about reinforcing the subjugation of women... so, my apologies, and here is a link to a New York Times discussion about <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/04/19/is-legalized-prostitution-safer">legalizing prostitution</a> which you should all read.<br />
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And now back to fruit pastries!<br />
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Way back in July, some girls from school came over and we had a big feast of... well... fried chicken... and other things. (See, there's this new fried chicken place in my neighborhood. One day Comrade MM saw a famous rapper going there with his family, so we figured if it was good enough for a famous person and his family, it would be good enough for us. And it was pretty tasty, though fried chicken is really a once-every-few-years kind of thing.) Anyway, I decided to make this tart I'd seen in the New York Times for dessert since it sounded delicious and there were lots of berries on sale at the supermarket.<br />
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Here's a link to Melissa Clark's description of her recipe; you can find a link to the recipe itself on the left: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/27/dining/a-fresh-fruit-tart-perfumed-with-roses.html?hp">http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/27/dining/a-fresh-fruit-tart-perfumed-with-roses.html?hp</a> (her photo is also really beautiful)<br />
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In her introduction she says though berry tarts are traditional and delicious, she never makes them because they are so clichée. Well, I never make them because I think that pastry cream is weird and usually doesn't taste very good. I like pie, but tart is just usually too sweet and squishy for me. However, the rose flavor just sounded too good to pass up. If we grew roses here I would have just steeped my own rose petals, as Ms. Clark suggests, but we don't. I found some rosewater at the local organic food store, though, and it was quite inexpensive.<br />
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Since I made only a few changes to the original recipe, I've copied it here in her own format and then added my little tweaks. Most of my changes were to make the cream a little less sweet and a little more rosey. I'll put my comments about the success of the recipe at the end.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">MELISSA CLARK'S ROSEWATER TART, PLUS OR MINUS A FEW THINGS</span><br />
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<dl class="recipeTerms otherTimeTerms wrap">
<dt class="cookTimeTerm">COOK TIME </dt>
<dd class="preparation-time">1 hour 30 minutes, plus chilling and cooling. Tart shell must chill for 4 hours, plus time after baking, and the pastry cream for an hour, so beware that this recipe takes some time to put together.</dd></dl>
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<div class="ingredientsGroup">
<h3 class="sectionHeader">
For the tart shell</h3>
<ul class="ingredients">
<li class="ingredient"> 1.5 cups all-purpose flour </li>
<li class="ingredient"> 1/2 cup raw almonds (or almonds of another form if you so prefer)</li>
<li class="ingredient"> 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar </li>
<li class="ingredient"> Grated zest of 1 lime (or lemon)</li>
<li class="ingredient"> Pinch salt </li>
<li class="ingredient"> 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cubed </li>
<li class="ingredient"> 1 large egg, lightly beaten </li>
</ul>
<h3 class="sectionHeader subsequentHeader">
For the pastry cream</h3>
<ul class="ingredients">
<li class="ingredient"> 2-3 tablespoons of rosewater, to taste (M. Clark calls for 1/2 tsp, so I'd recommend beginning with a small amount in case mine--though very fragrant--is somehow lacking and then adding generously after you discover it doesn't taste like roses)</li>
<li class="ingredient"> 2 cups whole milk </li>
<li class="ingredient"> 1/3 cup all-purpose flour </li>
<li class="ingredient"> 1/4 cup sugar </li>
<li class="ingredient"> 5 large egg yolks </li>
<li class="ingredient"> 1 to 2 pints berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, you name it.)</li>
<li class="ingredient">Lime juice to taste (or lemon)</li>
</ul>
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<div class="preparationGroup">
<h3 class="sectionHeader">
Preparation</h3>
<dl class="preparationSteps">1. For the crust, place 1/4 cup flour and the almonds in a food processor. Run until the almonds are finely ground, about 1 minute. Pulse in remaining one and a quarter cups flour, sugar, lime zest and salt.
<dt><br />
</dt>
2. Add the butter and pulse until a coarse meal forms. Add the egg and pulse until the dough comes together. Press dough into a disk, wrap in plastic, and chill for 4 hours or up to a week.
<dt><br />
</dt>
3. To make the cream, pour milk into a heavy saucepan and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and stir in the rosewater.
<dt><br />
</dt>
4. In a medium bowl, whisk flour and sugar. Slowly whisk in the hot milk. Return mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture just starts to boil, 1 to 2 minutes.
<dt><br />
</dt>
5. In a large bowl, whisk yolks until pale and thick. Whisking constantly, pour the hot milk mixture into the yolks. Return the mixture to the saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until custard is thick and smooth (170 degrees on an instant-read thermometer). Add lime juice to taste (I found it to be too sweet). Do not let the mixture boil. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve if it looks chunky. It may not; I don't think I strained mine in the end because it seemed smooth, plus straining custards/curds is somewhat irritating. Chill 1 hour before using or up to 5 days.
<dt><br />
</dt>
6. To bake the tart crust, first preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Roll the dough out between two sheets of plastic/waxed paper to a 3/8-inch thickness (it's very fragile). Do not roll too thin! Remove plastic/waxed paper and line a 9-inch tart pan with the dough; chill for 30 minutes.
<dt><br />
</dt>
7. Line the tart shell with foil and fill with baking weights/a slightly smaller pie tin. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the foil and weights. Continue baking, uncovered, for 5 to 10 more minutes, until pale golden. Allow tart shell to cool completely before filling.
<dt><br />
</dt>
8. Spoon chilled pastry cream into cooled tart shell. Arrange berries over the top of the tart. Ms. Clark says to serve within 2 hours for the best texture; I found it to be just fine a day later.
<dt><br />
</dt>
<dt style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f_z9GtBeJIs/UD0CJwatBiI/AAAAAAAAAf4/vtAc89ZhuF4/s1600/P6244216.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f_z9GtBeJIs/UD0CJwatBiI/AAAAAAAAAf4/vtAc89ZhuF4/s400/P6244216.JPG" width="400" /></a></dt>
So. I thought that this was generally delicious, especially after I tweaked the recipe to suit my tastes. Aside from adding a lot more rosewater than Ms. Clark indicates (about six times as much) I also decided to use lime instead of lemon. I like fruit salads with lime, and I thought it might make for a more complex flavor than the more expected lemon. Unfortunately I think I made my crust too thin, and it was ultimately too crispy for the consistency of the filling; next time I'd make sure to both roll it out thicker and bake it for a shorter period of time. All these issues are really quite easy to overcome, so my one serious reservation is the number of egg yolks required. It's not so much from a health standpoint, since one only eats so much dessert at a time anyway, as a practicality/what-will-I-do-with-five-egg-whites standpoint. A whopper batch of macarons? I like those, but recipes usually call for three egg whites and that already makes a large number of delicate, time-consuming cookies. Meringue? I hate that, so not for me. Maybe an egg white omelet, for those who like such things? At any rate, it's a recipe that requires both a fair amount of time to prepare and also a modicum of planning to use up the egg whites. On the plus side, it's not a difficult recipe and the results are really beautiful and different, and would be well suited both to an afternoon tea and maybe even a dinner of Indian food (or, in my experience, fried chicken). It's also light enough to work well in the summer but complex and creamy enough to lend itself to heavier food later in the season. So perhaps I will give it a whirl later on this year--we shall see!
</dl>
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Garret Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01530390185615165587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777815790920729251.post-49371333712828669432012-08-27T22:54:00.000-04:002012-08-28T13:59:55.841-04:00Apron TutorialWhoa there, Nellie! Where has the summer gone? I wrote this post back in mid-July, intending to publish it after I gave the present that is described below... but then I forgot... I guess I was busy at <a href="http://www.arts-orford.org/en/">Orford</a> and then <a href="http://www.lakegeorgemusicfestival.com/">Lake George</a>, and then I plumb forgot. But never fear--I shall post this tutorial and then shortly one for the cutest little baby dress you ever did see, which I made just since coming home after my long peregrinations, and maybe that will be enough to get me back in the swing of things.<br />
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So, here goes!<br />
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The finished apron with the spoils of apricot picking.</div>
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Recently it was Comrade MM's birthday. When I was home in California I was trying to find her a birthday present, but I couldn't come up with anything that seemed right. I did remember her admiring an apron a little while back, though, and she has been spending even more time than ever in the kitchen, cooking up a storm, so I thought that I might be able to make one for her.<br />
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I did my customary search for free internet patterns and came up with this one for <a href="https://sew4home.com/projects/kitchen-linens/retro-fun-vintage-style-apron">a "retro/vintage-style" apron</a>. I really liked it, but thought that it might be a little bit involved for the amount of time I had at home. Still, the pattern and tutorial seem really easy to follow and the product is super cute! Someday... Anyway, that afternoon I poked around the Davis SPCA thrift store, hoping I might find an interesting garment to modify into a cute apron. I only had a few minutes before they closed so I only had time to pick out a blouse. That evening I went up to Jo-Ann's, shirt in tow, to try to find some complementary fabric. I purchased two yards of a green ruffle, some extra wide double fold binding tape, and 3/4 yard of a twill-like heavier weight fabric.<br />
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I had initially planned to double the fabric for the apron skirt in order to make it sufficiently heavy duty, but the fabric was heavy enough already that I decided to cut it in half, making it 3/4 yard wide and a half bolt high. If I had chosen a lighter weight material I think I would have doubled it. Using my colorful binding tape I put a border on the sides and bottom of the skirt. For some really helpful tips on how to do the corners, see this <a href="https://sew4home.com/tips-resources/sewing-tips-tricks/bias-tape-how-make-it-attach-it">tutorial</a>.<br />
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Look at that nice corner!</div>
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Next, I determined the length of shirt material I wanted based on my approximation of MM's height and the placement of the darts from the shirt. I decided to keep the shirt doubled up, sewing the front and back together, in order to give it enough heft. I cut off the bottom of the shirt with a few inches to spare and used the iron to mark the desired hem (about a half inch). I next removed the sleeves using a seam ripper and cut off the top of the shirt in a straight line a few inches below the shoulder so that it would hit above the bust. I then straightened the edges of the shirt, folding in the seams until there was a relatively straight line from the waist up. I pinned and ironed everything and then sewed down the sides of the shirt to keep the front and back together, leaving about a half inch at the bottom in which to insert the skirt. <br />
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In order to make sure that the apron skirt would be roomy enough when worn, I wanted to give it some gathers. Using my machine set on the lowest tension and widest stitch size I sewed two parallel lines over the unadorned top part of the skirt. Then, I knotted together the two bobbin (bottom) threads on one side and gently pulled the bobbin threads from the other direction until it reached the appropriate width. I wanted the skirt to be almost the same width as the bottom of my shirt, with a few inches on either side of straight fabric to extend the skirt a little wider. Positioning the skirt so it was centered to the shirt and inserted between the front and back, I sewed the sandwich together, tacking the edges with some vertical stitches (to keep the gathers from coming apart). I then opened up the two inches of material I left on either side to extend and prepared to sew the ruffles on top. <br />
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I had purchased this pre-made green ruffle that was attached to binding tape but didn't have a use for the binding tape material, so I wound up sewing two parallel lines with a contrasting thread, one to close the tape and the other along the preexisting seam, from one end of the two yards of tape to the other, including over the front of my apron. Later I hand-tacked the extended side of the skirt to the ruffle so that it would all lay flat and no stitches would show. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Requisite hand stitching.</div>
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The only thing remaining was the top! I remembered I had a ruffle from a skirt I modified a few years ago, so I cut off a piece long enough to run along the top, folding the edge back behind the ruffles to hide it. I also took the remaining piece of binding tape, sewing it shut as I had with the ruffle, to use as the neck strap. Not knowing how long to make it, I left it very large; Comrade MM will just need to a tie a knot to make it the correct length. Like the skirt, I inserted the top ruffle and the neck strap ends (being careful not to twist the material) in between the two layers of shirting and then sewed one seam to close the sandwich. Because of the placement of the button on the shirt I was not able to sew completely across the front; I later went back and handsewed that little segment.<br />
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Last, but not least, I wanted to have a pocket. I think what had inspired me most about this entire project was the idea to have a pocket made out of a sleeve. So, taking one of the sleeves I removed earlier, I cut it to a hand's length and, after ironing the seams, I pinned it to the skirt to attach. Because I used a blouse, I was able to unbutton the sleeve and open it wide enough to sew along what became the back of the pocket, and then sew on top of the other three sides. I made sure to reinforce the upper corners.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
The sleeve-pocket.</div>
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Et voila! That's it! It was so much fun I made another one that someone among you readers will be getting for Christmas. At least I hope she reads it! And if she doesn't, it will be even more of a surprise...<br />
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Next up, a suuuuuuper cute and easy baby dress!<br />
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But first, a really beautiful rosewater tart (also made by me, perhaps with recipe to follow. It's easy but requires a lot of eggs):<br />
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Garret Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01530390185615165587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777815790920729251.post-4204482535628376282012-05-12T17:39:00.001-04:002012-05-12T17:43:00.589-04:00Update, part twoHere follows an update to what I started yesterday. Perhaps this sort of diary doesn't make for such an interesting read (I find it a little boring myself), so I'll try to finish quickly.<br />
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After the concert at the AGO, I participated in the school's next New Music Ensemble concert. This one took place at school in Mazzoleni Hall, one of the two concert halls on the property aside from Koerner. In addition to reprising the Saariaho work from the COC Amphitheatre concert I premiered a piece by composer So Jeong Ahn called <i>COOL!</i>. It was scored for voice, flute, horn, viola, bass, percussion, and electronics and was a setting of Gwendolyn Brooks' poem "We Real Cool."<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W2SPg1FmwoI/T67GkhY32yI/AAAAAAAAAbs/Zj5FVhn-hBM/s1600/6912-050-EBC6D9EE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="274" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W2SPg1FmwoI/T67GkhY32yI/AAAAAAAAAbs/Zj5FVhn-hBM/s400/6912-050-EBC6D9EE.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here's a photo of her from Encyclopedia Britannica.</div><br />
If you go to <a href="http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15433">this website</a> you can hear her talk about and then read the poem. It's pretty delightful.<br />
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We worked with Ms. Ahn individually over the course of the semester. The first meeting consisted of a lot of improvisation on my part, experimenting with sounds and textures that were often tangentially related to the text, and each time we met we continued to work to get the material exactly as she wanted it. While I've performed works with electronic components before, especially Anna Lindemann's compositions, I'd never done anything that was as dependent on the live interaction of the performer and the electronics system. In this situation, all of us had a small microphone attached to some part of our instrument (mine was by my mouth, as you might expect). The microphone picked up my sound and fed it to an interface, which was attached to my computer and to an amplifier. Then, when I depressed a pedal, it passed through a filter controlled by program called Live-Elektronik Patch (I think it's a German program) and then out of the amplifier. At different points in our scores we had indications to depress (and release) the pedals and to press a space bar changing the filter that would modify the sound. The one downside to performing with electronics, at least in our setup in a broad semi-circle across the stage, was that it was hard to hear what the ensemble sounded like as a whole because of the position of the amplifiers. However, I think that the piece had a good reception! The experience was quite interesting and it was a delight to work with Ms. Ahn, who is very creative and kind. <br />
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At the beginning of finals week the school set up mock auditions for those of us in the Artist Diploma program. For our half-hour auditions we prepared five arias and brought in the typical audition package of headshot, CV, and so forth. After we sang the panel, composed of people representing different facets of the musical scene, gave us verbal feedback about the audition. Though I never find auditions to be the highlight of my musical experience, it was so helpful to have the chance to go into this sort of situation with the same sort of nerves and worries that one might in any other audition and then to have immediate input about both successes and shortcomings. I'm so glad that we had this opportunity. <br />
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The following days were filled with final "exams" (actually concerts) and preparations for my recital, plus staving off whatever chest cold was getting me down with some oil of oregano. That stuff works, let me tell you! My recital was the following Sunday. I learned a lot from preparing this program, particularly about the amount of time and effort it takes to organize a large ensemble, which I needed for the Handel motet <i>Silete Venti</i> that I performed as the second half of the concert. Now that it is over, I wish I could do it again! It is always hard to put so much work into something and only have one chance to do it--but I guess that's what the future is for. I'm already cooking up ideas for the next one...<br />
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And now I'm getting ready for the summer. I leave on Tuesday to go down to New York and I'll be returning to Toronto in early June for the Tafelmusik summer program.<br />
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But, I leave you with this photo as a parting memento:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OzecDzQ_OU0/T67Y1L6pb4I/AAAAAAAAAb8/WeGt-mWPzDY/s1600/Photo%2B14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OzecDzQ_OU0/T67Y1L6pb4I/AAAAAAAAAb8/WeGt-mWPzDY/s400/Photo%2B14.jpg" /></a></div>Paulie (who is by now freed from his cone) and I posing as the Virgin of Guadeloupe and the infant Christ. I hope that I shall flesh out (heh) this into a series over the summer! Stay tuned...Garret Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01530390185615165587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777815790920729251.post-3960055535534544862012-05-11T23:46:00.001-04:002012-05-11T23:46:33.327-04:00Sigh... it has been so long that I updated my blog that not only have I forgotten much of what has occurred--and that which I remember would certainly take up more than just one blog post--but the entire blog interface has changed and now everything looks different and confusing. Such are the ways of the world.<br />
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What has happened? Well, <i>Calisto</i> went up, for one! Many things changed from my initial description of the project, but the end product was just as beautiful as I would have hoped. Well, almost--they never were able to make the "fountain" spew "water" (a.k.a. dry ice fog) long enough to last through my aria about it. But one can always quibble! In all seriousness, though, getting to work on this opera was a fascinating experience. I thought about this opera and the various characters so much, but as an individual mind with freedom to apply my own prejudices to everything. When you bring an opera to life with a company, everyone enters with their own discrete opinions. Perhaps it's a bit as if everyone begins as a sphere, but as time goes on and you begin to understand your fellow cast members the edges of your beliefs begin to blur, melding with others, expanding and contracting, until it all fits together like a puzzle. I do love performing, and dressing up in my costume, and sitting in hair and makeup, and waiting backstage, but I also love the work of being in your rehearsal skirt for six hours on a Saturday and of imagining everything and trying and probing and poking and stripping away until everything makes sense.
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And eventually it looks like this:
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Photo Credit Nicola Betts<br />
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I was really lucky that many of my family members came to see the opera: my father, grandmother, mother, aunt, uncle, and cousin! What I didn't fully anticipate was how exhausted and busy I would be. It didn't help that I had an audition (for Tafelmusik's summer program) the morning after the final <i>Calisto</i> performance, or that we were still in school, or that I had a million other things I was supposed to be doing. I wish that I had more time to spend with my family and with the friends that came to see the opera. It's really neat to be able to perform for people you know, to remember that they are in the audience, and a real luxury given that I am so far away from home. This was the first time my mom had ever seen me in a staged production.
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The week after the opera we had more visitors: Ryan's family and the composer John Harbison. Ryan gave a recital at the COC's Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre that Thursday, performing Mr. Harbison's two piano sonatas. The night before, he came over for dinner and I made two different kinds of curry which went with one of Ryan's beers. I didn't get the chance to spend much time with Ryan's family, though, because I was busy with a master class that Friday and a different concert on Saturday night. The next week both of us returned to the COC for another concert, this one with the GGS New Music Ensemble. Ryan was playing the orchestral piano part in this beautiful Saariaho violin concerto and I was singing a piece of hers for voice and harp called "Il Pleut." Initially written for voice and piano and utilizing the entire span of the piano's range in the single line of a slowly descending chromatic scale, it's not exactly the most luscious concoction you could imagine. Preparing the work with the harpist, Emily, was an exercise in patience. It took time to let the piece, which is sparse like the cold and wet day it describes, develop its own meaning. I think, though, in the end it was beautiful and different.
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I can't really recall what happened after that. Ryan and I performed at Schubert's "Viola" at the Art Gallery of Ontario during an afternoon of performances by GGS students. Neither of us had visited the museum before, which we found to be quite beautiful and large. The AGO and the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) both feature older buildings updated by modern architects. I've written about how I feel the ROM's renovation was less successful, but the parts of the AGO that I've seen were quite beautiful. We were situated in the central court, which is mostly the old building but is intersected by a winding wooden staircase. Stained a warm orange-golden color, walking up the staircase almost feels like being in a slot canyon.
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I think I'll leave it at that and sign off for now. On Tuesday I go down to New York for a performance at the beginning of June, so hopefully I'll have the chance to write more soon.
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Oh! Now I remember: another New Music Ensemble concert, mock auditions, final "exams," and, of course, my recital. And that doesn't even cover all the baking I've done. Well, another day.Garret Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01530390185615165587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777815790920729251.post-35307595575207232582012-02-26T17:06:00.000-05:002012-02-26T17:06:20.725-05:00RehearsingLast week marked the beginning of staging for <i>La Calisto</i>. It was our second week of "break" from school (the previous week was when I was in New York performing <i>Theory of Flight</i>), but it would be more accurate to say it was our second week without classes, as 273 Bloor St. West has been bustling with activity, from the orchestra concert with Leon Fleisher as conductor and soloist to the auditions for next year's students to our week of rehearsals. <br />
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These rehearsals are much like what I experienced when working with Yale Opera. We begin by reviewing each act with with a read- and then sing-through, attended by our Italian diction coach, as well as the usual crew: the director, music director, répétiteur/other music director, stage manager, and two assistant stage managers. Then we move into staging. Those needed for the scenes in question are called for a several hour block. Rehearsal props approximate those that will be used on stage, including full skirts (which means that all of the ladies playing ladies are robed in these candy-pink polyester taffeta concoctions). We're rehearsing in one of the smaller performance spaces in the building, Conservatory Theatre (yes, Canadians spell things strangely) and the outlines of the set are taped onto the floor. The performances will be in Koerner Hall, which you can see here in a photo I stole from the internet:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DF3gCol2Atg/T0qiA-2sIoI/AAAAAAAAAZk/S78i09d1wKQ/s1600/IMG_2301.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DF3gCol2Atg/T0qiA-2sIoI/AAAAAAAAAZk/S78i09d1wKQ/s400/IMG_2301.jpg" /></a></div><br />
A pyramid of steps (a ziggurat, if you will--there's fifth grade coming in handy!) will be built in the center of the stage and turned on an angle. Sheets of cloth will be hanging from the ceiling, designed to evoke trees, upon which lights and images can be projected. We'll be in Edwardian garb. I haven't seen my costume yet, but when we were measured the other day a few students saw some of the sketches. I've heard that Mercury will be in a driving outfit and Jove will be in a tuxedo, and Diana has a riding/hunting outfit. In my mind, this makes Calisto and the other nymphs a little like the Gibson girls below--independent to a degree but still hemmed in by society--but I guess I'll see soon enough. Oh yeah, and then there's the bear costume. No word on that either!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OAX7RJ_YFhQ/T0qhy-vmNsI/AAAAAAAAAZY/HHeYp_DOLBI/s1600/cdg_00.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="210" width="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OAX7RJ_YFhQ/T0qhy-vmNsI/AAAAAAAAAZY/HHeYp_DOLBI/s400/cdg_00.gif" /></a></div><br />
And, true to the original executors of this opera who spent a sizable chunk of their budget creating a real fountain with real water on their 1651 stage, it seems as if there will be some stunning magic. I don't want to spoil the effects for those of you coming or get in trouble for revealing such things beforehand (I don't know that I would, but I'd rather avoid it), so perhaps they shall wait until later. Since we're not in the space yet, it's all in my imagination anyway! And it really is funny how far that will take you. After a couple of days rehearsing with the taped outlines in Conservatory Theatre, the steps began to feel real, and when I see the space in my mind, it is in 3-D. I was wondering if I were just a little too enthusiastic about this whole endeavor when the person playing Diana mentioned to me that she sees them that way too. Guess we're all going a little crazy! <br />
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While we're "on stage" working, even at this early juncture, we rely on a whole host of people on the other side of the room. Two people are playing continuo, the director is directing us, the stage manager is writing everything that we're doing down on little sticky notes that are positioned and repositioned any time something changes, and the assistant stage managers are I think doing the same thing, plus carrying out other tasks and making everything happen. They're perhaps a little like unicorns: they possess magical properties of amelioration and healing, but you never see them at work because you're too busy pretending to drink out of an imaginary fountain. Well, perhaps that analogy was stretched a little, but the gist of it is that putting on a stage production requires an enormous amount of work, much of which is behind-the-scenes and is deserving of at least as much applause as the folks on stage with flapping mouths. <br />
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My favorite part about the staging process is the act of uncovering the character. No matter how hard I try to explore all the nooks and crannies when studying and preparing a role, new surprises emerge when they step onstage. All of a sudden, patterns of words take on new significance, perhaps certain phrases that I felt pointed to action are now more lethargic: new impulses are discovered. It feels a little like what I imagine sculpting to be--you start with a block of stone and, slowly but surely, the figure emerges. It's so much fun. This director's style involves both freedom for the actor but also incorporates (at least here) a fair bit of physical comedy and/or specific physical gestures, which require exact timing, so often we'll begin by feeling our way into a scene and then continue by sharpening and refining edges. <br />
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Thus far we've made it almost to the end of the second act. Classes start up again tomorrow so we'll be relegated to evenings two days a week and Saturdays again, though I think all of us would rather remain immersed in staging. I know I would! That and voice lessons and I think I'd be happy forever.<br />
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And when I haven't been in rehearsal, things have been sometimes chaotic at home. On Friday, I wasn't called in for 10 am rehearsal for the first time all week, so I decided to make bread (a pain de mie). It was a dreary, sleeting day and I had just put the loaves in the oven and went outside to take out the trash and recycling from the basement before eating lunch when... the door was locked! And I was locked out! And the bread was in the oven! And the cat was inside! And I had to be at rehearsal at 2:30! And I didn't have any money or my cell phone! Luckily I was wearing shoes and a neighbor I'd met once before was home; she was able to help me get Comrade MM's phone number, who told me to take the taxi to her workplace where she gave me her keys and taxi fare, and I was able to get home just at 2:00 to see the house safe, the bread perhaps salvageable for croutons, and the cat alive. Though I did slip when I was running inside to get some more money for the taxi and bruised my hip and hand. And I didn't have time to eat lunch and I was so hungry. It was a long, long day. <br />
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And in the meantime, Our Paulie of Many Diseases (at one point diagnosed as a bacterial infection, yeast infection, roundworm, and ringworm) has donned a cone of shame. It seems he doesn't have ringworm but the verdict is out on the cause of his suffering (perhaps a food allergy? ear mites, if the last culture was faulty?), so he has to wear a cone until he gets better. He is rather miserable about it.<br />
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Here he is on my bed, surrounded by the detritus of yesterday and looking rather morose:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NkH0GDjpbuU/T0qpyfWs5sI/AAAAAAAAAZw/Nw4LiZQdCZU/s1600/2012-02-25%2B23.53.55.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NkH0GDjpbuU/T0qpyfWs5sI/AAAAAAAAAZw/Nw4LiZQdCZU/s400/2012-02-25%2B23.53.55.jpg" /></a></div>Garret Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01530390185615165587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777815790920729251.post-63089595491027237052012-02-21T23:12:00.000-05:002012-02-21T23:12:15.907-05:00Adventures of the Bird Spirit<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fu3iJShKHXQ/T0RMMOtSmEI/AAAAAAAAAXs/jDfsODalc94/s1600/TofFWebBanner_for-homepage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="189" width="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fu3iJShKHXQ/T0RMMOtSmEI/AAAAAAAAAXs/jDfsODalc94/s400/TofFWebBanner_for-homepage.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Last week I traveled to Hamilton, NY, home of <a href="http://www.colgate.edu/home">Colgate University</a>'s Ho Tung Visualization Laboratory, a planetarium (see below), to perform Anna Lindemann's <i><a href="http://askewmusic.com/TheoryFlight.html">Theory of Flight</i></a>. Anna is one of my friends from Yale and also one of the most inspiring and creative people that I know. She was in my residential college and a year or two ahead of me in school. We sang together in the Yale Glee Club my freshman year and collaborated on another project, <i>Bird Brain</i>.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0ZzBmcXDGzQ/T0RLh8O-G1I/AAAAAAAAAXg/uCedak0L-EU/s1600/Dalai.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="250" width="250" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0ZzBmcXDGzQ/T0RLh8O-G1I/AAAAAAAAAXg/uCedak0L-EU/s400/Dalai.jpg" /></a></div>Here is the Dalai Lama visiting the planetarium! I'm not sure what the date of the photo is, but I think it's a few years back though relatively recently.<br />
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Perhaps you have heard me talk about this piece before; I performed in the premier last year at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (see the photo I stole from the internet):<br />
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The story of <i>Theory of Flight</i> can be found on Anna's website (along with a video of our original performance and many photographs), but I'll try to sum it up here too. <br />
First of all, the question of genre: <b>What is it?</b><br />
I'm not sure how to answer that question, still--though I think this is a good thing. <i>Theory of Flight</i> has two characters, a scientist named Alida and a Bird Spirit. The scientist (played by Anna) only speaks; the Bird Spirit (played by yours truly) only sings. It is a staged work. In addition, there are two sets of animations: one which serves the purpose of a chalkboard (albeit the most beautifully-designed chalkboard you've ever seen) and another which serves as both focal point and backdrop in the scenes featuring the Bird Spirit. The animations were made using both stop-motion and computer programs. The accompaniment to my singing is all electronic and is executed with <a href="http://www.synful.com/index.htm">Synful</a>, a synthesizer (I think that's what you'd call it, anyway). Anna wrote and created and made all of these things, plus collaborated with her cousin Ky on the costumes.<br />
Now that we've straightened that out, <b>What happens?</b><br />
Again, perhaps a little difficult to say. Essentially, the scientist Alida becomes obsessed with achieving flight in non-avian species (namely herself). Over the course of the drama, she falls deeper and deeper into this obsession, eventually amputating her arms and--through the help of science--growing wings. All of this is presented under the guise of a lecture series; we see Alida at three different points along this trajectory. Interrupting all of these lectures are appearances by the Bird Spirit, who sings arias which are related to material from the lectures. Alida is able to grow wings from her amputated arms but these are not powerful enough to let her fly, and it is only through intervention by the Bird Spirit that she is able to achieve her goal. <br />
In the first production, the space at RPI (shown below) featured a rigging system.<br />
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At the end, Anna was literally able to fly, making smaller arcing leaps and finally a long flight across the stage while I was singing a final aria. The new location being a planetarium, it did not feature any rigging. So, a lot of this past week was spent thinking about the meaning of the ending. Would Alida really fly? How does the Bird Spirit feel about this? How much of this is in Alida's mind? And vice versa?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Avp6o9jiE58/T0RYOmjhb0I/AAAAAAAAAZA/hkroYZ3P3GE/s1600/5685901082_9bde6b4638_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="265" width="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Avp6o9jiE58/T0RYOmjhb0I/AAAAAAAAAZA/hkroYZ3P3GE/s400/5685901082_9bde6b4638_z.jpg" /></a></div>A photo from the first performance. Alida is attached to the rigging and wearing the wings given to her by the Bird Spirit.<br />
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Eventually it became clear that the best way to be a convincing Bird Spirit was to have a separate storyline from Anna/Alida. In my Bird Spirit mind, I was a scientist of some sort myself. Alida was my subject in an experiment and the intercalary arias (sung in English) were therefore not Alida's dreams but the Bird Spirit's way of influencing my test subject. Planting the idea of using an axolotl blastema as a means to introduce embryonic avian genes was not so much divine intervention (as Alida might think) as a further step in the experimental process. Eventually the Bird Spirit realizes--partially from wisdom and partially from jealousy--that her experiment has gone awry. Perhaps the Bird Spirit was hoping for company in her lonely life, but eventually found the introduction of another powerful figure into bird-dom too threatening. Perhaps Alida actually does represent a far greater danger to birds in her new half-bird state. If we are to ascribe human emotions to the Bird Spirit, it is most likely the former masquerading as the latter. Regardless of the reason, the Bird Spirit decides to ostracize Alida. In this iteration, the final aria (sung in bird speak) is not a celebration of Alida's successes but an affirmation of the Bird Spirit's bird-ness and also a cautionary tale: did you learn so little from Icarus' attempts? Beware lest you too fall from great heights. <br />
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The three performances went quite well (and were very well-attended), but Anna and I were a little flummoxed by the audience's somewhat bemused receptions to the first two shows. There are parts of <i>Theory of Flight</i> that are funny, but the first two audiences were very subdued. The third performance was our best despite some technological glitches, largely because there was so much positive energy coming from the other side of the room! At first we were worried that the community of Hamilton wasn't used to something so different, but in the end it seemed that it was a combination of factors: a large number of younger children in the audience (who tolerated the show quite well but probably didn't get much of the science) and also the afternoon performance times. The last performance was on Saturday evening and was followed by a Flying Feast, an edible, bird-themed reception designed and concocted by Ellie Markovitch and Rose Mitchell. Thanks to the appreciative audience, the Saturday night show felt more spontaneous than any of the others. At the Flying Feast we were able to talk to some of the attendees, many of whom seemed so excited by the mix of media and disciplines. Several of the professors expressed either delight at seeing scientists talk to artists (an art professor) or were impressed by the ability of artists to discuss important scientific processes (a science professor). It's always gratifying when you have a performance that seems as if it will stick in someone's mind for a while.<br />
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Anna was able to get a grant from Colgate to put on three performances of <i>Theory of Flight</i> along with a Flying Feast and to pay for the sundries of transportation, lodging, food, and fee for all involved (including the tech crew, made of Colgate students, operating all of the confusing computers and lights). One of Anna's friends, a luminous person named Emma who often wears amazing pants and is talented in so many ways that perhaps it is enough to say that she is luminous, was the director of the RPI show, but she could not come to this performance. So, we were joined by a friend of Emma and Anna's and another Yalie, yet another luminous individual who is also playwright and actor but is named Alex. I think Anna has a knack for meeting interesting people. Anyway, Alex and I stayed at <a href="http://holcombsbandb.com/5MillStreet.aspx">Holcomb's Bed and Breakfast</a>, a friendly establishment run by the loquacious and gracious Karen. It was such a luxury to have the opportunity to drop my daily cares and to be able to focus on the task at hand. I had been worried about taking the gig because I only had this one week off from school this semester and thought I might need the chance to recuperate. In the end, I think that this trip was both more rejuvenating and relaxing than a week at home could have been. Instead of sitting by myself in a practice room, I was working on character development for the Bird Spirit and thinking about how it might apply to Calisto. Instead of just worrying about my ribs and support while staring at a mirror and poking my sides (which I also did at the B&B), Alex gave us warm-up acting exercises that quite often dealt with some of the same issues we constantly ponder as singers. It was also wonderful to be in a little town with bright stars and deer and quiet nights. And, as always, it was a gift to get to work with Anna and, for the first time, Alex, and to meet new, friendly faces in a new place. It's stuff like this that makes me miss Yale.<br />
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And now back to work. I returned on Sunday, continued to brush up on Calisto on Monday, and started our week of intensive staging rehearsals today. Also, as a postlude to my bike saga: today I brought it in to a bike store near my house, Sweet Pete's, where it was fixed by an affable and competent mechanic, for free, in a few minutes. <br />
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But I shall close with a few photographs:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F-RIEtV4d_c/T0RVh3GjZXI/AAAAAAAAAX4/I_hNkItmn4c/s1600/P2153966.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F-RIEtV4d_c/T0RVh3GjZXI/AAAAAAAAAX4/I_hNkItmn4c/s400/P2153966.JPG" /></a></div>A ladybug found in my room one snowy morning. I put it in a plant inside because I thought it might be too cold outside.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AezeomKIBsA/T0RVu7LyayI/AAAAAAAAAYE/6lMhP7ju9wY/s1600/P2163972.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AezeomKIBsA/T0RVu7LyayI/AAAAAAAAAYE/6lMhP7ju9wY/s400/P2163972.JPG" /></a></div>The farm literally next door (fresh eggs for breakfast!)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CWp_lPXPsRU/T0RXeExeTYI/AAAAAAAAAY0/pOSGkOuul4M/s1600/P2163992.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CWp_lPXPsRU/T0RXeExeTYI/AAAAAAAAAY0/pOSGkOuul4M/s400/P2163992.JPG" /></a></div>Some plants in the field across/up the street/creek.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nbNzlXI75eE/T0RW8MjvPXI/AAAAAAAAAYo/R5eh7gyaMXU/s1600/P2164000.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nbNzlXI75eE/T0RW8MjvPXI/AAAAAAAAAYo/R5eh7gyaMXU/s400/P2164000.JPG" /></a></div>Garret Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01530390185615165587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777815790920729251.post-15275702439736129712012-02-14T12:40:00.000-05:002012-02-14T12:40:21.065-05:00Bicycle Repairs: A Cautionary TaleWhen I arrived in Toronto I quickly realized that the most affordable way to travel in the city was by bicycle. Public transportation is very expensive, I live too far from school to walk, and a car was out of the question. So, within a few days I bought my bicycle, a 1970s Canada Cycle & Motor Co. creation in brown, in cash, on a random streetcorner, off of the back of a van from a transgendered person named Alex. It's nearly identical to the one pictured below except that it is more funky looking, is missing the kickstand, and has a ladies' style frame. (I'm writing this post from New York, where I'm doing a performance of Anna Lindemann's <a href="http://askewmusic.com/TheoryFlight.html">Theory of Flight</a>, so there are none of my own pictures at this time. I'll add some later, probably.)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HvExhz55sq0/Tzp8J4WKzvI/AAAAAAAAAVI/8Yn-vjhZGSw/s1600/CCMbike.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HvExhz55sq0/Tzp8J4WKzvI/AAAAAAAAAVI/8Yn-vjhZGSw/s400/CCMbike.jpg" /></a></div><br />
It had some definite issues when I purchased it but I fixed a few things, added a back rack and a handy-dandy green milk crate for a basket, and was soon cycling away. It's really quite a comfortable and sturdy little bike, and fast enough to keep up with even the most hipster of Toronto bicycle enthusiasts, who always seem to carry their U-bolt locks in their belts. When the rains came I realized that the brakes didn't react well to the wet weather; they were very unpredictable and gripped poorly. I also realized that the bike didn't like freezing temperatures and the brakes sometimes had trouble releasing when it was too cold outside. Finally, the shifter didn't really work, but that wasn't much of a problem because I always kept the bike in the highest gear anyway.<br />
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I had thought that I'd have to start taking the subway when the weather got a lot worse, but this winter has been so mild that I've been biking through it. Two Thursdays ago I was riding home after finishing work, but forgot to take into account the rush hour traffic. My bike route takes me from my house, just north of Bloor Street, all the way down this busy, four-lane thoroughfare to my school. Toronto clearly has transportation issues, and in addition to the number of cars on the road (and clearly as a byproduct of this overcrowding, as well as the stress of winter weather) the roads are in poor condition. Anyway, this particular Thursday I was just past the worst congestion when some self-important driver in an SUV ran me into a giant pothole. I was fine, but my bike was not; when I dismounted I could see that the chain was off and the shifter was askew, but I couldn't fix it because the bike has an internal hub and I had no idea what to do. I did count my lucky stars, however, because I had purchased a Groupon a few weeks prior for a tuneup with Cyclepath. Though the bike store was several miles from my house, it was a great deal and I had been planning to get the brakes adjusted already--here was my chance! <br />
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The next day, I brought my bike (by subway) to the <a href="http://cyclepathtoronto.com/">Cyclepath</a> location near Yonge and Eglinton. When I dropped it off on January 27th, the mechanic gave it a thorough looking-over, telling me that some of the extensive issues might be more than what their usual tuneups covered and that the bike needed a new shifter, giving me a quote of an additional $40. The staff was very friendly and predicted that the bike would be ready by Monday, as they said they had the requisite internal hub shifter in stock. I left my email address and Ryan's cell phone number. Monday came and I didn't hear anything from them, so I called and was informed that the bike would be ready on Wednesday. Wednesday came and I didn't hear anything from them, so I called and was informed that the bike would be ready on Friday. Friday came and went with no word. Each time I tried to tell them that my bike was my primary mode of transportation, that I have to go to school and back at least once a day, that I use my bike for grocery shopping, but they were largely unsympathetic and said that there had been a mix-up in their parts order and there was nothing they could do but wait for a shipment from Vancouver. Finally, on Tuesday afternoon (twelve days later) they called Ryan and told him that my bike would not be ready until the end of February. I didn't have the chance to call them back until Wednesday, when I asked if it would be possible to fix my bike provided that I procured the necessary part. "Sure," they said, as long as I would take the responsibility of finding and bringing the part to the shop.<br />
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I was so busy at school that I didn't have the chance to call around until Saturday, but Comrades M-M and J told me to check with <a href="http://www.ucycle.com/">Urbane Cyclist </a> first. One quick phone call to the friendly folks at Urbane and I was told they had something in stock that they thought would work. When I called Cyclepath on Saturday I finally spoke to someone who was helpful, an older gentleman who is a mechanic there. He offered to call Urbane to confirm that the part would fit my bike, saving me the trouble. Sure enough, it would fit, though I still needed to pick it up and bring it to the shop. However, he promised the mechanic on staff would fix it while I waited if I could bring it in on Sunday! I had rehearsal all day on Saturday, but Ryan offered to get the part for me and on Sunday I took the subway out to Cyclepath, part in hand. When I arrived around 2:30 I was informed that there wouldn't be enough time to fix the bike before closing at 5:00, but I guess I complained enough that the mechanic on duty said he would try. I sat in the shop until he finished at 4:15, though he later told me it wouldn't have taken as long if the shop hadn't been so busy (I think three or four groups of people came in; there were two other men working at the same time). As I was waiting, one of the men who works in the shop--the one who had told me that I could find the part myself if I wanted to get my bike fixed in under a month--was explaining that Cyclepath is owned by two former CEOs. I guess they're brilliant at pinching pennies because they've devised the following business plan: provided they have little in stock in the first quarter of the year, their taxes will be correspondingly low! Clearly, the problem of the elusive shifter wasn't just that I brought my bike in during the "slow" season, and not just that bike parts manufacturers are notoriously difficult to deal with (though they are), but that the owners were trying to keep as little in the store as possible. Now that may work very well for some weekend rider who keeps his $4,000 bike in a garage and pulls on spandex when the weather is nice, but for a daily commuter, keeping your bike in working order is necessary and trying to get repairs done in a timely manner is crucial. (To his credit, the guy was not happy about this state of affairs.)<br />
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They wheeled my bike from the back of the store when it was done. When I looked at the shifter it was clear that the part had been put on inexpertly at best, as there was a gap in what was supposed to be a close-fitting part, but I couldn't stand trying to deal with these people any longer, paid the remaining balance of $3.12 (much less than I had thought!), and got out the door. Only to discover that not only was the shifter funny looking, but it was also backwards. And though my bike has three gears, it will only shift into two of them. Backwards. Also, my poor green milk crate is definitely worse for wear, with extra cracks and bits broken off from rough handling while in the shop. Otherwise the bike runs just fine and the brakes work a little better than they did before; when I was riding home it was snowing but my bike handled the weather pretty well. <br />
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Now, I don't want to complain unfairly. After all, I don't know much about bikes, though I did speak to the Comrades about their experiences with other bike shops in the city and about the parts supply chain and they assured me that Cyclepath could have at least tried a little harder to help me out. For example, why didn't they do me the favor of trying to get in touch when they realized the repair would take longer than expected? Waiting twelve days is a little extreme, plus if I had known the expected repair time earlier I could have bought a February monthly pass; because of the long delay, the window for buying the pass was already over when they finally called. Also, why didn't they think to tell me to look for a part? And though it seems it would be asking far too much, why not look for the part themselves if they want to keep their customers happy? If they're billing me for the part anyway, it's little extra cost to them! M-M suggested that if Cyclepath was going the route of social media (the Groupon) to gain business, I could at least write a frank review of the shop in turn. <b>So, in a nutshell, here it is: if you have a fancy new bike purchased from Cyclepath, I am sure that the staff will be more than happy to assist you. If you are a normal person with a normal budget riding a perfectly adequate bike, I would suggest that you stay far away.</b> My guess is that they will assume, as they seem to have done with me, that you won't notice when they install parts poorly and will treat you with little regard to your needs as a consumer. Plus, they have a really bad parts selection!<br />
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This is how I've fared so far:<br />
Total for parts and labor: $35.20<br />
Approximate cost of alternate transportation: $88.40<br />
Total approximate cost: $123.60 (more than the cost of my bike to begin with)<br />
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In the end it wasn't much of a deal! Plus, I still have to take my bike to another shop when I get back from New York to get the shifter fixed properly.Garret Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01530390185615165587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777815790920729251.post-75875363207587491612012-01-24T23:14:00.000-05:002012-01-24T23:14:06.592-05:00In which I discover that Manitoba does not have the thickest topsoil in the worldJanuary already, you say? The end of January? Time does fly...<br />
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After a too-short but wonderful trip to the east coast to see friends and family I was home in California over break. I didn't do much, which was exactly what I wanted. By the end I didn't want to leave the safety and comfort of home, but as I was flying back to Toronto I remembered how lucky I am to be in school studying something I love. When one takes the time to stop and count one's blessings, it is amazing how many one can find. <br />
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Back in Toronto, school started up with a vengeance. Most of my classes are the same; no more French or Spanish, but with the addition of Italian. We've already had one master class for the ADV program, a repeat of one we had in the fall with Wendy Nielsen. It was really interesting and helpful to have the chance to work with her again, and she once more gave both fantastic individual coachings and a public class on Friday. I'm making some recordings for summer programs in a few days so I went over some of the repertoire I'll be singing for that (some Schubert, Wolf, and Messiaen). In my Concert Repertoire class (taught by my voice teacher, Monica) we're now studying Fauré's song cycle "La Bonne Chanson." I wasn't familiar with it before but I'm so glad we have the chance to delve into it now; late Fauré is so satisfying to sing (and is fascinatingly chromatic and different). <br />
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We're also in the thick of music rehearsals for Calisto. Last night there was a bat squeaking around in the rehearsal room, Mazzoleni Hall! Somehow this led to a protracted discussion about bats and then California and then agriculture, and I was informed that Manitoba does <i>NOT</i> have the thickest topsoil in the world! Apparently it's in this former marshland area north of Toronto. <br />
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What else novel to report? A furry denizen, Paulie the polydactyl cat (kitten)! He is seven months old now, I think, but about as big as a fully-grown cat. He is rather rambunctious. He enjoys playing games and trying to be as annoying as possible, and he has amazing paws. And a lopped-off ear. He is also dangerously cute, which makes up for him rattling toys about in the middle of the night and attacking your feet when you try to walk across the kitchen. He is quite wonderful. Zenith takes the cake, of course, but that's no surprise...<br />
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Since returning I've made some pretty tasty bread (a pain de mie) and, just this evening, some molasses-almond-walnut-dried fruit granola and some chocolate chip banana bread. Recipes to follow, but a picture of tonight's efforts for the moment:<br />
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And now I shall delve into something girly and discuss bras, which may alienate a portion of my readers. Sorry 'bout that...<br />
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Today on my bike ride home I stopped in at <a href="http://secretsfromyoursister.com/">Secrets from your sister</a> because I ride past it every day, and because I'd noticed they had a big "sale" sign in the window. It's a bra shop and I knew I'd heard something good about it in one of the free Toronto magazines or something, so I figured I'd stop in. Turns out that, though it's not in the nicest of neighborhoods and is situated across the street from a discount store that's lit up like a circus, it is priced WAY out of my league. The bras run from about $120 to $190 and the sales rack didn't have anything in my size. Despite the fact that I arrived with my backpack, lunchbox, and biking gear, they were surprisingly friendly and took the time to fit me properly even though I explained that I probably wouldn't buy anything. I've known for some months that I've been wearing the wrong bra size, but unfortunately I also discovered that my band size isn't made by most bra manufacturers. It turns out I need a size 30 and I guess there isn't much of a market for anything below 32. I didn't even know that sizes below 32 existed until I measured myself a few months ago and was confused by the numbers... consequently I'd been keeping my eyes open for bras with a size 30 band but hadn't even seen any in any stores since then. Anyway, though I didn't buy anything, the salespeople at the store were very helpful and very kind. It was a strangely empowering experience, and I felt more comfortable there than I have in most stores I've wandered into in Toronto--and I wasn't even wearing a shirt. And people were poking me. Now that says something! Hopefully this will also serve as a reminder to those of you that haven't been recently fitted that... you're probably wearing the wrong bra size! Because apparently most of us are! Including me! So, you might want to see if there's another friendly place like this in your area and get yourself properly sized up. So to speak.<br />
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And, as a coda to this disjointed post, then I went to Economy Fruit and the Economy Fruit Lady was back! She had been gone for a long time and I was despairing a bit, but I am so happy that she has returned.Garret Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01530390185615165587noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777815790920729251.post-64032553778748747842011-12-10T23:11:00.000-05:002011-12-10T23:11:30.195-05:00A pianist, a bassoonist, and a soprano take Georg Friedrich Haas to Niagara Falls...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VbAQdq71DR0/TuQrtsnQgxI/AAAAAAAAATk/lsRCYj97B9o/s1600/2011-11-20%2B13.36.21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VbAQdq71DR0/TuQrtsnQgxI/AAAAAAAAATk/lsRCYj97B9o/s400/2011-11-20%2B13.36.21.jpg" /></a></div>(An image of the Toronto Christmas parade a few weeks ago.)<br />
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Oh oh oh. (Ho ho ho?) It sure has been a while. I vacillate between wanting to update this blog every few days and forgetting about it for weeks. I think many things have happened recently, though I typically have forgotten most of them. We celebrated American Thanksgiving here a few weeks ago, on the Sunday after normal Thanksgiving. It was strange to be here and to know that everyone in the States was gathering for big meals and family while we were in classes, as usual. Luckily--thankfully--the Comrades upstairs joined us in a feast a few days later. I bought a free-ranged, Mennonite-raised chicken from Gasparro's meat market and made a dizzying array of dishes including: the roasted chicken (simple, with herbs), <a href="http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/2000s/2005/11/polenta-and-sage-stuffing">polenta stuffing</a> (both vegetarian and with meat), a warm cabbage salad with pomegranate, a <a href="http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/2000s/2007/12/wild-mushroom-bread-pudding">mushroom bread pudding</a> (for the vegetarian entree), and two kinds of desserts (an <a href="http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/2000s/2009/09/apple-pie-with-cheddar-crust">apple-pear pie with a cheddar cheese crust</a> and <a href="http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/2000s/2006/12/raspberry-chocolate-french-macaroons">almond/chocolate macarons</a>). Ryan made some mashed potatoes and Comrade MM made a delicious "sexy squash soup" and really fantastic Brussels sprouts, both from recipes in the New York Times. My recipes came from Gourmet magazine; though I changed most of them heavily I think they're all very interesting and you may enjoy clicking the links above to see them for yourselves. The bread I used in the bread pudding was also home-made and has been quite a hit recently--it's the one from a few posts back that we ate with soup. This is my third time making <a href="http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/2000s/2009/02/cracked-wheat-topknots">this recipe</a>, and I've been changing it up with a few other additions/substitutions including wheat berries, sunflower seeds, oats, molasses, yogurt, lower-fat milk, etc., as well as making loaves instead of rolls. <br />
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Originally I'd thought I'd write a post about Christmas in Canada. It seems to come awfully early here, though perhaps I was largely sheltered from the holiday marketing in New Haven, Connecticut. There was is little in the way of big-box retail downtown, within student reach, and I was so busy that I guess I avoided it. Here, though, it smacks you in the face on November 1st. It felt a little forced in the beginning, but now that we're actually midway through December all of the lights and decorations are beautiful. There are a number of lit-up houses on our street and of course the department stores and malls all have lots of displays. Many of the corner groceries sell Christmas trees and wreathes, so the air is perfumed when you ride by. Ryan and I went to the Distillery District last weekend to have dinner and discovered that it is turned into a Weihnachts festival, complete with Weihnachtswurst and little wooden stands selling little gifts. It was rather lovely, though cold. In fact, winter seems to have finally arrived--today was positively (negatively?) frigid! It has also snowed a few times over the past few weeks, though nothing has stayed for long. My voice teacher, Monica Whicher, gave a beautiful recital last weekend of holiday music with harp (a bit like the album I recently recorded). It was wonderful (and instructive) to watch and hear her sing. She has a commanding stage presence in that she invites you into the space she creates and holds you rapt from beginning to end. I was very glad I had the opportunity to see her perform.<br />
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We've also had a smattering of excellent master class artists recently, most notably Sir Roger Norrington. Perhaps some more musings on him later, as what he had to say about period performance practice--particularly vibrato--was very interesting, but I think I would like to move on to the joke which I began in the title.<br />
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It is not so much a joke as real life, as Ryan, a bassoonist friend from The GGS, and I did take Mr. Haas to Niagara Falls. But it was a funny, somewhat surreal experience which I shall recount here:<br />
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After a few mishaps with the renting of the car (the bassoonist doesn't have a license but wanted to use his credit card, and the two names had to match; Ryan was to drive but doesn't have a credit card; and I arrived to help them out of the mess by officially renting the car myself) that put us a bit late to pick up Mr. Haas, we were on our way. He is extremely soft-spoken (and for those of you who don't know, he's an Austrian-born spectralist composer best known for the piece "in vain" which the New Music Ensemble performed a few days ago and which occurs, in parts, in complete darkness) and kind. His English is good, though he worries it is not good enough. He is always able to make himself understood, though, and I had fun talking to him a bit in German. He was happy to talk about his music and about his inspirations, though he seemed more animated when we started discussing Death Valley. <br />
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As a side note: when my dad and I were in the Southwest this summer we realized that about 80-90% of the people we encountered similarly exploring the Great Outdoors were either French or German. A bit of a mystery, I guess. How do you explain a bunch of Germans in southeastern Utah? Is it because the Euro is stronger than the dollar? Why aren't they in New York? Haas explained that it was his first time in a desert, ever. Perhaps we are too quick to dismiss the profound (and unique) natural beauty of our own country, even when we are enjoying it. Recalling the German landscape, and perhaps even the Romantic ideals of nature, it does make more sense that they would want to see our country. Anyway, I digress... <br />
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The day was overcast and cold and the trip relatively uneventful. We arrived in Niagara Falls City, a garish strip of blinking lights and towering hotels advertising breakfast specials. It's hard to imagine an uglier city, except maybe Las Vegas. They're rather similar. There are a lot of casinos and such. But, just as we passed an Alpine-themed restaurant advertising a $1.99 breakfast special and covered with murals of people in Lederhosen (closed, but up for sale!), I caught a glimpse of the falls. And they really are beautiful. I'm sure because we were there with a composer I was more attuned to the sounds they made than I might have been otherwise. Standing above the falls, the crashing sound of the water is not very strong. The sound of the river as it flows along is full of higher-pitched, gentle sloshings in counterpoint with the rumble from way down below. The volume of the water and depth and breadth of the falls is incredible. I know there are bigger ones out there (Victoria Falls, Iguazu Falls, probably others), but I haven't seen them. Haas pointed out that it is hard to train your eyes on one particular spot on the falls: you want to keep following the water, making that continuous glissando that appears in so many of his works. It was a little like being in a stationary car when a truck is pulling forward. Though you're immobile, you feel like you're going backward. In the same way, the water made you feel as if you were shrinking and the falls were growing. A little Alice-in-Wonderland-esque. <br />
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We walked around them for a while and eventually decided to try to make it to the other side of the gorge, America! So we walked to a bridge which had a little building with a funny little turnstile and a 50 cent toll. After collecting the proper change, we all pushed through and walked across the bridge. On the other side we passed through customs and I was finally in America after so many months! How exciting! I called home! On the other side of the gorge you can walk along the falls and the river, and over a series of bridges, to traverse the span of the island and falls. When we finished exploring it was almost nightfall (and very cold) so we looked for somewhere to eat. Nothing gave. There was a pitiful Christmas market, like in the Distillery, but on a Wednesday no one was out and about save ourselves and a few hardy vendors. Eventually we reached a giant casino, bedecked in stained glass and architecturally rather similar to a mega-church from the 1970s. Slightly creepy. Across the street: a TGI Fridays. Ryan and I had never been and Haas was hungry, so we went in. There literally wasn't a single vegetarian item on the menu, though they accommodated Ryan's request for a vegetarian pasta without question. Mr. Haas, luckily, seemed very happy with his steak (he is German, after all... and then I remembered the meals I had in Regensburg which, despite my efforts to the contrary while ordering, always seemed to result in a boiled hotdog floating forlornly in a soup tureen). <br />
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He very generously treated us to dinner in America and we traipsed back in the cold, over the bridge, through Canadian customs, and back along the river. By then the falls were illuminated in colored lights. Perhaps it was only in contrast to the beacons of consumerism--the giant guitar of the Hard Rock Cafe, the flashing signs and neon lights--but they were actually somewhat beautiful. It was nicer when, just as we were leaving, the lights became just white and the brilliance of the cascading water was illuminated further. In the huge plume of mist that results from the falling water in the Canadian falls the lights created circles of rainbows which seemed more like nebulae, images from the Hubble Space Telescope, than anything else.<br />
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The next night was the first performance of "in vain." I had heard slips and snatches, bits here and there, but not the whole piece. The effect was incredible. I haven't had an experience like that for a long time, probably not since hearing El Niño live at Carnegie Hall a few Decembers ago. There were moments of extreme beauty despite all the microtones grating against each other, something that usually gives me a headache. Because we often categorize those sounds as "noise" rather than music, parts of the piece were distinctly non-human and sounded more like machines than anything I'd heard in a concert hall. I had one strong mental image of an airplane flying happily through an Alpine meadow. Not a real airplane, but one which was native to that clime. I don't know why. The parts of the piece that were to be played in complete darkness were wonderful. I don't always like the dark. I'm not afraid of it, but with my bad eyes I think I value the light even more than I might otherwise. I especially love the sun now, when sunset comes so early. Anyway, I wasn't sure if the whole "pitch black" thing would come across as a gimmick. When the first period of blackness came, I was actually more frustrated that they hadn't achieved a true blackout. The exit signs were covered but light seeped around the edges, and the person controlling the light cues in the box was apparently inattentive and some light entered from there. I closed my eyes against the distractions and listened. In many ways it felt like a more true concert experience than what I normally enjoy. My mind often wanders, which I don't feel to be a detriment, but sometimes it wanders to inconsequential things and I begin to watch people. With a blackout, you are both alone with the orchestra and together with the other darkened bodies, but you are free to listen in a sort of stillness that comes from this sensory deprivation. The second blackout section is interrupted by flashes of light which become stronger and last longer as the piece progresses. These too were strangely powerful, another form of percussion. They were also very beautiful. You do not want the blackness to end, to be returned forcibly to the humdrum of people and clothing and faces and instruments and walls and chairs. I was so grateful for the opportunity to meet Mr. Haas, to see Niagara, and to experience his music.<br />
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Finally, <a href="http://news.discovery.com/animals/squid-glowing-bacteria.html#mkcpgn=rssnws1">here is a link to some beautiful pictures (and a little information) about one of my favorite types of squid</a>.Garret Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01530390185615165587noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777815790920729251.post-42811357077061436302011-11-20T22:26:00.001-05:002011-11-20T22:28:31.378-05:00UnrestWhat an interesting few days it has been. This week saw another visiting master class artist, this time Timothy Noble. Working with him was illuminating and I feel like I made some fantastic progress. Hopefully I can keep it up! The issue with "quick fixes" on technique, as Ryan and I were discussing, is that one can become overzealous (or over-reliant) and then a fix can quickly become another fault. Such it is with life as a whole, I think. Anyway, it was once more a fascinating experience to work with yet another great teacher privately and to hear and watch him work with the other students in the master class on Friday. We're very lucky that, in the AD program, we'll get to work with both Timothy Noble and Wendy Nielsen (the previous master class artist) again in the spring. We're very lucky that we get to have master classes with so many talented musicians and teachers! And private lessons too! Ryan was busy as well, as he played at Beethoven sonata for Leon Fleisher, who is a quasi-faculty member at The Glenn Gould School, on Friday morning and with his trio for James Boyd, another visiting master class person, on Thursday. (Clearly I was also rather busy in the office last week.) <br />
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After the hustle and bustle I was looking forward to a relaxing weekend. I will begin rehearsing <i>La Calisto</i> next weekend so I was hoping to polish up the first act and learn some more Schubert and Messiaen (and continue working on technique, using my new tools!) in relative calm. However, I woke up feeling a little inexplicably sorrowful on Saturday. Nothing was really wrong, so I wasn't sure what was pressing on my mind. It was the day of The Game, so I was following along on my computer in the morning and absentmindedly waiting for the noon kickoff. I wasn't particularly concerned with the outcome; in fact, I expected we would lose (again... we haven't won since my freshman year). Quite frankly, I'm proud that my university devotes more resources to providing a stellar undergraduate education than to the football team. That's why we're better than Harvard. Ahem... <br />
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Anyway, I was poking about facebook when I first came across this video of the student protests at UC Davis: (warning--the video is graphic and disturbing, particularly at the beginning) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WmJmmnMkuEM#">http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WmJmmnMkuEM#</a> . I haven't been paying that much attention to the Occupy Wall Street protests. I saw a bit of footage of the Oakland riots and of course the New York Times will post photographs and articles from time to time. I knew that UC Berkeley students and been treated unfairly but I must confess that I didn't watch any of the videos (of them being beaten with clubs and assaulted by the police) at the time. I'm happy that the Occupy Wall Street protests are happening, and I definitely believe that we all--especially the top earners--need to be paying more taxes, but I don't have a problem with people making money or being successful. So, it would perhaps be safe to say that I'm really glad other people are doing the dirty work for me. Perhaps--though it is unlikely--you have not heard about what transpired. Though news reports are often conflicting, it seems that a group of students decided to camp out on the large quad area at UCD on Thursday. They received permission from the chancellor to do so. They provided food to many people, including passersby and the police (even the police officer that later sprayed the students. He was, by a student account, quite friendly at the time). On Friday the chancellor decided that the students could not stay. She ordered them to leave. Most of the students did disperse and most of the tents were packed away. It seems that about 10 tents remained by 3:30, when the police arrived. I believe that at this time they were told to pack up their belongings, so they put the tents away. However, the police still wanted to arrest some of the students. So, they began to arrest people. The students that were there (initially about 20) began to form a seated circle, with their legs crossed and arms linked, but left a pathway for the police to move in and out. More and more students began to arrive to watch the unfolding scene. Eventually, and without warning, the police began to spray the seated students with pepper spray. When the students did not move, the police sprayed into their mouths. When they tried to protect themselves with their clothing, the police sprayed under their garments. The police held people to the ground. I believe that 11 students were taken to the hospital to be treated for pepper spray-related injuries. Some were reportedly coughing up blood over an hour later. <br />
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It is one thing to read about what happened and another thing entirely to watch it unfold, if only from the safety of your computer screen. I almost started crying, not just because you can clearly hear screams of anguish from the sprayed students but because watching their reaction to the police is also deeply frightening, even if it is ultimately uplifting. Perhaps that's a funny way to express my feelings. I don't mean to imply that I believe the students were in the wrong, or that the actions of the police were in any way justified. In fact, I believe the students have provided a shining example of bravery and calm in the face of brutality and oppression. They're amazing. What is frightening is the sheer power they exude, the power of a group verdict, the power of a clan in the face of this armed, hostile other. Perhaps awesome (in its original sense) is a better word for them. The students prove here the impact of nonviolent protest. Though the video is disturbing, I highly recommend that you watch it to the end. <br />
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So. All that is unfolding, and I watch the video, and the football game begins, and we are typically losing... and then I hear that a woman was killed at the tailgate. It seems that some student (who was sober) lost control of a UHaul truck and crashed it into three women, killing one and injuring two others. Yet the festivities continued. I suppose I understand why they wanted to continue The Game, but it seems awfully callous. I don't know. What a tragedy for the family and friends of the woman killed and for the poor student, who will have to live with the consequences of his mistake for the rest of his life.<br />
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Oh, and then we lost the football game, 45-7. Oh well.<br />
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With all that, my sadness upon waking suddenly seemed rather justified.<br />
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In other (happier) news, a Toronto outlet will be selling the Etherea CD (now released in hard copy), which is still performing quite well. We got a really wonderful review in Opera News, also rather exciting. I did manage to learn the music I wanted to learn. Comrade MM made a wonderfully delicious Indian meal in which Ryan and I shared on Saturday night, full of various curries. I had originally planned to write my next post about Canada and Christmas, as Canadians seem to start celebrating awfully early, and indeed Ryan and I encountered their big Christmas parade today (Santa was there!), but it all seems a little trivial now. I will post pictures and thoughts at a later date, though.<br />
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In closing, I do highly encourage all of you to read about the UCD protests and to consider contacting the chancellor if you feel strongly about the situation, no matter where your loyalties lie. If you are interested in writing to her, here is a link to an online form: <a href="http://chancellor.ucdavis.edu/contact.php">http://chancellor.ucdavis.edu/contact.php</a><br />
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Here are also some links to articles which I have found interesting or illuminating:<br />
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an article by a UCD professor on militarization of the police<br />
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-ostertag/uc-davis-protest_b_1103039.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-ostertag/uc-davis-protest_b_1103039.html</a><br />
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an opinion editorial by UC Berkeley professor and poet laureate Robert Hass, who was beaten by the police<br />
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/20/opinion/sunday/at-occupy-berkeley-beat-poets-has-new-meaning.html?ref=opinion">http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/20/opinion/sunday/at-occupy-berkeley-beat-poets-has-new-meaning.html?ref=opinion</a><br />
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an interview with a student who was pepper sprayed at UCD<br />
<a href="http://boingboing.net/2011/11/20/ucdeyetwitness.html">http://boingboing.net/2011/11/20/ucdeyetwitness.html</a>Garret Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01530390185615165587noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777815790920729251.post-28009273764577408542011-11-13T21:03:00.001-05:002011-11-13T21:08:37.262-05:00Encounters with the Pantheon in Downtown TorontoSo. It has been a really long time. I think a lot of things have happened, but I've been busy so I haven't noticed. Really, the most eventful moments have probably been in the kitchen. Oh, and the <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/ceremony-of-carols/id475439834">CD I released with Etherea</a> that has been selling rather well. The digital release was on November 1st and it is available in hard-copy starting on Tuesday, the 15th. Currently we're 14 in the nation-wide "Billboard" charts and still number two (after falling from number one, which we held for a week) in the "traditional" new releases on iTunes. Ahead of Lang Lang and behind Hélene Grimaud. <br />
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Otherwise life is chugging along at its usual pace: lots of singing mixed in with some learning and then the boring "life" stuff. Halloween came and went; Ryan and I didn't do anything eventful (other than make dinner and help to hand out a little candy) because it fell on a Monday. November entered the picture and with it came the end of daylight savings. Now it is pitch dark by 5:30, which is a little sad. On the plus side we didn't get any of that pre-Halloween storm that blanketed the East Coast and the weather has been perhaps unseasonably warm. It might snow later in the week, but if it does it will probably just be a dusting. Otherwise I've been chipping away at learning <i>La Calisto</i>, thinking about technique, and working on some shorter assignments for school. <br />
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We have another ADP master class this Friday with the baritone <a href="http://info.music.indiana.edu/sb/page/normal/901.html">Timothy Noble</a> but luckily for me there is slightly less pressure as I'm not singing in the class itself, just in my coaching with him (we alternate, so all of us sing publicly in three classes but in private lessons for all six visiting master class artists, plus there are two extra classes this year, with Susan Graham and Ian Bostridge). I'm not sure what I'll be working on for Mr. Noble, but I've had Schubert on the brain of late so it may be some of that. My teacher recommended two songs of his to me: a short but beautiful one called "Florios Lied" (the only drawback being that about 45% of it sits on an F-natural, right in the passaggio...) and a 13-or-so minute long <i>Blumenballade</i> (or flower ballad) called "Viola." "Viola" is pretty awesome. It is somewhat like a giant version of the Goethe poem/Mozart Lied "Das Veilchen," but grafted onto a piano sonata or something like that. The poem (and song) alternates stanzas of storytelling with a refrain that, as one eventually realizes, rings with funeral knells for the dead violet. Per usual, the song is not so much about the different flowers of spring as it is about unrequited love. Poor Viola just gets too excited, stops paying any attention to anything but the coming of Spring, and then freezes to death. The music that falls between the refrain stanzas (there are a few strophes between each refrain) changes from strophe to strophe, with different textures and figurations in the piano reflecting the changing sentiments. It is rather nice. Highly recommend a listen.<br />
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So. I'm sure there are more things to talk about and think about, but for now I will segue to a photo essay, which will surely prompt memories...<br />
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Aha!<br />
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Long, long ago, in a galaxy far away, we made butternut squash ravioli for dinner. Ryan and Comrade J are working the assembly line:<br />
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I went to see Mlle P. in a ceremony at her school a few weeks ago because she was nominated for an award and her parents couldn't make it. Her school is French immersion, so it was interesting for me to witness both Canadian public education and also hear a little Ontario French. Here she is proudly displaying her certificate!<br />
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That Friday, after attending the ceremony, I went to the Royal Ontario Museum (we had the week off for a fall break/extra rehearsals). It is the subject of some controversy, as a prominent architect was hired to update the building and he wound up designing this "crystal" that juts out from the original facade. The museum is next door to the school and I happen to think that it looks very pretty from the outside, but I have to agree with some of the critics when I say that I'm not sure it does much for the interior. The museum is somewhat confusingly organized, with a collection that is very strong in some aspects but lacking in others. The crystal is made of big windows, as the name might suggest, but these are also blocked to prevent harmful light from damaging the collections. So, one winds up wandering amongst dinosaur skeletons in a sort of strangely white atmosphere. Not my favorite. There were some smaller collections of art of all sorts, including a few beautiful early pieces and some interesting folk art, as well as a large collection of Asian pottery. Some of the most interesting pieces of Asian work were the early "native" pottery examples, actually, not the beautifully-formed pots with jade-colored glaze. Perhaps unsurprisingly, early Chinese pottery looks a lot like Anasazi/pueblo work from the American Southwest.<br />
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One of my favorite pieces, however, was a wooden sculpture of the Virgin Mary standing with the infant Christ in a crescent moon. It struck me as oddly similar to the Artemis/Diana-Selene conflation that occurred in the post-Classical era...<br />
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The trees are less golden now than they appear here, but there are still leaves left on the branches:<br />
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Since then, I've clearly been busy with some interesting food.<br />
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On Halloween, I baked "Pane Francese," following a recipe from Mr. Hitz's book, to have with roasted vegetables and buckwheat groats:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-heBZY3mKjdc/TsByhJ_AwEI/AAAAAAAAAQc/hN6smXsxiBo/s1600/PA313723.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-heBZY3mKjdc/TsByhJ_AwEI/AAAAAAAAAQc/hN6smXsxiBo/s400/PA313723.JPG" /></a></div>One loaf is topped with poppy seeds and the other with sesame seeds.<br />
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I also must have made stir-fry of some sort involving zucchini, and then noticed how beautiful they are in cross-section!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-va4tsNCcKHo/TsBy8J0albI/AAAAAAAAAQo/9m0_ijuE2KI/s1600/PB023746.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-va4tsNCcKHo/TsBy8J0albI/AAAAAAAAAQo/9m0_ijuE2KI/s400/PB023746.JPG" /></a></div><br />
Last Sunday I made a pie crust with a little whole wheat flour because apples were on sale at Economy Fruit. So, I made an apple pie augmented with some leftover Thanksgiving cranberry sauce and some almonds and oats.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UEY4dL75XSU/TsBzNkOPJfI/AAAAAAAAAQ0/hfE4GcCOiFw/s1600/PB063752.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UEY4dL75XSU/TsBzNkOPJfI/AAAAAAAAAQ0/hfE4GcCOiFw/s400/PB063752.JPG" /></a></div>Not pictured is the quiche I made later in the day with the remaining half of the pie crust. Talk about a fancy dinner! Quiche and pie! It was a good quiche. To make it less eggy, since Ryan doesn't really like eggs, I spiced it up with some garam masala. Yum!<br />
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The next night I decided I wanted to have some aioli, so I made it and lightly cooked some vegetables for dipping. It was reminiscent of some very good meals I had this summer at a friend's house! However, I was at a loss as to what I should do with the remaining egg whites. Until I decided to make French macarons: almond cookies, of course, with a raspberry-dark chocolate ganache. And they were pretty much divine. I highly recommend them. They are also apparently notoriously difficult to make but really behaved quite well. Not too tricky! I followed a recipe from Gourmet.com but made a few changes to their ganache.<br />
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Another picture, just for good measure:<br />
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A few days later I made my usual sojourn to Economy Fruit and picked up the following cornucopia-worthy items for only $6.50. The woman who works at the checkout might just actually be Demeter/Ceres. Seriously. Cere-ously.<br />
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The one drawback is that I have had to get very, very creative with the cabbage. Cabbage salad. Cabbage in couscous. Home-made falafel with cabbage. Andddd... that brings us to last night's dinner: minestrone soup.<br />
I made vegetable stock by roasting vegetables and then made soup and bread in the evening. Here's the soup, bubbling away (before I added the cabbage):<br />
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And the bread, which was made following another recipe from Gourmet magazine involving bulgur wheat (and let me tell you... it is delicious!! I literally pulled one of the rolls out of the oven and ate it. The recipe made 12 medium-sized rolls and one medium-sized loaf):<br />
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And that, folks, is all for now. I need to spend some more time thinking about cabbage-filled recipes.Garret Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01530390185615165587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777815790920729251.post-85353036613960111592011-10-23T12:59:00.000-04:002011-10-23T12:59:04.781-04:00ThanksgivingsMore busy days following each other, and falling faster than the leaves. It's hard to believe that it's past the middle of October. I actually wrote the first half of this post around the 12th or so, thinking I'd finish it a few days later, and here it is already the 23rd.<br />
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A few weekends ago was Thanksgiving, a seemingly less-entrenched holiday than in the States but with the same general traditions and customs: turkey, stuffing, lots of different vegetables in rich autumnal colors, and a cornucopia of desserts. What are missing are the less-savory features of American Thanksgiving: the crazy shopping day, the sports games on television, even less marketing of food... The Communists planned a big dinner with five other adults and another child, plus us and the three of them, so Comrade MM was busy in the kitchen for days. Because they can't have gluten she has been experimenting over the past weeks with different pie crusts and finally found a very delicious alternative. It doesn't behave quite like the crusts I'm used to (those have much more elastic dough, whereas this crumbles a bit), but it bakes beautifully and has a pleasing nutty color and taste. I made my favorite flourless chocolate torte (from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Joy-Pastry-David-Munn/dp/0812045173">The Joy of Pastry</a>, an excellent book given to me by my Aunt Karen when I was in junior high and still in much use. And if you follow the link you can see that it is now rather inexpensive on Amazon! Get a copy for yourself!). I make a few changes to the recipe and I've included it below in case you're interested. It's simple, reliable, and really delicious. Comrade M got her free-range turkey from the Italian butchers down a few blocks on Bloor Street, Vince Gasparro's Meat Market (retail & wholesale!). I went there a few weeks ago when Ryan was out of town to buy a few sausages and had a great time chatting with them in Italian. Vegetables came from Economy Fruit and the grocery store, and table decorations were provided by Mlle P and myself. Comrade MM's old dog, Millie, (both elderly and no longer hers full-time) came to visit too. So, overall, the house was full of people, activity, and good food. The only bummer was that I was rather sick and had a fever and my nose was running like a champion marathoner.<br />
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The first vocal master class happened last Friday too, with <a href="http://www.johnmacmaster.com/">John Mac Master</a>. This was for the (generally) younger students in the Performance Diploma Program. I wasn't sure what to expect from him, having spent a while looking at his somewhat imposing photograph and redacting his rather thorough bio, but so thoroughly enjoyed hearing and watching him work with the other singers. He was very generous with his time and delightfully funny and self-effacing, but most importantly he was able to work very effectively with them on technique problems. Most voice master classes seem to skirt these issues for fear of stepping on the toes of their usual teachers or frightening the singers, but he chose to focus on the most basic element, breathing/support, and talk about it effectively and clearly. Despite going through about a roll of toilet paper for my running nose and running a fever (I did my best to sequester myself to a deserted section of chairs in the back row; we're required to attend all master classes and I thought it would be bad form to miss the first one) I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I went up to thank him afterward and was tickled to discover that even he had noticed: he told me he'd been hoping I would sing because he could see my face and it was very expressive. (Which hopefully also means that he couldn't hear me honking away...)<br />
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So that was Friday the 7th. The following Friday we had auditions for the spring opera, coincidentally Cavalli's <i>La Calisto</i>. For those of you who somehow managed to escape hearing me talking about this opera for an entire year while I was writing my senior essay, this is an amazing work that (in my opinion, at any rate) provides an insightful commentary on the state of moral decrepitude in Venice at the middle of the 17th century. I first heard/saw the opera in my junior year when I was taking Professor ER's class on Cavalli and was entranced by both the audaciousness of the libretto and the beauty of the score. That led to a term paper about the work, which I further developed into my senior essay, and the rest is history. Or something. Though if I get a DMA, just think: an entire real thesis about Cavalli/Faustini's mythologically-themed operas. Yes. So exciting. So anyway, we had auditions; I sang that incredible recitative/lament/recitative bit from the end of <i>Il Giasone</i> about being hacked into little pieces and hoped that the panel would glean from that my (perhaps unreasonably) undying love for Cavalli in general, and for <i>La Calisto</i> in particular. <br />
<br />
And then it was a busy weekend of concerts (Gidon Kremer and his trio playing wacko Russian music by everyone's favorite, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofia_Gubaidulina">Gubaidulina</a>, and Louis Lortie tickling the ivories throughout the entirety of Liszt's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann%C3%A9es_de_p%C3%A8lerinage">Années de pèlerinage</a>). (Oh, and Lortie gave a masterclass on Friday as well. I went, and really learned a lot. I must confess that I'm not a big Liszt fan, but Lortie's discussion of voicing and color helped me to appreciate the music and the importance of Liszt as a composer and artist.) <br />
<br />
And then all of that was followed by a busier week of classes (I sang in every single one, so lots of music to prepare), visitors (Ryan had a recital on Friday night and the <a href="http://andrewmcpherson.org/">composer</a> of one of the pieces, <i>Secrets of Antikythera</i>, was staying with us), master classes (including one with <a href="http://www.wendynielsen.ca/home.html">Wendy Nielsen</a> for the ADP voice students entailing individual coachings and then six of us singing in class, including me), recitals (Ryan's aforementioned), and trying not think about the audition results (which still hadn't been posted). The week came and went, I managed to prepare all of my music, I had an illuminating coaching with Wendy Nielsen (she's wonderful!), I made a lot of cookies for Ryan's recital, and finally it was Friday. There was only a minor disaster with the programs: misinformation had made it to the master class database and I'd prepared the wrong list. There were nine minutes to spare so a new set of programs were printed... good thing I was there... The master class was just as interesting as the coaching, and I was particularly impressed by Ms. Nielsen's ability to connect whatever technique point she was talking about with both the student singing and with the other students in attendance. Many of us have similar problems, of course, so she was able to help us fix the issues as we were working on them and also to use the other students with similar tendencies as further examples. Genius! Plus it's always incredibly gratifying to work with a teacher and feel like you're making progress, and to hear that progress so clearly exemplified by the other students as well. And in the middle of master class, right before I was supposed to sing, they posted the results of the opera auditions. And I'll be playing Calisto come March. I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunity and still a little floored that I really, truly, actually get to sing this music. <br />
<br />
Ryan's recital was wonderful and went off without a hitch, and then he and the composer left for the States, magnetic resonators in tow, and flew on an airline that gave him lots of free cookies and beer (Ryan was very happy). And he'll be down there for the rest of the week recording the piece and we have the week off at school so I'm going to maybe actually see a bit of Toronto, instead of just shuttling back between home and school.<br />
<br />
And last night I saw Thomas Cooley (yay for Yale and people I know!) and Russell Braun sing beautifully in a concert of Mahler's <i>Kindertotenlieder</i> and <i>Das Lied von der Erde</i>. And this afternoon I'm going to see a concert of Zarzuela music performed by, among others, my Spanish teacher.<br />
<br />
Oh, and I almost forgot: Ryan and I made lasagna from scratch this past Wednesday (Ryan made the pasta and I did the assembly) and it was really quite delicious. He has some pictures on his phone so I'll have to get them from him later.<br />
<br />
Finally: the promised recipe for the flourless chocolate torte with candied ginger<br />
<br />
<b>Ingredients</b><br />
1/4 c. butter<br />
1 lb semisweet chocolate, in pieces<br />
1/4 c. heavy cream<br />
2 tsp vanilla<br />
5 large eggs, separated<br />
pinch o' salt<br />
~1/2 c brown sugar (or a little less, depending on the chocolate. You can also use white sugar; I just prefer brown)<br />
1/4 c ground hazelnuts<br />
1/4 c finely chopped candied ginger<br />
confectioner's sugar/cocoa powder for decoration, should you wish to use it<br />
<br />
<b>Directions</b><br />
<br />
With the oven preheated to 350ºC, grease/flour a springform pan<br />
<br />
Melt the butter and chocolate on a double boiler. When melted, remove from heat and add the cream and vanilla (and stir).<br />
<br />
Beat the egg whites and salt until they form soft peaks, and then add the sugar and beat until the whites form stiff peaks. <br />
<br />
Lightly beat the egg yolks and then fold them into the beaten egg whites. Don't over-mix. Then add the chocolate mixture and again stir gently. Add the hazelnuts and ginger. Don't stir too much! Don't let it deflate! <br />
<br />
Pour it into the pan and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until it is set. Let it cool before you do anything with it. And if you feel like it, make a stencil and dust with the sugar/cocoa powder to make an interesting design. Or just eat it. <br />
<br />
<br />
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Mlle P dancing, with a maple-leaf flourless chocolate torte in the foreground (and an experimental pumpkin pie that was truly delicious and which we ate for breakfast on Thanksgiving).<br />
<br />
Next time I'll have to post my cookie recipes. I've added a rather good peanut butter one to my repertoire.Garret Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01530390185615165587noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777815790920729251.post-31773488100370702252011-10-06T22:38:00.001-04:002011-10-06T22:39:09.733-04:00Challah for the Holidays(Challidays?)<br />
<br />
More bread!<br />
<br />
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I guess I spent the past year focusing on the whole wheat bread recipe I published a few entries ago, because I had forgotten about the surprisingly successful challah recipe that appears in Mr. Ciril "I want to scare off your pants" Hitz' book a few pages later. I decided to make some last Sunday after realizing we were low on bread and out of whole wheat flour (and I was too cold to go outside in the rain and chill to get some more) and despite killing the initial yeast in the sponge, having to add more, and letting it rise for far longer than suggested, it turned out rather delicious! Slightly more dense than the cotton-candyesque challah one can find, but still delicious and fluffy. So that's all to say that Mr. Hitz really won't fail you this time. And you don't have to have a weird steaming tray in your oven.<br />
<br />
One begins with a sponge. <br />
Combine:<br />
1 1/3 c flour<br />
1/2 c 75ºF water<br />
~6 tsp instant yeast<br />
<br />
Mix it up and allow it to sit, covered and undisturbed, for a half hour.<br />
<br />
At this point it might be good to set out the following ingredients so that everything is ready to go. <br />
<br />
Anyway, after a half hour, combine the following:<br />
The sponge<br />
3 2/3 c flour<br />
1/3 c sugar (I always use brown sugar)<br />
2 tsp salt<br />
2 tbsp honey<br />
2 tbsp 70º water (have more on the ready)<br />
3 whole eggs<br />
2 egg yolks<br />
4 tbsp oil (he calls for vegetable oil, I used olive oil)<br />
<br />
Mix it up for a while. He says eight minutes on low speed with your dough hook and another 8 on a faster speed. I used my hands and had to add some extra water and was confused because the yeast wasn't working very well.<br />
<br />
Anyway, after it's nicely mixed up, make sure your bowl is coated with a little oil and allow it to rise for 1.25 hours, or until doubled in size. If your yeast was dead like mine, you can always mix up some more instant yeast in some water, add it, and allow it to sit some more. Apparently this is forgiving bread.<br />
<br />
After it has doubled, separate the dough into some smaller balls and let them rest for 20 minutes or so. Then, roll them into strands and braid them together. Be creative! Make it look pretty! Have fun! I've made this recipe a few times and have found that I tend to make a very large but compact loaf. I bet that it would work even better, though, and perhaps be lighter and fluffier, if it were slightly more spread. I'll try that next time. Or perhaps some smaller rolls... it makes a lot of bread...<br />
<br />
Let it rest for another hour at room temperature, until it doubles again in size. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Before you put it in the oven, brush the loaf with a mixture of the egg whites and some milk and sprinkle with salt/sesame seeds/poppy seeds/other fun and delicious things. <br />
<br />
And bake it until it looks pretty brown and puffy. It will probably be 20 to 30 minutes depending on the size of the loaf.<br />
<br />
And there you go! It should emerge beautiful and resplendent and bedecked with little sesame seeds or poppy seeds or whatever you decided to put on top.<br />
<br />
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Just beware: it makes a lot of bread. See the pictures? Ryan and I haven't finished this loaf yet and I made it five days ago. If you're a single person, and particularly a single person who isn't carbo-loading for a marathon, you may want to halve the recipe. Or think of other uses... I KNOW! I need to make French toast!!! Just in time for Canadian Thanksgiving.<br />
<br />
In other news, I have succumbed to the same cold that has had Comrade J in and out of bed for the past week it seems (perhaps not that long? but he has been rather ill). I'm trying to fight it off with goldenseal, spirulina, zinc, sage tea, and mental fortitude. However, my nose may have the better of me. We shall see!<br />
<br />
And, in closing, an evil basement centipede (medium-sized): <br />
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<br />
(they get much larger)Garret Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01530390185615165587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777815790920729251.post-72371668094211353572011-10-02T18:30:00.002-04:002011-10-02T18:32:27.396-04:00To Famous People: where are your short bios?A short introductory note:<br />
<br />
As part of my job, I compile biographies for the various visiting artists. These are used on our website (150 words) and also in our programs (we have about a page of space). I assumed that this would entail pulling said biographies off of the webpages of said famous visiting artists. But, surprisingly, not one of them had a short form biography! And I'm talking about seriously famous people. What gives?<br />
<br />
So with that, read on...<br />
<br />
HELLO MUSICIAN FRIENDS,<br />
<br />
I write you this blog post to PLEAD that you follow the advice of every single person I've ever heard talk about self-promotion and actually include a short bio on your website. <br />
<br />
Now, if you're like me and have commitment fears and don't actually have a website then I guess you can pass for now. Though you should have a short bio rattling around on your computer somewhere... But if you're a famous person--say, one of the many famous people coming to our school to do master classes--PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE tell me where you're hiding your short-form bio!<br />
<br />
The funny thing is, I know you all know you're supposed to have a short bio. People are always asking me for short bios. They need something small to fit in the CD jacket (that's right! forthcoming Etherea Christmas CD! to be reviewed in Opera News just in time for the holidays! More on that later in October, when it's actually released). They don't actually care about you that much. They want to have the wham and bang and recent stuff and they won't actually read about the past. So I know you're all writing them. I know they're somewhere. I know someone is using them. Why the heck aren't they on your website? <br />
<br />
Yes, it's always really nice to know a lot of things about you, Mr./Miss/Ms./Mrs. famous musician. In fact, those personal details can really flesh you out as an individual and make me want to support you and enjoy your music even more. Though, Real Live Famous Person, that might not include your Maine Coon cat. I'm sure he's cute and fuzzy, and I like cats a whole lot, but even I think it's a little weird that he appears in your bio. But, for heaven's sake, when someone like me is writing a bio that will appear in your program for a public master class that you're teaching at a well-known school, I might just edit it down to a size so that only the part about your cat remains. I have that 150 word limit for the website, or that page limit for the program, and if you don't edit it down to a manageable size... who will? I can't include another page just to list the concert halls you appeared in on tour, unfortunately. The budget doesn't allow it! The trees are screaming in protest! And so poor hapless Lucy has to sit there with the delete key and try to figure out what actually matters. For some instruments that's easy, but sometimes (here's looking at you, wacky percussion/brass/harp players) I can't figure out what's what. And I might just take out that one detail that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy. Like your cat. <br />
<br />
So do us all a favor: include a short bio on your website! And if the cat's really important, put him in your picture like these stellar examples:<br />
<br />
Simon Carrington<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4ip4dSEA1fs/TojjpdL6S8I/AAAAAAAAANg/623vLnGuh6U/s1600/pastpic_simoncarrington.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="120" width="120" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4ip4dSEA1fs/TojjpdL6S8I/AAAAAAAAANg/623vLnGuh6U/s400/pastpic_simoncarrington.jpg" /></a></div>John Cage <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l2xqfoA0do1qaxihzo1_250.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="250" width="244" src="http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l2xqfoA0do1qaxihzo1_250.jpg" /></a></div>(actually he has two)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.freebase.com/api/trans/image_thumb/m/04j92nl?maxheight=510&mode=fit&maxwidth=510" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="392" width="270" src="http://img.freebase.com/api/trans/image_thumb/m/04j92nl?maxheight=510&mode=fit&maxwidth=510" /></a></div>Frank Zappa<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.reviler.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/frank-zappa-cat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="480" width="318" src="http://www.reviler.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/frank-zappa-cat.jpg" /></a></div>Even David Bowie! <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.remotecontrolcats.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/davidbowiecat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="700" width="499" src="http://www.remotecontrolcats.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/davidbowiecat.jpg" /></a></div>And Bob Dylan!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.reviler.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/bob-dylan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="272" width="400" src="http://www.reviler.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/bob-dylan.jpg" /></a></div>Garret Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01530390185615165587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777815790920729251.post-2017757416555907232011-09-25T13:17:00.006-04:002011-09-25T18:43:29.299-04:00Continuing Survival in the Face of Giant Zucchinis........................OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO............................<br />
<br />
That graphic is meant to represent my gasping mouth rising (if ever so briefly) above water. I guess it has been one of those weeks... or two... Which is not to say that things are going badly--it's just been really, really busy. And I got food poisoning. And Ryan had a bad cold. And... yeah, I guess it's just been one of those weeks.<br />
<br />
School has started, and with it an entirely novel (to me, at least) way of structuring classes and coursework. I'm taking Spanish Diction, Opera Repertoire, 20th c. Repertoire, French Diction, Acting, Concert Repertoire, and of course lessons and coachings. Add to that master classes and my job, coincidentally as the master class assistant. Regular courses meet for two hours, but only once a week, and most classes actually span both semesters. In fact, I believe that only my French diction class will last for one semester (to be followed by Italian and German in the spring). Instead of the lecture/student participation format to which I am accustomed, almost all of the classes are structured around performance. You might say, "what a novel concept for a music school!", but it really does seem different from the traditional class, including those I've observed at other programs. In general, three or four students prepare materials to present in class, discussing salient features of the piece and composer before singing. Then it proceeds in a largely master class-type format: critique (based on the subject of the class), discussion, and eventually someone new to repeat the format. Consequently there is more self-directed research that forms the basis of study and what is discussed in class pertains more to the execution of the music practically than theoretically. <br />
<br />
Ultimately it should all culminate with our regular master class series--a sort of heightened rendering of our regular classes. There are six regular masterclasses for the ADV students (and I think an equal number for the undergraduates), plus three "special" classes with Susan Graham, Ian Bostridge, and Sir Roger Norrington. (For the complete list of masterclasses offered at school this year, please follow this <a href="http://learning.rcmusic.ca/glenn-gould-school/performance-opportunities/master-classes">link</a>.)<br />
<br />
Otherwise, things are chugging along. Ryan was out of town part of this week to go work with Andrew McPherson in Philadelphia and Princeton (he's performing and subsequently recording a composition of McPherson's for piano with electromagnetic resonators). I've started figuring out the best places to shop for various items, from Economy Fruit to No Frills to Strictly Bulk, and hopefully that will become increasingly streamlined. While Ryan was gone I even visited Gasparros Meat Market--the butchers recommended to me by the Communists--and had a wonderful time chatting with them in Italian! Our room is finally coming together, too. We purchased a wardrobe, so I'm no longer living out of a suitcase, and even moved the big brown couch out of here, giving us a little more space. It was an adventure requiring the removal of two doors and a bannister, carrying the couch up a flight of stairs into the kitchen, out of the house and down some more stairs (around the corner) back to the basement, and then maneuvering it into the craft room, but we were successful! A woman from Comrade MM's church kindly gave us a bed frame...<br />
<br />
...which naturally segues to another topic: the communists upstairs! I have decided to refer to them henceforth as Comrade MM and J, respectively the mother and father of the house, in honor of their craigslist advertisement and to protect their privacy, and their daughter as Mlle P. Comrades MM and J use this name in their own online musings, so it seemed fitting to continue it here. They're really not communists, you know. Though they did play the Internationale at the dinner party we had last night... (Reproduced <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/L%27Internationale.jpg">here</a> in the original French!)<br />
<br />
Given the amount that has happened recently, this post should probably be even longer. Unfortunately there are errands to run and laundry to wash and practicing to do, so I think I'd better go do something productive. More later, I hope! And with less of a delay.<br />
<br />
Actually, a brief update from the kitchen:<br />
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Photo credit: Comrade JGarret Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01530390185615165587noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777815790920729251.post-23084793423691614812011-09-10T22:16:00.001-04:002011-09-25T16:11:54.749-04:00Food: Mr. Hitz's recipe for bread and psychological batteryTo begin, a butterfly from the Toronto Islands (visited today and perhaps the source of a later post):<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N-FgOs_h6wo/TmwZxQvDYzI/AAAAAAAAAMk/1kqvjTAIT34/s1600/P9103594.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N-FgOs_h6wo/TmwZxQvDYzI/AAAAAAAAAMk/1kqvjTAIT34/s320/P9103594.JPG" /></a></div><br />
And now to the subject of the post:<br />
I do love to cook/bake/make things in the kitchen, so perhaps one facet of this blog will be the odd--as in infrequent, though perhaps also strange--recipe. Those of you who have witnessed me in action (or know my dad's cooking) understand that recipes do not form the core of the Fitz Gibbon repertoire. My specialty, random things in a pot, generally turns out pretty well and doesn't require trips to the grocery store for extra ingredients.<br />
<br />
<i>Side note on random things in a pot: Dinner two nights ago. Ryan requested peanut sauce and noodles for dinner, I countered with peanut sauce and noodles on whatever cheap vegetables I could find. Enter: "Economy Fruit" and the $0.49/lb eggplant, plus the "No Frills" $1/head cauliflower. Exit: Stir fried eggplant with cauliflower, ginger, cilantro, garlic, onions, and peanut sauce/peanuts.</i><br />
<br />
Anyway, there are some items for which recipes are useful, like saag paneer and cookies and bread. My mom gave me this neat bread cookbook a while ago and I made bread for myself last year. I don't eat much of it, so the whole wheat recipe I followed was perfect because it made three easily-freezable loaves and one batch lasted me each semester. Ryan, on the other hand, likes it a lot. That's good because I still like to make bread and making it more often means more experimentation. I was slightly dissatisfied with the results last year, mostly because the bread was always a bit bitter--and I don't even particularly like sweet things!--but I was rather pleased with this iteration and thought I might post it for those interested.<br />
<br />
The recipe is adapted from <i>Baking Artisan Bread</i> by Ciril Hitz. The nice and also frightening thing about the book is that Mr. Hitz includes advanced techniques and explains everything very well, but he also INSISTS THAT EVERYTHING YOU DO WILL FAIL BECAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT INGREDIENTS AND YOU DON'T WEIGH THEM AND YOU DON'T HAVE A SPECIAL STEAMING RACK but if you want you can do these other less-good things and maybe your bread will be okay. BUT NOT AS GOOD AS IF YOU DID IT THE RIGHT WAY! But then you make the bread, fearing the entire time that your efforts will be in vain, and in the end it's pretty tasty despite the dire warnings. Anyway, hence the psychological battery.<br />
<br />
Once I conquer the most debilitating of my breadmaking fears, I do the following:<br />
the night before, mix together the following ingredients in a big bowl to make the biga: <br />
1 1/3 c. + 1 tbsp white flour<br />
1/2 c 70ºF water<br />
1.5*+ tsp instant dry yeast <br />
<br />
*I say 1.5+ because Mr. Hitz wants you to use some special yeast that I don't have, and he says it will fail if you don't use it... but it won't. The only problem is the conversion isn't exact (it should be 1.56 tsp) so I fudge a little. And it still works out.<br />
<br />
Anyway, mix it in a dough stand or get a strong spoon and combine all the ingredients. They will be sad and not want to mix together. You may need to add a little extra hot water if the flour or air is very dry. Put it in a bowl, or keep it in the bowl, coated with a little olive oil or something so that it can expand without drying out or sticking to the sides. Cover it with a dishtowel and let it sit out for 1 or 2 hours before going to bed. Press down on it to degas the dough before putting it in the fridge, loosely covered with some plastic, and wait until morning. Or tomorrow night, or whenever you have time to bake the bread itself.<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
Now that it is some other time after you have made the biga, you can make the rest of the bread, which goes like this:<br />
<br />
Take your biga<br />
and the following ingredients, which can be altered to suit your fancy provided that the general proportion of flour to other ingredients stays the same, but which at this moment reflects the bread I made on 9/6/2011:<br />
3.5 c whole wheat flour (at the moment I'm using white wheat, a sweeter wheat)<br />
1 c buckwheat flour<br />
2/3 c spelt<br />
1/3 c flax<br />
1/4 c honey<br />
1 tsp instant dry yeast<br />
3 tsp salt<br />
2 c+ 95ºF water (I often have to add a little more than 2 c)<br />
<br />
Mix these ingredients for a while. Mr. Hitz says to use your bread stand and mix on low speed for four minutes and medium for two minutes. I generally mix until it is combined, which will probably take a little while longer if you're doing it by hand.<br />
<br />
At this point, add the following nuts and seeds and things (unless you don't like them, in which case you can skip this step)<br />
1/3 c sesame seeds<br />
1/3 c chopped walnuts<br />
1/3 c rolled oats<br />
and mix some more until everything is combined.<br />
<br />
Now, make sure that your bowl has a little olive oil or something coating it and roll your ball of dough around a bit to make sure it's sufficiently moist and happy. Cover it with maybe a slightly moistened towel or something and let it sit. Mr. Hitz wants you to check that the temperature is between 75º and 78ºF using your digital thermometer. I have no digital thermometer. It will be fine. Anyway, let it sit for 45 minutes.<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
Come back! Check on your bread, which by now should have risen some. Stretch it out a bit, fold it up a bit, and let it rest again for another 45 minutes. Mr. Hitz suggests preheating your oven to 450ºF at this point. That's probably not necessary.<br />
...<br />
<br />
Now that another 45 minutes have passed, you are ready to divide your dough into two or into sizes that are sufficient for filling the bread pans that you have. Make sure they're coated with some olive oil or something, or the bread will stick. Shape the pieces of dough into loaves. Generally I tug them out until they're flatish and then roll them up a bit. Don't handle them too much, of course. If you want, you can coat them with more rolled oats. Or you can just put them in the pans. Cover those loaves again with your slightly moistened dishtowel or plastic wrap or whatever you're using and let them proof for 1-1.5 hours. (When they're ready, apparently they should recover almost--but not entirely--from being pressed gently with your fingers. This never makes any sense to me, but if you wait an hour or so, I think it will be ready.) <br />
<br />
While the loaves are proofing, you can start figuring out the oven stuff. Mr. Hitz suggests injecting your oven with steam, which can be achieved by putting a funky cookie sheet or something in there while you're preheating the oven and placing a wet dishtowel on it when you put the loaves in the oven. This will release a lot of steam and so you should definitely be careful that you don't hurt yourself, or fall in the oven because you can't see when your glasses are fogged up. Mr. Hitz thinks you will boil your arms off. I haven't done that yet, but you never know. I'd hate to create an army of armless breadmakers by suggesting this technique, so do be careful. Truthfully I have no idea if it actually helps, but I haven't tried not including it because I worry that it is the last step saving my bread from DISASTROUS FAILURE (Mr. Hitz really gets to you). In theory, the steam should allow the bread to rise more because the crust will not form as quickly. In reality, this is a dense bread that doesn't rise much to begin with. (Maybe it's because I'm not using the special yeast? I like dense bread, though, so I don't mind.)<br />
<br />
Anyway, put your loaves in the oven and either do or don't include the wet towel. Bake for 20 minutes at 450ºF. After 20 minutes, remove the pan with the towel and reduce the temperature to 380ºF. Bake for another 20 or 30 minutes. If they start browning too soon, try covering them with aluminum foil. If, after this last baking time, you remove the loaves from the pans and they seem like they could use an additional firming-up, you can put them back in the oven--pan-less--and bake for another five minutes. Or you can just leave them for done! And let them cool.<br />
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This bread, as mentioned, freezes quite well when wrapped in plastic. And I hope you like it! And emerge unscathed from the process.<br />
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Here are some pictures of the finished bread from the 9/6/11 batch:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1vhw5fqA1jU/TmwYwLoO0xI/AAAAAAAAAMU/E2W43Hw1UB0/s1600/P9103549.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1vhw5fqA1jU/TmwYwLoO0xI/AAAAAAAAAMU/E2W43Hw1UB0/s320/P9103549.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pNwAp4BuAtg/TmwZFmEN4vI/AAAAAAAAAMc/wgD6gWyEzGQ/s1600/P9103555.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pNwAp4BuAtg/TmwZFmEN4vI/AAAAAAAAAMc/wgD6gWyEzGQ/s320/P9103555.JPG" /></a></div>Garret Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01530390185615165587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2777815790920729251.post-56664330317074099982011-09-08T22:06:00.001-04:002011-09-25T16:12:33.670-04:00A few thoughts on CanadaHaving only been here for a few days, perhaps it seems premature to make assessments about the Canadian culture and way of life. However, it also might be the best time: things seem most alien, and the idiosyncrasies of loonies and toonies and closed vowels haven't been lost on my ears.<br />
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On the most basic level, the greatest discrepancies seem to be that Candians are always exceedingly polite, and that Canada is more expensive than the United States. The former is, of course, one of the stereotypes of this land to the north, but the latter I was not expecting to be quite so evident. Still, books, food, and bike supplies are much more than back home. Particularly annoying: you can't ship a lot of things here! Like the books you want (Nico Castel's <i>Spanish Lyric Diction</i>? Out of print, and only available within the US. Sebald's <i>Austerlitz</i> auf Deutsch? Well, Amazon.ca will ship it to you--but it's from a seller in the states and S&H is $7.00) or a slightly better deal on a Kryptonite lock (apparently everyone's bike gets ripped off here unless bolted down, but you literally can't buy a lock at one of the many bike stores for less than $65.00 even though they would retail down south for $40.00). Ryan and I bit the bullet on the locks, but I'm shipping the Castel and Sebald to a composer in Princeton, NJ, that Ryan will go visit in a few weeks. He can bring them back for me, maybe along with some Trader Joe's delicacies? Please? Because of course there aren't any Trader Joe's here either.<br />
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Food is somewhat variable. After being rather confused for several days by what seemed to be an utter lack of supermarkets (and a glut of corner delis, groceries, and butchers), I discovered that they do exist, but that the bodegas are also sometimes affordable. A supermarket from a chain of groceries called "No Frills" is just a few blocks away, but perhaps because we're living in a multi-cultural, middle-class neighborhood there are such gems as "Economy Fruit." Yes, that's right, a store... called "Economy Fruit." (Perhaps not quite as good a name as "Canned Foods," but that's long-since been changed to the somewhat more palatable "Grocery Outlet.") Economy Fruit is just down the block from us, on one of the main arteries of Toronto, and is true to its name. I walked out of there with a LOT of food today for $4.75--plus a free bag of string beans someone had left lying around. I did get a better bargain when I found a bag of spinach on the ground the other day, but still pretty good. Alcohol, though, seems to be inescapably, ridiculously expensive. Not that Ryan and I have been boozing it up--quite the contrary--but I did buy the least expensive 6-pack of beer from one of the alcohol stores (I think you have to buy from special stores) for $9.50. Ouch.<br />
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I'm sure the reason for the increase in prices has something to do with more government services, perhaps best illustrated by Labour Day. It's the same principle here as in the States, but whereas in America one celebrates by making store workers go in extra early for the big sales, in Canada people march in the streets and then all the folks in the labor demonstration get into the Canadian Exposition (like a big state fair) for free. And EVERYTHING is closed. Even the supermarkets! I did meet a transgender man named Alex that afternoon and buy a bike from him out of his van, so there are an enterprising few... but the rest of them are as good as the Communists upstairs, I suppose.*<br />
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But enough of such mundane (and perhaps crass?) matters! In other news, we have had a few orientation-type meetings at the school and received, in no particular order: t shirts! student planners! AND LOCKERS!! I am so excited about having a locker. They're big, beautiful, have coat hooks and a shelf... I'm going to put snacks in my locker. And tea. Oh my gosh. I haven't been this excited for a long time. I could even fit inside my locker...<br />
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We're supposed to go to the islands for a barbeque on Saturday and there's an orchestra concert and pub night tomorrow. The staff is so kind and lovely, and they even gave me a work study! I'm going to assist with the Friday masterclasses (there are masterclasses every Friday). So that will make the high priced bike locks in the land of the Communists less painful.<br />
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Because this post is so long, I think I shall sign off now and update again later with pictures of home and school and life and such. And perhaps some recipes? And the Communists?<br />
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*In reference to their Craigslist advertisement. They're incredibly wonderful people and I hope to write more about them later.Garret Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01530390185615165587noreply@blogger.com0