(Mis)Adventure in Trial and Error: Pumpkin Bread

Last year I decided to bake pumpkin bread for all of my friends for Christmas even though I had never made pumpkin bread before. I baked for the better part of two days and let my roommate lick the bowl and while I never tasted a loaf, it seemed like a success.

As early as August, friends were asking if I was going to do the same thing this year. I gave a hopeful response and was fortunate enough to be able to make (and eat!) a trial batch as I provided the pumpkin bread for Thanksgiving. There were pale spots in my bread and my sister told me that my baking soda was out of date. I suspected that it was simply the fact that the pumpkin had not blended in fully since I knew I was having trouble with the mixing.

During the Christmas (finals) baking season, finding time was quite difficult to negotiate, but I managed to pull together a thorough and rather smooth crop. I had an often interesting time trying to make deliveries, and missed a couple of people which gave me a chance to have a appropriately meal-like snack for the long plane ride (on an airplane that naturally served very edible food). Ah, success.

Then...

I arrived at my Mom's and found that she was making pumpkin bread for the staff at her office. We agreed that it was a wonderful, simple gift idea for large masses of people and I watched as she gathered her supplies together including...a mixer. A MIXER? Who knew that you could use a mixer? All of my embarassment and woes and right-arm-muscle-soreness could have been prevented by a simple technique. A mixer. Anyway, the one inherant and unavoidable problem with pumpkin bread is the 50 mins that it takes to bake, so Mom could not finish all of her batches at a time. I offered to finish the last batch so that they would all be ready on the same day. I was pumped to start another round of baking armed with my new knowledge. Here's the result:

Terrible!

Worse than any of the others!

Mom said it tasted good though.

Breaking The Silence

After several weeks of neglect, I am now ready to revisit this blog and give an update on my life that is not given in a picture based on a theme.

Major Event 1:
Cyrano de Bergerac finished up two weeks ago and the performances were impressively smooth. The techs and dresses had been a long and painful process, then the storm suddenly abated. There were a few minor problems throughout, but overall it was quite graceful until our last performance. During the first act, the pit was lowered partway with a step unit leading in and out. At the very end of the act, I was supposed to raise it from backstage so that Cyrano rose while delivering highly inspirational lines and epic music swelled in the background. There is always a moment of hesitation between me pushing the button and the pit raising in which I would never breathe. That last day, my breath was stopped for too long and I realized that the pit was stuck. I ran quickly to the basement and checked the settings - everything was correct. We had an emergency setting for Act 2, so the play proceeded as if nothing was wrong. I flipped the breaker off and back on and we tested the pit during the action. It was working again. For the next scene change, I took a run crew member onstage and we took off the step unit. Awkward! Afterward, we took apart the set and walked away--Cyrano is finished.

Major Event 2:
Finals. A few synonyms: nightmare, delirium, ordeal, tribulation, thorn in my flesh, and, because Merriam Webster gave it to me, bummer. My list at the beginning of the week read 21 projects in 4 1/2 days. The main point is, I survived.

Major Event 3:
I told several of my friends that it would not be enough for me to leave town for Christmas, instead I needed to leave the country. The fortunate happenstance and the basis for this almost-joke is that I am indeed out of the country. Last Tuesday my sister dropped me at the airport for a 24 hour trek to the far east. Emphasis here should be placed on "far." After another delusional day, the semester's woes have finally worn off in exchange for days with the madre, seeing the sights, shopping, and sitting at the apartment. Of course, there are office lunches and a girls (should that be girl'z?) night also in the mix. Now, I am cozy and snug and enjoying the big city life that is decidedly NOT America.

It is likely that I will write again soon, now that vacation has come, but I might be visiting pandas or having tea at a fancy hotel. Regardless, stories and pictures are sure to follow.

Photo Hunter: Wide

For me the most wondrous and widespread thing on earth is the ocean (specifically the Atlantic). So here is my niece and I standing at the brink of the greatest Wide I know.

Photo Hunter

Photo Hunter: Favorite

Here is yet another word that's virtually impossible to pare down. The first shot that came to mind is one of my favorite pictures of some of my favorite people...Hayley and Lisa, my theatrical counterparts.

Photo Hunter

Photo Hunter: Breakfast

Our breakfast at the ever classy KFC before visiting the Great Wall of China. These little pastries had quite a lot of energy packed in though, as we did an extreme amount of physical activity and did not become hungry again until late in the day. Maybe not the breakfast of champions, but definitely the breakfast of intense sightseeing.

Photo Hunter

A Man's Gotta Do What A Man's Gotta Do

Being an assistant stage manager (ASM) can require you to do some strange or difficult tasks. Mostly my job includes the normal stuff: setting up the stage for the beginning of the show and intermission and setting out props. However, some of our set pieces are monstrously heavy. At first it was difficult for me to move these without help, but as the show has progressed, I have become stronger and can lift some of the heaviest pieces on my own. I feel quite hardcore.

In addition to my increased strength, this show has some odd requirements which make me feel rather manly. For a short time in the middle of Act IV, one of the characters smokes a pipe which must be lit offstage and handed to the actor. It is my job to make sure that the pipe is lit at the proper time and stays lit until it goes onstage. Later on in the act, the other ASM and I are responsible for the live gunshots. We shoot several series of blanks in the hallway that mix with the recorded gunshots and cannon sounds and underscoring to produce one rather epic stage battle.

This new level of being hardcore has led me a couple of times to push myself a little too far and fortunately adrenaline carries me through. Sometimes the lifting is undesirable, but when it comes down to it, an ASM's gotta do what an ASM's gotta do and I'm the girl on the job.

MY ROOMMATE'S BACK!!

To quote my favorite line in Cyrano:

"You're not sad anymore!"

So true. Christina's back!! My apartment is no longer empty!!