Close of Sherlock

Sherlock Holmes closed to great fanfare and not a little bit of sadness this weekend. I know I sound like a broken record at this point, but I was so happy and proud to be in this show, and I loved this cast. The cast party was nice too, with lots of good conversations, if bittersweet. The process and the people were so great, and now it's ending and we won't see each other all the time. I'll have to fill the time with a new project, but the thought makes me feel bereft.

I am worn, though. Too much staying up late, too much unhealthy eating. Today I am going to take a scaldingly hot bath and soak until I'm a wrinkly tomato. Then I may just cut off all my hair in frustration. I am so tired of starched updos packed full of pins that doesn't even feel like hair when you finally take it down. I imagine I will have a few days of prostration due to exhaustion where I don't feel much of anything except grateful for the chance to rest, but then will go into prostration due to mopeyness over the show ending. Getting into this play helped me out of a growing melancholy, so I hope I can keep that positivity going.

Study in graphic novels next semester

Just got an email from one of the administrators at my school about my interdisciplinary study. Today she is going to be talking to a professor about being my adviser in my secondary study for the semester, which is going to be about the writing and creating of graphic novels! Last semester I attended a seminar on them during the residency, which alerted me to the fact that they would be an option for my IS. I thought that sounded great, so now I'm going for it. I'm a huge fan of the comic book form, so this is going to be really interesting.

The thing is, I will likely be expected to also provide images to go along with my script, given what a huge part of the medium they are. I can't draw well enough to support a whole comic, but it occurred to me that I might be able to use photographs. I could cast people I knew as the characters and have them model for the shots I would need. I really really like this idea, and I think it would be a lot of fun to do. I don't have an idea for what my piece would be about yet, but it would probably have to be realistic, set in the modern day, to faciliate the kinds of pictures I would be able to take. I have some ideas about the people I'd like to use as models, but of course I'd have to come up with a story first and see who fits the characters that emerge. The idea really excites me, so hopefully I'll come up with something good.

Perfect straw-rasp-black-blueberry pie!

For the cast party yesterday I offered to bring a pie. I wasn't sure what kind of pie, but I'm good at them and let's face it, what kind of weirdo doesn't like pie? Dad suggested berry might be appropriate for the beginning of summer, so I gathered the supplies to make my lattice-topped straw-rasp-black-blue, the showiest pie in my repetoire.

The one thing I was concerned about was that the last few pies I've made have come out a little bit burnt on the top. Not sure what the problem is. It never happens to my mom when she bakes it, because everything she makes is always better, so she had no insight. I didn't want to bring an ugly pie to the party, so I was determined to fix the problem with this one. I made the pie as usual, rolling out the bottom crust to lay in the pan, then filling with the mixture of berries, cornstarch, a little bit of sugar, and a splash of Chambord. Even unfinished as it was, it looked delightful.

The instructions said to bake it at 450 for forty minutes. I popped it in and set the timer for twenty. Then I went about making the top crust. The lattice is so pretty and festive-looking, and it's a lot easier to do than it looks. You roll out the top crust like you normally would, then you slice it into long strips. You lay five of them parallel across the pie, then lift up every other one to lay five more across perpendicular, so that they weave in and out of each other. The effect is lovely and sure to impress.

After twenty minutes, I gingerly pulled the pie and laid it on a cooling rack. Working carefully so as not to burn myself, I laid out the lattice and then brushed it with egg wash so that it would brown. Then I put it back in for the remaining twenty. I confess I kept peeking at it, which you're not supposed to do, but I wanted to stay on top of whether or not it was burning. But to my pleasure, my trick worked, and the crust came out golden rather than black. Here is the lovely finished product.

It went over very well at the cast party and got a lot of compliments. I was especially happy with how many people noticed and enjoyed the fact that it is meant to be a slightly tart pie, with only three-quarters of a cup of sugar for a ten-inch pastry so the tanginess of the berries comes out. It's the best pie I've made in ages, and it came out so well I know I'll have to make more to enjoy this summer. Pie is, after all, the very best form of food.