I always love cooking because I love to eat! In my free time, I like looking for recipes on the internet that taste great and require minimal ingredients. Today I tried making Twice Baked Potatoes (and for my first time, id say they looked pretty good, and more importantly, tasted good too). But don’t go by me, try making it for yourself! This recipe is easy to make and delicious to eat!

First I washed the potatoes and preheat the over to 350. Then i left them on a pan and let them bake for 1 hour. When they finish baking, cut off the the tops of the potato 3/4s up and scoop out all the insides into a bowl being careful to leave the shells in tact. Mash up the insides and add ingredients to make it creamy. I added milk, butter, salt, pepper, cumin, and some paprika. You can also add some chopped up chives or scallions. This recipe is great because it also allows you to make it however you want with different variations. After that, refill the potato shells with your potato mixture and re-bake for about 20-30 minutes or until golden brown. When they are finished let them cool and enjoy!!!!

On December 10th, our IDC class went to view the opera Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera House. This was my first time every going to an opera so I was quite curious to what it would be like but I was also very excited to have this new experience. When we go to the opera house and entered the auditorium, I was taken back by the immense size of the theater as I looked up and the ceiling continued to rise. I was also taken back at the immensity of the set that was being used from transitioning to the church, to Scarpia’s house to the castle battlements, each looked almost realistic. We had seats that were fairly close to the stage so the large set seemed to completely fill our scope of vision.  Due to the subtitles on the backs of our chairs, following the plot was fairly simple even though the performance was in Italian. As in some cases, when stories are translated and some of the feeling is lost in translation, I felt that this was not an issue because of the emotion that the performers put into the opera. As they performed,  you could really sense the drama they were feeling. Along with that, personally, I actually like that this performance was in italian rather than english because it gave me a more traditional feel on the experience of seeing this opera.

Each of the actors seemed incredibly talented, especially the performer who portrayed Tosca. Some parts that stood out in my mind were when she would hold those long high notes. Due to the immense size of the opera auditorium, I was also very impressed at the ability of all of the performers to be able to project their voice out to the audience without the assistance of any microphones or equipment. Each performer must have been very dedicated and it must have taken years to develop that skill.  As the first opera I have ever attended, Tosca fulfilled all my expectations on what i imagined operas to be like in my head. Personally, operas are not my favorite forms of entertainment but I will admit that the performance was outstanding and it was a very enjoyable experience to attend this opera.

On November 26th, we went to go view the Complexions Ballet at the Joyce Theater.  Prior to our seeing the performance, Professor Eversley discussed with us some background information about dance and what we would see at Complexions, which fell under the category of contemporary dance.  When we got to the theater I was shocked at the seat we received which was in the first few rows. From all the live performances that I have attended (which is not many) I have never been that close to the stage. The performers were incredible and I can only imagine how much rehearsing, practicing and physical endurance the dancers had to put their bodies through to perform that flawlessly and be able to move in certain positions like that.  As I watched the performance I began to take notice on what we discussed in class and how Complexions ballet and contemporary dancing was very different from traditional ballet, which is what we think of when we hear the word ballet. The performers here were very mobile and and in terms of technique, there was a lot of strong leg movements. Sitting so close, we also were able to see the sweat flying off their bodies as they danced. Along with that, with every dance piece that was performed, the dancers  poured their hearts out and give the audience 110% of their effort. I could really feel the passion and tension of the performers based on their body language. Overall, Complexions was an incredible performance and an experience I will always remember

On November 19th, we went to visit the MoMA. This was my first time visiting the MoMa so I was not sure what to expect when I got there. After getting settled, a group of us went to check out the Magritte exhibit, which features paintings by René Magritte from the year 1926 – 1938. As I read the description outside the exhibit, I was a bit curious as to what his style would look like. The description was that Rene Margritte developed key strategies and techniques to defamiliarize the familiar. It also said that he was a surrealist and how he wanted to overthrow what he saw as oppressive rationalism. When I first walked in I began to understand what they were talking about. I noticed many abstract paintings like people kissing with cloths over their heads, wooden planks, scenes and all different kinds of paintings. I also noticed a lot of paintings of dismembered human body parts and of people with certain features exaggerated. Another theme that I noticed was the display of many cut-up paintings. One example was L’ÉVIDENCE ÉTERNELLE, a portrait of a human body that was cut up into 5 different sections. According to the description, it was painted in 1930 and appeared in many early Surrealists exhibitions. “The fragmentation underscores the tendency of the human eye to focus selectively rather than comprehensively in its vision.” As I continued to explore the Margritte exhibit, I came across a painting that should be familiar to all of us. It was The Key of Dreams, which is also on the front cover of our book Ways of Seeing by John Berger. Embarrassingly though, at first I did not recognize or acknowledge it to be the same painting but after Professor Eversley approached me and pointed it out, I began to realized where I had seen that painting before. Overall, the exhibit was very interesting and for my first time ever coming to the MoMa, I was quite satisfied with what I saw tehre.

Yesterday, due to the failed trip to the Whitney Museum….(just kidding), we went to visit the Metropolitan Museum. As I had never been to either museum before, I was very excited and interested to see the exhibits there. My first reaction when walking into the Met was that this place was huge. After splitting up, a group of us, accompanied by Professor Eversley, set off to locate the Balthus exhibit, but were quickly captivated by the many other exhibits and works of art that the Met had to offer. When we finally reached the Balthus exhibit, I was very skeptical but intrigued by his style of mid century art work, which included many street scenes as well as portraits of young girls in suggestive positions. Overall though, it was a very interesting experience that I hope everyone will get a chance to see. From walking through the Temple of Dendur in the Egyptian gallery to viewing original works of art by Pablo Picasso and Henri Mattise, the Met’s quantity and variety was fascinating. I will definitely visit the Met again in the future in hopes of further exploring their wide array of art works.

Sitting at the edge of our seats, FUN HOME brought Alice Bechdel’s novel to life. A major jolt to her gloomy feeling memoir, FUN HOME the musical gave her tale a breath of fresh air. Although the play deviated from the book plot wise in many instances, I felt that the musical was well written and well directed. From songs about becoming a lesbian (Changing my Major to Joan) to their house on Maple Avenue, this musical captured it all while still maintaining the strong coming of age themes and “finding one’s self” that were expressed in the graphic novel. The play focuses in on three points in Alice’s life: her childhood, her college years, and adulthood. I was greatly impressed by the three actors who played Alice. As each of them represented one of the three stages in Alice’s life you can really see Alice’s development throughout those stages. I was also impressed with the actors who played Alice’s parents, Helen and Bruce. As the play progresses, the struggle of Bruce trying to do what’s best for his family while maintaining his secret life and Helen coping with the idea can be clearly seen through the actor’s performance. In my opinion I felt that reading the book beforehand somewhat dulled the experience of watching the play. The reason being was that we already had a general concept of what was going to happen in the play versus going in blind and viewing it for the first time. Nonetheless, the musical gives a fresh twist to the somewhat depressing novel and kept us on our toes the entire time. I can only hope that this musical ends up on Broadway one day so we can all say that we saw it first! Haha