UselessNews

 The Horrors Persist, Yet So Do I! The Last Rose of Summer After a beautiful trip, I’ve returned to reality: work, work, and yes… more work. Lately, I’ve had a lot cooking in my mind about life, the state of the world, and—what even is this crazy artform? Two weeks ago, I landed at Pearson at 6 a.m. to a beautiful sunrise, then promptly collapsed into a “dead to the world” sleep for the rest of the day. By Friday, I was back to work, Boheme buzzing in my brain. Even while traveling, I’d sneak away to practice, drilling text through long hours of transit and activity. My future brother-in-law often catches me muttering, convinced I’m “speaking in tongues again.” Guilty as charged.ften catches me speaking through text that I often forget is out loud. ...'She's speaking in tongues again!" Brahm Goldhamer, Ann Cooper-Gay and Myself after Boheme. (pic by Leslie Barcza) Back to Boheme Saturday kicked off with a coaching session with Bill Shookoff, who whipped me into shape an...

Bella come un Tramonto  The Blue Mountains and Homeward Bound Lincolns Rock, Blue Mountains “Bella come un tramonto” —Italian for “beautiful like the sunset.” When I first began working on La Bohème in 2023, this line struck me, and it still does. In Mimi’s final moments, Rodolfo calls her “bella come un’aurora” —beautiful like the dawn. She replies softly, “bella come un tramonto.” For me, that reply carries something profound: Mimi is reminding us that beauty isn’t only in beginnings. Sunsets, like life, are beautiful precisely because they end. And just like that, our Australian adventure had to end too—but not before one last, unforgettable week. Back to Sydney We landed from Darwin at a brutal 6 a.m., but Sydney makes up for rude wakeups with infrastructure Torontonians can only dream about. In under an hour we were back in our favourite suburb, Parramatta. After a nap and some laundry, we had dinner with Dom’s aunty and uncle. I cooked pico de gallo with pork tacos a...

 The White Hot North Darwin, Litchfield, Katherine and Kakadu.  This last week has been an absolute blast. We got to experience life in Darwin, Northern Territory—and all that comes with living in the land of hazard. Between the crocs and sharks in the water, the relentless sun, and the sizzling heat, adventure here always comes with a side of risk. Death honestly feels like just another neighbor in these parts. But the people are kind, and the community is strong. Out of the Northern Territory’s 260,000 people, more than half—148,000—live in Darwin. I snapped a lucky shot at Mindil Beach that I still can’t believe I got. The sunsets here are stunning. Watching the sun melt into the horizon has become a nightly ritual for tourists and locals alike, and when the last sliver of sun disappears, everyone claps. It feels almost ceremonial.  The beach is tempting—soft sand, turquoise-blue water—but dipping more than your toes is a dangerous game. On our first day, we sheepishl...