On August 1, I sat at the bar in a sold-out Blue Room (Cranston live music venue) and noticed the comfort, joy, and heartache Chris Capaldi’s music can bring to a space. This was the record release show for Capaldi’s 4-song EP Smaller Fires. It was apparent that each song was crafted with story and […]
The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at the University of Rhode Island is part of a network of 125 OLLIs that span all 50 states and the District of Columbia. They exist because of the philanthropy of Bernard Osher; knowing a little bit about Osher provides a good basis for understanding the lifelong learning philosophy […]
I’m not old, but I’m also not young. I look 18 sometimes but feel 62. I’m 31. For half my life, I didn’t have a phone. I never thought I would need one. I grew up on a farm. We’d run through the swamps and fields and orchards. I don’t have proof because no photos […]
Students take on many different lenses. After I graduated, I found this to be true in life. Sitting in class, students can become consumed by questions: Does my professor like me? Does the person I sit next to enjoy my company? These intrusive thoughts, aimed at validating our identity, bleed beyond the classroom into interactions […]
To meet cover artist Jack Xuandong Zhou is to rub elbows with an up-and-coming, celebrity-status, multifaceted professional. Zhou’s demeanor is as bright and shiny as his product; his humor and artwork juxtapose the balance between evil and good, dark and light. Zhou expresses, “The most memorable part is to capture the landscape of Providence in […]
It starts as not a particularly outlandish night. The sun has escaped behind thick clouds, a few raindrops hit the windows, and the wind moving through the leaves is louder than the cars speeding through the slick streets – just another fleeting summer storm, nothing more, nothing less. Inside Riff Raff, PVD’s only bar-and-bookstore, a […]
To get to Exeter’s Little River Farm you take the lovely country lane, William Reynolds Road. About a quarter mile past The Queen River, you turn up a long dirt driveway that runs through the woods. When you pass through the gates of the farm you’re treated to over three acres of greenhouses and fields. […]
A woman walks in with her sketchbooks, fabric samples, photos, a few iconic costumes, and reams of official forms. “What most people don’t know about costume designing is the amount of organizational paperwork required for the entire production,” opines Amanda Downing Carney, Costume Director since 2015 for Trinity Repertory Company in downtown Providence. “Measurement sheets, […]
We are bombarded daily with images of violence and death whether it’s the nightly news, movies, or scrolling through social media. As uncomfortable as we claim it makes us, we flock towards the headlines, desperate for heart wrenching details. Where does this age-old fascination come from? In search of answers, I sought out an expert […]
In the dark room near the bottom of the ocean a myriad of shadows float by. Strange, undulating fauna grow from an endless floor. Particles of flesh hang suspended between their blue curtains. Silence is a thick blanket where the sun doesn’t shine. The mind is left with nothing to process, it imagines the sounds […]