Escaping the Dungeon of Fire

Cville Escape Room cvilleescaperoom.com For many of us, the winter doldrums make us particularly susceptible to adventure’s siren song. Answering the call often takes the form of vacations to warmer climes, but for those looking for something less typical (that might be easier on the budget than a full-blown vacation), solving an escape room may […]

Gearharts desire

There is something magical about chocolate. I used to spend every Sunday with my Nana, and these visits included a chocolate treat or two from her sweets jar on the gold-speckled white Formica counter. In my youth, my dad was my best Valentine (yes, I’ve been to therapy)—he bought Mom, my sister, and me fancy […]

Putting a fine point on self-care

When someone said “acupuncture” to me, the image that used to come to mind was Pinhead from Hellraiser. With maturity, though, I’ve developed an earnest desire to try traditional Chinese medicine. In the new year, the new me decided to take a stab at acupuncture (sorry!). What Getting acupuncture through Common Ground’s community services. Why […]

The sport of queens

A delightful side effect of writing this column is that people in my life now give me ideas based on their bucket lists and more obscure interests. When a friend said she’d always wanted to try falconry and asked if I would join her, “Heck yeah!” was my nigh-instant response. Like many wheezy, middle-aged folks, […]

Pull! A tale of sporting clays

Since childhood, I’ve been fascinated with the idea of shooting skeet. I must’ve seen it in a Bugs Bunny cartoon or something. My father liked hunting, and to varying degrees, family members enjoyed the venison from his efforts. I grew up around guns and, therefore, grew up with a healthy respect for them. During grad […]

The glorious goat of improv

One of my favorite things to do is laugh. A hearty laugh makes a bad day a little less bleak and a good one golden. Live comedy has always been something I enjoy and have often fantasized about trying. As a small child, I enjoyed performing—ballet, school plays, living room magic shows. Then adolescence crash-landed […]

Tried it in C’ville: Poppypointe open stitch night

To borrow phrasing from “The Golden Girls’” Sophia Petrillo, picture it: Warwick, New York. Late ’80s. Middle schooler me with my aggressively hair-sprayed ocean wave of bangs, oversized cable-knit sweater, and loud plaid Skidz pants (tucked into white scrunched-down socks, of course). Where was this obviously popular youngster headed to after school, you ask? Cross […]

Life, liberty, and the Women at Monticello Tour

Straight out of the gate, I must acknowledge this wasn’t a fair test. Almost a decade ago (where has the time gone?), I worked at Monticello for roughly seven years. My last few roles were Martha-of-many-trades jobs, doing everything from loading buses and giving tours to helping with events and addressing guest feedback. Not surprisingly, […]

Making contact with the eyes of the world

Art has the power to transform us, to transport us through time and space. Sometimes it takes us to other worlds or allows us to see our world differently. In short, art is powerful, and I haven’t seen enough of it lately. Aside from attending an interesting art exhibition at Visible Records a few years […]