Posted by Flashbulb Member Isabelle Barbier

Family

I think it's funny that after two and a half years together we all chose to tell a story about family. I think it's funny that after two and a half years together we all chose to tell a story about family.

Acting school is a funny thing. You get to know your classmates with a certain intimacy I don't find in any of my other relationships. Because art requires you to bring so much of your own heart and fears into your work, acting school has forced us to reveal parts of ourselves that may have otherwise always remained hidden. This reminds me a lot of family. You don't choose these set of people. Somehow the universe has just matched you up with them, yet nobody knows you like your family does. I can safely say nobody knows me quite like the flashbulb project does either. I searched for a long time for  a group of people to call home. I watched as my friends all went off the college and formed tight knit circles through dorm living and classes. I never went to college so I never really understand that feeling of community. When I started at Atlantic I was so unsure as what I would find. What I discovered blew me away. I found a group of people I could give my whole heart to. I realize how cheesy that sounds but it's true. I can't tell you how many times I've stood up in class or on stage in front of these people and reveled parts of myself I never thought I would allow to be seen. And the most miraculous and funny thing was that they took it. We sat in those rehearsal rooms and accepted all that we threw at each other. That to me is amazing. I've never known acceptance and trust like that.  I was sitting there in the theater to tonight  and although we were all very stressed with our various jobs, I felt overwhelmingly happy. I was watching my family put the finishing touches on a home we'd built together and I can't fully explain the pride it brought me. Like the families in the play, we are flawed, and complex but underneath that there is an amazing bond. That although might not always be ideal, is strong. We have made a play together. Our desire to build our dreams has brought us together. Thank you so much. 

 

Posted by Flashbulb Member Matt Mauer

Bang! Chop! Sizzle! Yum!

I grew up in the Midwest; a culture that gravitates toward hunting, fishing, and all other forms of out-doorsman, survival-themed sports. Yet I have never fired a rifle at anything other than black and orange clay discs propelled through the air by a 21^st century, high-tech slingshot. My knowledge of the sport was lacking too much to say with any honesty Baylor’s line “Hunting is no hobby. It’s an art. It’s a way of life. Everything gets turned into a hobby these days.”

As there is little deer hunting to be done in Manhattan (or any borough of New York for that matter), I went straight to the almighty YouTube. It wasn’t until hours later that I realized I’d spent a large portion of my day watching videos on how to gut, skin, and butcher a deer. I’ve seen my handful of Saw movies, and none were quite so graphic as this blood-soaked marathon. But to my surprise, after just five or so minutes, I was no longer disgusted by all the mysteries a deer’s skin hides (I also realized why we call an animal’s skin its “hide”).

I mostly eat vegetarian, but on the rare occasion I order a steak, it always arrives to me on an ornate plate looking clean and pretty. It seems chefs spend a large amount of their career figuring out how to make meat not look like meat, and what I discovered while glued to my laptop that day was that there is something beautiful about the process of an animal’s body becoming sustenance, as long as it’s executed in a humane fashion.

I started my research hoping to get more connected to Baylor. I did not expect to also get more connected to the food I eat.