My Top Five

I wanted to share a few great recipes – the most requested, every-year-on-the-table Thanksgiving favorites of my family. Most of these, my family and I have made for tens of years, but all have graced the holiday table every year since 2007 when we all found ourselves relocated to Wilmington.

It’s that most wonderful time of the year in Wilmington -- the week of the Cucalorus Film Festival. This is only the second time I’ve been around for it, but if it’s like last year’s, it will involve more films than one two-eyed human can possibly absorb, fun parties, and very high-quality people watching.

From Thoreau’s Walking: “If you are ready to leave father and mother, and brother and sister, and wife and child and friends, and never see them again; if you have paid your debts, and made your will, and settled all your affairs, and are a free man; then you are ready for a walk.”  Amongst the various and complex themes imbedded here, the spirit of solitude in Thoreau’s lines is what moves me. I don’t literally want to leave my family and never return, but I do want to be alone every now and then… Who doesn’t?

The Blues.  Its origins are murky (okay, muddy), and it’s legacy is passed from generation to generation.  The people who play the Blues happily adopt the genre, give it a home, dress it up a little, and influence it in their own way.  While you’ve (likely) never heard of them, here are some ear-opening performers who have made the Blues their own…

Movies and music captured my heart and imagination almost simultaneously, and at an early age. Welcome to my Top Five memorable movies and the music that plays a role in making them great.

We know it's a little early, but News Intern Sara Wood has listed her favorite Smiths songs for the most romantic time of the year.