Cheesecake Making

On my drive home from out of town a few days ago, I heard Piper Kerman describing her prison cheesecake recipe during a Wait Wait Don't Tell Me! segment on NPR. What struck me as particularly remarkable about the whole thing is Kerman's open embrace of her mistakes that led to time in prison but ended up being a profitable venture for her. Having watched a few episodes of the show, it was illuminating to hear the first person perspective. Her narrative seems to be that, she continues to make the best of her past misadventures and create value for others along the way. This would all be quite wonderful and even inspirational, if Kerman did not exude such an air of nonchalant privilege. It was hard to see how her triumphant re-entry to society could be replicated even remotely by the average incarcerated person.

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Cheese Making

I never fail to remind J that there is a time and place for everything. It is possibly the line she will remember me by when I am dead and gone given how frequently she hears it. Instead of having her breakfast she will break into a song and dance number from High School Musical well past eight on Monday morning. She will insist that I watch and applaud the performance instead of screaming at her to finish her milk and cereal. Her sense of occasion is seriously lacking but then so is mine. Consider for example, a person walks into the grocery store with the express purpose of buying detergent because they are fresh out of it and laundry is only half way done. However instead of heading straight for detergent, they wander over to the natural foods aisle and go berserk upon finding goat milk on sale for a dollar a gallon. They at once proceed to stock pile so they can turn it to huge quantities home-made feta cheese. That person would be me. It would not concern me in the least that I ha...

Part Liberated Woman

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Under Advisement

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Heartcrossings

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