Hello everyone,

I've been offering my pasta lessons for quite a while now and I've met with a lot of people and had some amazing times. I think i need to make this post to address some questions and concerns that some of you have expressed to me. Common questions I get are:

Q: What do you get out of this?
A: I like to meet people and to tap into their lives; I like to see what it's like to be someone other than me and to find out what keeps people going. What it is in life that they love and why they love it.

Q: Do you do this to have sex?
A: No. I do not do this to have sex. This isn't some sneaky way of getting into people's places so I can convince them to sleep with me. I'm a hetersexual man and I've had lessons with both men and women in the past. I have had a lot of advances put forward and I have had to decline these people or straight up leave the session because of it. Am I opposed to the idea of it? Not entirely, but it's not something that you can force. If I'm not feeling it I would ask that you respect that boundary just as I would respect yours.

Q: What If I just want you to come over to make me a dinner and have sex?
A: That's not what this is about. When I do lessons, they're designed to get people involved in the hands on process of making the pasta themselves so they can do it on their own in the future without guidance. No offense to anyone out there, but I don't care enough about sex to trade it for a homemade meal.

Q: How do I know I can trust you?
A: Like anything on this site, it's a gamble. If you don't feel safe or prepared to do the lesson, say so. I will never get upset at someone for cancelling an appointment because they're having second thoughts. You have to remember - I'm also putting myself into a risky situation by doing this. I go through a preliminary verification process, wherein I see if I feel comfortable meeting too. I never want anyone to feel uncomfortable, but at the same time I want people out of their comfort zone when we're doing the session - that's the point of this.

Q: How do you determine who gets the appointment and who doesn't?
A: I ask questions during the verification process and if at any point I don't feel comfortable that person does not get an appointment. One of the questions I ask everyone is "during the period where the dough is resting and the sauce is cooking and we retire to relax and commence the entertaining portion, what is it that you're going to do?" The most common answers I get are things like watch netflix or play boardgames. If this is something you like to do, that's cool - but that isn't something that really wows me. I want someone to do something that they really makes you stand out. Something that sets you apart from others. Something you're passionate about. Some examples of this are:

1) A history lesson Europe from the year 500 to the modern age with visuals and dioramas

2) A relaxation session of deep tissue massage, meditation, and an extensive lesson on something called the Gateway Process which I'll admit, I still don't understand

3) A group session where the people were in a band and played me music from an upcoming album they were releasing, including new songs not yet played in public

4) One of them was pretty far north and we spent hours looking at stars in a telescope, where they explained various things about space and the vastness of the universe

5) A classical piano recitle (if you read this, you should really do this professionally. You were outstanding and I could hear the emotion in your performance

These are things that I think really make you stand out. I'm not asking you to do something really cool because I think I'm worthy of you entertaining me - I ask you do something that you're passionate about because I think you're worthy of expressing yourself.

Q: What if I want more than just myself there? Is that okay?
A: Yeah of course! The more the better! You just need to tell me in advance so I can make sure I bring enough of the ingredients to ensure everyone eatss, and you need to ensure you have the space available to host.

Q: Can you host? I don't feel comfortable hosting at my place
A: No, unfortunately. The reason I do this is so I can get out and meet people. If I start inviting people into my home 1) I can't guarantee they're not secretly crazy, and I really don't want them knowing where I live, and 2) There are all kinds of legal liabilites I don't want to take on. If you can't host, then I'm sorry - it's not meant to be.

Q: Why do you only do lessons with women if you're not just trying to have sex?
A: This is something I didn't want to talk about but I figure, I'd rather just answer the question now so I don't have to in the future. I was sexually assaulted a while back. Thankfully nothing too terrible happened beyond the anxiety and the stress, but it made me extremely weary of meeting with men. If there is a man there, that is totally fine, I just need to know in advance - this goes back to group sessions. I need to know who is there and how many, and it is why I go through the process of verification with people. I only keep any details I ask of you until the session is done and I'm safely home, then I confirm with you that I've removed them. The only time I've ever kept anything is when someone wanted to arrange recurring lessons and I made a small file on them so I can remember their name, address, and allergic information.

Q: Do you offer recurring lessons? If so, how does it work?
A: If someone feels they're maybe just grasping the process and they want to do more than one lesson, yes I can do multiple appointments. Typically I do 2 or 3 lessons. If you want to do a recurring thing, then we need to talk about either compensation or preparation of ingredients, because after a while, eggs and cheese and stuff adds up. If you want to buy the required stuff and have me come back a few times, yeah that's no problem. I will still give new appointments priority on available slots.

Q: Why pasta?
A: Pasta is an easy thing to learn but a difficult thing to master. People around the world have been making noodles and pasta for centuries and knowing how to make them from raw ingredients is something I think everyone should know how to do. You never know what can happen in life and you never know when you'll need to know how to sustain you or your family on a shoestring budget, or in an emergency. Alternatively, maybe you want to return to your roots. Maybe you want to have a more natural, simplistic lifestyle. Maybe you have digestive issues and you need to eat things with less preservatives. There are a million reasons that we should be able to be self-sufficient.

If you have any other questions or you feel I didn't answer something, please do not hesitate to message me or comment. April is closed for the most part and May is starting to book. If you're reading this and you're like "what's this guy talking about?", the long and the short is I do lessons where I teach people to make pasta in exchange for interesting hangouts. You can also see my post history for more info.

Have a wonderful day and take care! Thank you to everyone who has taken the leap in the past and I look forward to seeing who steps forward in the future.