Artichoke Vol.4 No.1

mag

SEPTEMBER 2014 | VOL. 4 N o . 1

ROCK STARS 08

Rock Stars Winters Frosh Week

2 | ARTICHOKE

CONTRIBUTORS EDITOR IN CHIEF

WRITERS

PHOTOGRAPHER

Emma Beckett

Camellia De Castro Charlotte Fowlow Craig Clark Curtis te Brinke Diana Edelhauser Eric Schoenberger Jamielyn Mariano Malinda Sintnicolaas Melissa D’Angelo Nadia Rompas Nikky Waxman Nigel D’Souza Peter Ellman Tavish Gudgeon

John Jacques

ART DIRECTORS

Jacob Colosi Karen Keung

DESIGNERS

Amanda Hoff Ally Pelligrino Anna Campbell Emily Munro Erika Sternberg Heather McAlpine Lucy Bilson Maryanne Cruz Michelle Fok Scott Osborne Sarah El Sherbini Thaddeus Miya

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WCC UPDATE THINGS TO LOOK FORWARD TO: Another year is underway at Winters College Council! With Frosh Week in full swing and a whole lot of new and returning students looking to get involved, the council office is a busy place this September. Feel free to stop by and check out the events and orientation activities, or just chat with your council members, at the WCC office (room 003) or the Artichoke office (room 004) in the basement of Winters College.

WCC FALL ELECTIONS

This fall, Winters College Council will be electing five new council positions. There will be applications available for two First Year student representatives, one Finance representative, a Residence representative, and a Commuter representative. If any of these sound like they could be you, come to the council office in September for an application!

EWAG WORD NIGHT

Every month, Artichoke will be working together with Winters College Council to host a Word and Poetry Night in the Eleanor Winters Art Gallery. Aspiring writers will be given an opportunity to read their work in front of peers, and anyone is welcome to come by and enjoy some beautiful poetry, art, and free snacks. Stop by the WCC office or the Artichoke office to find out more information about performing!

ATHLETICS

At Winters College we offer a variety of intramural sports!

Basketball Coed Basketball Soccer Flag football Badminton Tennis Swimming Hockey 3 on 3 Hockey Rage Dodgeball Volleyball Cricket European Handball

Innertube Basketball Innertube Water Polo Futsal Broomball Drop in Dodgeball Rugby Slow-Pitch Squash Ultimate Frisbee Bowling

Email us at vpathletics@ winterscouncil.com and athleticsdirector@winterscouncil.com to join Winters Athletics!

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EWAG

Image by Miles Forrester

LETTER FROM THE CURATOR: Hi everyone, my name is Vivienne Song, and I am the Summer Curator at Eleanor Winters Art Gallery. First of all I would like to welcome the new and returning students to another exciting year at Winters College! A little bit about us: Eleanor Winters Art Gallery (aka EWAG) is a student-run art gallery located around the corner from the Winters College Master’s Office (rm. 129). It is a space dedicated to the talented and creative minds of the Fine Arts community of York University. The gallery exists to promote and exhibit the artistic and intellectual works of York undergraduates, graduates, and alumni.

We bring you a different exhibition of student artwork every week of the year. Each academic year the gallery welcomes the new term with exhibitions by alumni artists from Winters.

This year we are pleased to present: Virakone Sonethasack – September 1st to 12th – Closing Reception: September 12th, 7pm - 9pm • Miles Forrester - September 15th - 26th – Closing Reception: September 26th, 7pm - 9pm.

Come out to our receptions for a chance to meet the artists, and enjoy the free food! We like to keep EWAG interdisciplinary so we also host music, theatre, and dance performances and workshops. We are currently accepting submissions, if you would like to send us a proposal for an art show or for a creative event, please email us at ewag@yorku.ca I look forward to seeing all of you in September!

— VIVIENNE SONG

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EXTANT/ESSENCE VIRAKONE SONETHASACK

September 1st – 12th Closing Reception: September 12th, 7pm - 9pm

b. 1990 - Ontario, Canada Virakone Sonethasack is a visual artist based in the Greater Toronto Area (G.T.A.) working primarily in printmaking, specializing in screenprinting and lithography. He also works with photography and video.

The senses belie our reality. Digital and analogue modes of printmaking are used in this body of work as means to examine experiences of sight and perception through revisiting a series of screenprinting onto clear acrylic plexiglas. In physically expanding the material space by which a work of printmaking becomes experienced, the colour separated work on plexiglas explores encounters with the essence of an image–the subjective perception and a conceptual horizon. Playing with light and projection, the viewer’s grasp remains irresolute. Of the senses present within the human body, sight and the mechanics of sight become merged with

the walls of a location activating both the apertures of one’s vision and a space palpable through the corporeal properties of plexiglas. Notions of the image, the photograph and the picture are brought to the fore and it is through the exhibition, extant/essence, in which these terms begin to elucidate. Where the image remains an ephemeral presence, not entirely dissimilar to a memory, the picture and the photograph remain the physical manifestation of that particular mutability. The image is an untouchable spirit, an ideal in a world of forms. The picture and the photograph remain physically material. For if we accept the primacy of matter, as that which affects one’s sensory perceptions, then the subjective encounter with an artwork is first and foremost. It is a relationship of horizons, where the surfaces of an artwork meet surfaces of the self–like the sky meeting the ground, the horizon is only an illusion.

NEW SYNECDOCHES OF THE SUPER ACTUALITY MILES FORRESTER

September 15-26th Closing Reception: September 26th, 7pm - 9pm

Miles Forrester is a conceptual artist and writer based in Toronto. His practice combines performance, video, sound, text, & installation. He has shown in group and solo exhibitions: the performance art showcase, New Performance Art: Subversive Technologies, at the White House Studio Project and a solo installation show: Super Actuality #13: Parassemblance at Eleanor Winter’s Art Gallery. Forrester’s work ecstatically explores the latitudes

of chaos with arbitrary systems, productive contradictions, and also assonance as to yield significant fiascos (wherein aesthetics rupture into the frenzied congealment of experience and intention). From one monumental failure to the next, Forrester is seeking the biggest fiasco, The Super Actuality, the ‘x’ at the end of all rhetoric and reality*.

Image by Virakone Sonethasack

CONTENTS

VOL 3.

No. 1 | SEPTEMBER 2014

ROCK STARS 08

Rock Stars Winters Frosh Week

MAJOR SPEAK

ENTERTAINMENT

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ENGLISH Self-published Author Victoria Shearham

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ALVVAYS I Alvvays Keep Coming Back

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DANCE Department of Dance

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PLACES T.O Six Places in Toronto Truly Unique

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MUSIC Hot and Loud

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VIDEO GAMES Don’t Play the Story

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THEATRE Give Theatre a Shot

LIFEST YLE

HEALTH

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ABSURDITY Much Ado about Nothing

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MAGNESIUM A Remedy People Aren’t Talking About

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SHY FROSH Frosh Week

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NOTHING The Brilliancy of Nothing

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TOLERANCE Almost Tolerable

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RECIPE Chipotle Fish Tacos

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WOMAN CRUSH Chrissy Teigen

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ROCK STARS Winters’ Frosh Week BY, EMMA BECKETT ARTICHOKE: What Frosh Week event are you most excited for?

KATIE: Art Battle! We’ve never done it before, and we have CASA [Creative Arts Student Association] involved with Art Battle, and the Digital Media Students Association and the Music Students Association involved as well.

There is going to be a lot of really awesome artistic collaboration happening, and I think it is going to be one of the best events we do this year. I’m so jazzed!

NABIL: I think I’m most excited for the Encore.

A: What would you say to a first year student who is still not sure whether or not they want to participate in Frosh Week?

N: Frosh Week is where Winters legends are born. We have students who still talk about their own Frosh Week from when they were in first year, up until the time that they graduate. There are people that still have friends from their frosh week that they still hang out with, or live with.

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K: Though it may seem intimidating, Frosh Week is the best part of the school year and it’s the best way to get to know who you are going to be working with, living with, hanging out with. It’s down to earth, it’s fun, it’s educational, it’s silly, it’s everything that you want out of your university career so it is one hundred percent worth doing. This year, just like every other year, we keep taking it up a notch, so every year is the year you don’t want to miss.

A: How are you able to accommodate commuters who want to attend as many events as possible?

K: Oh man, we love the commuters!

We have three Heads of Commuter Sleepover and Commuter Affairs as part of our logistical team for frosh week. We make sure that there is a commuter sleepover every single night, and that there is a lot of storage for their stuff, a lot of safety around it, and a lot of people there making sure that they are having fun and being taken care of during that time. They always have a place to be, and a community to be a part of. Frosh Week isn’t just residents only, Frosh Week is for everybody.

N: We also have a lot of bosses who are commuting. We have students from all across Toronto who know how to get to York, and if any commuter frosh are

having problems, they will be there to help them with anything they need.

A: How does Frosh Week prepare students for life at university, and beyond?

N: You’ll learn how to value sleep.

It helps first years get oriented with campus, where to get food, where their classes are, who to talk to if they need help, who their academic advisors are, who their professors are. It will help them orient themselves and make the transition from high school to university pretty well. It will help them get connected with the university right away. Right from day one, they will already have people that have been at york for a few years and that already know things that first years might not know, and can give them a little advice.

K: I think the best thing that is done and established during Winters Frosh Week is that you get a home away from home. That is the most powerful thing that people get with Winters College. A lot of frosh are leaving home for the first time, and they are going to a completely new environment, and we work to make sure that that environment stops being new by the end of the week. We make sure that frosh have a place to be and they have friends, they have

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feeling of the lights coming on and knowing that you stuck it through with everybody there, that was awesome. And also, when I became a Frosh Boss for the first time.

Terrified, excited, jazzed, pumped, over the moon a community that is developed.

That is the kind of of thing that says with you even beyond school.

When you graduate you will still have those connections, and that sense of belonging here at Winters.

A: Personally, what do you think is the best part about being in Winters College?

K: For me, the best part about being at Winters College is that it gave me something to do! It gave me a place to go, and people that I knew would be there, it gave me a sense of belonging that I didn’t necessarily have before that. When I came to university I didn’t have people from my high school, I was in a whole new program, a whole new world, I didn’t really have anybody and Winters gave me that. The best part about Winters is being able to show up at the Ab on any given day, and know that there is going to be a community of people there that I met through Frosh Week and through Winters.

N: It’s pretty much the same thing for me. It’s all about the people, the best part about being part

of Winters is the different personalities that you meet, the different stories that you hear, everybody has something to say and there is always something to talk about. We are all there for each other and we are all going through the same struggles, so we can all relate and we can help each other.

A: What is the first moment when you really felt that you were at home at Winters College?

N: The first time I felt like I belonged in the Winters community was after I got hired as a manager at the Absinthe Pub. I got to see the Winters community, the regulars that come to the Ab every once in a while, and get to know them better. They got to know me, more than just the guy who checks ID at the door, but as a person.

K: I feel like it’s the first time that I stayed with Emma Beckett until closing at the Ab, and I met Sam Herbert for the first time and a couple of other people. It was the first time I stayed until close and there was that magical

A: Tell me more about your theme.

What does being a Rock Star mean to you?

N: Once upon a time, when I wanted to find out what Winters was about, before I was involved in the community, a great man once told me that Winters is full of rock stars. Everybody in that building is a rock star. I didn’t really understand what he meant by that, but once I started to get to know the people at Winters College I started to really understand that everybody really is their own individual rock star. They may not play the guitar, or play the drums, or sing, but they have a rock star personality. They’re good people. They’re nice, they’re friendly, they’re helpful, that’s what it means to be a rock star. It means taking care of the people that are around you, and to have a good attitude.

K: AND ROCK THE FUCK OUT. N: A ND ROCK THE FUCK OUT. K: We are encouraging people to make fun of themselves, make mistakes, and turn it up to 11! Be over the top, be silly, and that’s where people are going to find their inner Rock Star.

A: Who is your biggest Rock Star influence?

K: Rage Against the Machine!

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N: I’d have to say, Robert Downey Jr. Listen, the man went from being a drug addict, to being a criminal, to going to jail, to getting out of the movie scene for five years, comes back and does Ironman and is now an A-List actor. He cleaned up his act, took care of his son, got back together with his wife, that man is a fucking rock star.

A: What were you like as a first year?

N: I was a bit of a shithead. Naive, I guess you could say. No one at Winters knew me in my first year.

I came into York undeclared, had no idea what I was doing, living in the village by myself, I didn’t really get involved until I joined Salsa Club.

K: Technically in my first year of university I was a Political Science major. I lived in Pond Residence,

and I said no to fun every single fricking day of my life. I never left my apartment, I didn’t hang out with people, I didn’t try, I didn’t get involved. Then I switched to first year Theatre. That’s when I met Winters, and that’s when I started coming out to the Ab, and coming out to events, and became the person that I was meant to be.

A: What is your favourite spot to relax on York campus?

N: The Winters Dining Hall.

K: The Artichoke office and the Winters Council office!

A: What is your favourite thing about working with your fellow O-Chair?

N: My favourite thing about working with Katie is how organized she is, and how dedicated to this Frosh

Week she has been over the past few months. She really inspires me to work hard, and to make her life easier as much as possbile.

It’s been nice bonding with her this summer.

K: My favourite thing about Nabil is that he is like my rock. I am very manic about stuff, and I’ll start going on a tangent about stuff and get really frazzled and walk into the council office like a tornado tasmanian devil and he will be there to ground me. Even if I didn’t know I needed him to be there, he will be there. It has been really nice to be so supported in this process.

A: If you had to choose one word to describe Winters Frosh Week 2014, what would it be?

N: LEGENDARY. A: How excited are you for Winters Frosh Week 2014???

K: SO EXCITED. N: So fucking excited. I dream about Frosh Week.

LEGENDARY

K: I am terrified, excited, jazzed, pumped, over the moon, everything. It’ll probably be the best week of my life and I can’t wait.

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SELF-PUBLISHED AUTHOR VICTORIA SHEARHAM:

“I WEAR A LOT OF HATS” BY, CAMELLIA DE CASTRO Inside the children’s book, Auntie Lea Babysits…A Zoo! lie hand-drawn pictures of lions and penguins along with the humourous story of Auntie Lea’s wild babysitting adventures. On the cover of the book in bright purple letters reads the name of the author and illustrator: Victoria Shearham. Shearham is a recent York University graduate with a major in History, minor in English, and in the Concurrent Bachelor of Education program for the primary/ junior level.

In my interview with Shearham, she expresses her journey as a self-published children’s author thus far. Hopefully, this interview inspires other students to consider paving the way for their career while simultaneously getting their university degree.

At the age of 22, Shearham already exists as a self-published author with six children’s books published. Auntie Lea Babysits…A

Zoo! was her first published children’s book and it all began with a lion.

Shearham says, “The idea of Auntie Lea Babysits…A Zoo! came about because I actually drew the picture first. And, the picture wasn’t even of the character, Auntie Lea. One day, I randomly drew a picture of a lion lying in a bed and taking up the whole space. I thought it was interesting, so I started writing down ideas of what I could do with this picture.” Most of the time, Shearham draws a picture first, which then inspires her to write a story.

Although Shearham established herself as a published writer and illustrator in the last few years, her passions for writing and art stem from when she was a little girl. For many years, Shearham attended an art school where she cultivated her artistic talents. She also began writing stories as a young girl. “I remember being six years old when I started writing a series of simple stories, called JD and Max after my grandfather, JD, and his dog, Max,” says Shearham.

Shearham credits her parents, grandparents, and friends for supporting her story ideas and her plan to become a published author.

In fact, a friend of Shearham’s family, who also writes, helped Shearham with her desire to publish by introducing her to the Canadian Children’s Book Centre in Toronto

13 | Major Speak – a place that encourages and helps people understand how to publish children’s books.

“The Centre gave me a package filled with information and tips on publishing,” she says. The package includes flyers and guides, as well as the Canadian Children’s Book News magazine that states which books are coming out, the names of upand-coming authors, and the current trends in children/young teen books.

After visiting the Centre and conducting her own research, Victoria contemplated how to get her books published. Big publishing houses receive thousands of manuscripts on their desks every year, so only a certain amount of books get published.

That meant Shearham would only have been able to produce one book each year, even if she got accepted by a publishing house.

“Then, I thought of self-publishing, but it wasn’t an easy decision to make,” Shearham says.

“I always wanted to make sure my school work and my essays were done first. I work on my books in my free time, particularly during the summer.

But, overall, I like to have control over my story and how I want my characters to look, so I decided to go for self-publishing.

“I remember being six years old when I started writing”

As a self-published author, Shearham is the publisher, the artist, the marketer, the web developer for her website, and the shipper of her books. “I wear a lot of hats,” Shearham says.

As the artist, Shearham handdraws all of the pictures in the books.

Then, she scans the pictures on her computer. “After the pictures are on my computer, I use Photoshop to colour them. I want the pictures to look as close to watercolour as possible because I love that look.”

Shearham then compiles the pictures with the story.

Luckily, Shearham discovered a trustworthy printing company where she emails drafts of her books. The printing company also sends emails back so that Shearham can preview and tweak the book if needed. She then ships out the books to the customers through her website, Join In Press.

She also tests her books in order to get feedback. “I read my books to kids to see how they receive it.

I like going to elementary school classrooms to read to them and then, have them read back to me aloud.”

Shearham finds comfort testing her books in the classroom because she plans to become a teacher. In fact, one of her first Education classes during her degree sparked her interest in seriously publishing her writing.

Shearham says, “I had an assignment for my Education class and my professor said to respond to the assignment however I wished.

So, I did it as a children’s story.

My professor loved it and said, ‘If you ever get it published, I want a signed copy!’”

Victoria Shearham’s Join in Press website: http://joininpress.com

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DANCE It’s that time of year again...

BY CHARLOTTE FOWLOW

As we begrudgingly hang up our bikinis in exchange for book bags, it can be difficult to get motivated for the long months ahead. As a dance major, I find September particularly painful, as it’s literally a kick in the butt reminder of how out of shape I’ve gotten over the past few months.

Now that I’ve entered the fourth and final year of my Undergraduate degree, the prospect of ‘real life’ is quickly approaching, and I realize now more than ever how daunting the path I’ve chosen is. As any Fine Arts major knows, there is a special kind of anxiety that comes with the ‘F’ that stands between the ‘B’ and the ‘A’. Although fulfilling in many ways, sadly more often than not, that ‘F’ can leave you feeling rather empty as well... mainly in the wallet region. With this information at the forefront of my mind these days, I’ve decided that in order to stay inspired, I’ve got to get other people excited about dance as well. Thankfully, with numerous performances and classes going on at

any given time, Toronto’s dance scene is definitely titillating. So whether you’re a Napoleon Dynamite or a Beyoncé on the ‘dancer scale’, there’s something out there for everyone.

There are plenty of opportunities to see and experience dance right here on campus. The Dance Department offers a variety of courses that are open to non- majors, ranging from Introductory Dance Studies to Philippine Folk Dance. If you’d like to take a class but are already overloaded with credits, the Tait McKenzie center also offers several dance classes including belly dance, hip hop, and ballet. Show your York student I.D and you’ll get a hefty discount. There are also a number of student clubs and organizations focused on dance, including the York Hip Hop club home of the award winning crew ‘StyleWize’.

If grooving’s not quite your thing but you enjoy watching from the audience, there are a number of performances that the Dance department presents each year.

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“So whether you’re a Napoleon Dynamite or a Beyoncé on the ‘dancer scale’, there’s something out there for everyone.”

The York Dance Ensemble is an auditioned collection of upper year dancers and musicians who work alongside professional Canadian and International choreographers to produce a range of performances throughout the year. You’ll often find them trolling the halls of ACE in head to toe sweats, doing pop-up performances here and there. You can also catch their main performance season towards the end of the winter semester. Additionally, the Dance Department produces two shows a year for the 3rd the original works of those who are soon to be the industry’s up and coming dance makers.

If you are seeking professional dance performances, look no further than the Harbourfront Centre. Located at Toronto’s beautiful waterfront, the Centre produces numerous works

by Canadian and internationally acclaimed artists including Toronto Dance Theatre and ProArte Danza.

The Next Steps Festival presented at the Centre’s Fleck Dance Theatre runs annually from September to June and is not to be missed. Other influential Toronto-based dance organizations include Dance Matters and Dancemakers, both of whom advocate for and support Toronto’s emerging dance artists. An excellent tool for getting the low down on the

Canadian dance scene is Canada’s dance magazine: The Dance Current.

Founded by York Fine Arts Faculty Megan Andrews, the publication offers great insight to the happenings of the dance scene nation wide.

And so, my fellow York students, I leave you with this information. Whether you decide to sign up for dance classes, check out some live performances, or simply stick to dancing in front of your mirror to Madonna, I thank you for contributing to the greater dance community in your own way.

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HOT AND LOUD: LIVE MUSIC IN THE SUMMER BY, PETER ELLMAN Welp. summer’s over. what have i learned? not much. When I wasn’t working too few part time hours or catching up on Community and Parks & Recreation I was trying to play music or see other bands live. But in the loud heat of summer I learned a bit about my preferences for live music and how to better avoid being broke by August.

I never paid much attention to people who seemed overly opposed to large music festivals. As the lineups for several fests this summer were revealed, I only got more and more excited: Constantines, Broken Social Scene, and Badbadnotgood at ‘Field Trip’; Neutral Milk Hotel, Jeff Tweedy, and Gogol Bordello at Toronto Urban Roots Fest; a handful of NXNE

showcases… all I could think was ‘fun fun fun!’

To be honest, after dishing out on tickets, food, and transportation for these and several other big-ticket events this summer, my wallet is a bit lighter than I’d like. Nothing can take away the excitement of the Constantines reunion set at Field Trip, or that of hearing Jeff Tweedy play ‘I am Trying to Break Your Heart’ at TURF, this kind of magic could not continue for me. I recently decided to put a $25 cap on my concert ticket purchases for a while. Not only will this help me cut back on these huge expenditures, but the heat, large crowds, and set time conflicts of large festivals won’t be missed either.

Several of the smaller shows I went to this summer were also just as exciting as some of the big name festival performances. In May I saw dark electro-pop act Baths at the Horseshoe Tavern and was thoroughly impressed. The openers, Young Fathers, were an energetic experimental hip hop group from Scotland, with three talented singeremcees. Having never heard of them before, I was very pleasantly surprised.

In July, I was part of a great but tiny show in the rented out basement of a restaurant in Ajax called ‘Rotilicious’.

I caught a reunion set by Stouffville/ Uxbridge-local heroes, Sleepwalker, as well as a thunderous and terrifying set by one of Canada’s best new metal bands, Exalt (new album soon on New Damage Records). Other highlights

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I never paid much attention to people who seemed overly opposed to large music festivals.

Photo taken by Daniel Robert Dinu.

included Chad Vangaalen and Cousins at Lee’s Palace, and Expire and Harm’s Way at the Hard Luck Bar. These smaller shows packed in a surprising amount of energy and excitement, with much less stress than a big festival.

Now the issue at the front of my mind as I write this is Riot Fest (Sept 6-7). There are at least 15-20 bands playing that I would spend $20 on seeing a solo show by, which adds up to a value of $300-400 a ticket.

This makes the current price of $180 per ticket seem great… but then I remember that $180 is way more than I have to spend right now, and way more than I want to spend any time in the foreseeable future. While I’d love to see The Cure and The Flaming Lips (and almost every other

band on the bill) , I’m just going to have to hold out hope that someone I know will give away a ticket.

Part of me wants to conclude this saying that small shows are far greater than big festivals, but that’s a little too absurd and subjective for me to feel comfortable. For now I’ll be pacing myself a bit more, taking the time to enjoy the cheaper or even free things in life. At the same time, if I had the money to attend every festival I wanted to, I can’t imagine why I wouldn’t.

P.S. At the time of writing this, I am most looking forward to seeing The War on Drugs Sept. 15th, and Sharon Van Etten Oct 2nd. Check them out if you can!

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WHY YOU SHOULD GIVE THEATRE A SHOT:

AN OUTSIDER’S VIEW

BY ERIC SCHOENBERGER

With the new term starting up it’s very likely that many are looking for clubs, activities, and possibly even courses on campus. Perhaps while looking you’ve considered giving something theatre related a try but have been discouraged or even intimidated by the thought of leaping into something like that which, at least on the outside, seems very difficult. It’s a feeling most anyone can attest to, that feeling

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when one goes to step outside their realm of personal experience. I know that’s what I went through when I first thought about jumping into the world of theatre. It’s a world that often scares off shy newcomers before they’re even fully in the door. I myself likely wouldn’t have started getting into it if it hadn’t been basically mandatory for me in high school. However, speaking as a former shy newcomer, someone who went through it, and as someone who isn’t a theatre major, I can tell you that the initial leap is more than worth it in the end.

When I first started out in theatre I basically had absolutely no idea what anyone was talking about or what any of their terminology referred to. Pretty much everything I did felt extremely unnatural, unpleasant, and embarrassing. I still consider my first monologue performance to be one of my more embarrassing early experiences. However as time continued on I gradually began to grow into it. I started to overcome my initial shyness and the experience left me as a more confident person and I eventually started to take more risks in my acting. It showed me that theatre isn’t just a way to pass time or get credits; it’s a way you can work to improve yourself. Even now when I take whatever theatre courses I can at York I’m still seeing whole new ways in which I’m improving.

It also isn’t just myself I see gradually improving. When I first started I began to see this growth and improvement in the other people I worked with who shared my

initial apprehensiveness and as I’ve continued in theatre I’ve seen that growth in others in every theatre experience I’ve had whether it be during my days in high school, my time in community theatre, or during those aforementioned theatre courses at York. Some of those people I’ve worked with have become some of my closest and most trusted friends. It’s these people and experiences which have lead me to recommend theatre to as many people as I can. It’s a way to grow as a person and help others to do the same all while experiencing new things and taking personal risks you likely wouldn’t otherwise. So in the event that you’re considering giving theatre a shot but are still on the fence about it, I say go for it. I know from experience that you won’t regret it.

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BY NADIA ROMPAS It’s hard to not question why this Toronto 5-piece chose to use two Vs for their band name, or why they picked the word ‘always’, but all these thoughts are thrown out the window the moment we get slapped by infectious sweet-sounding guitars.

Molly Rankin’s polite vocals is backed

by Alec O’Hanley’s bright guitar, Phil MacIsaac’s uplifting drumbeats, Kerri Maclellan’s warm fuzzy synths and topped off with Brian Murphy’s groovy intertwining bass lines. With the release of their self-titled debut album via Polyvinyl on July 22, the band breaks away from Toronto’s

usual offering of electronic (e.g. Holy Fuck) and punk (e.g. Fucked Up) and gives us straight-up indie pop, usually heard from Vancouver natives living in Montreal.

Having only known Holy Fuck prior to moving to Toronto two years ago, a personal theory that I always had was that everything in the local music scene is interconnected with them, and to my surprise, it somewhat is. Alvvays’ debut album was mixed by Holy Fuck’s Brian Borchedt and produced by Chad VanGaalen. Their connection is even deeper than I thought when I

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“The band breaks away from Toronto’s usual offering of electronic and gives us straight-up indie pop”

spotted a family outing at the Silver Dollar back in March, which gave me the chance to have my first non-embarrassing conversation with a band member (Matt Schultz, you rock!).

Alvvays employs similar sounds, resulting in an ongoing flow of conventional indie pop music throughout the record. The rhythm section blurs in distortion with additional touches of grit from the synths, but is luckily lightened up by the chiming guitar hooks - making them the perfect Manic Pixie Dream Girl band simply judging by their hits “Adult Diversion” and “Archie, Marry Me”. While bluer-sounding tracks like “Ones Who Love You”, “Dives” and “Red Planet” leave less memorable melodies because of the slow tempo, it also emphasizes the flatness of their sound as Rankin’s voice is buried underneath the overwhelmingly heavy instrumentals. Compared to their lively demos, the album’s muted

tone is a downfall that makes them sound like they are playing inside a domed Springfield from The Simpsons, which consequently puts forward that monotonous atmosphere on some tracks even further.

Despite the muted tones on Alvvays’ debut record, their rapidly expanding fan base suggests a bright future for the band. Prior to this release, their gigs were visited by passionate fans who stood in the first row bopping back and forth singing every word to the songs. While their sound isn’t necessarily a new breakthrough in music, their talent in making good indie pop music keeps bringing us back. So, how much do you wanna bet that Alvvays will be featured in a future indie romcom like 500 Days of Summer anytime soon?

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6 Truly Unique PLACES IN TORONTO THAT ARE

The search for the purely unique succumbs many people.

BY, CRAIG CLARK Being the first to discover something that is different and exciting has become the forefront of being in Toronto. It’s all about leading the way with your knowledge of what others don’t know or have barely heard of. The quest for true uniqueness is what pushes culture forward into new perspectives and understanding. For some readers nothing on this list is new or unique, but the purpose is to show contrast between some of the better-known attractions. Also, to represent the world that is beyond the forefront of the Toronto skyline.

Guildwood Park Think of it as the ‘Land of Misfit Toys’, but for old Toronto architecture. Giant stone statues of old banks, private schools and recognizable landmarks are scattered throughout a beautiful park overlooking Lake Ontario.

Pulling up it feels more like you’re at the Parthenon in Athens than the end of a suburban street in Scarborough.

O Noir To enjoy a full dining experience we must use all our senses, but O’Noir removes one important thing– sight. The restaurant is in complete darkness as diners enjoy traditional dishes without ever seeing them. Over their meal customers gain a better understanding of what it’s like to be visionless similar to the staff that are actually blind.

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Arts Market Since the desire to be purely unique has taken off to tremendous proportions there is no short supply of odd gift shops around Toronto. The Arts Market is one that helps local artists sell their work without the burden of long contracts or relying on one-off shows. The market has multiple booths that are branded, painted and monitored by the artist.

Cheltenham Badlands Only a short drive west of the city the Badlands is a rare sight of red copper hills located along the Niagara Escarpment. Around a thousand years ago the area was at the bottom of a river, but the redness is due to poor farming practices that led to soil erosion exposing the underlying earth.

Gladstone Hotel The Gladstone is deemed one of Toronto’s favorite art hotels. Each room of the hotel represents an artist’s vision and is completely different from the last. The Gladstone Hotel has an art gallery, large venue and locally focused food all of which push the limits of the art world. Holding onto its original 19th century Victorian architecture of exposed brick the Gladstone is truly hard to miss.

Revue Theatre One of Toronto’s only not-for-profit community theatres showing a variety of new and old films in one of the city’s oldest theatres. The traditional cinema experience is becoming truly unique as 3D and IMAX films continue to take over the moviegoer world. The most exciting part about the Revue is Silent Sundays where they show a classic silent film with a live pianist accompaniment.

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DON'T PLAY THE STORY

BY, JAMIELYN MARIANO engage in our actual lives? Having lived in a family full of brothers my entire life, I’ve always assumed the term ‘video game’ correlated with that of a virtual world – a dimension completely opposite from reality: the perfect form of escapism. Until now, I didn’t realize just how preconceived my notions were. ever wonder how video games

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’d choose a broody Mr. Darcy over a group of hot-tempered Xbox-players any time of day (most of the time), but it doesn’t hurt to have a little perspective. This summer, as I was lounging around the house on one of those lazy, too-hot-to-care summer days, I came across my younger brother staring intently at his computer screen. Click-click-click-

“As artists, or anyone for that matter, there is always a risk on the battlefield.”

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ing away. Zombie-faced. Cult-eyed.

You know, the usual. He was playing Titanfall – a first-person shooter game seemingly identical to Halo, or Call of Duty. Being the sister that I am, I asked him what was the point of playing this game; how was it any different from the countless firstperson shooter games collecting dust in his room? His response? Three clicks and utter silence.

When I bugged him about what kind of people/creatures/robotpersons he was shooting at, he grudgingly told me they were other online players - players around the world, shooting at each other until they virtually died. It was an expected response, but it still bothered me. Isn’t there a storyline for this game? An adventure mode, or something, where you’re supposed to save the world?

Defeat the bad guys?

“There is a story, but I don’t play the story,” he answered. “I prefer online.” And he left it at that.

I am not in any way condoning the sort of violence that goes on in these action games, but maybe the online gaming world isn’t so far-fetched from our lives here as students. Whatever the amount of adventures and obstacles a player faces in story mode doesn’t matter because there is only one result; you can fail x amount of times, but it doesn’t stop you from defeating the game. In real life, you only get so many opportunities.

Most gamers choose to play online because there is no set plot.

There is a chance of losing. A chance of winning. Of utter failure and embarrassment. The more you lose, the lower you are ranked. The more wins, the higher. In any case, each game played contributes to the skills you gain as a player; before you know it, you learn a few tricks here and there, and maybe you might even make a name for yourself in the endless virtual world.

As artists, or anyone for that matter, there is always a risk on the battlefield. There are no storylines to follow, no extra lives to absorb, no endgame to really look forward to.

There is only you, the battlefield, and the millions of opportunities running all around the world. As students, we need to remember that what we creatively express to the world are the marks that we leave on the battlefield. So this year, don’t play the story. Don’t even take the road less travelled; instead, take a shot. Make your mark.

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ABSURDITY

MUCH ADO ABOUT NONSENSE Why a certain amount of absurdity often makes the most sense

BY TAVISH GUDGEON Listen, any foolhardy hipster sporting frontier–era facial hair knows that making oneself look ridiculous for the sake of irony and subversion of social conventions can be almost as hilarious as it is irritating, but is there a method to their contrived madness? Is everything just a parody of a parody?

Is Orange is the New Black truly the new Pink is the New Blue?

To answer all those questions in a way that makes actual sense, yes, there are appropriate times to make appropriate amounts of nonsense.

Seeing as I am the most qualifiedly insane guy sitting in my room right now, I feel it is my fundamental

obligation to show how to use absurdity to your advantage. This should come as no surprise; humanity has arrived at a curious state in its existence.

Everything from iPods to the television screens above the urinals in higher–end sports bars bombard users with manipulative imagery designed to sell a product, or more specifically, a lifestyle. And thanks to the rise of the internet (which looks like it’s probably here to stay considering no one actually knows how it works or how to kill it) we have the luxury of getting subjected to these images every second of every day. If we are not careful we

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“ Use absurdity to think for yourself, transcend social conditioning, and remove yourself momentarily from an environment.”

8

can certainly fall acquiescent to the whim of the companies that produce these models to the point where we become nothing but brainless walking advertisements wearing Nike Air Yeezys and sipping Starbuck’s Caramel Mocha Frappuccinos talking about that new Macklemore song that we love.

That is not the type of person I want to be or the type of society I want to live in.

This sort of conduct forces us to turn to material goods to give our lives some sort of frivolous meaning.

We use these products as an excuse to not gaze at the infinite abyss of the universe and realize that ultimately our existence has no inherent significance. This is when ostensible absurdity becomes essential to not only our survival, but also our sanity.

In the early 1920’s when surrealism was the big man on campus and artists like Max Ernst began using artwork to allow their subconscious express itself, it wasn’t because they wondered how funny it would be if they made a metallic object look vaguely like an elephant, they were trying to get viewers to broaden their perspective. They wanted to demonstrate through ludicrous illustration existing outside

of normal context, that there are alternative ways of living external to the society we are used to.

Use absurdity to think for yourself, transcend social conditioning, and remove yourself momentarily from an environment.

It’s a fantastic way to take an immediate objective perspective. I’m not trying to sound redundant or repeat useless platitudes (but Tavish, what is a platitude? Why it’s a platypus with attitude, silly reader), I’m simply trying to say that acting like a downright idiot has an unfair negative stigma surrounding it.

So next time you’re in the club and feeling insecure because the shirt you’re wearing isn’t the same quality as any one of Usher’s, rip that shirt off, scream hot cross buns at the top of your sorry lungs and start dancing like the true maniac you are.

Soon enough you will find yourself having fun and forgetting about the conventions of normality in a club that are so malleable anyway that they hardly exist. Soon enough you will discover that losing your mind is one of the smartest things you can do.

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SHY FROSH BY, MALINA SINTNICOLAAS

“Waaaake uuuup Frosh!”

Ah, the drawn out words that will be every first year student’s alarm clock for the first week of September.

They will usually be belted out at 7:00am by a second or third year male (as I recall from experience) through a microphone placed strategically in Winters’ courtyard for everyone to hear.

Frosh Week is one of those terms that every university student knows, and is a time that every returning university student will remember. If one was to go around and ask a bunch of students whether they enjoyed Frosh Week, there will never be an equidistant answer. Simply put, Frosh is not for everyone. The first week of university can be extremely overwhelming, especially for students who are moving away from home for the first time and who need to adjust to living in a residence with hundreds of other students. The stressful traffic of vehicles, luggage, parents,

and students can be everything but comforting. As soon as families pull their vehicles up to the “drop off zone” of Winters Residence, they will be bombarded with a mob of Frosh bosses cheering like it is Spring Break. Bosses are not to be feared; they merely want to help students carry luggage and help find their designated rooms. They are there to assist students with whatever they need, they are just very loud and energetic.

Unlike other universities, the Frosh Week at York does not include humiliating rituals such as initiation or hazing, and it honourably does not partake in any use of drugs or alcohol.

The students who enjoyed Frosh Week have claimed that it was a great way to get to know other people and have fun. This doesn’t mean that Frosh Week is not a bizarre gathering.

Some of the activities entail filling condoms with water until they

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explode, and belting out chants that contain subject matter you would not want to explain to your parents.

It is all out of good fun, but it is understandable that some of these activities make some uncomfortable.

It is difficult to accommodate everyone for Frosh Week, because for the students who love the insane atmosphere, they paid and expect to have a fulfilling last week of freedom before the school year begins. For those who did partake in Frosh Week and are a little overwhelmed by the insanity of the first day, they should not be discouraged. There are still existing activities which allow for people to meet others in a more civil manner. The themed breakfasts that take place everyday allow for students to actually sit down and

have conversations with people. It allowed for people to mingle and if anyone was sitting alone, they were usually joined by others. The musical performances (last year the karaoke battle, and this year the lip-sync battle) is excellent for introverts and extroverts because students can either perform, or they can sit and watch the performances. As for those who did not partake in Frosh Week and are only staying for moving in, the mandatory orientations, and preparing for the following week’s classes, the blaring music that continues until two in the morning and hyperactive crowds can be an annoyance. Some things to do to take a break from this are look around campus; map out where some of your courses are going to be, get your textbooks ahead of

time before the crowds start hauling themselves in, and explore the different food outlets.

Alas, Frosh Week allows students to get to know others in a very short period of time and establish longlasting friendships. While this is not the only opportunity to meet people at York, it is an experience that is unforgettable. Students should be encouraged to try new things, but they should not feel obligated to drift too far out of their comfort zone and instead be directed towards activities that will appeal to them.

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Almost Tolerable While tolerance is nice enough, I’ve stopped tolerating it.

BY, CURTIS TE BRINKE

Although this sounds like the first bit of a rallying hate speech, it’s actually something I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about lately.

As a child my mother would tell me to tolerate others, even when I couldn’t stand them. Said people were never an entire culture or subgroup, but some sticky fingered and loud mouthed classmate I was forced to interact with in some group class project. Much like my thing for bearded thirty somethings, my undeserved sense of uber-hip superiority began at a young age.

When I grew up and found myself (read: stumbled into) being a member of the queer community, this whole acceptance thing took on a new significance. Suddenly it was a big deal when people would tolerate that I happened to identify as nonheterosexual. Their stoic acceptance of my “alternative lifestyle” was something I should be grateful for, glad to be validated as “A -Okay” in their eyes.

It got tiresome real fast.

When people offer up a “that must have been so hard for you” upon finding out I grew up queer in a rural community, I politely

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shut them down. Usually I shrug and say something along the lines of “everyone has their issues, me no more than anyone else”. And while I am a middle class white male (which is like getting second prize in the Life Lottery) this idea of “tolerance” is one that continually finds a way to make me feel slightly marginalized.

To me, the word sounds something like this: “I recognize that you are different than I. While I am not comfortable with that fact, I will deign to allow it. You are welcome.”

Each time I hear this word used all I’m really hearing is this sentence being airbrushed and lightened until it forms the word “tolerate”.

I tolerate my student debt. I tolerate online class registration and the way people won’t stop talking about how The Fault in Our Stars totally made them cry. I don’t like it. But what are you gonna do, ammiright?

To me, the idea of tolerance has always been insulting. As if people are doing me a favour in the simple act of not being prejudiced. I’m not

asking permission to be the person I love being, and the stance that other people take on it means zilch to me.

While this is something I rarely experience in Toronto, it is something I ran into again and again back home. I have experienced real and undeniable prejudice there. So just having people not treating you like a sexual deviant feels like a pretty good middle ground worth settling for.

But I’m over settling. The alternative? For me its always been as simple as this: Let’s just not give a fuck. I don’t care if you’re straight or queer, earth native or Tralfamadorian.

There are far more interesting things about people that have nothing to do with how they look or whose butts they feel like touching. So let’s celebrate what makes us unique by not giving a fuck about it. In doing so, you normalize what could otherwise be seen as merely “tolerable”.

We’re all normal because we’re all weird. And if someone can find you only tolerable, you are in no obligation to tolerate it.

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#WOMAN CRUSH

BY DIANA EDELHAUSER Defined by the ever-trustworthy Urban Dictionary as “when a straight female has an attraction for another, in admiration or idolization”, a #WomanCrush has become a pretty common and accepted idea among younger generations. Back in 1964 when Sports Illustrated published its first Swimsuit issue, they probably never imagined that their models would flood social media tags by the millions…Probably because a “hash tag” didn’t cross anyone’s mind back then. Nonetheless, many if not all can agree that the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit models have become perhaps the most prolific names in the industry: Kate Upton, Irina Shayk and Chanel Iman, to name a few. However, SI isn’t how I came across my ultimate #WomanCrush,

despite the fact that she has graced the cover of the 50th anniversary issue of Sports Illustrated: Swimsuit Edition alongside Nina Agdal and Lily Aldridge just a few months ago. That’s right, Chrissy Teigen has earned that prestigious title for me. But glossy magazine covers have nothing to do with it.

Born to a Norwegian father and Thai mother, 28-year old Teigen is as realistic an idol for me as they come, and not because her bikiniclad bum is all over newsstands.

It’s always been hard for me to choose a role model because no one really fit the bill! As a 19-year old university student going through the standard experiences of the contemporary young adult, I’m not looking up to an astronaut or a

neurosurgeon. Not because I don’t admire those professions, and not because a successful career isn’t one of my ambitions. Rather, I look for individuals with relatable life experiences and a lovable personality.

And if that individual happens to be a world-class model newly married to John Legend, whose music I happen to love, then so be it! Even better! I find Chrissy Teigen to be someone that I genuinely can envision as my best friend. She’s weird as hell, spontaneous and loves to laugh loudly and boldly. And maybe on a more selfish level, I can see physical flaws in her that I wouldn’t expect to find in a model. Yet, she’s beautiful and to me, wonderfully exemplifies the notion that “beauty comes from within”. No, I’ve never spoken to her.

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This is a woman who knows good food when she tastes it and still manages to rock a bikini on magazine covers

So how would I know? Valid question, but luckily for me, my #womancrush has a hilarious twitter, self-run instagram, yummy blog (seriously… its so ‘delushious’) and stars on MTV’s latest cooking show Snack Off! One of Teigen’s passions is her love for food, which she shows off on her blog website sodelushious. com through recipes and beautiful photographs of what her and hubby John are cooking and eating around the world. I mean, this is a woman who knows good food when she tastes it and still manages to rock a bikini on magazine covers… talk about demolishing a stigma! And actually, it’s her affinity toward fine dining that hilariously contrasts with the sometimes-gross concoctions she judges on MTV’s Snack Off. This show is the epitome of unconventional cooking, but like Teigen, its unabashedly relatable: three young amateur contestants compete for the title of Snack Off champion by having to cook a dish using common snack foods. Think “burger made with waffles and PB&J”. In other words, think of all your favorite hangover foods taken up by about 3 notches.

Literally, these are odd creations you could whip up in your kitchen in a drunken stupor, and now Chrissy Teigen has to try them out (and quite often, she enjoys them)! You can catch Chrissy and fellow judges chef Jason Quinn and comedian Yassir Lester Thursday nights on MTV. She’s honest, charming, and when Forever 21 fired her for being “too fat” a few years ago, Chrissy Teigen kept doing her thing. It’s ridiculous that in this day and age, companies are still fat shaming anything larger than a size zero, and while I sometimes look in the mirror and prefer my

tummy over Teigen’s, there is no reason why anyone should call her anything less than modelicious! But as her blog and twitter rants reveal, she gets more than her fair share of scrutiny, including some backhanded compliments from Nicki Minaj regarding the Swimsuit cover. In a blog post dated back to October 2013 regarding a rude column written about her, Teigen writes: I have such a wonderful, lucky life.

I am blessed to have the best friends, and wonderful family and opportunities I could have never imagined. But I am also hopelessly insecure and nervous and anxious and self-conscious. I have endless back and forth conversations with my own brain, where I answer my own questions and squash my own dreams.

Things like this leave an emotional mark.

And really, how many young women have these exact thoughts on a day-to-day basis? Unfortunately, the answer is too many. Not that it’s nice to see someone else go through the same very real emotions, but it is inspiring to see Chrissy’s wit and humour persevere. Her charm is what really draws people to her. It’s not that I want to be photographed on a beach alongside two models (although that would be nice) or that I want John Legend to write a love ballad about me (heck, that would be sweet, too!). She doesn’t try to be something she isn’t, and she struggles with her confidence just like most of us do.

I’m not striving for Chrissy Teigen’s career or lifestyle, I have my own goals and my own relationships to nurture; rather, it is her quirkiness, her ability to laugh and appreciate the love she has in her life that make her my ultimate #WomanCrush.

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A REMEDY PEOPLE AREN’T TALKING ABOUT:

IN YOUR DIET BY, MELISSA D’ANGELO Have you ever noticed how many food cravings you get in a day? Or have frequent trouble sleeping? Maybe you get constant migraines or PMS? According to Dr. Carolyn Dean, you may feel this way do to a magnesium deficient eating habit. Studies have shown that most of society only gets about half of the daily recommendation of magnesium.

An adult should intake an average of 400mg, yet what we consider a “good, healthy diet”, usually yields 250mg. Dr. Dean has written “The Magnesium Miracle” in order to enlighten and educate those of us with health problems that may be caused solely by a lack of magnesium.

Her book explains real examples of patients with their stories and how a magnesium supplement has changed their health. She explains that the supplement comes in more than one form, as a pill, powder, or oil. The oil form has been used to treat gum inflammation and prevent gum bleeding with a slow massaging of the oil into the gums. Besides

dental hygiene, magnesium aids bowel problems, diabetes, mental health, muscle trauma and even helps sustain blood pressure and cholesterol levels. This basic nutrient is in charge of physiological controls of the body, including heart activity.

Simple factors such as stress or physical exertion can easily deplete our magnesium. Dr. Dean explains that we can better our health first by eating more magnesium-enriched foods. Some foods we may want to look out for are nuts, whole-wheat products, and all-bran products. The start to a more magnesium-filled diet can even begin with changing the sugar in your coffee from white to brown. In her book, Dr. Dean lists brand names of water that contain the most magnesium. These particular brands of water purposely add extra magnesium in order to aid individuals with their daily intake. Doctors besides Dr. Dean have collaborated and written their own books explaining the importance of a change in habit. In a conference that Dr. Dean

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attended, Paul Mason of the Healthy Water Association commented “there is a consensus that most of the world’s population has magnesium deficiency”. The real question is why our own doctors and pediatricians haven’t encouraged a more magnesium-rich diet. Such a simple mineral can go a long way, long enough that it has a hand in aiding diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, depression, and Raynaud’s Syndrome.

Now, what does this all mean? It doesn’t mean head to Rexall and stock up on magnesium pills. It means start looking more closely to what you eat and perhaps have a discussion with your doctor about what you’ve read here. My grandmother spoke with her doctor and was able to raise her daily intake to the recommended dosage. If my 67 year old grandmother’s health can change in 8 weeks, imagine how drastic of a change YOU can see in say a year...10years...in the time it takes you to reach her age! Just 2 months ago, my grandmother began taking a magnesium supplement which she stirs into an evening

beverage that not only helps her sleep better at night, but has helped make her arthritis less prominent. If her body has successfully absorbed the mineral while functioning at a slower rate than the average university student, then we should be able to benefit from the magnesium with much higher efficiency at a faster rate. And why should you care? Because you have a greater likelihood of benefitting from the mineral AND you have more years to put the supplement to good use!

Being an athlete for the university, I understand what it means to

stay healthy and be fit and active.

Magnesium particularly targets physiological functions and mental processes, both of which are necessary for your physical well-being and quality of life. These are our prime years, leading into the adult body we will live in for the rest of our lives... why wait for our health problems to build up, when we can possibly prevent some of the issues that arise in the elderly today? Perhaps magnesium is that “missing link to total health”.

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THE BRILLIANCY OF NOTHING

BY NIKKY WAXMAN

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If we don’t make time for nothing then nothing makes time for us.

It seems so uncomprehendingly simple. We use it in regular conversation so casually and yet few of us naturally experience it. Nothing. And it is something worth experiencing; in our current Information Age we are consistently bombarded with stimulation for all five senses. It doesn’t help that nothing is something that needs to be a conscious activity. It requires a certain extent of effort. Even when we think we’re doing nothing, as opposed to work and school, are we really? The television is visually and aurally stimulating, as well as the computer.

In addition, they are predominantly forms of entertainment, which is a thought-provoking activity.

Nothing is the entire scope of inactivity in our lives, which includes things like sleeping and meditating.

It is a conscious moment wherein our brain detoxifies itself from the surplus of information that normally occupies it. Even if it’s just for a moment, clearing your mind is the most priceless and necessary task that we should all make time for.

When there is nothing in your head, all of the tedious stress and nagging anxieties disappear behind closed eyes.

All the troubles from the day cease to exist and you become one with yourself, as you are, uninterrupted by life’s chaos.

Everyone has his or her own way of achieving nothing, from drinking a hot cup of tea to listening to a nearby storm. Everyday habits that you use to relax yourself are conscious examples of nothing. You might do it without even realizing it. But it’s a necessary function in our reality: if we don’t make time for nothing then nothing makes time for us. Our schedules become hectic and frustrating, leaving us flustered in its wake. Nothing is what keeps us sane, leveling our heads when all the forces of our life tug it this way and that.

Considering it’s back-to-school season, everyone’s tensions are running high. The money, the books, the marks, the friends, the fun, they’re all getting tangled. Making the time to do absolutely nothing seems like a waste of time, but it is sincerely not. If anything, taking the time to be inactive might increase the productivity of your actual activities.

The brilliancy of nothing is that it’s whatever you make it.

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CHIPOTLE FISH TACOS BY, NIGEL D’SOUZA

Hey everyone! New year: new recipes. This recipe is something brand new that I came up with based on an item on the menu at the restaurant I work at. I decided to take what I know of it and experiment with it. These fish tacos are very easy to make and the ingredients aren’t expensive either.

This is a really easy recipe and quick to make as well. It’s also very easy to share with friends. Also, if you don’t happen to like a certain ingredient, then substitute it for something else! You don’t really know what you like until you experiment, right? Be adventurous with your food. Happy Eating!

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Ingredients • • • • • • • • • • •

3 corn tortillas 3 slices of cheese 1/2 oz. of chopped spinach 1 tbsp. chipotle hummus 1/2 oz. diced tomatoes 1 tsp. of sour cream 1/4 onion chopped 1 haddock filet 1 cup of flour 1/3 cup of breadcrumbs Sriracha sauce

Method 1. Cut the fish into bite sized pieces.

Combine bread crumbs and flour. Coat the fish and chopped onions.

2. Fry fish in hot oil for about 2 minutes or until done.

3. In a separate pan, fry the corn tortillas in light oil. Place the cheese, some of the chopped spinach (about half of what you have chopped), and the chipotle hummus on the tortillas while they are frying.

4. Fry tortillas until slightly crispy. Take the tortillas onto a plate after.

5. When the fish is done, place on the tortilla shells. You can now start building the taco. Add the remaining spinach. Place a dollop of sour cream for each taco. Top off with diced tomatoes. You can add Sriracha over the tacos for little extra heat.

6. Enjoy!