Who knows who you be when luck finds you Appears at your side Untangling red strings of fate for you
Best of all
Who knows who you’ll be when you no longer notice
When you no longer have to steal horses’ shoes And deflower clover fields When all rabbits keep their feet And black cats are just cats
When the wells of luck are no longer dry And your fingers can uncross Lucky you
—
Rachel Loring
Hallie Cain
Kiley Parrish
Olivia Ginsberg
Kiley Parrish
Rachel Loring
Paul Laurora
Rachel Loring
Isaac Sorell
Melanie Blatt
Rachel Loring
Danny Diaz
Macy Kissel
Danny Diaz
Melanie Blatt
Brenna McWha
Williams
Macy Kissel
Macy Kissel
Macy Kissel
Chesney Jensen Macy Kissel
Kissel
Lucky Dog
The House Always Wins—And I Am The House
Lucky Charms
Lucky In The Little Ways
SHITS & GIGGLES
Good Luck Dupes!
THE CRITICS
A Not Annoying (?) Film Bro’s Guide To The Best Casino Scenes Of All Time
A Tale of Two Lotus Casinos
A Reconsideration of Anora After It’s Best Picture Win
POETRY
“February 28th”
“Toothbrush”
“+/- 30 Degrees”
“The Deck I Carry”
“Unluck”
THE PUBLIC SQUARE
One Human
What Will We Think When We No Longer Think?
Your Lucky Stars
& GAMES
Puzzle—Are We Saying The Same Thing?
Piece Gauntlet Logic Puzzle—Game Night
Post Grad-lib: Viva Las Lockdown
Rebus Puzzle—Reading Between The Lines
COVER
Feelin’ Lucky?, Watercolor 9x12
THE CRITICS
A NOT ANNOYING (?) FILM BRO’S GUIDE TO THE BEST CASINO SCENES OF ALL TIME
When you’re dating a film bro you gotta put them to use, so here are some of the (allegedly) best casino films from my favorite movie lover.
Let’s meet our film aficionado: Paul is an aspiring filmmaker, movie lover, nepo boyfriend, and won’t shut up about that one time he got Martin Scorsese’s autograph.
And with that let’s get started:
10. In Time (2011)
Shoot me for this one but the poker scene in this movie is fantastic. Time became currency in this sci-fi dystopian movie and Justin Timberlake stumbles into a poker match where time billionaires are gambling with the hours they have accumulated and inherited. It ultimately leads to one of the coolest set-ups where people genuinely are gambling with their lives. Talk about STAKES!
9. Hard Eight (1996)
The Craps Scene. The unforgettable scene from Paul Thomas Anderson’s wonderful directorial debut. Two legendary Hollywood Phillips (Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Phillip Baker Hall, you’re both sorely missed by us all) trade punches in what is essentially a generational boxing match being played out on a craps table. P.T.A. tried to hint to us with this scene that he would be taking the film industry by storm.
Paul Laurora
8. Cool Hand Luke (1967)
Paul Newman is so cool and has such a cool name that they made a whole movie about him just being cool. He drinks beers, smokes cigs, plays poker in prison while not even looking at the opponents as he bluffs away. “Sometimes nothin‘ can be a real cool hand.” No wonder he ended up becoming the smiling face on every salad dressing in your grandparents‘ refrigerator.
7. Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
The game is rigged! The audience knows, all the criminals at the table know, but unfortunately our protagonist Eddy doesn’t know. The scene unfolds while you yell at your screen for Eddy to come to his senses and stop putting all his money-and his friend’s money- on a bogus hand. This inciting incident launches this film into a dizzying chaos of hyperlink criminal stories that propelled Guy Ritchie into the filmmaking world.
6. Casino (1995)
Cheating a bit here but how about not just a casino scene but an entire casino movie. Lock-in for nearly three pulse-pounding hours of classic Martin Scorsese directing, Thelma Schoonmaker’s surgical editing, Joe Pesci’s Napoleon complex, Robert DeNiro stoicism, and Sharon Stone’s masterclass of a performance.
5. Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
What if we took a bunch of really attractive people and made one of the greatest heist movies ever? Well, that’s exactly what they did here and the ending heist makes me excited just thinking about it. It spawned an amazing trilogy, a woman-led reboot (where’s the album Rihanna), and the franchise allegedly will be continuing with a fourth installment. Shoutout to director Steven Soderbergh—who I want to note was unbelievably kind and had a genuine conversation with me about editing at the Prospect Park Nitehawk bar.
4. The Sting (1973)
This Best Picture winning classic features even more Paul Newman coolness and Robert Redford being the unbelievably attractive suave man he is (please let me into Sundance). The horse gambling scene has one of the greatest twists in movie history and these two icons of filmmaking make it one of the most memorable endings ever. Not gonna spoil it for you because you should watch the movie.
3. Rain Man (1988)
He can count cards! This is probably one of the most famous scenes of the last 40 years. Dustin Hoffman puts on a lovingly complex performance as he takes all of the casino’s money by counting cards in blackjack. This then leads into what is probably one of my favorite scenes in movie history, when Tom Cruise teaches his brother how to dance. A scene that will make anyone with or without a pulse cry.
2.Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
Towards the end of the Broadway Melody number Gene Kelly walks into a Casino and the whole scene is disrupted when the girl he loves enters the room. The scene dissolves into a wind swept ballet fantasy sequence that personifies love in a way that no words could ever capture. It’s the greatest musical sequence ever committed to film and truly takes your breath away.
1. Dr. No (1962)
The camera tilts up, Sean Connery lights a cigarette and says, “Bond, James Bond.” In that moment one of film’s most beloved and iconic franchises is forever injected into our culture. (Let’s forget that Jeff Bezos now has creative control over Bond)
LUCKY DOG
by Hallie Cain
Iam an animal lover by birth. It’s something I inherited from both halves of my DNA. My mom was never a pushover, but easily persuaded when it came to pets. From rabbits to hermit crabs to lizards to guinea pigs and even one very short-lived hedgehog, we had it all growing up. So when I graduated college and began to feel this false sense of adulthood emerging, I decided I needed a dog.
Just after moving to my first selffunded apartment in Denver, I made Pet Finder my full-time job, despite starting a real full-time job hardly a few weeks prior. I went as far as to meet three of the dogs in person, weighing the pros and cons of bringing home a rhodesian ridgeback mix just after my 23rd birthday. For one reason or another, I never actually followed through.
Until one very difficult year came along and my best friend/ roommate, Abby, mentioned her coworker had a foster dog who she adored. Her name was Lucky.
Lucky was living with a foster family and popping by Abby’s office every now and then with her foster dad
to say hi. She was a five year-old pitbull terrier mix. And knowing that I was playing with the idea of adopting a dog myself, Abby had mentioned to her coworker that I’d be happy to watch Lucky any time. So one day in May, Lucky came home from work with Abby for an undefined amount of timejust because we wanted her to.
Lucky was and remains, one of the best dogs I have ever known. She was spotted like a cow and had two different colored eyes. And yes, she was unbelievably cute. But more than anything, Lucky came into our somber Santa Monica apartment, a home that had been filled with a lot of tears and grief in recent months, and she made it feel warm again. She was calm and loving, and gave me a purpose every day. She was a girlie that needed fresh air, just like me, and forced me to get it. Lucky stayed with us for two weeks at first, and then came back periodically when we needed some comfort. She did more for me that year than my therapist and reminded me how much better a home feels when a dog is there waiting for you inside.
I’ve tried to foster again since. And safe to say, no dog will compare. I don’t know what Lucky is up to now. But I do know that if she could handle four flights of stairs, I’d be flying out and driving her cross country to make her a Brooklyn baby. I remember, at first, we talked about how lame her name was. “Lucky?” We said I’d have to rename her if I kept her. But now I think it’s pretty sweet to be able to say we were lucky to know Lucky.
THE HOUSE ALWAYS WINS — AND I
AM THE
HOUSE
by Kiley Parrish
They say love is a gamble, but what if the safest bet you could make is on yourself?
Being single at 25 is a jackpot I didn’t even know I hit. It’s not some waiting period for ‘the one’ — it’s the main event. A time when every choice is mine, every risk is mine to take, and every win is mine to celebrate. No splitting the pot, no playing it safe — just me, my ambition, and an even bigger ego.
Here’s why the odds are stacked in your favor:
You are the prize. There’s no chasing, no convincing. You’re not someone’s consolation prize — you’re the queen of hearts and anyone who wants a seat at your table better ante up.
Freedom is your wild card. Your time is your own — no checking in, no compromising on weekend plans, no “let me ask my boyfriend.” Spontaneity is the name of the game, and you’re playing to win.
Your standards? Sky-high. When you’re single, you get to raise the bar, not lower it. It’s not about finding someone to fill a spot — it’s about finding someone who adds to an already full life. If they can’t match your energy, they can fold.
Every decision is yours. Want to quit your job and move to a new city? Book a solo trip on a whim? Do it — the only person you answer to is you.
You’re building the life you want. This is your time to stack your chips — building a career, making memories, and investing in yourself. The right person will meet you at the table, not pull you away from it.
You are the house—and the house always wins. Your happiness doesn’t depend on someone else showing up; it’s built by you, for you. Anyone who comes along is just adding to the jackpot you’ve already won.
So the next time someone asks why you’re ‘still single,’ just smile and remind yourself how lucky you are that no one’s son is stressing you out — because the smartest bet you’ll ever make is the one you place on yourself.
ARE WE SAYING THE SAME THING?
a word puzzle by Macy Kissel
Clever clues collide with curious connections. Figure out what common word the two women are talking about, and use the highlighted letter to solve the phrase at the end.
It requires skill and luck to beat the house.
A spinning casino device.
Unexpected windfall, say
A popular song by Taylor Swift, and her rumored 12th album.
Phrase meaning ‘charmed life.’
Giving up in pursuit
“It was written in the stars.”
Your vertically challenged male friends in March, say
Metal objects hung for good luck.
One of the
a deck of cards.
Granting entry.
It was meant to be.
Only three leaves.
Life-or-death game played by the Russians.
Win it all.
Often used to describe a happy turn of events.
A poker term for quitting a hand.
A central theme in myths and tragedies.
A fairy who prefers loafers. What goes around comes around, say
Nate the hoof guy… need I say more?
Four-leaf variety.
A predetermined course of events.
Song by Tommy James & The Shondells “Crimson and ___”
four suits in
Marilyn Monroe’s song “____ Are a Girl’s Best Friend”
Lottery.
Symbol of Ireland.
THE CRITICS
A TALE OF TWO LOTUS CASINOS
Analyzing Two Very Different Percy Jacksons and the State of the Modern Adaptations
by Rachel Loring
ercy Jackson was my entire l ife in the third to fourth grade. I read and reread the books constantly (even one time aloud to my dog), wrote Greek phrases and words in my notebooks, had Percy Jackson posters, and yes, I did create all the characters on The Sims…multiple times.
The biggest heartbreak I had as a young child was walking out of the original Percy Jackson film (Percy Jackson & the Olympians, 2010) and reckoning with the fact that the movie was NOTHING like the books. For most of my life, the only thing the film had going for it was the fact that Logan Lerman was in it.
So imagine my shock, my fury, my confusion, my complete and utter surprise when the 2023 new Percy Jackson Disney Plus series managed to make an even poorer written, less fun, altogether snoozefest of an adaptation.
When the new Percy Jackson series was announced, I was more excited than the actual children it was aimed towards. Age-accurate casting, involvement from author Rick Riordan, and a Disney budget. The stars felt like they were aligning. FINALLY, the adaptation to end all adaptations was here.
But…that was not what happened.
There’s so many ways I could analyze what I think is the complete failure of the series to be good as both an
adaptation and a show in general, but I think comparing one particular scene from the Disney Plus series to the 2010 movie illustrates these failures, as well as the problems of modern adaptations, the best. And that scene is the Lotus Casino scene.
Cue Poker Face.
Now, were there problems with the scene in the 2010 movie? Of course. Was it book accurate? HELL NO! Was it a little too horny? Sure (looking at you 2010 Grover). Was the scene indicative of many of Rick’s main issues with the film (mainly the aging up of characters, cussing, etc etc)? Yes! But it succeeds as a scene in its own right when it comes to pacing, tension, character work, action, visuals, and maybe the most vital when it comes to the Percy Jackson series: fun.
Let’s break it down.
In the 2010 movie when the gang shows up to the Lotus Casino they have a clear and direct goal: get one of the McGuffin pearls they need to get to the underworld. Boom. Easy. They walk in knowing NOTHING, eat the most delicious-looking flower cookies you’ve even seen (admit it, you wanted to eat one), and immediately start tripping balls. We can see and feel an ominous energy from the casino: the staff keeps popping up out of nowhere, offering more and more flowers, sharing secretive looks with
each other, and becoming increasingly pushy. This is brilliantly contrasted with brightly colored, fun scenes of the gang dancing, playing craps, going to the spa, and walking around with a gaggle of …prostitutes? on their arms (horny Grover strikes again). All the contrast, all the dramatic tension adds up to a claustrophobic scene as we, the audience, know something is wrong but our characters don’t.
The series, on the other hand, has a really weird habit of deciding that it actually doesn’t want any tensions or stakes at all even a little bit. Characters know everything, and not only that, they monologue everything they know directly to the viewer. And I do mean everything. So Instead of building dramatic tension and having the viewer discover the truth alongside the characters, they decide to literally suck every last drop of tension out of the scene by just information dumping on us as soon as the casino scene starts. It goes like this: the gang walks in and immediately Grover (nonhorny) halts all the action by telling us the entire myth of the lotus eaters/ Odysseus and explicitly telling Percy and Annabeth not to eat anything. Cool. Wow. I am so engaged as an audience member knowing that there’s literally nothing to build tension. My characters are now in…zero danger. And what’s even better? Once inside there is nothing interesting happening at all, both visually and plot-wise.
While the casino scene in the movie is wildly inaccurate, it certainly isn’t boring. It’s colored beautifully with bright, moody, neon Vegas Lights and the camera work and editing is fun, using visual effects like distorted, colored lighting and montages to show off the influence of the Lotus flowers without stopping to spell it out. The set itself is fun and lively: the casino is packed with people and there’s a giant indoor roller coaster, aesthetic Lotus cookies on gold trays, a Chekhov’s luxury car for a chase at the end, and
multiple different locations we cut to, making the casino feel real and exciting. The series’ version of the casino scene has the double jeopardy sin of being both inaccurate and BORING. The kids arrive to the casino IN THE DAYTIME. This means we get a gray-toned, green-screened Vegas that is just dull to look at (Disney must have used the same CG artists as the Lion King-that’s how harsh and lifeless the lighting is). The casino feels like a work conference that got booked at the wrong hotel. There’s nothing really fun happening in the background or the foreground, just rows and rows of quiet gambling tables. And unlike the movie, where the scene is packed with action and accelerates to a climax with a chase scene, in the series the scene goes nowhere. The trio walks in, info dumps, decides to split up (stupid decision since in this version they KNOW what they’re walking into), then Grover goes off on a useless non-horny side quest and Percy and Annabeth (our A plot) walk and talk, then sit and talk, then walk and talk some more. That’s it. I’m not kidding. They might as well be in a cardboard box for all the interaction they do in the world. The characters have NOTHING to work with, they put Lin Manuel Miranda as Hermes in a GRAY HOODIE. You’re an immortal Greek god in an evil Vegas casino where people have been trapped for decades and you’re wearing a GRAY HOODIE?? Someone get this man a classic white Elvis costume. PLEASE give me something to look at.
The TV show is really the epitome of passive, especially when it comes to the actual actions of the characters. Characters reveal themselves through action. In my college fiction classes, a professor of mine liked to use the example of a haircut. Imagine a couple fighting while one is giving the other a haircut. Does it say something different if the man is cutting the woman’s hair? Does one have a shaky hand, alluding to a substance problem that isn’t being explicitly talked about, adding subtext
to the words being said? Does the man cut an extra inch because he’s mad and spiteful? Does the woman contemplate slitting his throat? Action reveals, action is needed, ESPECIALLY in a visual medium. The series needs action IV dripped into its veins.
What if Annabeth and Percy have to play Hermes in craps in order to get his help? You’re in a casino with a trickster god for god’s (gods’?) sake USE IT! What if Hermes challenges Percy to poker but since Percy’s legit twelve years old he suggests Dance Dance Revolution instead? What if they rap battle or sing a super awkward duet, I mean you got Lin, milk it! The actor who plays Percy is genuinely funny and talented, let him shine! Instead, the show decides the best way to do this scene is have the three characters sit directly across from each other and talk about…parenting. That’s it. If you’re gonna change the source material at least make it SOMETHING.
Since there’s no action, by default it makes the characters flat. In the movie the gang only snaps out of it once PERCY HIMSELF (with a little help from Daddy Poseidon) realizes the flowers numb the senses and trap the casino guests. This isn’t TOLD to us, we instead watch Percy figure it out. Only AFTER a hectic and fun casino chase scene does Annabeth reveal to us the myth of the Lotus-eaters and its connection to the Odyssey. See? If you gotta info dump do it in the falling action. In the series there’s nothing for Percy to do or figure out. He doesn’t talk to an anachronistic hippie playing pinball, instead Lin tells him OFF SCREEN that time moves differently in the casino. Big whoop. Boring reveal. Bring back the pinwheel hippie!!! Even when the TV writers try to add stakes (Percy and Co. realize the Lotus amnesia magic is pumped through the air--something Percy discovers off-screen and info dumps at us later) it still feels pointless because there’s no real urgency to escape. The movie
added a hostile staff and car chase. The series has a terribly overwrought scene of Percy trying to “this isn’t you” Grover out of his trance. And even then there’s no danger, just drag Grover out he’s not even that opposed to leaving. This pales in comparison Logan Lerman desperately and honestly sassily (classic Percy) trying to convince his friends to snap out of it while he’s being chased by casino staff.
But Rachel, you beg, what’s the point? I’d argue that media, especially the media that’s funded by giant corporations like Disney, sets the tone and says something about our culture. If you know me, the words remake, reboot, and adaptation are extremely triggering (don’t get me started on Disney live-action remakes). But the problem isn’t necessarily adaptation itself. There are lots of adaptations (even by Disney) that I love. Adaptations can be sick as hell (I’ll save my case for a Percy Jackson animated adaptation for another day).
I recently rewatched Pirates of the Caribbean, and while I don’t think it’s necessarily a great film, I found myself YEARNING for a time when adaptations weren’t just plopping actors on a green screen and having them walk and talk. There were set pieces, saturation, action, visual gags, real choreography, showing not telling. Where is that in this series? I worry in general about the diminishing value of our media. Is this the future? Where audiences can’t be trusted to put anything together so instead we have to listen to twelve-year-olds info dump at us? Have we truly lost the art of good adaptation? Or at least fun adaptation?
But I do have hope for the next season. Will I be watching it? Probably not. But I believe in giving shows a chance to find its footing and identity.
But I will never forgive the series for not using Poker Face during the Lotus Casino scene. That’s just hateful.
FEBRUARY 28TH
by Melanie Blatt
the sun is shining the first day since winter settled that the temperature has exceeded 60 as i walk into the station i think about how we are living things like everything else today i think we’re ants
i look around, eyes settling on the man with a suitcase who’s pants sag to his knees what are people thinking about? does anyone else recognize this symmetry? sometimes when i’m on the train i feel like shouting i feel like jumping in the air and yelling “this is life! we are alive!” but i don’t they wouldn’t understand
i realize I’m happy lately I’ve been obsessing over some boy who I don’t know much about it’s amazing what we can fit into a black box i trip over my own feet when i’m around him now i think he likes another girl and i prefer the version of him in my head
out of the train the world is a mess of melodies every color from purple pale, pink, yellow, olive, brown, orange is captured on this one street i listen and every person passing sounds different 5 languages in 5 steps how wonderful it is to be me living in one of the greatest cities in the world how lucky am i!
i put this moment in my pocket a savior for a darker day
THE CRITICS
A RECONSIDERATION OF ANORA AFTER ITS BEST PICTURE WIN
by Isaac Sorell originally published on isaacsorell.substack.com
When Anora won the award for Best Editing early in the night at the 2025 Oscars, I knew a sweep was incoming. Was I disappointed? Yes. But mainly because I had thrown my weight behind Conclave, a film which blends its religious aesthetics and Real Housewives-esque thrills so well that I can’t help but think Edward Berger is also a recovering Catholic homosexual. Basically, my ballot at my annual Oscars party was fucked. I was going to lose. Demi Moore was going to lose. The papacy was going to lose (get well soon, Pope Francis!).
During award season, I watched Anora only once. It was in October at Film at Lincoln Center, and I sat next to a woman in her sixties who was having the absolute time of her life, which greatly enhanced my experience.
I enjoyed the film. Sean Baker’s bait-and-switch script is thoroughly entertaining as it moves from Cinderella story to comedic thriller, and Mikey Madison gives a career-defining performance. And yet, even though it contained the elements of an easy fivestar knockout, I couldn’t help but feel something was missing at the time. It may be that the characters are noticeably thin or that the film sometimes meanders
in its nearly two-and-a-half-hour runtime (I’m still convinced there is a tighter and better version of this movie somewhere).
Despite all that, when Anora took home the big prize, I was definitely pleased. It was still one of my favorites of the year. Motivated by its win, I finally gave Anora a second turn. It was playing at AMC Lincoln Square (my safe space, my temple, my one true love) so I made my A-List reservation and headed out to re-evaluate the movie in those newly refurbished leather seats. (Warning: spoilers ahead.)
What I found was this: although the film’s flaws were not smoothed over with an additional viewing, Anora sways an audience with a rare and undeniable charm. I loved it more on a second viewing because I could be present with that effect:
• The whole audience trying to catch their breath from laughing while Ani beats the absolute shit out of three grown men.
• The smile that crept across my face because of the brilliance of the shot of Ani and those three goons stomping single-file around Coney Island like the damn Beatles crossing Abbey Road.
• The old couple beside me gasping in unison when
Igor reveals the ring.
• Just one word whispered–“wow”–from the woman behind me when the film’s credits start to roll to the sound of the car idling (if you know, you know).
• And, my favorite ad lib ever delivered in the direction of my new favorite movie villain: “Calm down, Diamond.”
The magic that turned Anora into this year’s Best Picture is that Baker crafted a small film that feels huge. It centers on just a few characters in Brighton Beach, and its entire budget was only $6 million. Yet, on the whole, the movie is like a rocket. It propels the audience somewhere completely new; it’s outrageous, romantic, hilarious, thrilling, and at its conclusion, devastatingly empathetic. No other film of the year (even my beloved, Conclave) managed such a feat.
Hopefully, you caught Anora at the theater. “Filmmakers, keep making films for the big screen,” Baker pleaded in his acceptance speech. As his record-setting night at the Oscars indicates, he is worth listening to. The big screen is the only place to experience a movie like this, surrounded by moviegoers falling in love with Mikey Madison’s Ani right alongside you.
by Macy Kissel
GAME PIECE GAUNTLET
Uh-oh! You toppled your game bin, and now you’re knee-deep in a chaotic mess of dice, cards, and rogue pawns. Trapped in this tangled labyrinth of game pieces, there’s only one way out— follow the pieces in numerical order. Can you escape the madness, or will you be lost in the game forever?
TOOTHBRUSH
by Rachel Loring
I have a toothbrush at someone’s house
Pink
In a red cup
On the top shelf of the medicine cabinet
And if I were a poet
I’d find something to say
About that toothbrush
Its spot in the cabinet
And the man who put it there
Happily
For the first time
If I were a poet I’d say something about
Another me
A younger me
Who chewed mint gum on bathroom floors
Because asking for a toothbrush was too much
Like asking for love
If I were a poet
I’d connect
The toothbrush to
The spare key to
The spot on the right side of the bed to what it means to finally
Have the space to stay
But I’m no poet
Just a girl
With a pink toothbrush on the top shelf
And the man who put it there
Happily
For the first time
PLUS/MINUS 30 DEGREES
by Danny Diaz
There’s a lot of things about the spring, that I can’t help but enjoy. The returning leaves, the returning sun, all good things for a boy.
But there’s things about the spring that I can’t help but abhor. The way the days go about the change, the way they refuse to inform.
When you don a coat, to stay afloat in the chilly morning rain, you can’t help but later melt when the sun brings on the day.
It’s not the light, so sweet and bright that I wish to yell and scold, but I can’t tell, nor see or smell, the way these spring days will unfold.
So when I dress, I best guess How the temps shall be affirmed. But it’s evident, that the elements couldn’t give a shit what I prefer.
THE
PUBLIC SQUARE
ONE HUMAN
by Melanie Blatt
“Hope is the thing with feathers” –Emily Dickinson
The bird in the trees whispers its special song to celebrate the morning while you sleep. The bluebird protects its eggs in the lone suburban tree in 2014 as you storm out of the house, mad at your parents. In the loud urban jungle that exists outside of my New York City apartment, the sounds of hope are easy to miss. Sometimes it feels like we’ve eradicated it all, but then I remember that life has existed long before humans were consciously
bearing witness; the horseshoe crab has blood that runs cerulean blue and has been alive for 450 million years, surviving all five mass extinction events the Earth has experienced, without ever evolving.
Ironically, as I sit down to write this a dove flies to my air conditioning unit carrying twigs. Instinctually, I knock on the window loudly to scare her away. Why? Because her coos will wake me? Wasn’t I just
saying how I missed her sounds? All she wants to do is survive. Who am I to deny her shelter? I reflect briefly on her existence and mine and decide I won’t prevent her from nesting should she return. The world is looking dark these days. It’s hard to briefly describe Trump and Musk being in charge of the country so I won’t, other than that I am going through the five stages of grief; denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
Denial
People don’t want to think about it. Our parents don’t have to, and neither do the parents before them. We are the generation that will have to live through the climate crisis. Right now it may not seem to affect us, it’s hard to imagine a poisoned world even corporations can’t fix. The wild world is dying replaced by the manufactured. It’s worse, but in subtle ways that we don’t think matter. Did you know that soil releases microbes that have a similar effect on the brain as Prozac? When was the last time you spent time toiling in the grass? We are so far from where we started. Our human species did not evolve to live these lives. Look around you. Isn’t it odd how many possessions we think we need? As if we need to remind ourselves that we are not the animals that we were designed to be. Separating ourselves because we think we’re better. The pigs on the farm take over from the farmer; we are all equal, but ‘all’ quickly becomes ‘most’ when power is in play. To what lengths will we go until enough is enough? We cannot consume infinitely.
Anger
The world burns and an orange pedophile sits as our leader. Women voted for him. Women haters voted for him too. They erased the Black Lives Matter mural in DC. They took away the protection that allowed women autonomy over their own bodies. They blame DEI for plane crashes while they gut the organizations that protect our safety, allowing the billionaires responsible to profit from our suffering. Followers are so allegiant, that facts fall flat. Reuters is corrupt, the media can’t be trusted, researchers are paid
off, and only Trump has the final word. All the while they dismantle the systems that took centuries to build. Not just the written laws, but the unwritten formalities and norms that differentiate us and make us a democracy. Steve Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt argue in their book “How Democracies Dies” that democracy does not end in an instant, but over time as checks and balances weaken and political norms are broken. See below for the four key aspects that indicate authoritarian rule according to Levitsky and Ziblatt.
No matter what side you’re on, whether that be with the evil orange or otherwise, you are the target audience for the market of doom. Sowing strategic hopelessness, division, or anger. Negative emotions elicit much stronger responses in the human psyche. They also have the added benefit of increasing consumption. When we’re sad and addicted to instant gratification, we order
more. When you have a bad day “treat” yourself. Order food, buy clothes, get something useless from Amazon that if you don’t like you can return, drink alcohol, smoke weed. All of these things you can do while snuggled up in blankets and sweatpants, binge-watching endless episodes while continuing to scroll. It’s the perfect ploy. The more disconnected we become from what matters, the more vulnerable we become. We have been told that our actions don’t matter, the billionaires and corporations are the problems not us. If we don’t shop on Amazon, someone else will; that choice to consume consciously will not stop the sweatshops from ceasing to exist. But this doesn’t have to be true. If we demand change, change will happen, and if it doesn’t at least we tried.
Bargaining
I don’t think many of us are trying to cut deals with the universe anymore. However, the tendency to assign responsibility to action or
Four Key Indicators of Authoritarian Behavior:
Deny the legitimacy of political opponents
Claim rivals constitute an existential threat to the way of life, describe rivals as criminals, baselessly suggest rivals are foreign agents for an enemy government
Readiness to curtail the civil liberties of opponents including media
Threaten to take action against critics in rival parties or media, praise repressive measures taken by other governments, support laws restricting protest or criticism of the government
Rejection of (or weak commitment to) democratic rules of the game
Willingness to violate the constitution, suggest a need for antidemocratic measures (cancel elections, ban cer- tain organizations, restrict civil rights)
Toleration or
encouragement of violence
Have ties to organizations that engage in violence, encourage mob attacks, endorse violence by their supporters by refusing to condemn and punish it, praise other acts of political violence in the past or elsewhere in the world
inaction is as prevalent as ever. We want to feel good about ourselves especially when it comes to shitty situations. It’s easier to simplify complex issues than to grapple with the knowledge that things are not easily solved. “How was I supposed to know she was only 14?!” “I recycle” “I’m not racist, I have black friends” These are all examples of ways in which we escape blame and responsibility through bargaining. In the transverse, we choose blame over fact so as to not to challenge or adjust our belief system. “It’s all Trump’s fault, if he wasn’t our president things would be different” “He’s a great guy, she was just asking for it” “It’s all his mother’s fault, she let him grow up soft”. Bargaining presents itself in other ways that attempt to redirect responsibility to achieve a more preferable outcome. However, this is fruitless; we cannot escape responsibility nor can we assign responsibility where it does not belong.
Acceptance
The US is special. We are the longest-reigning democracy in history. Women have rights and citizens of all colors can vote. This is not normal; for the majority of world history, even a semblance of equality has been a fantasy. The 19th amendment that allows women suffrage was ratified in 1920, only 100 years ago. Griswold v. Connecticut, the Supreme Court case that secured married women’s right to contraception, was only decided in 1965. Eisenstadt v. Baird, the Supreme Court case that decided unmarried women have the right to use contraception was decided in 1972. In Jacksonville, Florida it was legal to refuse housing to gay couples up until 2020. It’s hard to be considered an ‘other’.
In the US, you are considered an ‘other’ if you are not 1) a man, 2) straight, 3) white, 4) physically able, 5) neurotypical, and 6) Christian. In a short time, we have come a long way as a country and a society to eliminate bias and prejudice toward ‘others’, but we are not done yet. We ‘others’ had to fight for our freedom and today is no different. The US has been the land of the free, a dream for people fleeing conflict and persecution. A place where if you fight hard enough, you stand a chance. Many people believe that dream to be dead, but I don’t think people understand how much worse things were. This country was founded on white patriarchal views. It was the American spirit that made progress possible—our ability to imagine a different world for ourselves and others. So while I acknowledge that it is not easy nor equal, the American Dream is dead only if we believe it to be.
This is happening, now what are we going to do about it?
Humanize people with different views. The Buddha said, “Hatred can never cease by hatred. Hatred can only cease by love. This is an eternal law.” It’s hard to have peace for people who we perceive as enemies. It’s difficult to separate a person’s actions and their motives, but we must try. I cannot imagine a world in which the majority would choose hate over love. I see fear, insecurity, and anger. I see humans who have been hurt and given up on love. Judgment does not change minds, but curiosity may. Community. While these are worldly issues, we can’t take on the whole world so we have to start small. Get involved in conversations to build connections
that can serve as a support system. Know what factors are most important to your community’s health and find opportunities to get involved. Oftentimes community members have more influence on your day-to-day than the federal government does.
Do what you love. The best way we can take action is to do something we love. Because by doing something we love, we’re putting more love energy into the world. Volunteer somewhere, join a club, make art, get involved in the local community, cook for friends.
Feel your emotions. Some days are tough. Allow yourself to feel your emotions. Emotions are how we know we’re alive and how we care. We feel this pain because we love and because we hope for better. Most importantly, you are never alone. If the weight of the world gets too tough, remember people all over the world are speaking out against these injustices. Humanity has been through worse, we will survive and there’s still a lot of fight left.
This is a heavy topic but really the important thing is that we don’t lean away from this discomfort we’re feeling. It’s like in Finding Nemo, we’re all caught in a net and the way to survive is to stay calm and swim down. We are in this together. The only solution to this darkness is love so tell the person on the subway you like their hat. Talk to strangers. Call your parents. Pick up a piece of trash. Bake your friend a cake.
Take care of yourself. Connect with nature. Spread love in any way you can. Don’t be afraid. We are alive.
We are human. There is hope.
Lucky Charms
Talismans and other ephemera.
you could say I’ve always had a thing for trinkets. I would collect lost doll shoes, smooth rocks, a perfect penny— anything that caught my eye.
It wasn’t until much later that I began to carry my favorites in a little pouch in my bag, periodically checking to make sure they were still there throughout the day. Something inside me believed that the trinkets were sent to me for a reason. Without them, whatever mystical plan the world had set out for me would disappear.
It’s not that I believed without these treasures the world would end or something, it was just that without them I was sure life wouldn’t be as sweet. Maybe if I lost my favorite crystal I’d somehow miss the opportunity to meet a new friend, or watch the perfect sunset.
I think its a common fact that most people have some sort of good luck charm, maybe its your dad’s ring or a weird-shaped chip you found in the bottom of a bag of Doritos. Below I share some of lucky charms—what are yours?
The talisman “for good driving” I got in Japan
THE DECK I CARRY
by Macy Kissel
I’m not a magician nor do I know any sleight-of-hand but it’s my favorite party trick to pull out the Bicycle Box in a crowded bar my friends’ gaze lit like neon signs their joy spilling like chips across the table
Have you ever played Nines?
If a first date is becoming boring I produce the shuffled suits from the bottom of my bag
Have you ever Ridden the Bus?
Family gatherings get loud as hands are dealt and nicknames bestowed a legal pad lies still, cradling the score like a quiet witness Have you ever played Oh Hell?
My heart is not on my sleeve, but up my sleeve I’ll deal you in
GOOD LUCK DUPES!
by Rachel Loring
In this day and age a real old-fashioned lucky talisman is hard to come by, good thing there’s a dupe for everything!
HORSESHOE
Who even has horseshoes lying around these days? Instead, try your thickest pair of platform boots, you’ll sure feel like a horse as you clonk around the city in the heaviest pair of shoes you own. But hey, at least they aren’t hammered to your feet!
FOUR LEAF CLOVER
A half-used bottle of dried basil that’s been on your spice rack since 2022 will work in a pinch. I mean…it’s kinda green and at one point it was growing from the earth!
LUCKY SOCKS
How about the singular sock that survived the laundry mat? I mean, if you think about it, it’s certainly more lucky than its long-lost pair.
RABBIT’S FOOT
Since I don’t support amputating animals, any pile of pigeon poop outside your window works here just fine!
LUCKY PENNY
Yeah I don’t carry around physical money with me…does the universe take apply pay?
…Worse comes to worse break out the ole box of Lucky Charms, its got clovers AND blue moons (and it’s at your local Duane Reade).
LUCKY IN THE LITTLE WAYS
by Kiley Parrish
Luck doesn’t always look like jackpots or four-leaf clovers. Sometimes, it’s hidden in the tiny moments we overlook — the kind that reminds us we’re more fortunate than we realize. And maybe the luckiest thing of all is having a life full of these small, quiet joys, just waiting to be noticed.
Feeling the sun on your face from the apartment balcony you pay for.
Catching the sunset on a random Tuesday.
Seeing freckles pop up on your nose after a weekend in the sun.
Booking a flight to visit a friend — because you can.
Calling your mom on the drive home from work.
Getting a text from someone just as you were about to message them.
Laughing so hard with friends you forgot what was funny.
Hearing a song you love at the exact moment you need it.
A slow morning with a coffee cup thrifted from your sister.
Getting into bed with freshly washed sheets.
Finding a forgotten $5 bill in the pocket of last season’s jacket.
Having 35 tops to choose from — all for that one perfect pair of jeans.
Your family dog trotting beside you on a walk.
Running into someone you were just thinking about.
Opening the fridge and seeing your favorite snack waiting — like a little gift from past you.
Treating yourself for no reason at all.
Luck doesn’t always shout; sometimes, it’s a quiet whisper, hidden in the simple, everyday moments — the ones that turn a regular day into a lucky one.
PUZZLES & GAMES DEPT.
GAME NIGHT
a logic puzzle by Macy
Kissel
Five girlies have decided that instead of going out on the town this weekend, they will have a game night! Each lady will bring a bottle of wine and a block of cheese to contribute to a charcuterie board, along with their chosen game. Using the clues provided, can you figure out who brought what?
1. Saviana chose a wine that has some resemblance to her name.
2. The guest who chose Orange Wine brought a game with a theme that might involve deceit and secrets.
3. The cheese brought by Rachel is as smooth as the wine chosen by the person who loves charades.
4. The player who brought the Cabernet also brought the game with tiles but wouldn’t be caught picking a soft cheese.
5. The Chardonnay and the Brie arrived via the same person.
6. Chesney’s family has a running score of Catan winners hanging in their kitchen.
7. The Orange Wine was not one of Brenna’s offerings.
8. The Nintendo Switch with Mario Kart and the Havarti arrived together.
9. Macy pretends to hate Havarti but always eats it when it’s brought by someone else.
Havarti
Brie
Smoked Gouda
Creamy Goat
Aged Cheddar
Orange Wine
Cab Sauv
Chardonnay
Sauv Blanc
Pinot Noir
Catan
Murder Mystery
Mario Kart Charades
Cards
10. The murder-themed game was brought by the person with a cheese associated with “smokiness.”
11. The person who prefers Sauvignon Blanc likes to play as Princess Peach.
12. The lady who brought the English Cheddar has been waiting all week to teach the group a new card game.
Count Your Lucky Stars
Rachel Williams
Watercolor and ballpoint pen
PUZZLES & GAMES DEPT.
POST GRAD-LIB: viva las lockdown
by Chensey Jensen
WHAT WILL WE THINK WHEN WE NO LONGER THINK
by Brenna McWha
In an unfortunate turn of events, ChaptGPT has recently made its way into my everyday life. I felt fairly removed from AI for a long time, only hearing about it in college lectures or on the news, but even then it felt incredibly far away. Like some tool that would only be used by software engineers or other professionals that make much more money than I do. Then, like a bolt of lightning, I was hearing about it everywhere. My fiance was using it to draft texts to his friends, my friend was using it to write letters to her family, my coworker was using it to craft emails to her boss.
Suddenly, I was hearing the term “ChatGPT” at least once a day. And every time I heard what it was being used for, I felt more and more unsettled. These people, all close to me, were using ChatGPT for the simplest forms of low-stakes communication. Their excuses came in the form of, “I was too tired to think something up,” or “I couldn’t recall if my grammar was correct,” and “I think it sounds better when it writes it for me.” All valid statements- but to what end? It sent me spiraling, wondering how many correspondences I’ve received that were the product of a prompt and an AI-generated
response, rather than that of a living, breathing person. ChatGPT suddenly felt real and scary- a “tool” that was robbing us of humanity at an exponential rate. My mind kept circling this topic, until a sobering moment when it asked, “well, what will we think about when we no longer think for ourselves?” When AI takes over writing, editing, summarizing, thinkingwhat will our brains be left with?
In an introduction to psychology class in college, I learned about how anxiety in today’s world looks much different than it did for our ancestors. Back in a time when we were living in the wild and could be attacked by a bear at any moment, it made sense for humans to have anxiety. This voice in our head told us when we needed to run, hide, back off. We lived in an immediatereturn environment, which is one in which our actions immediately delivered clear outcomes. In that environment, anxiety served a very transparent purpose- keeping us alive. But in today’s delayed-return
environment, where most of our choices do not have immediate effects, anxiety becomes more of a nuisance. Modern life has taken away most immediate threats, so for the most part humans no longer have to worry about being taken out by a bear. Our lives are fairly protected, and therefore anxiety remains a lingering byproduct of a life we used to live. It feels more like an annoyance to the modern person, so much so that we treat it with medicines, therapy, self-help books. The comforts of modern life have taken away a problem that our brains were hardwired to address, leaving us with these neural pathways that have no place to go.
Psychologists posit that the abstract worries humans are plagued with now, like existentialism and the afterlife, are the product of displacing this hardwired brain function to something else. Since anxiety’s original intended function is no longer needed, the structure for it in our brains has to look for something else to worry about. Essentially, since we no longer need to be anxious for our survival, anxiety has taken on a new, conceptual form. I wonder, when AI grows to the point that it’s being used to nearly every daily task, will our neural pathways for thinking become redundant? Or will this just free space in our minds to ponder deeper, philosophical topics, much like how anxiety has shifted since the beginning
of human time. Scientists (AKA people much more equipped to discuss this topic than I am) have some differing perspectives.
With the rise of AI and its effect on our brains, it seems as if things could go one of two ways. The first route, which was my original thought and the impetus for writing this essay, is that when AI takes over all of our daily tasks, our brain will have more time to start ruminating over larger, more conceptual topics. Much like how over the course of history inventions that made life easier have led to more room for discovery, I think AI may allow us to search for more within ourselves that we haven’t previously uncovered. This, in turn, may lead to humans becoming more conceptual, metaphysical beings. The Greek philosophical movement, for example, coincided with the agricultural movement. The agricultural movement was a major turning point in the lives of these people, as it made farming much quicker and easier. This, in turn, opened up free time for the Greeks to explore complex thoughts and concepts which led to the philosophical revelations of the day. Will the integration of AI into daily life be our generation’s version of the agricultural revolution?
Stefano Putoni, a professor at the Wharton School, says,
“A lot of the conversation around AI is centered on human replacement…I think the more inspiring thing is to think about what they cannot do and focus on that. It’s not about humans being dumb; it’s about discovering what makes us smart, what we can do better.”
But what can humans do better, if it’s not the daily tasks that are ingrained in our everyday lives? Does this mean that as a human race we’ll need to look for something that only we can do, that a computer doesn’t have the capacity to accomplish? The only thing separating us and a machine is our brains, therefore the only thing that we can do “better” is think- on a much more conceptual, transcendental scale.
My second thought, and where my research shows that the vast majority align, is quite the opposite. This other side postulates that the lack of reliance on our own brains will lead to a degradation of complicated thought, and lead humans to lose neural capacity. An article I read summarizes this best:
“When we stop contemplating challenging questions, and instead turn to technology to provide an answer for us, aren’t we robbing ourselves of the practice of deep thought? Won’t that, in time, reduce our capability of exercising our minds for those tasks? Our brains need mental exercise to remain healthy, and yet it seems like AI poses a risk of causing mental atrophy by providing humans the ability to avoid challenging stimulation.”
So will AI instead render us unable to think for ourselves at all? Much like when you learn a skill but don’t practice it, and subsequently lose that skill, will relinquishing thinking to AI cause us to lose the skill of thinking altogether?
Only time will tell what will happen to humans in this new age of AI integration, but it’s a disconcerting situation nonetheless. A recent WGSN article states that “90% of all online content could be AI-generated by 2026.” This just goes to show that AI is here and it is inevitable. We may very well be spending the rest of our lives discerning truth from reality, and grappling with a technology that will forever change the way in which we think. As a parting gift, I have asked ChatGPT the harrowing question, “what will humans think about when we no longer think for ourselves?” To which it replied:
“If humans no longer think for themselves, they might focus on the loss of individuality and question who or what controls their thoughts and actions. This could lead to concerns about freedom, the impact of technology on autonomy, and existential reflections on the meaning of life. People might feel nostalgic for a time when creativity and personal choice defined their existence, sparking a desire to regain independent thought. Ultimately, it would prompt a deep reflection on what it means to be human and whether personal agency can be restored or would be forever lost.”
READING BETWEEN THE LINES
a rebus puzzle by Macy Kissel
Ready to tease your brain and test your wits? Take a look at the below combination of pictures, letters, and symbols that represent words or phrases. Can you crack the code and reveal the hidden meanings?
unluck
by Danny Diaz
Pewter Gregory was a name that was famed for unluck. When he was born his name adorned the papers backwards, “ah fuck.”
As a youngin, it was fun for others the way the world would avoid his fortune. Popsicles melt, before he felt Their sweet taste upon his tongue, and though sad to the outsider, how much luck seemed resistant dear Pewter found it both frustrating and funny how the unluck was so consistent.
So young Pewter persisted on unabashed at the world. He would still try and his tears would dry. but he longed for love, he longed for a girl.
Susie Blue on the other hand, had also born uneven luck. But far too pretty, far too wealthy Not too greedy, but had too much.
When Susie Blue went about the world It would never go fifty-fifty. It would always yield to her wishes, Always bending to her bidding.
If she wanted something, she got it And her fortune envied a great many, though for Susie it was worthless, How little she viewed her great plenty.
For Susie love was dull, though for many they’d disagree. “Endless bachelors? endless fortunes? too many for you? Not for me!”
But for Susie, she viewed love as more than something easy It was something hard, something passionate, something effortful, something meaty.
Without challenge, what’s worth having? Susie was tired of only “yes”
A love that pushed her, a world that disagreed Susie knew that’d fit her best.
So when Pewter met Susie they saw someone who understood that too much of one thing meant too little another and that was never good.
Instead here lay someone different someone opposite, someone true someone foreign, someone perfect and imperfect, someone new.
A different life, more balanced, more uneven, a different view. Their luck and unluck proudly said “I have too much for me, I think”- “and I, enough for you”
For once in my life; Hiking in the woods; Cocktail Boxing ring; Headquarters; Tennis shoes Stay indoors; New Zealand; Backpedal Foul language; Ghostwriter; Birds and the bees
ARE WE SAYING THE SAME THING?
READ BETWEEN THE LINES — REBUS page 21 page 12 page 7 page 26
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