I want you to think about something for a second. When was the last time you actually used a map? Like, really consulted it? We've all got them in our phones, but I'm talking physical maps . With the exception of a few hikes, I know I haven't gone the analog route. It's kind of surreal how dependent we've become on our phones and GPS. Maps are now a fun feature when we're looking for a delivery restaurant, or consulting a news article about the spread of Covid-19 or the war in Ukraine. Our favo…

Another day, another dollar

My earphones are always in, whether or not I'm listening to music.

Halloween is finally upon us , and you know what that means! It's time to speak to the manager about why it's on a Monday this year. Sure, having Halloween on a Monday, in some ways, makes the weekend longer, but you still have to go to work, don't you? A Thursday, I could accept. But a Monday? It's a disgrace. With the Halloweekend now gone, it's time to accept that the day itself will not be as iconic as what transpired this weekend. When you're a kid, Halloween is all leading up to this nigh…

Sometimes you gotta make lemonade with your lemons.

I guess I need to admit that we don't all have the urge to watch gruesome, bleak, and violent war movies and read books about statecraft and strategy. I fully recognize that as a 34-year-old woman, this may be considered an odd passion or pastime. But if you, too, watched Band of Brothers as many times as I have, you can definitely understand the fascination with brave American paratroopers descending through a smoke-filled night sky in France. At the very least, one must have some admiration f…

Witches only

The finishing touch

I love an art museum : I always have! My mom likes to tell this story about when I was three and visiting the Art Institute of Chicago. Allegedly, I turned to her and said my life had changed forever after visiting that museum. I don't remember saying that, but I do remember that going to museums was an absolute highlight of my childhood. The hard thing about going to museums as an adult is that everybody has different expectations for what you're going to do while you're there. I am a loser wh…

This year for Halloween, there are so many ways to dress up as programming concepts. Of course, you could take the easy way out and just dress like a programmer. Get some sweatpants on, put some black makeup under your eyes to make you look even more tired, and you're good to go. You could also go as a 404 error . Wear a white T-Shirt and write “Error 404 Costume Not Found” on it. You could even go as some of the most famous programmers in history. A Steve Jobs costume is classic and perfect fo…

Sometimes this fleeting existence feels kind of pointless. You know, “life's a b*tch and then you die” type vibes. It really does feel as though this is meant to be a struggle, living tiny paycheck to tiny paycheck, while some person who says "yes" or "no" lives lavishly and luxuriously thanks to our hard work. While we try not to think of the sad reality in our day to day lives, it has become increasingly hard to ignore. But when the going gets tough, and reality begins crushing our poor, sad,…

Thank you, Literary Twitter for starting our new favorite hashtag challenge. The fun stems from the #OwnVoices hashtag, which addresses the voices of marginalized communities. The hashtag naturally had its critcs; among them was a male author that insisted he was living proof that men are capable of penning realistic female characters. After Gwen C. Katz shared some super-cringey passages of his proof, the challenge was born. Women on Twitter quickly began parodying the passages, describing the…

“Film Twitter” has been going strong for years now, and sometimes the threads and debates can get seriously tiring. While some people praise the CGI or plot of Marvel movies , others distance themselves from the big box office MCU movies in favor of films they think to be cooler. You know, like Uncut Gems. There's also the tendency to start threads where people hate on tropes or cinematographic styles. These threads happen again and again, and honestly, the hate starts to wear on an innocent mo…

Facebook isn't quite as popular as it once was, especially considering it started as a social platform for college students to connect with each other. That was a long time ago. These days, Facebook feels like it's been largely abandoned by everyone but Aunt Barb and her bible studies friends. If you've ever wondered what Facebook might look like if (or when) it's eventually taken over by people over the age of 65 who can't tell the difference between the Google search engine and a DM with a di…

For real though, it's really not that bad... *sweat dramatically drips from forehead*

It's easy to log into Twitter or read the news and think we are absolutely f*cked beyond belief. And you know what, you might not be completely wrong. The world really does seem as though it is going to hell, and it often seems like there is nothing we can do about it. But one of the most clutch things about being a human is our resilience, and our ability to try to make the best of situations. Sometimes, instead of trying to tackle the big things like world peace or climate change, you need to…