America Tag

It happened again. But this time, it was more than just another tragic news story – at least for me. This past weekend’s events hit way too close to home. I’m a UCSB graduate. I’ve partied in the same streets and eaten at the same restaurants where a coward named Elliot Rodger murdered 6 innocent people whom he blamed for his own personal shortcomings. If this had taken place three years ago, I could have been a victim. My friends could have been victims. It’s pretty surreal for a collegeRead More

1. You get extremely sketched out and worry you’re about to be assaulted any time a stranger tries to say hi to you in passing, or God forbid, start up a conversation. Bitch, I don’t know you, quit tryna talk to me. 2. Your love for grits far surpasses that of any person who’s grown up knowing grits are a thing. 3. Swap out “grits” in the above item for “Chick Fil-A,” “biscuits,” “fried green tomatoes,” you get the idea. You’re a kid in a candy store. A fried, butteryRead More

Although I wear high-waisted shorts, crop tops, and big-rimmed glasses every day, I am not a hipster! (See: hip-hop, see: I don’t shop at American Apparel, see: don’t like trash ‘staches, see: my intense love for guys who look like thug rappers). At the same time, the one thing I’m really hipster-y about is that I refuse to believe the hype. So much so, in fact, that when something has hype surrounding it, I’m automatically turned off to it. This has caused me to miss out on a lot of awesomeRead More

The TV Series, “Cosmos,” has shown a new generation of viewers what Carl Sagan did for an earlier one.  New Host, Neil deGrasse Tyson, has shown over the last few weeks how amazing and inspiring our “Cosmos” can be.  However, that sense of wonder and awe is not reflected in the way the United States government views the agency most responsible for this, NASA. The funding for NASA has steadily lost priority in the eyes of the budget makers in Washington.  We are currently at our lowest rate since theRead More

Alter egos: A lot of stars have them. Beyonce has Sasha Fierce, David Bowie had Ziggy Stardust and now, apparently, Nick Cannon has Conner Smallnut. And people aren’t impressed. Cannon, who is set to release a new album titled, “White People Party Music” on April Fools’ Day, has caused a bit of a stir over the past few days, posting photos and videos of himself in whiteface and skater attire on Twitter and Instagram. Captions underneath the posts include hashtags like “FarmersMarket,” “GoodCredit,” “BeerPong,” and “CreamCheeseEating,” and introduce the pastyRead More

Instant gratification is exhausting.  We are a generation that can get what we desire immediately, we want what we want when we want it, and we can have it.  In a time like this, the word “patience” can be as foreign to us as the idea of mailing hand-written letters for communication purposes; both unnecessary and rather annoying. This instant gratification mentality can leave us in an uneasy state of quantity versus quality, and distracts us from a more meaningful existence full of things out of our control – aRead More

Last week, Duke University’s student-run newspaper, The Chronicle, reported a story that has since become a viral phenomenon: a freshman girl at the university, referred to only as “Lauren,”  is working as a porn “star” to help pay for her tuition (not sure why every porn actress is referred to as a “star,” but that is a discussion for another time). Predictably, this discussion has led to an all-out shitstorm in our society, which seems to be more accepting of alternative lifestyles by the day – for better and for worse. In noRead More

From the greatest of the great to the horrendously awful places to live in the United States of America   The Greatest of the Great: Colorado California New York Michigan Hawaii   Your Second Choice: Florida Maine New Hampshire Virginia Louisiana North Carolina Connecticut South Carolina Vermont Delaware   The Wildly Mediocre: West Virginia Wyoming Minnesota Nevada Wisconsin Oregon Massachusetts Maryland Rhode Island Montana Washington   The Unfortunately Livable: Iowa Texas Alaska Utah Tennessee South Dakota Arizona Georgia Idaho Indiana Illinois Pennsylvania Kentucky   The Downright Awful: Alabama New JerseyRead More