Do you ever look at people with seemingly perfect bodies and think: "If only I was that thin!
When 'thin privilege' is not what it seems
Feb. 27, 2013Know thy neighbor (via these smartphone apps)
Feb. 26, 2013
My father has no interest in Facebook, rarely uses LinkedIn and is completely befudddled by the concept of Twitter. So when he called me the other day to rave about a neighborhood mobile app called Blockboard, I was a) honestly surprised that he even knew what an app was, and b) immediately intrigued by the concept.
Blockboard began in San Francisco as a way to connect neighbors on a uniquely personal level, effectively bridging the gap between the hundreds of "friends" that we have on Facebook and the untapped support systems that exist right in our own communities.
Prior to 2011, the startup was called BlockChalk and consisted of mostly neighborhood alerts, similar to a mobile Craigslist.
The Oscars: predictions and party planning
Feb. 23, 2013
For as long as I can remember, I've watched the annual Oscars telecast with a giddy excitement akin to opening presents on Christmas Day.
Surviving unemployment anxiety
Feb. 21, 2013
Watching The Graduate in 2013 is a sobering experience. Even though many of the swinging '60s colloquialisms and hair-dos are out of date, the film's message still rings as true today as it did in 1967: the life of a post-grad is scary, confusing and often crushed under the weight of our parents' high expectations.
According to the latest census from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in this country for ages 20 to 24 is a whopping 13.7 percent.
The state of Harpo Studios
Feb. 19, 2013
If Chicago declared a patron saint for media coverage, no one person (save the current President of the United States) would be more fitting of such an honor than Oprah Winfrey.
Her daily talk show, taped at Harpo Studios on the Near West Side from 1986 to 2011, drew an average of 7.4 million viewers per day and was nationally syndicated for 25 wildly successful seasons.
Mystery mixtapes spark city-wide treasure hunt
Feb. 16, 2013
As a child of the '90s and teen of the '00s, I missed the Gen X cutoff for romantic mixtapes. By the time I got to highschool, my classmates were making emo-heavy mixed CDs (think Bright Eyes and the Postal Service) to profess their undying love for each other. I remember being a tortured 13-year-old in 2002 and playing Damien Rice's O on a loop, back in the days of iPod classics that have now become obsolete.
However, most music purists regard mixtapes as the one true art form: an expression of self through the careful order and selection of tracks. Anybody can make a playlist on iTunes or Spotify by clicking and dragging songs into place, but the act of compiling a mixtape is much more involved, personal and intimate. To quote Nick Hornby's High Fidelity:
"Making a tape is like writing a letter — there's a lot of erasing and rethinking and starting again.
Meet the Pritzkers
Feb. 13, 2013
Despite my distaste for our culture's ever-increasing fetishization of celebrity, I've always held a certain fascination for the mysterious figureheads of church, state and high society who hold court over our daily lives.
Fed up with the Grammys' hype? Listen local.
Feb. 11, 2013
Hate-watching the Grammys is an annual tradition for this pop culture nerd; however, the majority of last night's sham of an award show was so blatantly awful that I almost didn't make it to the end. In years past, I've reveled in the sheer camp of Nicki Minaj levitating like a demon or Lady Gaga bursting out of an egg.