by Meredith Bilski
Then + Now
Until the class of 2013 grows up and leaves us, BlogDH wants to highlight all the interesting things the class has been up to. Each featured senior will tag another senior for the next installment. Find this year’s other “Last Call” chain here.
People might know me as… the Market Shares girl. Which is great.
In my time at Brown, I am most proud of… my friends. They have become amazing, beautiful, strong, powerful, brilliant people and have pulled me up with them. I am also proud of my ability to avoid libraries, even/especially during finals.
On a Friday night, you might find yourself… drinking bourbon at my kitchen table, entertaining some ladies, maybe hosting a small, impromptu dance party.
The best class/professor at Brown is… this is a tease, because the professor isn’t at Brown anymore, but taking and then TA’ing Sustenance and Sustainability with Kathy DeMaster defined my Brown experience. She showed me that there is a whole world of people studying and talking about food and farms, and facilitated an amazing community in the ES department. She also has a wicked sense of humor and consistently mispronounces “meme.” Good times. [Read more →]
by Meredith Bilski
World-renowned Nigerian author and David and Marianna Fisher University Professor and Professor of Africana Studies Chinua Achebe passed away on Friday. He was 82.
Achebe’s 1958 novel Things Fall Apart is regarded as one of the most important forces in the development of African literature, and it is through this work that Achebe “gave birth to a modern Africa.” The book has sold over 12 million copies in English and has been translated into more than 50 languages. Additionally, Achebe has written several essays, short stories, and poems that draw on his experience growing up in Nigeria, deal with the tension between colonialism and African values, and address questions about the role of African culture in postcolonial Africa.
Achebe was a beloved member of the Brown community: he joined the Brown faculty in 2009 as the David and Marianna Fisher University Professor and Professor of Africana Studies, received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University, and oversaw the annual Achebe Colloquium on Africa, which has continuously attracted scholars and government officials from all over the world. According to its webpage, the colloquium, which has been convened by Achebe himself, brings key thinkers and figures together to discuss “the importance of strengthening democracy and peace on the African continent.” You can see a comprehensive list of Achebe’s works here; each work is a testament to his unwavering commitment to contributing to the dialogue on postcolonial Africa, African culture, and other relevant topics.
Image via.
by Meredith Bilski
If you haven’t noticed, there are a lot of red flags on the Main Green outside of Faunce. They’re meant to symbolize the loss of Syrian lives as a result of the crisis there. The U.N. estimates that 70,000 people have been killed there to date, so each flag represents 233 deaths.
If you’re interested in learning more, there will be a student led teach-in on the issue tomorrow, Tuesday March 19 at 8 p.m. in Wilson 301. Additionally, there is a table set up near the flags where you can read about specific instances of torture in Syria, and where, if you want, you can sign letters against it.
by Meredith Bilski
Good news for control freaks and time-wasters alike: Fall 2013 and Spring 2014 classes are now up on Banner.
Juniors, you can start planning the rest of your lives at Brown now (…but we all know that Mande is in all of your futures). Sophomores, start getting in those concentration requirements (and remember to declare!). Freshmen, start considering new or interesting areas of study that you’d like to explore. Start loading up your shopping carts, planning your sleep schedules, and stalking your professors. It’s go time.
by Meredith Bilski
Given that we’re addicted to our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Vine accounts (…more on Vine later), it was only a matter of time until we hopped on the Throwback Thursday train.
Every Thursday, we’ll open up the BlogDailyHerald vault, find a relevant (but timeless) article from our archives, and share it on Facebook and Twitter for your reading pleasure with the tag #tbt. There are so many posts and creative assets are to be shared with you all, Gail triptychs included. We hope you enjoy the weekly trips down memory lane!
by Meredith Bilski
Last Wednesday’s Whisko was just any other Wednesday night rager at the bar on S. Water Street: drinks, dancing, townies, lots of leather, etc. The game-changer? An opportunity to tweet to win a trip to Vegas was thrown into the mix.
Enter Catherine Gross ’13, a Brown student with serendipitously good luck. She’s not a usual Whisko patron, but after spending the day in New York at some “really fun and not-at-all stressful job meetings,” which, in reality, were neither fun nor not-at-all stressful, her friend’s ”Wishco tonight?!” inquiry was surely welcome. She originally had planned to spend the night in the city, but then the Vegas gods intervened—she decided to come back to the glorious PVD on a whim. “As I’m not a freshman girl, I don’t frequent the ‘Co, but something of the YOLO-variety took over and I grabbed the Acela back for what I thought would be a pretty standard night at the Whiskey Republic: dancing and late-night Spicy Withs.”
And yeah, sure, it would have been pretty standard…until she learned of that night’s Vegas contest. [Read more →]
by Meredith Bilski
Have you ever gone to the Ratty incredibly hungry, only to find that there seems to be nothing to eat at all? Do you walk through those heavy doors ready to put your gastronomical skills to the test, but leave uninspired and unsatisfied? Enter Connie Wu ’12.5 and Annie Wu ’12.5, the twins who have elevated your Ratty experience from one of whining to one of fine dining.
Connie and Annie have incredible vision, creativity, and culinary skills; they’re the masterminds behind Ratty Gourmet, a comprehensive blog that catalogues their various Ratty creations with accompanying photographs and recipes. Needless to say, these two have most definitely changed the Ratty game for hundreds of Brown students.
Let these two master chefs walk you through the steps to whip up this Ratty delicacy and teach you the tricks of their trade. Cajun Chicken Broccoli Pasta is on today’s menu. Watch, learn, and become inspired to culinary action.
by Meredith Bilski and Sydney Mondry
Forbid (v.): To command someone or oneself against the doing of something—like acting on a stupid impulse, crying into one’s beer, or drunkenly contacting an ex boyfriend/girlfriend.
How it’s used in the show: Charlie, Marnie’s incredibly good-looking ex-boyfriend, became instantly successful off a smartphone app he created and sold called “Forbid.” In his own words: “[Forbid] prevents you from calling people that you shouldn’t call – be it an unrequited love, or someone that fired you. But if you wanna call them, then you have to pay $10 to unforbid… so this app is free but breaking your word to yourself isn’t… People are really responding to software that protects them from themselves… or other people.”
Do you have an ex? A not-so-secret crush or obsession? A penchant for drunk texting and/or dialing your employer? Then, like us, you probably wish “Forbid” existed in the real world. There’s nothing worse than waking up after a big night out with your ex’s name in “recent calls.” Worse (or better?), “drunk you” protects “sober you” from embarrassment and regret by deleting all texts and calls before sobriety hits. You have no solid evidence to beat yourself up about the next day, but you’ll also spend a good chunk of time wondering what the hell you said. We’ve all tried the “delete his/her number” technique, but let’s be real, that lasts for three days tops. Willpower alone just ain’t gonna cut it once the alcohol hits your bloodstream.
While we sadly don’t have access to “Forbid,” we’ve done some research to find some cool apps that actually exist in its place: [Read more →]
by Meredith Bilski and Georgia Tollin
We’re vertically challenged. We may or may not be able to reach books on the top shelf of the stacks in the library; we may have to strain our necks to talk to you, and we definitely field too many questions about whether or not we’re sure that we’re not actually legally midgets. But we put on our wedges and hold our heads high—at 4’11’’ (Meredith) and 5’1’’(Georgia), what we lack in size we make up for in heart… and in our undying love of our perpetual fun-sizedness.
As the token shorties, we have very specific roles to play within our respective social circles. We willingly take on some of these roles ourselves, while others are bestowed upon us by our friends. Here’s how we shawties live it up in a world full of (relative) giants:
We’re your best arm rests. After hours of holding his/her drink in while conversing with other party goers, our friends’ arms inevitably get tired. We’re right at your elbow level, and we’re totally convenient. Rest your arm on our heads, our shoulders, whatever is more comfortable. Your temporary arm pain is relieved; we get some quality snuggle time (OK, that’s generous) and rack up lots of friend points in the process. It’s really a win-win situation.
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