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Cassette Tape

There’s a song from the musical Avenue Q called “Mix Tape”. In it, one character, Kate Monster, receives a mix tape from her charming neighbor, Princeton, and agonizes over the meaning of its contents:

“You’ve Got A Friend”
“The Theme from ‘Friends'”
“That’s What Friends Are For”

…shit.

Oh, but look!

“A Whole New World!”
“Kiss the Girl!”
“My Cherie Amour!”

Oh, Princeton! He does like me!

“I Am The Walrus”
“Fat-Bottomed Girls”
“Yellow Submarine”

What does it mean?

This post’s not about Avenue Q (although if you haven’t seen Avenue Q, I strongly encourage you to check it out the next time the opportunity presents itself). Instead, I want to use this as an example of what I’d like to dub the “Mix Tape Mindset” about crushes, ’cause I think it’s a very silly cause of an unfortunately large amount of unhappiness. Continue reading →

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I’ve always been a customizer. As a kid, I actively searched for video games that had level editors, because I was so enamored with the idea of making a game myself. Sometime in college, I discovered Magic Set Editor, and very quickly set to making my own Magic: the Gathering cards for fun.

It’s been a long time now since I’ve played a game of Magic, and probably even longer since I tried to seriously design a card, but the design of Magic is still something I find fiercely interesting. I read Head Designer Mark Rosewater’s weekly columns about design, and subscribe to the /r/custommagic subreddit, where I see a dozen amateur designs a day.

After browsing /r/custommagic for so long, I’ve noticed some trends among newbie designers. Just like everyone falls a couple times as they’re learning to ride a bike, damn near everyone makes these mistakes when they first start designing their own Magic cards. There’s no shame in it, but if you’re actually interested in learning to be a better designer, it’s important to understand what these mistakes are, why they’re mistakes, and how you can avoid them.

Continue reading →
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A cocktail in a Mason jar, with a slice of lemon on the rim.

At one point during the week that R and I spent in Alaska this past summer, our friend and adventure buddy accidentally spoonerized a certain phrase. We were discussing what to buy for groceries and what sort of drinks we could make, and although she intended to suggest “whiskey gingers,” what came out was “gingy whiskers.”

It was too good a name to pass up, so I filed the name away in my brain, waiting to develop a drink to go with it. I think I’ve figured it out:

Gingy Whiskers

Honey and lemon meet ginger and whiskey in this twist on the classic whiskey ginger.

Gingy Whiskers

Total time:

Serves: 1

Ingredients

  • 2 oz. whiskey
  • 4 oz. ginger ale or ginger beer
  • lemon
  • honey
  • ice

Directions

  1. Pour the whiskey into a glass. Add honey to taste–I usually do a teaspoon or two. Stir to dissolve.
  2. Squeeze half of a lemon over the drink.
  3. Add ice.
  4. Top with ginger ale. Stir.
  5. Garnish with lemon.

Notes

  • One of the difficulties with this drink is dissolving the honey; pouring it over ice is decidedly antithetical to your desires. I’m still trying to figure out the best way to go here.
  • Ginger beer like Reed’s or Cock & Bull would kick this recipe up another notch.
  • This is (obviously) a rough recipe. Adapt it to your tastes.

I would also be remiss if I didn’t tip my hat to Emma’s Whiskey Ginger over on A Beautiful Mess. I hope to make a cocktail that mouth-watering some day.

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Cover of the May 2013 issue of the Whitman Quarterlife magazine

i.
I’ve been meaning to ask:

You see this elephant too, right?

But every time I stick my neck out
and peer around his boulderous bulk,
you’re looking back at me.

It seems a shame to ruin the moment
by talking about elephants.

 

ii.

In third grade,
Sterling Miller flipped a penny 30 times
and got 30 heads,
I watched it.

I’ve never believed in God, but I know He plays dice,
that every moment is another spin of the slot machine,
and that there are no miracles,
only statistically significant improbabilities.

I’ve spent so long listening to the sermons
of the statisticians, the scientists, and the skeptics
that I never attribute to intention
what has a chance of being chance.

Are you really looking for me?

Do you actually see this elephant too?

Or does the penny just keep coming up heads?

 

iii.

The butterfly you pin to the board is lifeless.
You kill the cat by opening the box.
Merely by observing,
we change the outcome.

I’ve been meaning to ask:

You see this elephant too, right?

But maybe there’s no elephant at all,
maybe these legs are tree trunks,
this tail, a rope,
the trunk, a snake.

I don’t ask if you see the elephant,
because what does it mean

if you don’t?

Published in quarterlife, vol. 7, iss. 4: the troll issue (Whitman College, May 2013). Cover image by Bo Erickson, used with permission. Thanks, Bo!

(Yeah, I got my poetry published!)

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Five in the morning is in that span of time I typically think of as “oh fuck no it’s early,” yet this morning, against all odds, I started stirring around 5:10. Rachel had a flight to catch, and was going to be waking up and getting out of bed in five minutes, but for those five minutes, I was awake by myself, in the stillness of the morning.

I love summer mornings. Summer nights are hot and muggy, leading you to throw windows open and blankets off, but at five in the morning, the air breezing through your window is refreshingly brisk. The oppressive heat pauses, and the whole world takes a breath. Though the window’s open, there’s hardly any sound of traffic or human activity, just the songs of waking birds far in the distance.
Continue reading →

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Sexcetera - Spring 2013

[Spencer’s note: No, I’m totally not posting in Fall 2014 a post that should have been made in Spring 2013. Of course not! Why would you think that?]

Like I mentioned in the last one of these, I write an opinion column in my school’s newspaper, The Pioneer, called “Sexcetera.” It’s a column on relationships, sex, and sexuality, from a perspective I’m trying to keep sex-positive, feminist, and inclusive. I’ve been doing it all year, but save for the last compendium, I haven’t really mentioned it here on the blog.

Here’s a directory of the things I wrote in my last semester of college (and the last semester of Sexcetera).
Continue reading →

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InspirationI drew this after finishing homework last night. It’s not finished, and in fact, I might never touch it again, but I thought it was a fun thing worth sharing.