This is a column about nostalgic thoughts of moments. “Take the key, let’s go.” My grandma nudged me. Yearning, I followed her out of the house bleary-eyed. It was 7 a.m. The diligent sun had competitively sled to a high position, penetrating every crack of all. Yet, pearls of tears were leaking from the sky. … [Read more…]
Ben sets his sights on new frontiers of the navel — and sometimes beyond. The mosaics of the early Christian churches at Ravenna are some of the few surviving Byzantine mosaics of their era. Ravenna’s position at the outskirts of the empire, territory later lost to the Lombards, shielded it from the iconoclastic movements of … [Read more…]
I credit my love for fashion mostly to my aunt, who has a dress for every occasion and spends her Friday nights styling all of our family members for their outings. She finds joy in sharing her love for fashion, to the extent that she would buy items that she thinks we would like and … [Read more…]
Sam had a lot of time to himself over the summer, and it made him quite reflective about life, liberty and … he can’t remember the third. Join him as he attempts to process his new chapter of being a big, bad (almost) upperclassman: starting with flake culture. So … um … about last February. I … [Read more…]
Podcast Asides chronicles the unusual relationships we have with podcasts and their hosts. Each piece explores a different way we integrate podcasts into our lives — for good or for ill — and reflects upon the power podcasts have in building community, changing how we relate to each other and warping our perspectives on the … [Read more…]
A self-indulgent journal of my obsession with Hong Kong cinema. One of my favorite scenes in the 1987 film “Double Fixation” (意亂情迷) takes place on a rooftop. The villain is chasing the heroine, and behind them, a gigantic neon red “Kodak” sign illuminates the night. Only when I revisited the movie this week did I … [Read more…]
This column combines the intimacy of a diary-like narrative with the writer’s own experiences of things little in life and things big: politics and culture. Dear Diary, The revolution will occur on a Thursday. At least that’s what the apples in the brown wicker basket in the dining hall told me, and apples don’t lie. … [Read more…]
Fifty years ago, I rode my Kawasaki from Portola Valley onto campus, usually squeaking into class just on time. While much has changed since then, one thing has remained constant: our humanness. We still search for meaning and need connection. We still have dreams and we still screw up. In the last 50 years, as I’ve changed careers and … [Read more…]
This summer, while I was living in the Bay Area, I visited a few of the art museums of San Francisco. I hadn’t really spent a lot of time in San Francisco before this summer, but the city and its elegant fog, visible through its hilly streets and the dark blue of the bay, grew … [Read more…]
Break out of the bubble, slow your mind and escape the grind with stories of unique and relaxing places to adventure within an hour’s drive from campus. Have you ever found yourself sitting at your computer, posture of an uncooked prawn, surrendering hours to loyally chipping away at a 10-page essay about a long-dead white … [Read more…]