Not Vanilla
Not Vanilla: Goodbye
This column has helped me think critically about media that I previously took for granted. Read More
Movies
Not Vanilla: Is the hype train harmful or helpful?
It’s hard to avoid hype. I’ve often been frustrated by movie hype, because I get scared that when I finally see the movie I’ll be let down. Read More
Not Vanilla
Not Vanilla: A definitive ranking of the best places to chat with your friends
Today I will rank some of the popular video chatting methods — from worst to best. Read More
Not Vanilla
Not Vanilla: The quaint lesson of ‘Stardew Valley’
It’s a place where the complications of life are absent, where you can quietly and productively live the life of a (fictional) farmer. Read More
Not Vanilla
Not Vanilla: The ‘Bon Appetit’ test kitchen is mwah
The “Bon Appetit” YouTube channel is a great place to find information about cooking, but it is also a tour of a fantasy work environment — one where everyone is doing what they love, with company they enjoy. Read More
Movies
Not Vanilla: Award Shows
Thinking more, I started to wonder why people like to watch award shows. Many of them are marketed as annual touchstones, but I increasingly question their validity. Read More
Fashion
Not Vanilla: Style Stars on the Small Screen
I thought we could take a look at some of my favorite fashion moments in television that have inspired my sense of style. Read More
take care of yourself
Not Vanilla: What is self-care?
As college students, we are bombarded with a lot of messaging — about managing our mental health, eating right, and not stressing too much. Through this type of messaging, I was introduced to the concept of “self-care.” I initially thought self-care was just about buying bath bombs and sweet-smelling soaps from Lush. But in my […]
halloween costumes
Not Vanilla – The Hidden Context of Costumes
When I was a child, I loved Halloween. I loved it for the candy — the costumes were almost an afterthought. My love of candy was common at that age, but as I grew older, I found that many found great joy in conceiving and executing a costume idea. And if I think about it, […]
online artistry
Not Vanilla: Public Picassos, and the life of online artists
Stagnation is a dire problem in our age, where new content and information is constantly pumped out. I was experiencing some stagnation in my social media feeds, so I took some advice from a friend and started looking up artists on Instagram and Tumblr. In my perusal of these art communities, I was delighted to […]
