Not Vanilla
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
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
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 […]
Not Vanilla
Not Vanilla: Fancy shoe obsession
The first pair of heels I remember buying was when I was in middle school. I had just joined my middle school’s speech team, and when I went to my first speech tournament I was startled to see my competitors decked out in business attire. Their hair was done, nails painted, ties ironed, and I […]
Not Vanilla
Not Vanilla: To binge or not to binge
Dear reader — I hope you got enough sun before Rochester plunges us into its 13-month-long winter. This summer, I was in desperate need of a new show to delve into — one with a lot of episodes and good reviews. I settled on the Netflix animated series “Voltron: Legendary Defender,” from the same animation […]
red carpet
Not Vanilla: Award show season standouts
Well, reader, we’re finally done with awards season. I have mixed emotions about this. I’m glad I’ll stop being constantly deluged with press releases containing the same stories about the same six movies. But I’m sad that the time of semi-mandatory spiffily dressed celebrity appearances is over. I wanted to go over some of the […]
