Language is not static. English, particularly, is flexible and inconsistent. Perhaps English’s development into a contemporary ‘global language’ or lingua franca is due in part to its lack of a formal regulatory body. Though English Enlightenment writers Daniel Defoe and Jonathan Swift debated the issue, and Americans John Adams and John Quincy Adams suggested the … Read more
While consumers once championed streaming services as the answer to cable woes, streaming services now risk the same fate as cable by offering consumers too many exclusive services at costly prices. With the increasing proliferation of streaming platforms, piracy is returning to the forefront of media streaming. The Streaming Revolution At first, watchers welcomed the … Read more
“Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission … to boldly go where no one has gone before.” Star Trek’s opening words have a dual meaning: while the Enterprise explores new planets, Star Trek as an overall show explored new plot lines, tackling pressing social and political issues … Read more
When I was seven, everything I knew about the 2008 election came from moments I sneaked of Tina Fey and Amy Pohler playing Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton, respectively, on Saturday Night Live. In 2016, things became more comical as the content of the show then supplemented what I had already absorbed through the news. In … Read more
I first became acquainted with traditional Nordic foods during a stroll down the dairy aisle. I randomly picked up a new yogurt brand called “Icelandic Provisions” with enticing flavors like “peach cloudberry” and “strawberry lingonberry.” I would later learn that it was not yogurt, but Skyr. While it is branded as yogurt in the United … Read more
You are touring through Europe, going on a weekend vacation, or hitting the hot spots in a new city. Scrolling through Twitter or Instagram, you see that other tourists have flocked to a particular site for their contemplative pictures. Pleased at the opportunity to add something with a more serious tone to your online image, … Read more
Aliens were not found in Nevada this summer. At least, not the grey men we’re used to. On September 20, meme enthusiasts and herds of alien enthusiasts donning tin-foil hats gathered outside the rural town of Rachel, Nevada in preparation for an event with nearly three million Facebook fans: the Area 51 Raid. Over the … Read more
Dubbed as the “loneliness disease” when translated from its Chinese term 孤独症 (gu du zheng), autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by communication deficits, repetitive behaviors, and restricted interests, and affects about one in 59 children in the United States. Since ASD is a life-long condition, parents of children with ASD often … Read more
In an ironic turn of events, the aptly-named retailer Forever 21 recently announced that it would be closing as many as 178 of its U.S. locations, as well as the majority of its stores in Europe and Asia. Indeed, the fashion behemoth and purveyor of all things polyester and sparkly announced that it had filed … Read more
“I am a man on a mission. A vocation, call it, to remake the past, and a wish to fashion all that has been into being and becoming.” So begins Novuyo Rosa Tshuma’s debut novel House of Stone, and with it, the reader’s disturbing journey alongside a narrator who slowly unleashes the trauma of his … Read more