Marilyn Dumont

Essay season is upon us! It always boggles my mind the amount of time that essays take up – I’m taking fewer classes this year and still feel swamped with work! I know I’m not the only one when I see my classmates filing in, bedraggled and bleary! All the stress can be overwhelming, and suddenly you realize it’s 3am and you still have a few clunky, ineloquent paragraphs to finesse.

How do you regain the strength to go on?

Watching furballs triumph in the Puppy Bowl?

Take a giggle break and re-watch Michael Kors lose it in my favourite Project Runway blooper.

Envy someone else’s creative methods of procrastination!

Take 20 minutes and go through a beginner yoga sequence to work out some of that restless energy before you get back to the essay!

What about the next day?  If you’re anything like me when low on sleep, you probably feel just like this sweet little pup!

Start off the day with a sweet, relaxing, stop-motion daydream!

Whet your appetite for all things reminiscent of Holidays (when essay season will be over) and get your most important meal on with these tasty gingerbread pancakes! (Seriously!)

Happy Essay Season!

Curious to see how I fared during Spring exam session?

 

Joy Kogawa

Happy Friday, everyone!

I’m a very careful person, but losing things runs in my family.

My father once left his wallet on top of a payphone at an airport in Tennessee and didn’t realize it until he landed back home in Canada. Oops!

As a true daughter, it was only a matter of time before I left my wallet on a train and didn’t notice until it had already moved along! (It came back totally unscathed – lucky for me, the next stop was actually a maintenance depot – no passengers!)

Last night I was convinced I’d lost my cell phone. I couldn’t find it anywhere! Now, I’m pretty new to this whole cell-phone thing, having only had one for a few months, and I couldn’t believe I’d lost it so soon!

Where did it turn up?

It slipped through a hole in my coat pocket and was trapped at the hem, coddled between coat and lining. Safe and sound!

Boy, did I feel silly!

Are you a careful person? Have you ever lost something and found it somewhere strange?

Peter Roebuck

Welcome to a continued tour of the joys of student living. This is Kelvin, our temperamental oven/stove.

Like most of our other kitchen appliances, I’m convinced he’s older than I am. Which is fine, but Kelvin is getting a little crotchety with age, and in the last few months has decided that the oven portion has only two temperatures – off and 500 degrees. He must be in cahoots with our furnace, who also has only two temperatures – off and sauna.

I really wanted to bake some essay-writing cookies today (yay, stress baking!) but knew Kelvin was going to let me down. He’s an unreliable lover. But without dear old Kelvin I’d never have any hot food at all, so I’m stuck with him.

In other news, Head Editor has reformed from his unsavoury ways and is acting like a real human being, complete with real-person emotions! Miracle! I also managed to sell a hefty ad contract*, which means we finally have enough money to print! Hurray! The November/December issue lives on!

Have you ever lived in a house “with character”? (Read: A little bit of a dive.) What did you love/hate about it?

*And didn’t even have to dress like a tramp. Take that, Editor. Some of your motley crew of nerds learned real sales skills.

 

 

James Goldsmith

The apathy plaguing the magazine I’m working with is driving me crazy. We’re now four weeks past original deadline and some of my fellow section editors haven’t finished their sections yet. I can’t wait to be in the real world, where you can’t get away with shenanigans like this. Our editor, for all his asshole behaviour, seems more than content to micromanage and second guess everything I do, but doesn’t enforce deadlines for any of the other editors. Leading to these scenarios where, four weeks after deadline, I have my section in (and my sections for our next two isses almost completed) and nobody else is near finished.

Regardless, life shuttles on! Essay season is upon us, and I’m doing my best to resist the lure of yoga pants and hoodies.

I thought it was high time I documented part of my animal-print cardigan obsession. Is there a colour or print that has taken over your wardrobe?

Cardigan: Gift from roommate, Old Navy, T-Shirt: American Apparel, Scarf: Gift from Parents’ vacation, Jeans: CampusCrew (Legit, the cheapest dark-wash straight-leg jeans around.) Not Pictured: Flats: Ecco (pictured here), Yellow Bookbag: Roxy (Can you spot it in the flats picture?), Ring: Gift from Mom, doesn’t fit her fingers anymore.

Peter Ustinov

Leftover pictures from Friday, hurray! I’d been having a rough week, stressed out to the max, so I decided it was going to be a good day, no matter what. So I put on my favourite comfy t-shirt dresses (layered for extra flounciness!) and the bright yellow scarf, and went to my favourite prof’s class – even though I’m not in it! He was surprised to see me and was very gracious not only to let me sit in on the class, but also to let me take a few minutes to plug the magazine I work with. (He also said my hair was looking very Leighton Meester – what a compliment! Have I mentioned I absolutely adore this guy!?) Making Lit. Theory humorous is no easy feat and he kept me laughing through the whole class, brightening my week in the process.

What was your favourite class in school? Did you have a favourite teacher?

I realized this outfit was a huge Old Navy parade after I put it together. Oops!

Mustard Scarf: Booth at market, Glasses: Mystery? I have no idea what the brand is, and can’t remember where I got them. Oops. Brown Cardi: Old Navy, Magenta Elastic-Waist T-shirt dress (With identical black dress underneath): Old Navy,  (Not Pictured) Grey Waffle-texture tights: Old Navy, Badass buckle boots: Rocketdog, Humongous yellow Bookbag: Roxy, Navy Peacoat: Winners.

T.S. Eliot #2

Oh, campus publications. Student-run anything is always fraught with problems, most of which can likely be blamed on inexperience. Unfortunately, the 10-years-strong publication I joined up with this year is in a financial tailspin due to the fact that last year’s business manager didn’t invoice half of the advertisers… (consequently, half of the advertisers didn’t pay…) and this year we have no business staff.

The solution? Well of course! Make the editorial staff do all of the ad selling. Smart.

Is it any shock that six bookish nerds with no social skills are having trouble selling ads?

I know I’m a good editor. I know I’m a team player and manager. What I’m not, however, is a half-decent salesperson.

So thanks, lovely Head Editor. It’s super cool of you to suggest that I dress like a slut to compensate for my lack of charisma. Very professional. It doesn’t at all seem like sexual harassment, right?

Super great way to motivate me to support the publication you’re running.

James Thurber #2

The hardest part of editorial work is rejecting submissions. While I can be a harsh, nitpicky, severe editor*, as the head of the creative section this year, I do find writing the “thanks, but no thanks” emails the hardest, as it is one of the newer parts of the job.

It seems even harder when there’s not necessarily anything wrong with the submission, but for some reason, you’re just not feeling it. The writing is fine, the content is okay, but the piece just isn’t getting you. These are absolutely the worst ones to do – often, I have little feedback, just a few minor typos or formal errors , and a “thanks, but this isn’t what we’re looking for right now. I encourage you to keep writing and resubmit!” paragraph.  I always feel so useless on those e-mails, because I know if I were on the receiving end, I’d think “Geez, thanks for nothing!”

Do you ever feel that way about your outfit for the day? Not awful, not stellar, just a bit of a comme ci, comme Ça situation? That’s how I feel about this one. I have a serious cardigan+top+jeans+scarf addiction. It’s becoming a uniform.

Scarf: Booth at the Market, Cardigan: Dynamite, Beaded Grey Henley: Old Navy, Bracelet: Tabi, Belt: Can’t remember, Jeans: American Eagle (Not Pictured) Moccasin Flats: Aldo, Brown Puffy Vest: Columbia

*Last year I had a less than 1% total “Yes” votes in editoral board. Between two publications. And almost 300 submissions. I got a bit of a bitchy reputation. I don’t think it’s bitchy, I think it’s discriminating. Potato, Potahto.

Fred Wah # 2

Oh Fred Wah, you’re back! I used a quote of his in my fourth-ever post!

Sometimes I get really, really sick of sitting at my desk, so I spread out a quilt on the floor with all my work for the night and just go for it. Get ready for Mo, Great Expectations! It’s going to be a rumble!*

I also need to start planning some activities for my little sisters at Go Girls!, which is an afterschool program I mentor though Big Brothers/Big Sisters.  This is my third year running a group and I’m hoping it’ll be my best. It’s hard to battle all the negatives, the fat talk, the crazy media images, etc, in seven sessions, especially when even I find myself buying into it every once in awhile, but I think even being able to get a bunch of girls together to talk about it is a step in the right direction. Not to mention, it’s a nice break from my stressful, 21-year-old life to go hang out with some 12-year-olds. Postgrad applications? Internship requirements? Midterms? Pssssht. Please. We’re playing octopus tag and eating string cheese.

When do you get a little dose of child in your life?

(I should add, Big Brothers/Big Sisters is always looking for more mentors. Not all chapters run a Go Girls program, but you can certainly contact your local organization and find out, if you’re interested. It’s so much fun.)

 

*I am known for my dislike of Victorian Literature. However, I have to take a Victorian Prose course, so, here we are.

Arthur C. Clarke

I’ve been in the worst funk the last two weeks, so I’m throwing myself out of it by wearing my oh-so-soft Swell Season T-shirt, to celebrate the greatness that is their new album. (You can stream it on NPR, if you’re curious! The Deluxe edition also comes with a ton of live recordings. Totally worth it. I saw them live last year and was euphoric for days afterwards.)

When I’m in a bad mood, I often am down for days and days at a time. To make myself feel better, I wear lots of skirts and dresses, listen to my favourite music, and tidy up my room! I find when I’m not feeling my best, the area around me tends to reflect it. My entire floor was covered in junk! Ick. Talk about pathetic fallacy!

I’ve been laying out my clothes, and had a brainwave today that perhaps I might photograph it a bit, since so many of you are fashion bloggers! I’m a huge repeater (sorry, Eyeliah!) and I’m a bit of a “uniform”. (As in, I have an animal print cardi for every day of the school-week…oops…). I also have a lot of skirts and dresses I have trouble incorporating into my wardrobe….I’m working on it!!

What do you think? Should Mo-logue attempt some outfit posts?

(Also. I’m a tool. I picked this techie quote for a reason. I’ve been trying to update the OS on my laptop for FOUR DAYS. And it keeps freezing up. My brother told me it would be easy enough for an idiot to do on their own. This may not be the case. Or, I’m an idiot. Both plausible.)

In case anyone was wondering…

T: American Apparel via Swell Season concert, Scarf: Roots, Super-pilly cardi: Jacob Outlet. Not pictured: Brown linen skirt: Gap, Nubby black sweater tights: Mom’s drawers at Thanksgiving, Badass buckle boots: Rocketdog. )

Mo is on Twitter!

(Awesome paper sculpture work, as seen at Samuel Johnson’s House in London this summer. Regrettably, no idea who the artist is.)

So, I caved and joined twitter for all the little notes of whimsy I can’t add to the blog for various reasons. If you’re interested in taking a peek at how mundane my life really is, feel free to come check me out!