A Retiring
With no way to get up there anymore
without hitching a ride with the old enemy;
disgraceful maybe, or just over-trusting.
The world stage changes ever faster these days.
Big Brows
In fashion, there is no middle ground. You respond to the world around you—to the trends or the fashion shows or the news—or you don’t. … Erasing your eyebrows is an expression of modernity as much as it is an exercise in transferring the ephemeral styles of the catwalk to modern life.
A Dream Deferred
When I was six, I told my parents I wanted to be a writer. They responded with the quintessential “follow your dreams” parental response and encouraged my obsession with writing poems and stories, and having more literary friends than real ones. That was 1993.
Outgoing President George W. Bush at the Inaugural Speech of Incoming President Barack Obama
Man I’m never as free as when I’m there
racin’ that truck over the Crawford dirt,
’bout 60, 70, feels like 90 —
The American Dream
This dream we have been taught to strive toward has failed him, yet he hasn’t given up on the dreaming part. Kay’s enthusiasm for his country wasn’t about his own economic well-being anymore. It involved governmental reform, and a better society.
Issue Two: Letter from the Editor
The American Dream is a dream of freedom, of opportunity, of a fair chance at happiness. We have national dreams, familial ones, and the personal ones deep in our hearts. At their best, these dreams motivate us toward better lives, advanced education, and improved circumstance.
Holiday Gift Guide
Instead of guiltily shopping at the giant corporate stores and regretting it, rethink your spending habits and invest in small businesses, artisans and craftspeople, or just make gifts yourself.
Art: Ryan Alex
Ryan Alex is currently a student at the University of Southern Maine within the branch of Art Entrepreneurial Studies and an intern at Mayo Street Arts in Portland, Maine. As a person who appreciates the solitude of rural New England and philosophy, his artwork has always explored these themes.
Music Brief: The Mallett Brothers Band
Bringing you far away from the pavement and onto the back dirt roads of America, the Mallett Brothers Band’s country rock style emerges from the slow grown woods of Maine. … Continue reading
Scene Report: The 2011 Austin City Limits Festival
It was early afternoon on the festival’s first day when I felt the first rain drop fall. I was standing near the edge of the Bud Light Stage watching Brooklyn … Continue reading
What Do You Do If The Spirit Is Willing But The Flesh Is Weak? Telling Life Narratives About Addiction
I am sitting in a Church Basement. The room is stifling hot and very crowded. Right after I enter, the session leader shuts off the lights. The soft glow of a few tea light candles emanates from the table,
To Listen is to Find Voice: Observations on the Occupy Wall Street Movement’s Community and Message
When I approached Joshua, 20, he seemed reluctant for an interview, but was going to give me a chance anyway. I asked him his age. His occupation. “Homeless,” he replied. … Continue reading
Visions and Nightmares: Art and Mental Illness
“And it is easy to slip into a parallel universe. There are so many of them: worlds of the insane, the criminal, the crippled, the dying, perhaps of the dead … Continue reading
Coney Island
On the boardwalk, English isn’t the first language you expect to hear; instead there’s a mix of a hundred different voices and tongues from all over the world. As I hear them speak words I don’t understand, I am reminded that they, too, are transplanted, and perhaps they come here too to find a bit of home.
Reliving The Three Kingdoms: Increasing Popularity of Sanguosha and Rise of the Chinese Culture
Eight Chinese college students gather in a small room, surrounding a table.
Lights are turned off. Candles are lit. Cards are distributed.
Revisiting “The Twilight Zone”
“There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground … Continue reading
American Way: A Series on Main Street America
The myth of Main Street is useful, but only if we recognize it as a story we tell ourselves about ourselves in the present.
Lara Alegre: Photography and the Negotiation of the Female Form
Pictures of women have always held a special place in the world of gender politics. A photographer’s portrayal of a young model is always wrought with analysis regarding the possession, … Continue reading
The Good and the True
Kano: “That’s incredible!” Cut cut cut cut… She slashes with her hand above the puppets as if trying to cut invisible strings. Yukito: “As I said, there are no strings. … Continue reading
Mnemonics in the Twenty-first Century: Have we Forgotten How to Remember?
The practice and study of mnemonics, or “the art of memory,” has a history that is two and half millennia old. Simonides of Ceos first developed this memory technique as … Continue reading
Private Lives, Public Personas
The lines between privacy and publicity became destabilized, and the more we can offer a “convincing account” or our private lives, the greater prestige we can gain from our audiences.
The Orris: A Cultural Journal 