Kelly Rota

Most shoppers know about the floating island of trash circling the globe and the piles of discarded clothes washing up on shores. We are wary of adding to the problem, so we boycott brands, shop secondhand, and donate clothes that no longer bring us joy. Despite all the overwhelming reasons not to buy new clothes, desire boils over and we eventually turn to the internet to make new purchases. After receiving those new items, we often find that the oversize shirt is too small and the form-fitting...

As life’s current carries us out of our childhood, we find ourselves in an ocean of choices. Often the only foresight we have to prepare for these choices is a single question: “what do you want to do when you grow up?”

While a complex question to answer, we are led to believe that answering it means we have “figured out” life. The linear path we develop to prepare for our journey to what we want to do, and intrinsically who we want to become, oftentimes does not account for the inevitability...

If you are a follower of #booktok or #bookstagram it is very likely you have come across one if not all three of Sally Rooney’s novels. In quick succession, Conversation With Friends (2017) and Normal People (2018) launched Rooney to a level of renown literary celebrity within her generation, the likes of which she never anticipated.

Rooney has been called the “first great millennial novelist” and the “Salinger of the Snapchat generation” (( Michallon, Chémence. “‘Normal People’ by Sally Roon...

You may find yourself unfamiliar with this particular sub-genre of independent film that began at the start of the new millennia, and you may assume you’ve never watched anything remotely related to mumblecore — a genre so unimposing it’s not even capitalized. However, if you are a fan of up-and-coming director Greta Gerwig, the Duplass Brothers, or even Lena Dunham, then you have seen your fair share of mumblecore-influenced cinema.

Many of the directors associated with the movement, includi...

Have you been feeling the ground beneath you quake? The news may tell you it was the 2.9 earthquake in Morgan Hill, or the 4.5 in Pleasant Hill, but I am here to tell you, “It’s LITQUAKE, baby!”


Litquake debuted in 1999 as, Litstock, a name reminiscent of another movement spearheaded by shared interests. The event consisted of a single day of readings among the evergreens of Golden Gate Park under a blanket of fog. Not long after, it became clear to cofounders Jack Boulware and Jane Ganahl th...