This past Tuesday, the Cole Assembly room was filled with Five College students and faculty who were there to hear Alison Bechdel, a cartoonist and cultural commentator, give a talk about her work. The lecture, hosted by the Sexuality, Women’s and Gender Department, the Women and Gender Center and the Queer Resource Center, was titled “Drawing Lessons: The Comics of Everyday Life.”
I’ll start this article by providing a quick warning: I love Batman. My obsession for the Caped Crusader has stuck with me throughout my childhood despite the traumatizing effects of George Clooney’s nipples in “Batman Forever.” The Dark Knight is one of my favorite topics of discussion and I’ve dressed up as Batman for Halloween multiple times, including this year.
As the cold weather sets in and final exams loom in the future, a lot of us might feel rundown and overtired from the onset of cold weather combined with a heavy workload. Managing stress can be difficult, especially when it is challenging to find time to relax and unwind. Eating a good diet, exercising and getting enough sleep are all important components to maintaining a healthy balance during this part of the semester, but often we have to sacrifice at least one of these things because we just don’t have enough time to get everything done.
It seems that every generation has had their own “teen” or coming-of-age films. Many of the most memorable movies from those genres were released in the 1980s and 1990s — movies that celebrated fun and frivolity and youth while still being at least somewhat poignant. What happened? Very few memorable films about young adults have hit theaters in the past ten years or so, and fewer still have proved to possess staying power or enduring popularity. What qualities do the so-called “teen movies” of the eighties and nineties have that make them so enjoyable to watch again and again?
My parents visited Amherst this past weekend, but my ma didn’t even know that it was parents’ weekend until she noticed the multitude of cars parked haphazardly along the freshman quad drive. Although she certainly confirmed that I am the youngest of four in a busy and distracted family, she also pointed out an aspect of parents’ weekend that can make life difficult when trying to eat out: Amherst gets packed. Thankfully, I guessed correctly that late on a Sunday morning, I could find my favorite corner bakery ready for business and blissfully peaceful, even when more lively than usual.
The biting cold was no match for the warmth emanating from the Alumni Gym on Saturday evening as the Black Student Union’s annual Harlem Renaissance kicked off around 7:30 p.m. This year’s theme was “Night at the Apollo.” Students of all classes dressed in their best formal wear and lined up, tickets in hand, eagerly waiting to be allowed into the well-decorated space as jazz quartet melodies drifted from the main floor into the hallways. No longer was the Alumni Gym a cold and uninviting practice space for athletics.
When I was younger, for about two months every year my parents sent me away to rural New Hampshire to attend sleep-away camp. This was probably a good thing for me. Being away from television and video games for a while balanced me out, and although I wasn’t a social butterfly, camp provided me with enough experience to survive the social battlefield of post-pubescent life. Though much of our time was taken up by activities, we cherished the few hours of freedom we had to ourselves.
