by Mackenzie Patel Hello World Travelers! Another month has dissolved into the diaphanous fabric of time, my calendar filling up with sharpie Xs faster than I can keep track of. The slower I want time to go, the more it seems to accelerate, defying my own personal gravity trying to pull it back. May was… Read More


by Mackenzie Patel Spread of Hellenism in the ancient world  Hellenism was a cultural and artistic movement that proliferated throughout the Mediterranean world from 325 BCE to 31CE. This widespread shift in perspective was caused by the heroic and legendary exploits of Alexander the Great, the Macedonian king that journeyed all the way to India… Read More


by Mackenzie Patel Clam Chowder. Beef. Cheddar Cheese. While these mundane food items might taste as delicious as a cherry popsicle on a hot Florida evening, they wouldn’t make the most fashionable (or sane) foot candy. However, that is precisely what the grunge chic brand Converse has done to spice up their iconic footwear that… Read More


by Mackenzie Patel Hello World Travelers!! Here is the second part of my pairing symphonies with paintings series. Find part one here! Peer Gynt     This musical suite, orchestrated in 1875 by Edvard Grieg, was written for a Norwegian play of the same name by Henry Ibsen. Peer Gynt is the main character in… Read More


by Mackenzie Patel Hello World Travelers! Over the past month, I have absorbed and drunk in and worshipped and fell in love with several symphonies thanks to my musically savvy academic team buddies. I was bewitched by Scheherazade, blown away by the Jupiter movement of The Planets, and stunned to death by Petrushka. There’s nothing… Read More


by   Mackenzie Patel Italian Riviera in the 1960s. Breathless American actress gracing the shores of a forgotten town. Startling eyes more azure than the thrashing waters below the cliffs. This and much more stuff the pages of Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter, a novel about long lost loves, the corrupted world of movie stars,… Read More