by Mackenzie Patel Hello all! Gnarled bust of dead men, bloody combats between enslaved brutes, and languid nights of velvet sofas and sex excite me in the historical sense. I am in love with Ancient Rome. Bedsheets of Suetonius, aphrodisiacs of ancient Mediterranean seafood, and collarbones kisses of Julius Caesar have seduced me more than… Read More
by Mackenzie Patel I did not know a few thin, papery pages written by dead ivy leaguers could be that important. However, after reading Strunk&White’s The Elements of Style, I am convinced their strict rules and harsh opinions about diction do work. Reading their words as a writer is like being repeatedly slapped on the… Read More
by Mackenzie Patel Hello all! I’m an old rag of summertime sun, European adventures, and frustrated overthinking. I’m officially a “disillusioned sophomore” that doesn’t buy textbooks until the middle of the semester and swears freshmen are ridiculous children. My uppity sense of college ownership comes with the territory, but it’ll soon slink away once the… Read More
by Mackenzie Patel Hello all! Another trek to Europe is under my belt, the combat boots of culture laced up tight and army green. I had a fabulous time in London, Prague, Vienna, and Rome, the two weeks of margarita pizzas and Pilser Urquells slipping away too quickly. Although my sneakers were ground to bits… Read More
by Mackenzie Patel Hello friends! A few months ago, I traveled to downtown Boston for Deloitte training—I had an incredible time and am in a heavy, one-sided love affair with everything Boston. It was a European America with its brick sidewalks, gilded architecture, and broad avenue of trees and mom-and-pop shops. I was inside a gray… Read More
by Mackenzie Patel Hello all! The turbulent words of Russian authors–from the axe in Alyona Ivanovna’s head to the lofty sky of a dying Prince Andrei–have intrigued me for years. The cherry adolescence of Lolita, her ripped stockings and innocent mouth, hold a perverse fascination even the vileness of pedophilia couldn’t tarnish. Their emotions and stark… Read More
by Mackenzie Patel Hello all! To counteract the societally-imposed awkwardness of being single, here are a few other females—oil, watercolor, and Photoshop—that feel exactly as I do. A Woman in the Sun, Edward Hopper, 1961 Sauntering through a bare, unfriendly room with only coldness clothing my naked body and a cigarette smoldering in my grasp… Read More
by Mackenzie Patel Hello all! Months slip by like coins out of lotioned fingers now. I wanted so desperately for this summer to evaporate, the way still water is dead in an instant during scorching summer months. School, that fortress of limited responsibility and 10 p.m. exams, was separated by four months of nine o’… Read More