December 2009 marked the end of another year and carried along with it the end of HIV/AIDS awareness month as well.  It has been 28 years since the virus was officially discovered and, while the ardent fervor of celebrity endorsement has slipped away, advancements still continue to be made even if they fail to garner the mass media response they used to. After combing science news sites and medical journals of the past, one particular advancement in treatment continues to present itself as the …

While plantains are more famous in the tropical areas of the world, they are widely available at your local supermarket and pretty inexpensive too. The starchy nature of these fruits from the genus Musa will remind you of potatoes, and plantains can often be substituted for them in recipes. Latin America has invented numerous side dishes with plantains, and if you ever venture out to a Mexican restaurant, be sure to get their caramelized plantains with a side of fresh cream, or tostones, which are double fried plantain patties. My …

There’s a game that I play called “Punch Up Your Life.” I make a joke and then I punch it up. Example: I gave my friend John a hug and he asked, “Is this how you hug everyone?” I said, “It’s just how I hug my dad, except I’m usually not erect. Wait, it’s just how I hug my dad except usually I am erect. Wait; I got it! It’s just like how I hug my dad, except I’m usually erect. Hold on; now it’s exactly like how I hug …

Crave no more

Crave to die

Crave it all

Let it be (anywhere, everywhere)

These are the opening lines to Jeffrey Cobbold’s exciting debut album as a solo artist, “Crave No More,” which was released last Friday on his website where the complete album can be downloaded for free until February 5th, 2010.

The Pyrenees mountains are like the crumpled, discarded tissues of giants; awesome, majestic and yet somehow remarkably regular. This was my first impression of Spain as I flew over the northern coast. A most remarkable feat, as the island that we had just left had been stricken with snowfall in a way it had not seen in over 25 years…and dealt with it as if it had never seen snow at all. My brother and I had been in Ireland visiting our family members, …

The moon was a smokey spotlight over the car. Our getaway car – Pat’s new-old Lexis – stick shift – crammed with all our belongings: books, clothes, guitar, ukulele. There were four of us: Pat, our driver, always down for a spontaneous adventure (we’d be heading down to New Orleans and Florida to see graveyards and beaches in a week), Mike, the singing poet-writer-reader from Brooklyn, Mike’s older brother, Bryan, bursting with voice and music and life, just hitching a ride with us to Vermont …

A little over a week ago I returned from traveling for three weeks in England. I was there visiting my friend who lives and studies in Oxford, as well as a cousin who lives in London. I was asked to write responses to five questions regarding my stay there. However, one of them contains a lie. If you can spot it, leave your guess in the comment section and you’ll get some sort of prize or figurative slap on the back.

When I received my absentee ballot to vote in the special election to replace the late great Ted Kennedy, I felt an immeasurable disappointment with the names I saw on it. The choices, as I saw them, were these: a giant douche, a cold-hearted woman, a babbling hypocrite and a space for me to waste my vote. To be honest, no candidate on the ballot seemed capable of filling the position. Over the course of several days I deliberated and resolved that I simply could not make a decision. And …

Photo series by Matia Guardabascio. All Rights Reserved by the artist.
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Over this past winter break, several of our staff members found themselves traveling, both at home and abroad. We decided to take the opportunity to ask each of these writers to answer some questions about their recent travel experiences. Brendan McInerney, staff photographer and photo editer to the Johnsonville Press, talks about his time in Madrid, Spain.