A (21st Century) Modest Proposal

This is an unpublished op-ed. Here it is, published on my website.

We live in a society. It seems to be in a rather unfortunate state at the moment. Fortunately, I am here to propose a modest solution. The privileged elite enjoy the luxury of escaping to their summer homes when a break from normal life is needed, and perhaps, we could take inspiration from them and emulate our own break from normal life en masse. My suggestion is that we should break from the tragedy of civilization: although it has always been plagued with problems, I firmly hold the belief that now, with the interconnectedness that globalization has blessed us, it is the perfect time for all of us to agree upon returning to our natural state, throwing away all of our material possessions and moral standings, and existing as homo sapiens did before the rise of civilization.

A Woman's Power

I’m told that I’m very open about my thoughts and feelings when I write. I guess that’s true and I guess I don’t know how else I could possibly write. When a friend of mine looked through my posts on Reddit, that’s what he said about a specific comment. Here’s what I had written:

“I think people have largely forgotten the value of being truly emotionally intimate with one another. I, as a woman, enjoy casual sex and dressing as provocatively as I want, but that doesn’t mean I don’t crave and want genuine closeness. I want a man with whom I can be intimate in more than just the physical sense; I don’t want money nor the absurd, self-sacrificial devotion that the media perpetuates as a romantic relationship. Is that really that much of a risk? Don’t men crave that too? Casual sex is fun, but have you ever had sex with somebody you truly love? Shit hits different, bro.”

What is love without touch?

(A Ramble about Tinder)

We’re in a pandemic right now. It seems like everybody knows that. I’m in Queens, located in New York City, believe it or not– that’s for y’all Manhattanites that love to hit me with the, “Queens isn’t New York City”. The city is nearing 1,400 deaths from the virus, with nearly 48,000 cases overall. My parents aren’t really letting me out of the house, and I’m kind of okay with it. I know I wouldn’t be very good with social distancing otherwise.

All my friends know that I’m fascinated by Tinder. It’s particularly weird right now, because we all know we’re not supposed to be meeting up, but of all possible dating apps, apparently Tinder is the most popular one at the moment. I thought Tinder was the hookup app, no?

Movie Recommendations

My friend got dumped recently so I made them a list of movies that they could watch to occupy themselves. I think we all need something to occupy ourselves nowadays, considering the lockdowns, social distancing, and quarantines. Staying home is boring. Here are some movie recommendations from me. They’re mostly old movies, but I like old movies.

Clearing COVID-19 from Campus

“Do I know you?”

We all at least somewhat know of one another: not enough to greet each other and ask how we’re doing, though. But in the week after we were told that we were being kicked off of campus in fear of COVID-19’s spread, an apocalyptic feeling settled in our beloved Purple Bubble. We thought we had a full spring semester to enjoy the sun, the outside, and the colorful mountains, but that was cut short. It had become a time for practicality and succinctness, and the mere question, “Do I know you?” seemed enough to start a conversation. Yes or no? Are you familiar to me? Am I familiar to you? Familiar enough to kiss me in private? Even people with whom I wanted to be friends with later in the year, I now found the bravery to go, “How you doin’?” with a smile.