Here in NYC, we’ve had a strangely warm winter. For the most part, it’s been pretty great. Who could complain about sunshine and temperatures in the 50s and 60s during winter? But there is one sad part – no snow. And even worse, there’s rain. Few things are more depressing than cold winter rain. The best we get is “wintry mix,” which is basically slush that melts into giant puddles. But I hear that some of you lucky ducklings in other parts of the country are getting lots of snow, and maybe even have a snow day to look forward to. So here are 8 ways for you to celebrate your snow day like an 8 year old – and just know that everyone else is very, very jealous.

initiating the gallery...

Garnet is a student at Columbia University in New York City. She is “that person” who starts dancing at a party when everyone else is standing around, and if there were a Facebook stalking Olympics, she would be a gold medalist. She also loves cheesy 90s music, and almost died of happiness when Vanilla Ice retweeted her. Once. Follow her on Twitter @garnethenderson.

(SARA, 23, walks down the street in Queens, NY with a giant bag of laundry. As she passes the elementary school by her apartment, she comes across a group of 14-year-old[?] boys. One KID separates out to meet the next group of boys half a block up.)

KID

(to his friend)

Yo, Hassan! Mothaf*cka gonna rob your ass, son!

(Kid laughs and presses the fire alarm, which buzzes one loud buzz. He turns around to look at Sara.)

KID

Testing the fire alarm, miss.

SARA

(sarcastic)

Wow, awesome.

KID

Yeah?

(thinks)

You’re looking pretty awesome. Read More »

Days as a Freshman: 113

Mood: Smiling

“There’s a bench back here.”

I pushed the last couple of bare branches out of my way and walked into a man-made clearing in the back of the campus woods. Justin was sitting in the middle of the small space, sitting on the bench, his eyes on the stars.

The way his sweatshirt was pulled around his head, the way his mouth was slightly open in concentration, the way his eyes traced the clear night skyline above us, made it easy to see what he must have looked like as a boy. Skinny and sweet, adorable because he didn’t know it, innocent for longer than most other kids. Maybe I was making it all up, maybe the dark was making me seen things that weren’t there, but in the moment before he looked at me, I really thought I had seen all I needed to know about Justin.

“Come on over.” He smiled. “The stars are awesome.” Read More »