Author Archives: Sophie Tomei

Twee – what the heck is it?

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I’m a pretty avid Spotify user, and the app kept trying to shove its “twee” playlist down my throat. Zooey Deschanel and her perfect brown bangs on the cover would constantly pop up in my recommendations after almost any indie rock album I listened to. At first, I hated it. I refused to accept it. Stage One: Denial, right? “My music taste is not twee,” I’d scoff. Who did the Spotify algorithm think it was, trying to put me in the TWEE box? Whenever I thought of “twee” as a concept, I’d think of literally just Zooey Deschanel in her little polka dot dresses and weird patterned skirts on New Girl being the quirky girl next door. Or, alternatively, Zooey Deschanel as Summer in the horrifying psychological thriller (500) Days of Summer (2009), with her equally perfect bangs and equally quirky fits. That is SO not my vibe…or so I thought.

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When I actually looked at the definition of the word “twee”, Google informed me that it means something that is “affectedly or excessively dainty, delicate, cute, or quaint”. I guess that checks out, but it leaves me with the question of how can music possibly be twee? That is where the beautifully innocent and adorkable genre of twee pop comes in. It comes as literally no surprise to anyone, but none other than Ms. Deschanel herself also plays a significant role in the twee pop scene with her music thing called She & Him, despite the genre being around since the late 80s.

I’ve really come to discover that this woman is the undefeated Queen of Twee. Not a bad title to have, honestly. Despite Ms. Deschanel’s apparently fruitful efforts to conquer twee, there are tons of bands out there that fall under the twee genre..and many of them are bands that I really like. Spotify overlaps a lot of outsider music with twee, so bands like beat happening, tiger trap, cub, marine girls, brittle stars, etc. will fall under this category. I feel like these make sense. What doesn’t really make sense to me is bands like Joyce Manor and even Vampire Weekend somehow also making the cut. First of all, both of these bands have a wildly different sound. I guess I can kind of see how they’re twee because they’re both relatively endearing, so as much as I don’t want to, I’ll give them the twee pass, since Spotify insists on doing so anyway.

Do you listen to any bands that would be considered twee? There is a decent chance that YOU DO. Spotify will be sure to let you know.

Flying is also not fun

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So, we’ve talked about airports. They’re like purgatorial landscapes filled with endless $12 sandwiches and, at least in Canada, more maple products than God ever intended for us to create. But what about flying on an AIRPLANE itself? Unsurprisingly, it is not that much fun! Once you’ve braved the arduous airport process and have made it to your gate, depending on how early you get there, you have a loosely-specified wait time before getting on the flight, where you have to sit there with your carry-on and try to stay occupied. Again, I have to pause here to say that I understand that this is a fairly privileged thing to complain about, but at least I’m not whining about like, the trials and tribulations of owning a yacht or something.

Anyway, after the waiting is up, the fun begins. Everyone now needs to pile onto this airplane in arbitrarily-formed lineups, which can kind of always take forever. The thing about traveling by air is that you’re in a perpetual state of mild stress, and the tensions only keep rising until you actually are seated on the plane and in the process of taking off. Once you have shuffled your way onto the plane, you now have the fun game of trying to find a place to shove your carry-on in the overhead bins. I actually have a hack for this though, but I’m gonna go ahead and keep it a secret, to maintain a level or mystique, and to also not get in any kind of trouble. Finding your seat by being forced to slink around the plane so as to not be pressed up against anyone is a joy.

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Oh, you have a middle seat? GOOD LUCK. I’m (mostly) kidding–ALL seats on the plane suck! The window might be the most tolerable just because you get to be next to a wall. Congrats, now you are stuck on this plane with all these people for however many hours it takes to get to your destination. Realistically, though, I am very grateful that I even have the opportunity to travel by plane. It allows me to come all the way to BC just to go to school while still being able to visit my family in the summer. Air travel is also apparently one of the safest modes of transportation! All of my instinctive feelings go against this fact, but I will choose to accept it. If you also don’t love flying, then you understand where I am coming from, I’m sure.

Airports are not fun

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If you’ve ever had to fly in an airplane before, there is a very good chance that you’ve experienced the joy of an airport. I have done my fair share of flying, and I have been to many airports across North America, and a few in Europe as well. I have to admit, as much as I appreciate the fact that I live in a time where air travel is not only possible but very safe and usually reliable, I am NOT a fan of the airport experience. I am an anxious person just in my natural resting state, so entering any area that is teeming with anxiety-inducing obstacles is not that fun for me. Flying anywhere, even if it’s a relatively short domestic flight, is a pretty big hassle. Also, quick side note, I am acutely aware of how privileged I sound right now. That fact is not lost on me. But I don’t know, I’m gonna proceed with writing this article under the assumption that whoever is reading this won’t be terribly offended if I talk about airport culture for 400 words.

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Great, now that that’s taken care of, let’s get back to AIRPORTS. I feel like the second you step into an airport, the tension in the air suddenly becomes palpable. People around you are either dressed super formal or way too casual–you’ve got a guy in an almost-tux toting around an Italian brown leather briefcase speaking into his apple watch or something dumb like that, and next to him you’ve got another guy who looks like he did absolute nothing else besides roll of out of bed and come to the airport in his perfectly preserved sleep-state, he doesn’t even have any bags or anything, he’s just a potential airport vagabond. People often compare airports to liminal spaces, and I for the most part agree with that. They exist outside of our normal reality; time is not real in an airport. They’ve got the same vibe as a windowless casino designed to keep you trapped in an endless gambling loop, only it’s an airport, and you can get yourself a beer at 8 am if you feel so inclined. There are also so many different facets of any typical airport experience. First, you check the bags, then you go through security, and sometimes customs depending on where you’re going. And usually all of this is happening under a ticking time limit!

Anyway, I know that some people actually love airports. I think those people are a little bit crazy, but that’s just me.

White Rock Farmers’ Market

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https://www.instagram.com/p/CsY1gOch4h2/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

The 2023 season of the White Rock Farmers’ Market is in full swing! Starting back in April, the market takes place every Sunday from 10 AM to 2 until October at Miramar Plaza. The market is reportedly one of the largest farmers’ markets in Canada. They’ve got all kinds of standard farmers’ market stuff–local produce and artisan goods vendors, bakers, food stalls, etc. The website is really nifty, they provide a weekly schedule that details which vendors will be at the market for each coming Sunday, so you can keep track of what’s going to be sold on any given Sunday. There are apparently 90 vendors EACH WEEK, which is a lot! The market has been around for over 20 years now, so it is well-established at this point. Vendors are offering samples now, and there’s a new live musician each week! Definitely worth checking out if you’re into farmers’ markets.

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I personally love going to a good farmers’ market, it is a top tier Sunday morning activity (I could make a joke about religion here but I will exercise restraint and not do that). I remember when I lived in California, my family and I would go to farmers’ markets almost every Sunday, and we would get the best produce I’ve had in my entire life. I have so many good memories of walking around the market in full sun looking at overpriced jars of some type of jam or compote or something. I had to do a video project in grade 10 for my English class about how farmers’ markets are good for the environment, which is a little weird looking back because I’m not fully sure how that connected back to English literature, but oh well. It was a cool project, and I got to visit a lot of markets for it. I wish, though, that I could have gone to the White Rock Farmers’ Market, cause it looks like it ROCKS. The market is a perfect opportunity to get some really good, fresh produce. It’s always nice to know where the stuff that you’re eating is coming from. I really like actually chatting with the vendors, they’ve always got interesting stories, and they’re cool people! And who knows, you might even score a deal if you’re friendly, so it definitely doesn’t hurt.

I highly recommend visiting the market at least once this summer if you’re near the White Rock area. 

 

Transiting in Vancouver

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Most BCIT students commute to campus, in fact I’d argue that nearly all of them do. There’s not that many of us that actually live on campus. And, I’m fairly certain that a big chunk of BCIT’s commuting population takes transit to get to school, whether that be by bus, train, or a combination of both. Having a car here is EXPENSIVE and pretty inconvenient, so I understand why most people choose transit, especially because the transit system in this city is really, really good. Parking on campus is also very expensive from what I’ve heard, so avoiding those extra fees makes sense. Our SkyTrain system is the longest fully-automated light metro system IN THE WORLD! That’s pretty impressive, in my books.

I rely on transit to get basically everywhere here, and it hasn’t failed me yet. I know so many people who are actually from Vancouver that are full-on adults who DON’T have a driver’s license and have never been behind the wheel of a car before, which is so crazy to me. I remember when all my classmates turned 16 and everyone started getting their driver’s licenses, but I guess that just isn’t really a thing here with the transit system being so accessible and reliable. Both of the cities that I grew up in, Ottawa and San Jose, don’t have the same level of intricate transit. They’ve got buses, sure, but they’re definitely more car-oriented, especially in the suburbs, which is where I lived in both places.

Being from these places, I had never had to rely on transit EVER in my life until moving to Vancouver. The only experience I had with it was taking the train to San Francisco and then taking buses there, but that was pretty infrequent. When I first got to Vancouver, I had no car, obviously, so I needed to learn how to take the bus and train, which may seem embarrassing to all you Vancouver natives, but hey, I have my driver’s license, so. My biggest transit screw up was getting on the 49 going the opposite way and ending up stranded at metrotown at 10 pm when I actually wanted to go to UBC. Not my proudest moment. After that big mistake, I quickly learned to always check to make sure that I was getting on the right bus. Since then, I can proudly say that I haven’t messed up that bad since. 

Free Bangkok Skytrain photo and picture

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I’m really grateful that I don’t have to own a car here, and that I can take the bus everywhere. Commuting places does take a bit longer, but it becomes a lot less stressful, and I love being able to listen to music on the bus.

Burning out

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As students, we are given tons of work. Especially at BCIT, a school notorious for being really intense in terms of workload. Most of the programs are only 2 years long, so they have to cram as much useful information and teaching as they can in a relatively short amount of time. As a result, we have to actually do all of that work in that amount of time, which can more often than not lead to…burnout. Burnout is basically an emotional state that you can reach if you’ve been really stressed or overwhelmed for a long period of time. It doesn’t even necessarily have to be from school or academic stuff–it could come from stuff at work, or even friend, family, or relationship struggles. If you’ve ever experienced it (which you probably have, to some degree), you’ll know how hard it is to come out of it.

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Right now, for example, I would consider myself in a burnt out state, because I’m wrapping up my practicum for my program, so things have been pretty intense! I definitely feel overworked, and I’ve neglected a lot of my other responsibilities in order to meet my deadlines and get all of my work finished on time. I have basically no groceries or food in my fridge, my room is a total mess, and there are a few emails that I’ve just been putting off writing and sending in favor of writing all these articles. When I find myself feeling burnt out like this, it’s also really hard to engage in hobbies that I normally love. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I often feel a sense of guilt whenever I try to relax or do anything for fun while knowing that I still have work that I could be doing at that moment instead.

Coming out of burnout is pretty difficult, and I don’t have much advice, other than just getting through all the work you need to do, within reason. It is important to make sure that you’re not totally overworking yourself to a point of complete exhaustion, you have to be able to still take care of yourself through it all…I honestly haven’t felt burnt out like this since high school, which was a WHILE ago for me at this point. 

If you’re also feeling burnt out like I am, I hope that you can overcome it soon. For me, I’ve got about TWO DAYS left of toiling, then I will finally be set free.

Going to the beach

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We find ourselves in mid-May, and summer has come quite early this year. I am not a Vancouver native, so as an outsider, seeing a sudden influx in people just walking on the street or doing things outside is kind of jarring. I usually only live here for the wintery and bitter cold months, so I’ve never properly experienced what it’s like to live in Vancouver during a time where the weather isn’t completely miserable. I’m so used to leaving my house and seeing a few other people scattered around, all bundled up with their umbrellas. People aren’t necessarily wrong when they say that Vancouver seems like a really unfriendly place, but in its defense, the weather sucks for a good portion of the year, and TRUST ME, when it’s really yucky out, the last thing on my mind is how friendly I am presenting to the strangers around me. I’m sure the same goes for others.

Anyway, one thing that I’ve been doing during this fun little heatwave is going to the BEACH. Jericho beach, specifically. I’ve been going at night to smoke basically (sorry), but I’ve seen people posting pictures of that beach as well as many others, and wow, there are TONS of people packed in there like sardines in a can. Personally, I do not enjoy the beach when it’s really busy like that. Too many people kind of ruins the beachy vibe that I crave. I really like the beach–I grew up going to the beach on the Ottawa river, and other Ontarian lakes, and then shifted to beaches on the California coast, which are quite spectacular. Maybe, dare I say, some of the best beaches in the world…Vancouver beaches are pretty unique, and it sucks that you can’t really swim (at least, I wouldn’t).

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I know a lot of people are not fans of the beach, what with the sand and the rotting seaweed smells and all, and I get that. But I just really like being by the water. When I go to the beach, I like to lay in the sun like a lizard. I might be reading something or listening to music, but either way, I require full sunshine. And maybe a good pair of sunglasses. I like going to the beach with friends, of course, but I definitely don’t mind going all by myself.

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Are you a fan of the beach? Or are you more of a forest person, mountain person…or just a stay inside person?

Heatwave blues

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Not sure if you’ve noticed, but it’s been unseasonably hot outside this past week. No rain, no clouds, barely even a breeze. Just CONSTANT SUN, and temperatures in the high 20s throughout the entire day, sometimes even at night. Now, an interesting fact about me is that I am actually from California. Well, sort of. It’s a long story…but basically, I lived there for ten years, so I’ve experienced my fair share of hot temperatures. You would think that this would have prepared me for a few days of slightly-warmer-than-average temperatures, but apparently not. In California, I lived in a house that had air conditioning, went to a school with air conditioning, and worked at a job that did NOT have any air conditioning, but DID have many separate fans blowing on us at once. I feel like I never truly experienced real, untampered HEAT before.

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I live on campus here at BCIT, which is really nice, but the buildings are pretty old (walls are filled with asbestos), and there is basically no functioning insulation. So, when it gets really cold out, my room turns into a walk-in freezer, and when it gets really hot out…my room basically catches on fire. It turns into an unimaginably warm, suffocating enclosure in which I am the only captive. Sleeping is a complete nightmare. My experience during the heatwave so far has been camping out in the overly-air conditioned broadcasting building during the day, and going on long, aimless walks at night to procrastinate actually going to sleep. I was considering buying a cheap fan, but since I am moving out in about a week, I didn’t really see a point, since I’d just have to find a way to pack it with all my other stuff. I’ve been doing my best to spend as much time as I can out of the house, and I’ve also been drinking obscene amounts of water. I already drink a decent amount of water on a regular day, but when it’s really hot out, I go crazy.

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As much as I’ve been complaining, I do appreciate the heat. I was getting kind of tired of being constantly cold, wet, and just in a general state of misery anytime I had to leave the house. It feels so weird to be able to just go outside in shorts and a t-shirt, without having to bring a jacket or get all bundled up.

So how have you been coping with the heat? If you live somewhere that actually has air conditioning, I am furiously jealous of you.

Hot coffee v. iced coffee

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Are you a coffee drinker? There is probably a decent chance that you are, and if you’re a BCIT student, then I’m going to go ahead and assume that you DEFINITELY are. To a dangerous degree. Seriously, you can only go to Tim Hortons so many times. I’m just messing around because I am one of the avid coffee drinkers, of course. My addiction actually fueled my drive to write this article. Thanks, caffeine!

The fundamental question is: hot coffee or iced coffee? There are pros and cons to both, so let’s take a journey into the wonderful world of this highly-caffeinated beverage.

First things first, I know that a lot of young people my age aren’t even drinking coffee anymore, thanks to the likes of Starbucks and their pseudo-coffees. I’m going to choose to disregard this fact and assume that all you young people are just drinking COFFEE. So, with this newly-established fact, what kind of coffee will the young person go for?

If I had more time I would have loved to do a survey to get real, hard-hitting results for this article, but alas, I did not do such a thing. Iced coffee has been having a moment with the youngsters for the past few years now. I feel like I always see younger people with iced coffee, and older folks with a mug of hot black coffee or something. I personally enjoy BOTH drinks, and feel as though they have their specific times and places for optimal consumption. Hot day? Cold drink. Cold day? Hot drink. Simple.

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That being said, I do have a preference for warm drinks…so I guess that’s where the pendulum swings for me. Even if it’s a warm day, NOTHING beats a hot coffee. It just feels good to drink a hot liquid like that. Warms up my soul. Also, drinking warm or hot liquids has health benefits and stuff! So, if anything, I’m being healthy by drinking my warm beverages. Iced coffee has its merits though, of course. Number one, STRAW. I love drinking out of a straw, that’s one of the best sensory experiences out there. Number two, COLD. The drink sure can cool you down! The only thing that’s a bit iffy with iced coffee is that without sugar syrups, your latte is mostly likely NOT going to be that sweet. Not a problem for us TRUE coffee enjoyers, who don’t mind a bit of bitterness. 

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I am curious, since I didn’t get to do my survey–are you team Hot Coffee or Iced Coffee?

Vancouver International Jazz Festival

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https://www.instagram.com/p/CsUd46JvRC0/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

If you’re an Evolution listener, then chances are good you are also an enjoyer of good music. If this is the case, then you should be pleased to know that the Vancouver International Jazz Festival is happening at the end of June! The festival is taking place from Friday, June 23 to Sunday, July 2nd, specifically, at a bunch of different locations across Vancouver. It’s nice that the performances are taking place at various locations throughout the city, I feel like it makes the festival a lot more accessible and way less crowded than packing everyone into one fairground. There are TONS of artists on the lineup, despite the event only lasting just a little over a week, they’ve got so many amazing performers this year. Even if you’re not a certified Jazz Fan, the festival isn’t just like a bunch of jazz cats sitting in a cafe playing dissonant 16-minute long piano solos, it goes way beyond that! There are artists playing in different genres, and it really is just about celebrating how awesome music is. The festival is hosted by Coastal Jazz and Blues Society, by the way, which is a community-based, not-for-profit organization in Vancouver dedicated to the appreciation of Jazz and music in general as a special art form! 

If you want to contribute, the festival has lots and lots of volunteer opportunities available for anyone interested. They ask that you do a minimum of 12 hours of volunteering, but in exchange you get early access to shows, a t-shirt, AND, the best part–a volunteer appreciation party! I’ve always really loved volunteering at events like this because it fosters a sense of manufactured authority that can only be achieved by having kind of a low-level of responsibility, but still being able to lord over others, particularly people who are on the same level as me. Anyway, you can sign up to volunteer through their website if that’s something you wanna do!

The Coastal Jazz and Blues Society also offers free public workshops as some programs for high school students, so they’re all about education!

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I sadly won’t be in Vancouver during the festival, so I’m going to sit this one out. But if I was here, I would definitely wanna go, because I do consider myself a fan of Jazz. But if you have the privilege of being IN Vancouver or around the area, I recommend watching out for any cool artists you might wanna see and go to the festival!