My feature article for The Other Press on the rise of anxiety amongst Canadian post-secondary students recently got picked up by the Canadian University Press wire.

Check out the article here.

Thanks to our little summer short, "Find Your Goodbye," I now finally have my IMDB page up and running. Thanks Joel!

Thank you all for your votes and support: we came in second!

My latest feature on anxiety disorders for The Other Press might just be the most important thing I've written. 

Over the last few years, I've noticed more and more of my friends and peers suffering from anxiety—more than just "being stressed," people seem to be so anxious that things like working, socializing and going to school become impossible.

Am I just hanging out with a bunch of nervous Nellies? Maybe not. According to the Executive Director of the Mood Disorders Society of Canada, “a recent study is claiming five times as many high school and college students are dealing with anxiety and other mental health issues as youth of the same age who were studied in the Great Depression era."

Food for thought. Learn more here.

I miss the Gilmore Girls.

Some dating advice from girlongirlhumor's Brynn Peebles and Brianna Wiens?
-"Try and whisper spells, under your breath."
-"Be naked, always. Never wear clothes."
-"Disappear often, when you're with him. Often in a cloud of smoke."
-"If you follow the rules, you will be naked and you will disappear."

And, if all else fails, just pull a Beyonce:

I don't just see in colour: I live colour. 

While I didn't understand it until I was an adult, I have synesthesia — basically, a cool neurological condition where your senses get a bit mixed up. It's more common than you think, but it's different for everyone who has it. 

I associate words and numbers with specific colours, which I find I naturally attribute to certain feelings — especially with things like names. For example, I'm naturally drawn to people whose names start with certain letters (A, C, and J-names are faves). I also feel things like pain in colour, which I find makes certain types of pain (sharp, shooting) more tolerable than others (dull, aching).

Growing up, I was shy about it: people don't understand it, and — especially when I was a child — think that I'm lying. Even now, if I tell someone about it, I notice that they will often try to "test" me, asking "what colour is my name?" several times.

Now, I've grown to love my synesthesia. I can't imagine living in a world without the mental rainbow. But still, there are times when I feel residual feelings of self consciousness or aloneness. So, when successful and creative people like Kanye West come out with similar synesthesia experiences, it's really comforting. 

So, let's celebrate with a Kanye classic!

Say what you will, but this gets my heart racing just a little bit faster.

You may have seen this tasty little gem when I first released it on YouTube last winter, but it's making an important and very return to the interwebs today.

I don't know why (maybe it's because my older brother spent years blasting Weird Al tapes in the room beside me as a child), but I love writing and performing song parodies. I know I don't have the best voice, and it's not necessarily the most valuable writing I could be doing, but it makes me feel creative and happy.

So last October I wrote, sang and made a simple little video for my parody of "Home," by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros — "Scone."

I was proud of my work, and those who know me well said they were proud of me for taking a step outside my introverted bubble to put it out there. It was, quite literally, a tasty experience — until I heard about the things that people weren't saying to my face.

"Maybe she should find something better to do than eat pastry."
"I wouldn't even talk about food if I were her."
etc. etc.

It shouldn't have bothered me, but it did. I've struggled with my weight for years for a number of reasons, both emotional and medical. And the realization that my talking about food would make people personally attack my weight was soul-crushing. So, I took "Scone" off of YouTube and hid in my proverbial corner for months.

But this summer some events have made me realize that life is very short — so I better do everything in my power to make it sweet. I do not care if some cowardly people think I shouldn't be allowed to discuss food until I'm sub-100lbs. Frankly: fuck that.

So "Scone" is back. 
If you like it: great. 
If you don't: go make your own video.