Maybe it’s the lingering effect of COVID-19, or maybe the changing landscape of the ever-elusive entertainment industry. Whatever the reason, the concert-going culture has seen a rise in the value of performance. After all, we have music at home; streaming services are taking over the world, and the average listener is craving a different kind of experience. Something exciting, something new, something distinctly different from the act of staring at the wall, sitting on the couch in one’s living room.
In 1999, UNESCO named March 21 World Poetry Day. Since then, it has been celebrated every year and recognized by those who value poetry in their lives or acknowledge its importance in the history of the world. The UNESCO website states that “poetry speaks to our common humanity and our shared values, transforming the simplest of poems into a powerful catalyst for dialogue and peace.” While World Poetry Day was last week, we can still take time today to bask in this genre of literature and understand more about how it affects us all.
It was a death march — an endless river of colorful TikToks that Pixar had the gall to call “advertisements.” I groaned every time I scrolled to see another tiny, animated child — looking like it was scrapped from some GrubHub or AT&T commercial — screaming or crying without context as the title Win or Lose flitted across my screen.
One of the most wonderful things about art, in my opinion, is how multidisciplinary it is. The first medium is a gateway drug that opens up a plethora of possibilities, and suddenly you’ve spent all your money on canvases, pencils, paint, glue and yarn. At least that was the experience of Ruma Poudell ’26, a graduate student whose foray into painting led to jewelry-making, crochet and poetry. On March 12, I had the opportunity to learn all about that progression when we sat down for a chat in Zeus.
First-year AAP students craft a dragon for the 125th Dragon Day, embracing this year's theme of “How to Build Your Dragon,” which invites community participation.
Solutions by The State News
