Ally Bruschi

More by Ally Bruschi

Street Style: Copenhagen Edition 3/27/2013	Hello from Denmark! After spending nearly two months in Copenhagen I think I’ve gotten a pretty good sense for the dos and don’ts of Danish Style. Whether you plan on visiting Denmark in the near future (or any other Scandinavian or Northern European country—I’ve found that the “rules” generalize pretty well) or just want to import some Scandinavian chic to the streets (paths) of Gambier, here are some examples of quintessential Danish dress! Do’s… Ballerina Bun 2.0 This isn’t your average messy side bun…when I say high, I mean high: think Natalie Portman in Black Swan ballet bun. I think the general rule is that if you don’t have a migraine your bun is not tight enough. If you want proof of the trend’s virility consider this: when a girl who studied abroad in 2011 made a blog post about “how to look like a Dane” and included a satirical analysis of the Danish bun the post quickly went viral and gained fame status in Denmark! Though the post somewhat mocked the comical Scandinavian fashion trend, the Danes who commented on the post seemed to unanimously agree with the “guidelines” of constructing the perfect Danish bun! (scroll down to the comments at the bottom of her post’s page) See Copenhannah’s post: “how to look like a Dane”
Why You Should Study Abroad (Especially as a Kenyon Student): no debate, no question, no “buts” 3/21/2013	Learn to be independent Yes, going to college and living “on your own” (as in away from your parents) can be seen as a big step towards achieving personal independence, but moving alone to a foreign country for four months is an entirely new level of autonomy. You’re really living on your own, or with a roommate, or with a family that may not speak your language. You have to cook for yourself (sometimes), shop for yourself, book your own flights, make new friends, and even take care of yourself when you get injured (this one played a huge role in my own abroad experience). Learning to be on your own and integrate into a new culture is an eye-opening and humbling experience. It’s an opportunity that everyone should seize if they have the same amazing chance to study abroad that we Kenyon students do! Travel to places you’ve only ever read about Remember that really cool website you found on StumbleUpon with 50 of the most unique places on Earth or the 10 best restaurants in Europe or the world’s most beautiful waterfall in Greece? Get off the computer and go there. Save up your money and take trips, see the sights, bring your camera, write about it. Sure if you stay in Gambier you can have Curried Red Lentil from the VI until the cows come home, but you could also be eating authentic spinach dal in India or freshly pressed pasta in Rome.
MIDNIGHT BREAKFAST TOMORROW 12/15/2012	It’s the most wonderful time of year… sort of. Sure, presents, home cooking and a month of relaxation are just across the horizon, but first we all have to get through the hell that is FINALS week (for advice on how to deal with that see Rachel Larson’s article on dealing with end of the year stress) For all the the papers, exams, presentations and projects that we suffer, however, Kenyon does kindly provide a beacon of hope at the end of the “reading days” tunnel (since when can a weekend be considered reading days, by the way?) Yes, you guessed it, I’m talking about Late Night Breakfast, the one glorious night of the semester where Peirce remains open past 8pm so that professors and administrators can serve us our favorite breakfast foods. We’re talking cinnamon rolls, pancakes, eggs, muffins, waffles…you name it. If that tantalizing description doesn’t convince you to join in on the fun, here are some reviews of Late Night Breakfasts (LNB) Past: “I’m still wondering where the promised professors are, but as a girl who orders pancakes for dinner regularly at my neighborhood diner, LNB is a dream come true” -Senior “It’s like Peircegiving with its hype and festive atmosphere except at midnight and everyone is hyped up on caffeine and sugar. And pancakes are never a bad idea.” -Sophomore “I was so excited for LNB last year but was a little disappointed when the Nuge wasn’t there serving waffles since I had just seen my friends’ pictures from their schools with their presidents pouring orange juice and hugging people…” -Sophomore Ok, now for some details: Where? Peirce, of course! When? Sunday 12/16/12, 10pm -12 am! Why? Because we’re hungry and tired and we deserve some sugary lovin’. See you there!
It’s A New Day: 4 Hangover Cures to Improve Your Sunday 12/2/2012	We’ve all been there. It’s Sunday morning and you need to get up, start your day, and be productive enough to make up for the Saturday you spent lazing around, ordering breakfast from Bob Evans, painting your nails, and napping to recover from Friday night and the long week behind you (okay, maybe that’s just what my last few Saturdays have looked like). It's seriously time to take action…and yet you can’t seem to lift your over-tired, aching head off your pillow, let alone think about hitting the library. Luckily for us, collegiettes, HerCampus Kenyon has compiled a list of tried and true hangover cures to help us all have productive Sundays without having to sacrifice any of the weekend fun! I always say prevention is the best cure, but hey, we can’t always be thinking one step ahead—that last cup of fruity, potent punch always seems like a good idea at the time (and hey, sometimes it is!)
New Girl Episode 2 Recap: Too much “Fluff”? 10/3/2012	If Nick and Jess weren’t the focal point of last weeks dual episode season premiere, there’s no denying that they were the stars of this week’s episode, “Fluffer”. This week’s installment of New Girl was rather topical, addressing current hot topics such as the friend zone, “cheating of the mind,” and...Mitt Romney. The episode begins as Jess elicits the boys’ aid in learning how to be more comfortable with her new ultra-casual relationship with Sam. The boys agree to accompany her on a group date to a fancy restaurant to give her the emotional fix she craves, thus preventing her from seeking an emotional connection to Sam. This plan backfires, however, when Schmidt and Winston (conveniently) make last minute plans and have to bail on the dinner, leaving Nick and Jess to share a few awkward moments before agreeing to go through with the dinner anyway. One thermos of white wine and half a bowl of soup later (sounds like Tuesday nights at Peirce?) Jess leaves a dejected Nick to pick up the check as she heeds a call from Sam. Meanwhile, Schmidt and Winston realize that the only way to get into a club is to pretend that Schmidt is a Romney, which isn’t too hard considering his decision to don a Vineyard Vines-esque whale belt. Schmidt manages to convince a girl that he is, in fact, “Tuggb Romney” (he describes his name later as “two Gs, silent b” so I can only assume this is how it’s spelled), despite Cece’s eye rolls and protests. In the end, the naïve girl and her “Kappa for Romney” sisters discover Schmidt’s lie, and Schmidt ends the episode crying in Cece’s…arms. Do I spy a future rekindled romance? In other news, Winston and Shelby’s relationship is on the rocks, but when is it not? The two can’t even have a proper fight.
Season 2 Premiere Recap: Falling in Love All Over Again With [the] New Girl 9/27/2012	If there is one thing more exciting about fall than the abundance of pumpkin flavored drinks and foods that start popping up, it’s the fact that FOX’s New Girl is back on the air. And what’s even better than its Season 2 premiere is the fact that it featured back to back episodes; that’s a full hour of the a-dork-able Zooey Deschanel, people! The double feature was filled with everything from a penis cast to Winston’s visiting mother, homemade tattoos, and a visitor from the future. However, Jess’s newfound sexuality, brought about by her being laid off, and a new twist in her relationship with Nick were the central events of the night. I for one have been waiting since season 1 episode 1 for the moment that the sexual tension between Nick and Jess finally comes to a head, and this episode left many possibilities looming. After all, how many people can Nick and Jess set each other up with and tease each other about before they finally realize that their friendship is a ticking time bomb bound to erupt into the most hilarious relationship on prime time television? I found myself wondering if Nick subconsciously messed up the numbers and set Jess up with Bearclaw on purpose—there’s no way that was an honest mistake. And no one can ignore future Nick’s premonition of imminent conflict between Jess and Nick…it’s almost unbearable to wait any longer for the relationship to come to fruition. The analytical, mature side of me appreciates this element of foreshadowing that’ll keep us on the edge of our seats for Tuesday nights to come. But the college girl side of me just wants them to make out already.
Kenyon-Made: An Interview with Katharine Watson ‘09 9/20/2012	Though she’s a finalist on Martha Stewart’s “American Made” competition and hails from Hong Kong, we like to think of Katharine Watson as being Kenyon-Made. HerCampus seized the opportunity to sit down and chat with a woman who can honestly say, in her own words, that graduating with an art major from a small liberal arts school does not necessitate becoming a starving artist! I was lucky enough to meet Katharine during my awkward teenage years at summer camp in Vermont, but you lovely readers have the privilege of getting to know her right now! Let’s start off with the basics: Name: Katharine Watson Hometown: Hong Kong Where do you live now: Hyde Park, VT Major While At Kenyon: Studio Art and International Studies double major Favorite movie? Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion Favorite book? A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry When was the last time you reconnected with your Kenyon peers? Two days ago at my roommate's wedding, actually! What’s the first thing you would do if you could be back at Kenyon right now? I’d get a Thai Chicken Wrap at Middle Ground (RIP) and hang out in the living room of New Apts D-1 with all of my Kenyon friends. What’s your favorite Kenyon memory? I could submit a full-length novel full of my favorite Kenyon memories. Seriously you could have interviewed me on that subject alone, though I guess it’d make a pretty dull read for everyone else. But if you had to pick one? Probably biking on the Kokosing Trail to get ice cream.
Coffee House Blues: Ally Bruschi Meditates on Kenyon, post-Middle Ground 9/11/2012	Walking past the illuminated windows of Wiggins’ Street Coffee—aptly (and quickly) nicknamed “Wiggle Ground” by the student body—at night and seeing a stock of empty booths leaves me with an instant pang of mourning. These glorious, wooden booths that once acted as the thrones of overly social studiers, awkward first daters, and late-night snackers now sit vacant. Perhaps this newfound emptiness reflects the void left by the disappearance of the famous Middle Ground salad or hummus and pita, or the earlier closing time, or the redecorating scheme, which my mom referred to as “morning coffee brown”;Wiggin Street Coffee and its redesign have elicited mixed reviews. Regardless of the cause, at first glance Wiggin Street Coffee doesn't seem to be filling the hole that Middle Ground’s absence seems to have left in Kenyon students’ hearts. But they’re sustainable, people! The father-son owners of Wiggin Street Coffee have traveled to Central and South America and worked with importers, so that the coffee beans they use both in Wiggins Street Coffee and their One Line Coffee wholesale coffee-roasting business can be traced back to individual farmers. Isn’t that something we like, Kenyon? I think the retired Middle Ground sign posted up in the far corner of the Village Inn bar reminds us just how loved MG was by the Kenyon community. I actually witnessed a collective sigh from a few students sitting at the VI bar on Wednesday night as they gazed up at the shiny metallic oval that once hung as the proud gateway into the heavenly aroma of sweet potato fries, curried red lentil soup and those irreplaceable muffins, now resigned to its dejected position in the corner of a bar. You might be thinking, all this hype over a coffee shop? Really?
Relay Recap 4/19/2012	Besides being the day of the dreaded Housing Lottery, last Saturday, April 14th also marked the commencing half of Relay For Life 2012! It proved a great experience for all, and the event raised more than any RFL of Kenyon College event had in the past! ($45,000 is a lot of money indeed). Here’s a recap of some of the more memorable (read: funnier) things you missed if you didn’t make it to Relay For Life last Saturday (and shame on you if you didn’t because it was awesome!) 1) Drunk Guy on Moon Bounce Obstacle Course: At around 3 am a Kenyon student decided to post-game with at Relay and was immediately fascinated by the inflatable obstacle course stationed near the event’s entrance. Said student proceeded to charge at the Moon Bounce from the wrong side (i.e. he ran up the slide that is supposed to mark the course’s finish), reached the top of the slide, looked around in panic and shouted “wrong way! Wrong way!” and then ran back down the slide. 2) The Sassy Child : She was so cute and everyone was jealous of how much energy she maintained the whole night, even at 5 am when most teams and most of the committee itself were slumped in their chairs, wishing for their beds up on the hill. She challenged everyone to races through the Moon Bounce and usually won. 3) The Kenyon Faculty: their team won the spirit contest because they got very into every themed lap, most notably the secret agent lap. Whatever your imagining right now is probably accurate. It was spectacular 4) Christina Mastrangelo: Made pancakes at 7 am with M&Ms in them; ran around the track in a cape blowing bubbles; wore a fake mustache. One of the only people who did not succumb to cynicism or grumpiness throughout the night. This woman is unstoppable.
The Housing Games 4/12/2012	The day is almost upon us, folks: the infamous Housing Lottery. The day we all trudge our way down to the KAC basketball courts to have our fates determined. The day that a unanimous feeling of anxiety and grumpiness fills the air (along with ResLife's playlist, which last year included ALOT of The Fray). Some will be walking out of the arena with the promise of a luxurious Taft Cottage; others will leave with a third year in Mather looming over their heads. The harsh objective “fairness” of the lottery leaves some of us feeling as disadvantaged as little Rue from the Hunger Games (what are the odds that the same person could get in the bottom 15 numbers of her class 2 years in a row? Seriously???) But we must remain optimistic! The lottery is only as daunting and stressful as you make it, right? Here are some tips for our readers to help you all prepare for the lottery: 1. Plan ahead! This is not the time to take a laissez-faire approach to your future. Grab life by the horns, sit down with your friends, and plan your dream (or most realistic) home. 2. Be Assertive with what you want: if all of your friends want to live south and you want to live north, give your most persuasive arguments, take a chance! You are considering where you’re going to live for ten months of your life, after all. 3. Be aware of costs: Check out the different housing rates and make sure that the space you have your sights on is within your parents’/loan’s/financial aid’s budget.

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