To Jessica & Gabriel!

Five days ago, my sister got married. Five days ago, I gave a speech. And now that it's over, and now that I'm not freaking out about it all the time, I'd like to share it. To Jessica & Gabriel always! I'm so happy for you two, you crazy lovebirds.

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Jessica has been my guardian ever since I came home from the hospital. When I was little, I was always trying to put myself through things—get my legs through the bannisters at the top of the stairs, or my arms through the backs of the dining room chairs or I used to just want to sit in this blue flower pot in our living room. I think maybe I used to think I was Elasta-Girl from that movie, The Incredibles. And I always thought I was going to make it through to the other side, but to my amazement, sometimes I would get stuck. If it had been a particularly busy week in fighting supervillains in the house, sometimes once a day. My mom is laughing because it’s not an exaggeration. And I would cry and cry for help because surely my life was in danger, but it wasn’t mom and it wasn’t dad who I trusted enough with this rescue mission—it was Jess. I am happy to report that each time she was able to rescue me, albeit with some help probably from mom and dad, and that eventually I moved on from this Elasta-Girl fantasy. Jessica would probably say she is unhappy to report that that would only be the beginning of her watching over me to make sure I didn’t do anything too stupid.

We spent 19 years living together and in that time, she has gotten me out of a lot of metaphorical and adult-sized blue flowerpots. And I think from that first time she got me unstuck, I’ve always thought she was pretty cool. Jess is someone I have always looked up to. She is warm, playful, sensitive, beautiful, hilarious, creative, and if you meet her, as you all know, you’ll fall in love with her in about 60 seconds flat. And I have to say…that growing up that didn’t go unnoticed! So throughout her dating life, because I was kind of a dork and had far too few hobbies, I was there with a notebook and a pen and I would kind of—Jess I don’t think I ever told you this ever—I would sort of log who she was dating and what I thought of them. I think there was a point system involved but I’m not sure! I don’t have that book anymore, so I can’t tell you about all of my entries in there, but I do remember some of what I wrote about Gabe.

Good hair. Taller than Jess—check. Likes my mom’s cooking. Played beanie babies with me. Russian. First impressions: positive.

So I was 12 at the time, just to set the record straight. I do not play with Beanie Babies anymore and I definitely know now that Romania is a country.

But if I were to write that list today, I’d have a lot more things to say about Gabe: supportive, smart, sarcastic, enthusiastic, loyal, honest, determined, but most importantly, makes my sister so incredibly stupid happy. When the two of them are together, there are sparks. They laugh. A lot. And they poke fun at each other all the time. They challenge each other. And throughout the ten plus years that they have been together, they have grown to be better for each other every day. Even through the most angsty of teenage years. They have a house, they have a dog, rather a bear, I already feel like they have won the dating Olympics, and I am very sure they are going to bring the gold home in Marriage too.

On a serious note people ask me a lot when I say my sister is getting married, I get asked this all the time, “Do you like the guy she’s with?” and I can’t help but smile because I really really do. And little do those people know that because you’ve been with Jessica for ten years, I’ve grown up with you, and you are already my brother.

Just by being around you two, you continue to teach me about love every day. I love you both so much. I wish you all the very best for your future life together.

Congratulations. To Jess & Gabe!

                  

“In the heart of every actor lies his breath, her voice and our response.” -The National Voice Intensive

When I got home from the Voice Intensive last summer, I imagine I was pretty annoying. I couldn’t stop talking about it to anyone who had the politeness to listen. And even though I get asked about it less now, because it’s been seven months, I still have that impulse to scream on top of a mountain how much I loved it. The more I contemplate my 5 weeks in the program, the more I am convinced that that time spent was one of the happiest I have had in my life. And it is funny, because some of the conditions of the intensive would lead me to believe that that statement doesn’t make sense. For example, I woke up every day at 7:00 AM—which is far earlier for me than usual. I took transit for an hour to get to the UBC—something that would have made me extremely grumpy had I been in Calgary. I worked hard. I exhausted myself physically, mentally and emotionally for five weeks every day from 8:30 AM – 9:30 PM. The weekends were spent doing laundry, having cook-a-thons, watching orange is the new black, going to the beach, sleeping and of course working on Shakespeare. Oh, and I wouldn’t see my boyfriend for that entire time.

And yet, I was extremely happy. I was exhausted. But I had more energy than before. I was constantly being pushed for new ideas and insights, and those came easier to me than before. I hadn’t gone to yoga in months, and even after a full 12 hours of physicality, I often finished my days by going for a run along the beach before I went home. I was being challenged. I was being confronted with my own ingrained self-editing. But more than all of that, I was taught how to breathe.

This might sound really hippy-dippy, but I was happy because I breathed.  In every breath, I came to rediscover myself. In every breath I came to rediscover my surroundings. In every breath I was present. And you might think: I breathe already, why would I spend weeks doing something I already know how to do? And I am going to burst your bubble: you don’t know how to breathe. From the breath stems all the work. At the intensive, everything is integrated through the breath and the voice. They look at your vocal instrument as a whole: your body, your voice, your mind, imaginations, sensations. I could go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on about my feeling about the intensive.  I could gush your ear off for hours. But let’s talk about what’s unique, and what’s valuable about the program for theatre practitioners.

The Voice Intensive’s faculty is impressive. At the head is David Smukler who founded it thirty years ago. He is one of the most senior voice teachers in Canada and is one of the most senior voice teachers in Canada, is on the faculty of York University's Department of Theatre where he supervises the Voice Teacher Diploma in the MFA Acting Program. He has studied and taught all over the world, he is very tall, can be very intimidating, but more than that, he has a giant heart, a persistence and an intensity when he teaches. Perhaps I cannot speak for other theatre institutions, but I will. You never get more one-on-one attention than at the intensive. Sessions vary in size, anywhere from 6 people to 36 people, but you will never be lost in a crowd. This is scary at times, because the faculty’s bullshit meter is off the charts. You will come to terms with a new understanding of your body, your body and your pre-conceived ideas and ego. And you will resist. Sometimes in acting classes I have been in, there is resistance and eventually, for the sake of time, the teacher will move on. But that doesn’t happen here. You have their undivided attention, and the faculty communicates with expertise, empathy and enthusiasm. What the faculty achieves is creating a deeply supportive and non-competitive environment for all participants. Everyone has his or her own individual process to go through—everyone’s needs and challenges are different. To witness the journey of others is truly a gift, and to be witnessed is another.

At the intensive you will learn many many things, but the majority of the work focuses around freeing the natural voice from habitual patterns, opening up physical space in the body for breath to move freely, syntonics, the connection between sensation & the imagination, speech pathology, and the Shakespeare text of that given year. This summer they are doing Othello, The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night & Richard III. You will work on a monologue from one of these plays and a scene with a partner (or two) from one of these plays with a final presentation on the last day of the intensive. I won’t divulge more about what happens at the intensive, because it is best to discover that for yourself and to reap the same amount of delight, surprise and resistance that I did. You will be challenged. You will be confused. But at the end, you will reach some clarity, have an understanding of what it means to be really present, and re-sensitize yourself to your surroundings. You will also be gifted a personal bullshit meter that will stay with you always. It will tell you when you are being inauthentic and you will wish it were something physical so you can throw it at the nearest wall or off the highest bridge. You will also leave with 11 mentors and roughly 25 new friends from all over the country.

Some changes have been made!

When I attended last year, it was a 5-week program but it has been adjusted to 4 weeks from May 17^th – June 13^th. If you can go, clear your schedule. Take this time to immerse yourself in the work without outside distractions or obligations. Dedicate your weekends to doing laundry, having cook-a-thons, going to the beach and hanging out with other participants! The voice intensive is also being held in Toronto instead of Vancouver and partnering with pounds per square inch performance—a Toronto Theatre company under the direction of one of the faculty members, Gerry Trentham. It’s the 30th anniversary for the Intensive and I have no doubt that the faculty is going to make it a very exciting year! If I could go every year, I would. And if you can't go this year, you should consider going whenever it's feasible for you! If you have any questions about the Intensive, any funding to go there or whatever, give me a shout in the comments and we can talk! The deadline to apply is March 15th, but really March 16th (because the 15th is a Sunday). And if nothing else, but this has made you curious about the intensive and you want to learn more, check out their very helpful and comprehensive website.

A feminist bone to pick with BRANDED Magazine

My word, it has certainly been awhile since I’ve written a blog post. This time I write because I have a bone to pick—with Branded Magazine. Language is used to communicate a need, and I have to say that after two weeks, this article is still bothering me and so I need to communicate why—to you Internet hive and to you, Branded(I'm anxious for your reply).  

For those of you who live in Calgary you may have heard of Branded. It’s a new magazine –one that just debuted earlier this month. I picked it up, immediately drawn in by the cover art and flipped past a few pages of ads before I got to an introduction from the publisher and co-founder, Mandy Balak. She is holding up a sign that says, “The future of Calgary is in good hands #get branded”. Mandy Balak, I repeated to myself. Mandy Balak. Mandy Balak. Mandy Ba—I lit up! Mandy Balak is also the creator of “It’s Date Night”, an online resource for date ideas in the city of Calgary for whatever your feeling ranging from the “Athletic Date”, “The Stay At Home Date”, “The Pizza Date”, “The Group Celebration Date” and the adorably earnest, “The I’m Sorry Date”. I myself have used it many times, though thankfully not the “I’m Sorry Date” quite yet. I’m sure my time is coming. Already I’m excited. I read on. What I would call their “mandate” reads as follows:

“Branded is curated to show the young people of the city why Calgary is   awesome. We represent the future of the young people who are making a difference. We feature the voices that aren’t afraid to disrupt mediocrity. Branded is a representation of all that we can look forward to in Calgary and it is a platform for the new breed of talented Calgarians to share their stories…Calgary is bold, sexy, and thriving—and so are the young adults within it…Branded is the young professionals guide to an exciting, fresh and successful life in the city. We are here to celebrate everything Calgary is and everything Calgary is becoming. We share a common interest in city life, fashion, relationship advice and dining.” 

Again, I feel a certain elation because I perceive I am being included as an audience member or as a part of this thriving group. I am a young person, I think Calgary is awesome, I want to make a difference and damn it I am bold, sexy and thriving—why not! But more than that, I love the focus on locality and community building. Besides a strong mandate, the language used is casual, yet intelligent and full of underlying wry wit. And so I was in.

“Hear ye, hear ye!” I cried, “Let us have another locally and young person focused media outlet akin to FFWD, yet let you have a more engaging layout, but also be less concerned with news, and more concerned with leisure! Here he, here he!”

And I really did enjoy reading the magazine. I read about doing good in my hood and I learned about Evan Wooley (Councilor for ward 8). I learned about the Americanization of Sushi, body language and they have this very cool segment where every issue they’ll feature a photographer that captures Calgary in a unique way.

The dramatic turning point is when I got to the relationship section of the magazine. Before I confront the article I'm about to, I will say that other articles in this section of the magazine were not sexist or slut shaming. There were great examples of non-cliché couple costumes and a compelling article on how online dating is essentially turning people into expendable products. Squished in between these two pages that I looked favourably upon, was the relationship advice column titled, “He Said, She Said”.

Woman, 24, dating asks,

“I went on a first date with a 32 year old guy who is a firefighter. The energy was amazing. We hooked up on the first night.  After our date, he’s called me twice—but that’s it! No emails, texts, facebook messages…nothing. I have called him several times since the last time he called me but he hasn’t been answering. On our date he told me he as interested so I don’t know sorry understand why he doesn’t try to contact me now. I did email him to say that if he wants me to stop calling, then I wouldn’t appreciate him letting me know. He hasn’t replied. I don’t know if he’s just really busy with work or what, but I really like him. Why hasn’t he responded?”

I mean, fair enough, that’s annoying and inconsiderate. Let’s see what the hes and shes (alternating respectively below) have to say about it:

“Here’s the main problem, you didn’t really let the relationship evolve to a hot steamy level. You pulled the kettle before it was really hot by sleeping with him on the first date.”

“If you want to know if a guy really likes you, really wants you or actually wants to get to know you, then don’t sleep with him on the first date. Actually date him.”

“Here’ is a tip for women: If you want to hook up and have fun on the first date? No problem—do it! If you want a relationship that lasts longer than 20 minutes, you need to hold off. Make the guy work for it.”

“Next time he says he really wants to get to know you on the first date, smile, cross your legs and kiss him on the cheek and plan the second date.”

& my personal favourite,

“Who knows, if you hadn’t hooked up, there may have been a good relationship here. Your vajayjay is the carrot leading the donkey; don’t let him eat it too soon or he’ll just go looking for another.”

Apparently this advice is pulled from gendertalk.com. However, I looked it up and couldn’t find it in its archive. But that doesn’t seem so unusual because what you’re about to read is a pretty hetero concern. Gendertalk focuses on transgenderism, crossdressing and transsexualism. It discusses topics like transgender affecting marriage, gender activism, bisexuality, feminism, education, hate crimes, indigenous issues and so on. Even if I entertain the idea that this is from gendertalk.com, it is still not okay to have these ideas published without further context or comment from the writers. If I don’t say anything after a statement I have made –if it’s a quote from someone else—I effectively am advocating that statement.

If I said, “John Doe said that racism has long since been a non-issue in the United States”, and if I didn’t follow with “That’s a pretty reaching and incorrect generalization” everyone would be right in assuming that I believed that racism has long since been a non-issue in the United States.  On that note, Mississippi just abolished slavery in this past year.

This advice is wrought with backwards and misogynistic ideas. And by publishing them without further comment, these ideas are being endorsed as common sense advice. All of the advice given is basically saying the same thing: You shouldn’t have slept with him on the first date and it’s your fault the relationship isn’t developing. Next time close your legs and he will want you more.”

It is wrong to outright condemn sleeping with someone on the first date. If there was chemistry, there was chemistry! Go ahead: fulfill your mutual desires by expressing your sexuality with one another! There should be no prescribed rules on how to “successfully” date someone. Relationships are nuanced and complicated and cannot be boiled down to a standard “how to” instruction.  But what’s worse than trying to control the progress of a relationship, is how that responsibility and expectation is placed on the woman. (And if this were placed on the man, I’d be writing a different, yet equally impassioned post).

This woman is being blamed for the failure of this potential relationship, yet the man does not receive any blame at all. What is being reinforced here is the much-adored adage,  “Boys will be boys”.  We give permission for “boys to be boys” because we exempt them from responsibility. We whittle it down to their biology or their “natural” cognition. It is perfectly normal that a man would sleep with a woman on their first date. But if a woman does the same thing we wonder if she really thought it through. Was she thinking about her future in this? Women are not allowed to let go and follow their sexual instincts and desires in the same way men are. Women are taught to preserve themselves because women are taught that they’ll be somehow ruined, worth less or dirty if they don’t. This dates back to many still perpetuated myths on purity. By placing responsibility on women, we excuse men to do whatever they like without judgment. We set these rules for women to follow. And if they choose not to follow? Often, they’re met with shame. Branded, you’ve participated in publicly shaming this woman for expressing herself sexually because you’ve endorsed the idea that women must show restraint and men simply cannot help themselves. This idea damages men and women. It teaches women to equate their personal worth with their sexual conservation. It teaches men that they don’t need to learn how to be responsible, both sexually and morally. And what is being taken away is empathy—an ability for men and women to relate to one another honestly about sexuality. If the roles of sexual pursuit are being clearly divided, there’s no need to attempt to navigate that together. If the idea is that men pursue something that women in turn, “give”, when will the occasion be that men will “give” or women will “receive”? When do we stop talking about sex as something that is being taken?

There is an assumption here that a woman’s sexuality and purity are her power and should be used to manipulate men in the traditional, acceptable ways. Make him work for it, make him wait, suffer, sweat, beg for it. Build it up. And to have men say that this is what they want, suggesting that this girl failed some sort of test, that she wasn’t hard enough to “get” or “possess” and therefore wasn’t what, intelligent enough?—is appalling. Should a certain amount of time pass before women are allowed to express their sexual desires? Because apparently all men are whores who cannot help themselves, they only want one thing and once they get it they won’t want you anymore and guess what, it’s your fault as a woman that you let that happen. It’s your fault that you gave in and “let” him have sex with you. As if this was something that happened to you and not something you are experiencing at the same time. Women are not the gatekeepers of sex. Mutual desire and consent are the gatekeepers of sex.  Why are these men fetishizing a sexually manipulative woman? Women are being seen as trophies to be won. And boy, it should be a challenging trophy to attain or else it wasn’t worth having on his shelf. But on that note, it shouldn’t be too challenging, because that woman would be labeled a cold prude. When we view women as vessels that “hold sex” we view them as objects for pursuit and gratification. And I just do not understand what the turn off is. Why is it not attractive that someone you want to have sex with wants to have sex with you? Is it that she’s not relationship material because it happened so quickly/easily and she’s likely to cheat because she apparently just follows all her sexual desires on a whim? Men are taking themselves out of the equation. They must be reminded that they had sex too, and if they think it was too soon and they’d like to take things slower, they should say so because they are equally responsible in the act of having sex. There is no ground to blame a woman for not being more conservative, virtuous, pure or whatever other antiquated terms are still clearly permeating our discussions surrounding female sexuality.

So women, 24, dating, here’s my advice:  Maybe there weren’t actual fireworks for him. Maybe he really was busy. Maybe we all need to relax and calm the fuck down about the future of things or trying to prescribe how things should go. And if the reason that he didn’t want to see you again is because you slept with him “too soon”, he’s a prick who will milk that “boys will be boys” adage until something significant happens in his life that causes him to grow up into an actual man and empathetic human being.

And there was one piece of advice given by a “she” that I agreed with,

“If a guy really wants you; his arm could be ripped off by a pack of wolves, blood gushing, phone 20 feet away and he will crawl to his phone ad text you with his other hand.”

People acting out of love or desire will move mountains. And this feeling is not something we can create—it’s either there or its not. It’s ephemeral and hard to understand, but that is also part of its beauty.

Media is important. It shapes how we see and perceive our world and ourselves. We begin to define what is normal by comparing what we see around us. “Boys will be boys” is a popular saying, because we made it one. And so the only way to change that and to change the way we talk about sexuality is by talking about it in a different way and spreading new messages. We use media to spread our ideas and this kind of shaming shouldn’t be tolerated in conversation, let alone be published as advice.

It is hard for me to believe that in this new, contemporary for the young folk magazine that such an article exists. Should I be surprised? I do live in Calgary, after all, and for all of its growing, it is still a very conservative city. But I had hoped that I wouldn’t find such a page in a magazine geared towards young people who again have hopefully been educated on sexism.  I am further in awe that young professionals are writing this magazine and that a young professional woman is spearheading this magazine. Yet, the page stands. The advice published may have just been meant to titillate its readers. But what it is actually doing is perpetuating harmful ideas about sexuality. And maybe if I were writing to or about Cosmo, this wouldn’t make the slightest bit of difference, but I’m hoping that Branded cares enough to be more conscious of how they speak about relationships in the future. And I’m hoping that we all become more conscious of the media and material we consume, that we are constantly questioning the meaning an idea holds and ultimately that we can see how our lives and the lives of others are being affected by these ideas and seemingly “harmless” words.

To music made by souls, not autotune.

Alright readers, this entry is far long overdue. The Calgary Folk Music Festival was from July 26^th-29^th and for four glorious days I listened to music, enjoyed Prince’s Island Park,  took dips in the Bow River and ate way too many mini-donuts than is healthy in a 96-hour period.

And what’s even crazier than all this, is that I did all of that for free. The Festival costs about $65 for a single day pass and something like $200+ for the whole four days, but I didn’t pay a cent. And I’ll tell you why: volunteering. Do it. And try to do it often, a couple times a year at least. Because even though you’re not getting paid in actual cash, for the Folk Fest as an example you get entry (that doesn’t include lineups!) into the grounds, free meals twice a day, unlimited access to snacks and drinks (not alcoholic…like lemonade and the like), access to the after parties with the artists and a pretty bad ass badge that you can waive at security guards and feel quite important. Volunteers for Folk Fest are important. The whole event depends on them. Only seven positions of people who work for Folk Fest are paid. Seven. So why do people do it? To support and promote artists and events like this one that makes our community in Calgary so vibrant.

And you’re doing it green. All the garbages at Prince Island were taped over and sealed. Virtually everything could be recycled and composted. You had to buy a plate for a toonie whenever you got food and when you returned it, you got your toonie back. There were no water bottles sold onsite. Everything sold at the Market is from a local business.

You + music + park + good vibes + amazing food = Folk Fest. 

So what could you volunteer to do? There are many, many positions you could sign up for: security, beer gardens, artist liason, artist transport, chef, stage crew, merchandise, recycling, photography, etc. etc. I worked a crew called “Side Stages” and what we did is set up the stage for the artists to play on it. When the stage was set up, we could watch the show and just had to make sure we came back in time to set up for the next one. Or we could have stayed backstage and made small talk with Shad or Cold Specks or whichever other act was there to play on your stage next. Pretty good deal!

Even if I had paid the $200-odd dollars I wouldn’t have had that kind of experience. And that’s what it’s about, experience. So often when you live in the city, or maybe in the 21^st century in general you buy material junk you don’t need (a t-shirt in a slightly different shade of yellow with a slightly different neck-line). And you do this for other people: birthdays, Christmas, Valentines Day, Easter, anniversaries! Gift-giving is so hard isn’t it? What should I get them, what do they need? Or when people ask you when your birthday rolls around: what do you want? And again, for me at least, I am paralyzed by these questions! Gift-giving is the worst! And not because I’m an ungenerous Grinch, but because I don’t want any more useless things to crowd my closet or apartment and I don’t want to do that to someone else either. So if you’re gonna buy someone something, buy them an experience: like Folk Fest (if they’re not gonna volunteer!) or theatre or art classes or what have you. Or buy them a beer. That can definitely be an experience. And so often we always have to focus on a million different things at once. We live in an age of multi-tasking as survival. But out here on the grounds for the majority of the four days, I listened to music. I sat on the grass and I listened to music. Music made by souls, not autotune.

And I heard new music! I love that feeling. When you’re hearing a song for the first time, you close your eyes, bob you head and tap your foot and think, “What is this? What have I been missing?” When the four days were over I had about 20 things I needed to download on my computer right away.

I don’t know if you went to Folk Fest this year or any other or maybe you even volunteered! (Again, if you haven’t, and you love music, do it. You can apply to be a volunteer every March on the website!) Or maybe neither and you already know these artists and their songs. But if not, here are the top ten artists (in no particular order) that were new to me this year, along with a song. Enjoy! 

Sarah Jarosz: Come Around 

Cold Specks: Blank Maps

Little Scream: Cannons

Del Barber: Love Is Just a Wrecking Ball

Lindi Ortega: Use Me

Reuben & The Dark: Love Is Not A Pretty Word

Three Metre Day: Stay That Way

Mark Berube: Looking For Another 

Shad: The Rose Garden

Joy Kills Sorrow: Wouldn't Have Noticed

Eat your heart out. Or something.

There's this book that I've picked up which until recently has sat in a stack of thirty or so books that I bought from Chapters before I quit. It has reached my hands and I can tell you dear readers that for all my delight in its contents, it is quite stupid that it has taken so long to look at it. The book is called Soul Pancake and it's by Rainn Wilson (yes, that guy who plays Dwight Shrute in The Office). Inside is much visual art, photography, poetry, essays, fiction, questions and activities that intent to get your brain working and chewing on life’s big questions. The first page after the introduction is “HOW DO YOU DEFINE TRUTH?” Yep. Big question alright.

This is what this book does to you:

It really gets you going. The questions are provoking and are certainly not of the what-is-your-favourite-colour variety. The book started as an internet project and became published as more of a working journal/activity book/magazine for people to write in and play around with.  But while the book you can physically write in, the website is updated more frequently and you can visit it here. 

Anyways, the book is very skilled at linking supposed dualties, such as faith and reason and greying the matter. It splits off into sections:

-Life, Death & Living
-Science & Technology
-Love, Sex & Relationships
-Introspection, Reflection & Identity
-Virtues & Vices
-God & Religion
-Experiences & Emotions
-Art & Creativity
-The Brain & The Soul

You can complete the book in or out of order. I choose in because I find it more disciplined and persevering a direction!

I kept wanting to when I was answering questions or doing activities, I keep wanting to share this book with the people in my life. And since I have, I've had some very interesting, enlightening and surprising conversations with these people. But it's also about having a conversation with your own brain in a way. Because no doubt, you may have had a Philosophy class before or maybe years ago you had a definite answer to one of these questions. But people change, and so have your views probably. You must trick your brain into letting go of any previous notions and think of something new. And that is challenging. But the answers, once you've found them (even if the answer is "There is no way to determine truth.") reflect who you are now. And that's also pretty rewarding.  

The Cinnamon Challenge

Alright so this is nothing profound, but my sister showed me this video on youtube and I want to share it with everyone I know. It is called the 'Cinnamon Challenge' and apparently this was an internet meme that I was completely unaware of. Humans are not built to eat cinnamon. Yes, we put it on toast, we put it in our tea and maybe we get very adventurous and put it in our curries or tabouleh salads (so good). But you can’t eat it on its own, not even a teaspoon of it. It does not dissolve in the saliva of your mouth. And because it isn't soluble, you can’t physically swallow it and you will choke until it is ejected from your mouth. But it’s cinnamon right? Remember how we put it in our food and so it doesn’t sound so harmless! So lots of people on the internet have taken the “cinnamon challenge”—to try to swallow a teaspoon of cinnamon. And no one has been able to.  Despite how we are witnessing what is likely a near-death experience, these videos are still hilarious. I feel almost as terrible a person as when I watch It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but if you press play, you’ll understand. This woman is particularly delightful because she is very confident (obviously hasn’t watched other cinnamon challenge videos) and because she doesn’t just take one teaspoon, she takes an entire ladle.