The Ithacan

Drinking black water

By Lara Bonner • December 3, 2011

Black water. Together, these two words don't exactly make most people feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It kind of freaks you out. Water is supposed to be colorless! Dark water is probably an indicator that it is dirty. Muddy. Something gross. I was Tumbling on Tumblr the other day (as I often do) and…

Sleeping in Style

By Lara Bonner • November 27, 2011

Last year, the Chum Buddy was featured in The Ithacan's Accentuate section of the paper. And for good reason — for those of you who don't know, the Chum Buddy is a stuffed animal/sleeping bag hybrid shaped like a shark. This innovation dares you to sleep in the belly of the beast! You daredevil. Apparently,…

Plants instead of pearls

By Lara Bonner • November 14, 2011

Designer Colleen Jordan, who was a Featured Seller on the popular website Etsy, has come up with a new way to go green: "Wearable Planters." You can wear a plant around your neck! As a fashion accessory! Oh, the things we can do in 2011. No, but really — although I don't know if I…

Extreme sitting: Yes, it’s a real thing

By Lara Bonner • November 10, 2011

Apparently there are some peculiar athletic trends cropping up around the world. Let me introduce you to three incredibly wacky activities you may have never heard of before: Freestyle canoeing Freestyle canoe-ers practice the art of paddling quietly through still water. Sounds fascinating right? Participants in this sport enter competitions, and they show off their ability…

Happy Movember!

By Lara Bonner • November 4, 2011

Congratulations, folks; we did it! We made it to November. When I think of November, I think of pumpkin pie, Thanksgiving, the unfortunate fact that the weather is getting worse, and... facial hair. I'm going to just come out and say it — I am not a huge fan of No-Shave November. But one cannot…

Happy Hallow-meme

By Lara Bonner • October 30, 2011

Happy Halloween, everyone! I know all of you probably got all of your celebrating out of the way this weekend, but because today is the actual holiday I'm going to make it this post's theme. Every year Halloween costumes become more and more creative, ridiculous or lame depending on who you are. Examples of lame…

Fang-tastic dentalwork: trendy?

By Lara Bonner • October 20, 2011

It's no breaking news that cosmetic surgery has gained popularity in the past ten years. The trends involved are largely horrifying (I won't go into most of them). Today the internet told me that getting surgery to purposefully make your teeth crooked is apparently a new cosmetic surgery trend around the world. ...It's okay. I,…

Tiny technology is always better (maybe)

By Lara Bonner • October 16, 2011

When I was in third or fourth grade, I got one of those little Polaroid kids' cameras called an iZone that printed out a photo the size of a negative right after you pressed the shutter button. I thought it was pretty rad — it was a transparent blue camera, reminiscent of one of the…

Let them eat cake pops

By Lara Bonner • October 10, 2011

In the ongoing ice cream vs. cake debate, I will always be a loyal supporter of cake. As someone who is perpetually cold, ice cream just doesn't do it for me sometimes. Cake, on the other hand, is like dessert's king of comfort food — delicious. I'm partial to funfetti, myself. Or cheesecake. There are…

Life sucks, then you turn into a tree

By Lara Bonner • October 8, 2011

I'm currently taking a class on gothic literature. You know, books like "Frankenstein," "The Monk" and "Dracula." This class, besides giving me nightmares about being locked in a labyrinthine place with a crazy monk, has forced me to think a lot about death culture (yes, yes, morbid, I know). But it seemed fitting that today's post…

Watch Yourself, Wrist Watches

By Lara Bonner • October 3, 2011

A friend recently told me that people made fun of him for wearing a wristwatch because he carried a cellphone. I hadn't ever really thought about this before—how obsolete wrist watches have become. When someone asks me if I know the time, I automatically reach for my pocket and check my phone for the answer,…

Back to Basics

By Lara Bonner • September 28, 2011

I have an addiction to my MacBook. I love it with all my heart, having decorated it with a lovely protective case and a Harry Potter bumper sticker, and sometimes I even feel bad for leaving fingerprints all over the screen and Poptart crumbs in the keys (that's an exaggeration... sort of). I take it…