Leila Brady

It’s midnight on a Wednesday, and someone wants to play a game of pong. They enter a basement that reeks of sweat and musk, where brothers are cracking open and sipping the amber runoff from an infamous blue can. Every college has its signature beer. At Dartmouth, it’s Keystone Light. And if you didn’t know that before you got to campus, you found out quickly. “I never heard of Keystone until Dartmouth,” Nelson Mendels ’27 said.

Dear Freak of the Week, I recently ended a three year long relationship, but we signed a lease together for senior year with two other friends. Our breakup was technically amicable, but we’re also on the same sports team, so the idea of seeing her at home in addition to practice and classes (we’re in a small major and have similar requirements left) feels overwhelming. I can’t break the lease at this point, but it’s going to be a long year that I’m already dreading. How can I deal?

I once was advised to take out my earbuds when I go from place to place to observe the world and conversations around me to help stimulate my writing process. I always knew that was useful advice, but I like listening to podcasts as I walk, so I assumed that whatever benefit of being observant was minor enough that it didn’t warrant me changing my routine. Yet sometimes I wonder: How much is there to gain by observing? This Saturday, I met my friend at Murphy’s.