I recently signed up for Stitch Fix, an online styling service that delivers a monthly “fix” of clothing and accessories through the mail. You fill out a form, and a group of stylists selects several pieces to match your style. While completing the lengthy questionnaire, I pondered my fashion: Am I more a stripes or […]
Tina Haver Currin
Bio: Tina Haver Currin lives in Raleigh, where she works as a copywriter for film and TV. Her essay "Go Pack" appears in the new anthology 27 Views of Raleigh.
Posted inCulture
Too much fun at SPARKcon 2014
If you’re in downtown Raleigh during the weekend of SPARKcon, it’s nearly impossible to avoid. I was still in pajamas on Saturday, Sept. 13, when I noticed a throng of 30 people in front of my house around 10 a.m. They were on designSPARK’s Urban Issues Walking Tour, learning about design in the historic district. […]
Posted inMusic
Live: The revived Big Shindig tries to find its edge
The Big Shindig Walnut Creek Amphitheatre, Raleigh Sunday, Sept. 7, 2014 In the late 1990s, G105’s Big Shindig was exactly that—a daylong festival that folks, especially young folks, spent the summer imagining. Tens of thousands shuffled through Walnut Creek’s version of the Pearly Gates for a few years, smuggling disposable cameras and smelling of sunscreen, […]
Posted inArt
Sparknotes: What to see at SPARKcon 2014
SPARKcon’s “creative potluck” is navigable by its 14 themed blocks of programming, each run by volunteer organizers. Here’s one must-see event from each “spark.” artSPARK: PARTicipate (CAM Raleigh, Sept. 11)Stacey L. Kirby transforms CAM’s Media Lab into the “Bureau of Personal Belonging,” an interactive performance where visitors engage in a dialogue about identity and voice […]
Posted inArt
Matt Tomasulo explores new ways to use the negative spaces of civic infrastructure
Raleigh was only 15,000 cubic yards of sand away from having its own beach. On April 11, 2013, after someone launched a Facebook page for the “Raleigh Beach,” a small sign for it appeared on the chain-link fence around the empty lot at 607 West Morgan Street. The poster promised blue skies, lifeguards, wading pools […]
Posted inMusic
Live: Missed Connections: We were at The Antlers show (Raleigh)
The Antlers Kings, Raleigh Thursday, July 24, 2014 The Antlers’ origin story is not entirely original. In fact, you’ve probably heard it before: Sensitive songwriter suffers a loss, tucks himself away, births a batch of cathartic songs, and finds a bit of hope in new creation. If he’s lucky, the arms of the Internet scoop […]
Posted inNews
Going back to (high) school
I suffer from perpetual baby face. I don’t just get carded at every bar; I have to flash my license to get into R-rated movies or buy a lotto ticket. I’ve never had a fake ID, but whenever I buy a six-pack, the cashier’s eyes trace the line from my birthday to my picture and […]
Posted inMusic
Live: Ryley Walker channels the old, Cloud Nothings the young at Cat’s Cradle
Ryley Walker, Cloud Nothings Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro Thursday, April 17, 2014 Young people, studies say and have been saying for years, no longer use email. It’s apparently an outdated form of communication, not ruthless enough in its efficiency or opportune enough for spontaneous photography. This information makes me uncomfortable, I told a friend over email. […]
Posted inMusic
Live: Colin Stetson opens up “cool” at Kings
Colin Stetson, Justin Walter Sunday, March 30, 2014 Kings, Raleigh During the summer of 1999, Silver Jews bandleader David Berman released a slim book of poetry entitled Actual Air. In “Self Portrait At 28,” a meandering, autobiographical look at his younger self, Berman pens these lines: “If you were cool in high school you didn’t […]
Posted inNews
Private pets
This winter, I purchased a home-entertainment system for my catsor, more succinctly, an aquarium. The youngest feline stays within near-constant view of the tank, tripping over his polydactyl paws as he practices predation. The oldest occasionally issues the Cory catfish, tuxedo guppies and neon tetra a dismissive flick of the tail, but I catch his […]