Written Things

a collection of work by Logan A. Payne

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A Cafe by Day, a Hip PM Spot by Night: Rooster PM in Costa Mesa

Photo c/o Logan Payne

Once the sun sets, Rooster Café in Costa Mesa closes and allows Rooster PM to rise and shine.

The unassuming eatery, located across the street from American Apparel and next to a pool hall, just dims the lights and takes the chalkboards down from Rooster Café to make the transition to Rooster PM. It almost feels as if you’re heading to a speakeasy establishment that almost no one knows about.

Which came first? The Café or the PM? In this case, the café came first when it was opened around six years ago, while the nighttime alternative was opened three and a half years ago by Robert Tashiro, the former director of a homeless shelter for 10 years before deciding that it was time for a career change.

With Rooster PM, Tashiro was able to go back to his college days when he worked at a restaurant.

“Rooster PM is internet cuisine, it’s not limited to one style or origin of cuisine, it’s everything,” Tashiro said.

With a wide variety listed on the long menu, it’s easy to see the influence of almost every culture with items from Chorizo Tacos to a European inspired cheese platter.

All of the items on the menu come in small plates, much like traditional Spanish tapas, with no limit to one particular cuisine. Three to four items are rotated into the menu each week, depending on what’s fresh in local markets and really what the chefs liked eating elsewhere that week.

With the menu mounted on a corkboard and the drink list on a clipboard, this small eatery offers a menu full of depth and variety. Ranging from a Lobster Quesadilla, a four-cheese macaroni, to Berries and Cream, there are almost too many options from which to choose.

I was finally able to settle on the four-cheese macaroni, the mushroom three ways and the PM mini-burgers with garlic aioli. Our enthusiastic waiter, who pulled up a chair next to the patrons’ tables to speak about the items on the menu, recommended the macaroni and cheese and mentioned that it was the most popular item on the Rooster PM menu, as well as a customer favorite.

A favorite indeed; the macaroni that came out in a small cauldron-like bowl was very cheesy. I think that I’ve grown to be too accustomed to the boxed variety of mac and cheese as I was expecting nothing special, even though I had heard rave reviews.

But one bite changed it all.

The flat, unimpressionable flavor profile that I was expecting was blown out of the water as the sharp and mild cheddar cheese along with other variations created a mouthful of hearty and sharp macaroni that was far from anything that could ever come out of a box. Even though the bowl looked small, it was a near-perfect amount, especially if you’re ordering other plates to go along with it.

Next on the agenda were the PM mini-burgers with garlic aioli and the mushroom three ways. The sliders came in a row of three, awkward to share with only two people and not enough for one, since they were so damn good. With a slider-sized slice of American cheese and a small, ground beef patty smothered in the garlic aioli, the mini-burgers packed in so much punch.

Garlic lovers, pay attention here. The best part about the patties was the garlic aioli, which was creamy yet full of the garlic flavor that we love. Aside from the garlic aioli, the sliders would have been a little on the unimpressive side with just the single patty and a slice of cheese.

To round up the meal, it was decided that we must try dessert, but choosing between the berries with the Spanish cream, the s’mores, the five layer cake and the churros covered in chocolate proved to be difficult. However, our attentive waiter prompted us to order the s’mores, which he explained were “s’mores that were dressed up and ready to go to prom.”

Smothered in fudge chocolate, with heaping mountains of whipped cream and pristine slices of fresh strawberry, the s’mores really need no explanation other than to say that they were a delicious conclusion to this family style, new American meal.

Rooster PM is a nice nighttime eatery that will definitely send you home feeling almost uncomfortably full with their twist-filled offerings in their unconventional atmosphere. It’s a perfect place to try and throw into the mix of your go-to eateries.

[writtenthingsbylogan]

Thriving, Not Just Surviving: UC Irvine's CARE Center Hosts a Healing Art Exhibit

Photo c/o Tommy Pham

Rape. Sexual assault. Abusive relationships. Domestic violence. Stalking. For some of the men and women who look to the CARE (Campus Assault Resources and Education) office for support after events like these, they’re met with a safe haven that provides them with people to talk to, programs to help them heal and education that will help them advocate for other men and women who find themselves in the same situations.

Last Thursday night, the CARE office, in conjunction with ASUCI and the Center for Living Peace, hosted the third annual “We Step Into the Light” art exhibit at the Center for Living Peace.

Complete with a chalk wall where guests could scrawl their thoughts and reactions on, the pumpkin orange space served as a gallery to the numerous pieces of art that were created by students, faculty members and CARE affiliates who were partnered with thrivers who inspired the works that were on display that evening.

Notice that the word ‘survivor’ has not been used in this article? Instead of ‘survivor,’ the term ‘thriver’ is used to communicate that survivors of sexual violence are not just surviving, but living a fulfilling and thriving life. The term, coined by Dr. Desmonette Hazly, encourages others to not look at survivors of sexual assault as victims, but look at them for who they are.

“So often, victims go through this process of having someone else not see them for who they are. But in this process, the artist sees who they are,” Kevin Lam, a peer educator with CHAMPS, said.

Elizabeth Thai, the Special Projects Intern for the CARE office, detailed that Thursday’s “We Step Into the Light” exhibit was “developed to highlight exactly who these thrivers are and that they’re not just made up of this they had in their past but also their dreams, passions and beauty that encompasses who they are today.”

Thai and Lam partnered together to present the third installment of the “We Step Into the Light” project.

The project began in September and resulted in the finished products propped up on wooden easels and on display to visitors at the Center for Living Peace.  Aside from being treated to inspiring and thought-provoking works of art, there were also testimonials from thrivers, artists and even a performance of a spoken word piece last Thursday evening.

One thriver, Kristin Gundersen, took to the podium to tell attendees how her kidnapping and subsequent sexual assault led to a partnership between a freshman artist who helped her to realize that she was strong and that she “could not only survive, but she could thrive.”

Four hours went by before Kristin and her artist realized that they had been together, exchanging stories and experiences with one another even though this had been their first time meeting each other.

Another thriver, Yvonne Vo, recalled how difficult it was for her to communicate to her artist, Elizabeth Koppe, what she liked and what her interests were. In the end, Elizabeth and Yvonne co-created a piece that featured a bursting sunflower, grey stones and rippling, blue waves all on a framed glass panel.

For all of the thriver pieces that were on display during the intimate reception, the thrivers were all students at UC Irvine, reminding viewers of the reality of sexual assault and domestic violence on campus.

During Thursday’s empowering event, women, thrivers, artists, students, men, allies and members of the community were able to come together in support and awe of the art that was on display. The works of art were able to tell a story, to represent female and male thrivers, and capture exactly what makes them beautiful, strong and resilient against the experiences of their pasts.

By bringing these pieces out into the open and allowing thrivers and their artists to showcase their works of art, the “We Step Into the Light” project allowed visitors to view just a captured, singular image that encompassed the strength and resilience of thrivers and their stories.

[writtenthingsbylogan]

Ringing in a New Career: Michelle Kim of We the Hatters

Photo c/o Logan Payne

Michelle Kim closed her psychology books at the end of fall quarter for the last time. Never to be opened again at UC Irvine, or maybe ever for that matter. She took a trip to Vegas with her friends, celebrated Christmas and rang in the New Year as a college graduate. But what came next?

She began looking for corporate jobs in the fashion industry in hopes that she would learn the skills that would eventually help her run her own business one day.

When she came back from her travels, she purchased supplies from craft stores in and around Orange County and began to make her own wire jewelry. Michelle had made jewelry as a hobby when she was in school, but it was hard to find time to balance jewelry making with homework, tests, a job at LF in Laguna Beach, then a job at South Coast’s Tory Burch.

“I was focusing on school a lot, but I’ve always wanted to make jewelry, I even went to the jewelry fair. I made jewelry here and there but I never put all my time into it, which I can do now,” Michelle said. “I had that time to figure out what I wanted to do and I kept going back to making jewelry.”

The first ring she made was a thin gold wire, molded to say the word “love” in a delicate cursive scroll. She snapped a photo on her iPhone, posted the picture onto her Instagram and the rest is history.

The photo caught the attention of her friends and followers. Then, the inquiries began rolling in. Friends left comments that said, “I want one!” and “I want four!!!!!” A shop owner in Hawaii even left a comment that said, “My shop needs these!”

Who says lovers can’t be business partners? Stephen Davis, a psychology and social behavior major at UC Irvine, started a clothing line called The Hatters, where he sold screen-printed shirts with designs from various artists that he knows. Once Michelle’s handmade rings began garnering attention from friends, she joined up with Stephen to sell her one-of-a-kind designs through The Hatters.

The couple turned business partners are both using the business as a creative outlet and Michelle finds that one of her biggest motivators aside from her friends and her customers is Stephen.

“One of the reasons why I keep doing this is that he keeps telling me that he’s really proud of me,” mentioned Michelle.

Together, Stephen and Michelle work on trend casting designs for men’s and women’s t-shirts, while Michelle focuses on her handmade jewelry and Stephen focuses on the ins-and-outs of running The Hatters, as well as the clothing line he created with a group of artists.

“Everything is taking off so fast,” reflected Michelle. “It took off so fast that I can barely keep up.”

Since she started selling her rings two and a half weeks ago, she’s been getting orders for around twenty rings per day from all over the county.

After four years of studying at UC Irvine, Michelle thanks those four years for teaching her the skills and giving her the drive to pursue her uncommon career.

“UCI taught me to be timely, tenacious and hardworking. These qualities help me a lot with our business and it helps to know how to adhere to deadlines now that I have a bunch of orders coming in,” Michelle said.

For now, Michelle and Stephen plan on having a low-key Valentine’s Day celebration even though they’ve found respective success from their new venture and Michelle plans on continuing to make jewelry even if she gets a full-time job in the fashion industry one day.

“I never thought I could make rings like this,” Michelle said while looking at her scroll rings dabbled with pearls, stones and words like ‘love’ and ‘hope’ written in thin gold wire. “I never thought I could be this creative.”

[writtenthingsbylogan]

Inciting Change, From Behind a Computer

Photo c/o Reaz Rahman

But all the while, he was still a fourth-year biomedical engineering student here at UC Irvine, hitting the books during finals week while managing a huge petition against a logo change that had been developed and implemented on web pages, marketing and communications materials across the UC system, seemingly right under the noses of students who had been accustomed to the classic, University of California medallion that features an open book with a banner running across with “Let There Be Light.”

While sitting at his desk in Camino and perusing Facebook, he came across a link that one of his friends had posted regarding the new logo, clicked on it, saw the new logo and was appalled by the redesign. For Rahman, the redesign didn’t embody an institution of higher education, of distinction, of history.

“When I saw it, at first I didn’t believe it. I clicked on the article that I saw in my newsfeed, started reading it and commented on it and said, ‘Somebody needs to do something about this,’” Rahman remembers. The logo seemed insensitive towards a generation that was familiar with buffering symbols like the ones we see on our iPhones and Netflix accounts.

“I wondered if anyone even knew about this. I thought, maybe a couple people here and there had seen it on their newsfeed.”

From there, after realizing that he could be the one who could do something about it, decided to turn to change.org. Change.org, the world’s largest petition platform with 20 million users, according to their website, was the ideal place for Rahman to start a petition. With just a couple of clicks, Rahman created his eloquently worded petition that called attention to the redesigned logo that was already in use.

When Rahman climbed into bed, he thought that the petition would gain about 1,000 signatures at most.

Within two hours, the petition had gained over 2,000 signatures.

As procrastinating students scrolled down their Facebook newsfeeds, they saw their friends post links to Rahman’s change.org petition and to the Facebook group that he had created. With just a simple click, students could send the link to their friends at other UC campuses, who would send it to their friends at other UC’s.

“I didn’t expect it to be a huge thing,” recalls Rahman. Yet, every hour, Rahman found himself updating the Facebook group with the number of signatures that the petition had gained and by the twelfth hour of the petition, there were 5,000 signatures and counting.

More and more students, alumni, professors and members of the community began to sign the petition and join the Facebook group. Within three days, there were more than 40,000 signatures.

Those who commented on the Facebook group wrote items ranging from snarky comments like, “Does anyone else see a toilet flushing in the new logo?” to long winded and thought out comments like, “The new UC logo is a disgrace. The traditional seal has been in use for 144 years. It’s timeless symbols represent the purpose of the university … Future generations will look back on this change as what it is: a trendy, shallow marketing ploy.”

Even though finals week was in full swing and swiftly approaching, Rahman’s phone was inundated with texts from friends who were asking if it was really him who had created the petition; emails from change.org which updated him on the number of people who had signed the petition; Facebook notifications that would reset once they got to 99; and even press inquiries from the LA Times, the San Francisco Chronicle and even NBC. He declined interviews from NBC and the Chronicle due to finals, but eventually contacted the Times and various university publications that had requested interviews.

Eventually, Jason Simon, the marketing communications director at the UC Office of the President contacted Rahman and explained to him that the logo had been widely used for nearly a year, the Onward California mobile campaign had spread its message to thousands of people across the University of California system, with stops to the ten UC campuses.

Although Rahman understood that the designers were attempting to become more modern and identifiable with the era, Rahman believed that the monogram was lacking the prestige and history that the old logo had embodied.

On December 11, the campaign took a turn when Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom publically supported the petition that Rahman created and wrote a letter addressed to President Mark Yudof and stated, “Clearly the new logo for the University, even in its limited use, has backfired.”

Seven days after the petition had been established and over 54,000 signatures later, the logo redesign was suspended on December 14.

After a week full of long nights awake with a head jammed into a book and glued to a computer screen, Rahman’s fall quarter and triumphant petition drew to a close. Does Rahman forsee the creation of any future petitions? “I’ve had my fill with creating petitions. It was an interesting experience but there are so many other petitions that need attention out there,” Rahman reflected.

With a successful petition that attracted attention from students across the UC system, the University of California higher-ups and various press outlets, it’s fair to say that Rahman had a successful fall quarter. A 4.0 to wrap it up didn’t hurt either.

[writtenthingsbylogan]

Shucking Oysters, Orange County Style

Photos c/o Logan Payne

Oysters on the half-shell: a simple but labor-intensive dish that takes less than three seconds to send  down the hatch and probably less than four minutes to devour a whole dozen, but an impressive amount of strength and agile shucking skills needed to prepare them for consumption.

Finding a good oyster bar in Orange County, much like shucking an oyster, was not an easy task. The only one that I knew of was Santa Monica Seafood, which sits on the border between Costa Mesa and Newport Beach, but only serves a variety of six oysters daily. Six was not enough for me.

Thus the search began and ended when Shuck Oyster Bar opened in August of 2012. Nestled in the OC Mart Mix, just yards away from Portola Coffee Lab (as seen in an edition of the Dish List from last quarter) comes with a modern, crisp and clean aesthetic with its white walls, butcher block counters, and concrete floor.

The OC Mart Mix, with its airy and open quarters and revolving pop-up shops is a perfect place for Shuck Oyster Bar, which is just as hip and unpretentious as its neighboring stores and eateries and enticing to the young, hip and modern crowd that streams through.

Owners and young restaurateurs Leonard Chan and Noah Blum decided to open Shuck after Blum walked by the then-empty space aside from the long, rectangular bar and thought that it would be a perfect place for an oyster eatery.

This is the third restaurant for Chan, whose previous outposts include California Shabu Shabu and Iron Press. Blum has been working on his soon-to-be opened restaurant, Ark, which will soon open in the OC Mart Mix.

Shuck’s  variety of oysters is probably the most that Orange County has seen. With more than four dozen oysters ready to be shucked daily — fifty-five when I visited — it’s a dizzying array that come from all over North America.

Every night, oysters are shipped from oyster farms on either coasts of North America, straight from the farms that harvest them. Since oysters are shipped directly from the farms rather than a distribution center, you won’t come across a Kumamoto or Fanny Bay oyster at Shuck, but there are many days of the week where Shuck runs out of oysters, just based on their sheer popularity, quality of oysters and small quantity that they receive from each farm since they don’t get them in bulk from said distribution centers.

Now for the food. For lunch, we sprung for a dozen oysters and I ordered a bowl of the clam chowder to go with the little delicacies. With 55 varieties to choose from, we didn’t want to linger too long on the menu, so we decided to go with the Chef’s Choice plate in which the shucker-in-charge would pick the freshest oysters available that day. At three dollars an oyster, we were looking at a $36 plate. Perhaps at that moment of realization we regretted the fact that the fate of our meal lay in the hands of a complete stranger.

Before our bowl of crushed iced and perfectly shucked oysters came out, our server brought out three different sauces, including a fiery red habanero infused sauce, a green one full of fresh tomatillos and a classic mignonette sauce with sliced cucumbers swimming in the vinegar infusion. Of course, a side of freshly shredded horseradish came along for the ride as well.

Out came three each of Plymouth Oysters, three Mermaid Coves and six Hurricanes, all of which were fresh and on the briny side — meaning more salty than sweet. The oysters were perfectly chilled, free of any pieces of leftover sea dirt or rock and tasted as if they had just been plucked from a Washington bay and sent to our table.

As for the Clam Chowda’ that I ordered, which is one of the most popular items at Shuck alongside the oysters and the gooey grilled cheese, was a generously sized bowl of roux-based New England clam chowder. The soup came out nice and hot, with a petite baguette on the side.

Inside the large, white bowl was a heaping portion of chowder, rich, hearty and far from skimping on the clams and potatoes that floated around in the creamy mixture. However, the chowda’ was a tad on the salty side and made it too hard to finish every last bit of it.

Although Shuck Oyster Bar doesn’t have a happy hour, which makes the $3 a pop oyster a bit on the pricey side, their quality and large selection makes up for the fact that you’ll be, no pun intended, shelling out a bit money. To make up for their lack of a happy hour, they have no corkage fee, which means that you can bring in any bottle of alcohol you desire (a plus for the 21-plus crowd) and no charge will be added. That makes for an all-day happy hour.

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Astgik, the Improv Loving Alumna

Image c/o Priscilla Iezzi

“I hate Orange County,” “Irvine is the worst,” “there is seriously nothing to do here” are just a few phrases that I’ve overheard during my past three years here at UC Irvine. I’ll be honest, I’ve thrown around some of them too. But for former LA County native and 2011 UCI alumna Astgik Khatchatryan, Orange County has been more than a fine place to live.

Once a literary journalism student who worked closely with department head Barry Siegel and fondly remembers his “wise, Dumbledore words of wisdom,” Astgik is now an Associate Editor at Orange Coast Magazine, whose offices are located less than four miles away from campus. Aside from immersing herself in a world full of writing and editing, Astgik also managed to become a pescatarian, learned how to play the ukulele, surf on a nine foot surfboard and join the Live Nude People Improv troupe, all while taking classes within the Campuswide Honors Program while at UCI.

Now spearheading the upcoming Disneyland issue that Orange Coast will be publishing early next year, I got to sit down and have a chat with Astgik.

Logan Payne: Can you describe your past and current positions within the editing world? Astgik Khatchatryan: My last quarter, I was an intern here at Orange Coast and then it happened to be right when I graduated that they were opening a position for a part-time Editorial and Art Assistant, so I got that. Then some time later it became full-time and then a month or two ago I became an Associate Editor. As an Editorial and Art Assistant, it had a broad array of things I had to do. I assisted the art department in photo shoots and going and grabbing items from stores, especially for the fashion stuff and errands like that. But also, writing for the magazine for the front of book section. Really, what anyone else needed help with I kind of jumped in and helped.

LP: What do you do in your current position? AK: So now I am basically almost like the senior editors in that I have certain sections that I take care of. I do “Best Of,” “Legends” and “Neighborhoods” and some cover features. I’m responsible for getting those in every month and getting them edited. On top of that, I read everyone else’s sections. We kind of trade off on who’s doing the cover feature every month.

LP: What’s your daily schedule like?AK: It varies a lot but mostly I always feel like I’m juggling a few things, it’s hard to spend the day just doing one thing. It’s kind of like the balls are falling and you get the one that’s lowest to the ground and you fling it back up before it hits the ground. If we have a bunch of stories up and I have to read them, I’ll spend some time reading them. If I have to assign stories, I’ll do that. If I have to do research for a story that I’m doing, I’ll do that — so it really varies day by day, which is nice, because it’s unexpected and you don’t know what you’re going to do every day.

LP: What were you involved with while at UCI? AK: Sad to say, I wasn’t involved with too many journalism things. I did try to write for the New U once or twice but I don’t think it worked out. I never had a good enough time because I was in the honors program and they worked us pretty hard. I did make time to do Improv, I was in Live Nudes and that took up some time, it was sort of a side hobby. I did Improv all four years, but I was in Live Nudes my last year. I would audition every quarter and I finally got in my last year. Being in CHP, I got to do a senior thesis, which I did with Barry Siegel. I got to spend a whole year writing one, long story. It was a story on this guy named Chris Smith who lost his father in a tragic accident. He was a clown, a juggler and now he’s in the Blue Man Group. It was a story of dealing with loss and how he dealt with it. It was about 20 pages. I wish I had gotten it published somewhere, I really enjoyed it.

LP: What got you into Improv? AK: I did it in high school and I was in drama, but I knew that I didn’t want to be an actor. I liked Improv and I wasn’t terrible at it — it’s kind of my thing. I take classes at Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles now. I’ve been taking them for a year now. It’s mostly just for fun, it’s something to improve on. It helps with this job too. When you’re interviewing someone and you don’t quite know what to say, you kind of tap into that with a “yes, and …” and keep going with it. “Yes, and …” is kind of the mantra of Improv where you agree to the situation and keep going with it. So when you’re conversing with someone and you’re unsure of how to keep it going, you accept their viewpoint as a reality of what they’re saying and just add on to it.

LP: Did you always know that you wanted to go into magazine writing? AK: I decided at some point, in middle school that I liked writing. I was on the newspaper staff in high school, which was terrible, but I stuck with it. I guess that proved to me that I was willing to do it, even though it was stressing me out. I didn’t like any of the people and the advisor was super harsh, considering we were all in high school and didn’t know what we were doing. But I stuck through that and I guess that made me think that I could continue on. When I was applying for schools, I was looking at Irvine and they had the literary journalism program and I thought that it sounded interesting. I didn’t even know exactly what it was before coming in, but it was journalism. When I asked people what it was, people were like, “you know, long stories …” I did try writing novels in high school but they were always so bad, I could never think of a plot. But with journalism, the stories were real and all I had to do was write down what happened!

LP: Favorite college experience? AK: My last two years were really great, I lived with some of my close friends and I finally felt like I found my place. I was doing Improv, I was doing journalism, so I felt more at home. The first two years was kind of full of wandering around and thinking, “what exactly am I supposed to be doing here?” Of course, Live Nudes too. Every two weeks we would perform for people who would laugh no matter what, it was crazy. In my first show, I was fairly nervous, because you walk on and nobody really knows you. Everyone else was in the drama department and they were actors and I didn’t really know that many people in the drama department aside from a select few. So I thought that when I walked out people would think, “who’s this girl?” and I was afraid that I’d freeze up and not say anything. We walked out and they announced my name and people were like, “hooray!” even though they didn’t know who I was.  It was probably one of the best experiences.

LP: Out of all the things that you’ve written what has been your favorite? AK: I really like that long one I did on Chris Smith, that was awesome to get that in-depth into a story. You hear about writers who spend a year writing a story so that was really great to do that for a year. I do like to get into the lives of the people that I’m writing about, by the end of it, it’s kind of like, “are we friends? I know a lot about you but you don’t know a lot about me.” It’s a weird relationship that you develop with people. There’s been a lot of fun stuff that I’ve written for Orange Coast as well. I liked my guide on Veggie Burgers. I got to do all my own research so I did a lot of Googling around and asked friends for recommendations. Some of those I already knew because I’m a vegetarian and I’ve been around the block. There’s not that many choices in Orange County, but I did try a few that I didn’t include because they weren’t that good. I did a “Trade Secrets” on a clock maker and it was so awesome, he was so nice. He makes clocks, but he repairs them mostly, it’s like a dying art in Orange County, it’s so cool. At the end of it, it went to print and it turned out that I had misheard his name. His last name was not Matt Finch but Matt Fitch. I felt so bad! We fixed it on the PDF and we printed it out for him, but he was so nice but I ruined his name in the biggest way!

LP: Are you glad you stayed in Orange County? AK: I’ve grown so fond of Orange County and I never thought I would. In college I didn’t have a car for my first three years so I was like, “Wow … Irvine … not much to do.” But through this job and driving around to different places and being an assistant and going around and picking things up, I’ve probably been to almost every part of Orange County by now. It’s so interesting with the different communities. You go to one city and it doesn’t even seem like you’re in Orange County. San Clemente, Santa Ana, Costa Mesa — it’s all so different. I’m happy living here, I like it a lot. Now when I go to LA, I feel so weird being there. You go there and it’s so smoggy! When I go for my Improv classes it’s so dingy and I just want to go home and back to Orange County.

LP: Favorite restaurants in Orange County? AK: One of my favorite places is this Ethiopian restaurant in Anaheim, in the shadiest part of town, but it’s so good. It’s this little hole-in-the-wall in the shadiest part of town. But you walk in it’s like a living room and there’s hardly anyone ever there. The ladies there are so nice. The food is mostly vegetarian, but we always get this thing that’s called the “Vegetarian Special.” It’s this big pan and on the pan is this Ethiopian bread that almost looks like a pancake, but it’s sour. It’s laid out and then on top of that it has little piles of lentils, beans and potatoes. Then, you have more bread by your side and you just rip it off with your hands and devour it.

LP: Do you have any advice for freshmen? Any advice for seniors? AK: For freshmen I would say, please get an internship. It was stated to me many times as a freshman, sophomore, junior and senior that I should get an internship if I wanted a career in any field. I always thought to myself, “yeah, sure, okay.” If I hadn’t gotten an internship, even as a last minute thing, I’d be working at a Starbucks right now. It’s guaranteed. It’s something to put on your resume when you’re competing against all these other college graduates. Do it well, work hard and see what you can do when you’re there. Even if you’re not being paid, it will pay off in the end. For seniors, enjoy your last year, but see what you can do to make contacts. Keep in contact with people that you graduate with who might be moving on into bigger or better things in your field or not in your field. You never know when you’ll be able to help each other out. Once I got this job, I reached out to people who were in my LJ classes and let them know that I had this position now and told them that if they had anything that they wanted to write, to let me know. If they were on that end and I needed that, I’m sure that they’d be there too. It’s nice to have that community to let you know that you’re not all alone when you graduate and to know that you’re not a small fish in a big pond.

[writtenthingsbylogan]

Reaching New Heights: The Seven Foot Freshman

Photo c/o Marlon Castillo of The New University

Michael Wilder, 6 feet 2 inches. Dominique Dunning, 6 feet 3 inches. Mike Best, 6 feet 10 inches.

Conor Clifford, 7 feet, has size 17 shoes. He had a growth spurt in eighth grade that sent him shooting from 6 feet 1 inch to 6 feet 7 inches by the end of the school year.

“He’s the only seven-footer that I’ve coached down here,” said trainer Mike Nagler as Clifford and the rest of the UC Irvine men’s basketball team worked out on the Friday before their Nov. 10 season opener against Nevada. As Clifford performed his sumo deadlifts, his  teammates cheered him on with  “yee Conor,” and as a photographer snapped away, another said “You don’t smile when you’re lifting weights!”

Hailing from Huntington Beach and Ocean View High School, Clifford wasn’t much of a sports-centric child growing up. He was the chubby kid, the “one who just kind of sat around,” Clifford said of his childhood. It wasn’t until the end of middle school, heading into high school, when Clifford began to seriously play basketball.

While at Ocean View, Clifford was coached under the late Jim Harris, who led the men’s basketball team for the entire 33 years that the school has been open. It was Harris who got Clifford really into basketball, and toward the end of his freshman year, Clifford moved up to varsity and hasn’t stopped playing since.

“Everyone was always saying that I’d be a good basketball player,” Clifford remembers.

But it wasn’t until he played at Ocean View with “a good team and good guys” that made him really get into the game.

So far, Clifford’s transition from high school to college has been relatively easy, although he mentions that the training has increased significantly in addition to the degree of instruction from coach Russell Turner.

Clifford and Coach Turner go way back. Back in high school, when colleges like ASU, Cornell and Columbia were scouting Clifford, Coach Turner had already spotted the future Anteater in his junior year, long before the other colleges did.In Clifford’s opinion, Coach Turner was the most honest compared to the other coaches who put on “a fake car salesman’s smile.”

“Coach Turner is straight to the facts, he’s honest and he’s a good guy,” Clifford said.

With more practices, more workouts than ever before and an extensive weight training regimen (Clifford’s first time hitting the weights), the UCI freshman had a lot to take in. In spite of all that, he credits the great guys and great coaches as the people that make it all worthwhile.

Since the start of summer and since he began weight training, Clifford has lost 40 pounds and now weighs in at a much leaner 250 pounds. Nagler credits Clifford with hard work and notes his impressive, positive response to the regimens thus far; Clifford is already reaping the benefits of the strict routines.

When Clifford came in, his mile time was 9:30, but he has managed to slice it down to a straight seven minutes, trimming more than two minutes from his time.One of the biggest things that Clifford has been training to improve is his quickness and agility, his stamina and his speed on the court in order to prolong his playtime during games.

For his low post position, Clifford’s specialty is blocking shots at the free throw line due to his size. Coach Turner notes that Clifford’s size advantage makes him a perfect candidate for his position.

So what was it like stepping onto the Irvine court for the first time?

“I remember when I heard my name, I was so pumped up, the adrenaline was rushing. I was so pumped up to get on the court that I actually ran to the wrong spot when I went to go sub in,” Clifford said. “The guys told me to go further down the court and I ended up scoring a dunk as my first point.”

Even with this minor but laughable gaffe, Conor was happy with his performance at the exhibition game. On Saturday’s season opener, Clifford went in during the first half and managed to score two points from the free throw line, but was soon knocked in the lip and received stitches on the bench. For the last 33.4 seconds of the game, Clifford subbed in, stitches and all, and ran just as hard and blocked just as well before he got pummeled in the face.

Here at UCI, Clifford is currently undecided/undeclared but is thinking about declaring a business major. Although juggling college academics and basketball is more time-intensive than high school, he is not having any trouble making a smooth transition.

One thing making the jump to college athletics and academics simpler is his hall in Middle Earth. While most Irvine athletes choose to live in Mesa Court their first year because of its proximity to Crawford, Clifford was placed in Gondolin, which, for the freshmen, is “the best hall in Middle Earth.” For the ’Eaters’ first exhibition game against Vanguard University, about 30 of his hallmates came out to support their hallmate in his first game.In addition to his exceedingly supportive hall, Clifford credits his family as being his biggest supporters and motivation when it comes to putting in hard work.

“My dad and mom were my biggest supporters my entire life,” Clifford said.

His mom, who recently passed away in March from colon cancer, gives Conor an extra boost to work that much harder.

In the coming three years, ’Eaters can expect to see a lot from Clifford, whose strong work ethic and potential soars through the roof — as Nagler mentioned. And in the words of Coach Turner, “work harder big fella.”

[writtenthingsbylogan]

Rooster Cafe Sparkles During the Day

Photo c/o Peter Huynh of The New University

Costa Mesa is a strange place. Located within city limits is a cross between a hipster oasis with its independent shops, vegan restaurants and an OC housewives paradise with South Coast Plaza, the largest upscale mall in California. And located across the street from The Lab, an American Apparel outpost, is Rooster Café.

With its brick red trim that spells out “Rooster Café” above the floor to ceiling glass windowpanes, the café is a pretty simple place. Armed with aluminum chairs and tables with kitschy black chalkboards displaying their menu, the place is unassuming — perfectly fitting for its offbeat and business park setting. Rooster Café in Costa Mesa is one of two locations, the other being in Corona del Mar, right on the beach.

Rooster serves breakfast and lunch all day from open to close. After they close at 3 p.m., Rooster Café transforms into Rooster P.M., but let’s save that for another installment of The Dish List.

For this trip to Rooster Café, I was hungry for a simple, lunch-appropriate sandwich, even though their breakfast options looked pretty appealing with items like the Early Riser that featured sourdough bread, fried egg, bacon and American cheese melted to perfection. As tempting as the Early Riser sounded, I settled for the Tuna Melt with melted cheddar cheese and albacore tuna smothered between two pieces of sourdough bread.

“All plates made to order; patience, grasshopper, patience,” reads at the bottom of the menu. Although it took a little while for my sandwich to arrive at the table, the outdoor atmosphere —  reminiscent of LA sidewalks for its industrial surroundings — makes it a nice place to pretend that you’re city slicking in the streets of LA, even though you’re deep in the OC.

The Tuna Melt made me melt. Served on a simple black plate, the sandwich came out hot with the bread toasted to the optimal almond shade. Pouring out the sides of the sandwich was the melted cheddar cheese atop the albacore tuna filling. The combination of the sourdough bread and cheddar cheese made for a deliciously tangy yet rich and satisfying mouthful of cheesy, bready goodness. The albacore tuna filling was a decent filling; however, it would have benefitted from a little more kick to contrast more with the cheddar and sourdough. I found that the filling was lost between the two pieces of bread.

The other lunch items on the menu were Rooster’s take on American classics like the BLTA, with the “A” standing for avocado, snazzing up the good ol’ BLT. The East Coast creation, the hot pastrami, also makes an appearance on Rooster’s menu and satisfies one’s SoCal taste buds with a non-greasy, but just as filling version. The pastrami is thickly sliced and smothered with mustard, which is just like the cheddar and sourdough on the tuna melt, perfectly complements the rye bread that it’s sandwiched in-between.

To drink, Rooster Café serves up a wide variety of offbeat beverages, including Mexican mocha, ice-cold Corona’s and the quintessential morning cocktail, the Mimosa, along with glass bottles of a variety of sodas.

The Mexican mocha was my go-to drink of choice. The chocolate and cinnamon flavors  blended quite nicely it wasn’t too sweet and was surprisingly refreshing when on ice. The only downside though was the price —  $3.25 for a small, teensy plastic glass.

Rooster Café’s menu is short and sweet. The items that come out of the kitchen are simple —  you won’t find any lavish mousses, aiolis or infusions. Rather, you’ll find a purely American and wholly simplistic menu, save for the huevos rancheros, breakfast burritos and tacos, but hey, one can argue that those are American creations. The food at Rooster is like a trendier take on what your dad cooks for breakfast and what your mom packs you for lunch —  no fooling around, simple but made with the utmost care.

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Food For Charity: Candlelight Kitchen Fundraiser for Beloved International

Image c/o Marlon Castillo of The New University

This past Thursday, Beloved International, a new on-campus club, hosted its first ever Candlelight Kitchen event. In order to raise money for Beloved’s cause, six food trucks and hundreds of hungry attendees were present in support of the non-profit organization that plans on building a dining facility in a Kenyan home.

The faith-based Beloved International was founded in July of 2010 by graduates of UCSD and UCLA that were passionate about finding homes for Kenyan children who were orphaned as a result of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

The UCI chapter launched this fall with seven members, who are led by fourth-years Christine Juang and Chris Choi. Most of the members and attendees of Thursday night’s event were UCI students or members of the local Berean Community Church.

Juang and Choi were inspired to create a UCI chapter after they traveled to Kenya this past March and visited the Rehoboth home — the home that Beloved International first established.

“We got to see everything first hand and that’s when we really fell in love with the country, the cause, and with what Beloved International is trying to do,” Juang said.

Beloved International runs a family home model, where a mother and father are in charge of a home, which often is an extension of their own family but cares for no more than 25 children at a time.

“Over there, the standard of living is very different,” Juang explained.

“For them to have 25 kids, that’s actually really reasonable. If the children were to be in an orphanage, they would be stuck with 160-200 other children in bunk beds.”

Juang also mentioned that families are dedicated for a lifetime, not for just a few months or years of the child’s life.

In the case of the Rehoboth’s, the family already had their own home and four children of their own, in addition to 14 children that they have officially adopted to be their own.

The co-founder of Beloved International, Catalina Chung, was in contact with over ten food trucks who all wanted to come out and support the cause, but ended up having to settle on the six that were present on Thursday.

The profits from Thursday evening were raised by The Burnt Tuck, The Viking Truck, the Rolling Sushi Van, Tornado Potato, Chomp Chomp Nation and Mustache Mike’s — all of whom agreed to donate 10 percent of their proceeds to Beloved International, which totaled $500 by the end of the night.

Although Thursday night’s funds will go to the Rehoboth’s new dining facility, Juang spoke of the goals that the UCI chapter has for the rest of the year, which include raising awareness for Beloved’s cause and what they work toward; acquiring their own family that will be supported by the UCI chapter, and an end of the year showcase complete with dance performances.

The new family that they are looking to support, which they found through local Christian churches in Kenya, has not yet been named, but Juang mentioned that they’re located only five minutes away from the Rehoboth family home.

The UCI chapter hopes that their cause will educate students on the effects of the HIV/AIDS crisis that has ravaged Kenya and left thousands of children orphaned.

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There is not much futures in men being friends with great women although it can be pleasant enough before it gets better or worse, and there is usually even less future with truly ambitious women writers.

-Ernest Hemingway from A Moveable Feast

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Just Huck It: Huckfest 2012

Image c/o Marlon Castillo of The New University

“3, 2, 1, disc in!” With that, the white disc becomes a blur in the sky as 14 players begin to sprint down the field, charging towards the disc. This past Saturday marked the Annual Huckfest Tournament, also dubbed “Nightlife,” an annual event hosted by the UCI Men’s Ultimate Frisbee team.

The ARC fields were taken over by Ultimate teams from over twenty schools from across California and Arizona, including USC, UCLA, Azusa Pacific and Cal State Fullerton. Although the fields were taken over by swarms of disc-throwing individuals, Irvine’s Nightlife was easily distinguished by their Halloween costumes which included a Dora the Explorer, a bike-peddling Mormon, a lifeguard, a Batman, a Captain Underpants and a pirate, just to name a few.

Before the matches started, Nightlife gathered together for a 15-minute motivational speech that was given by a reincarnated Abraham Lincoln and was followed by the Nightlife chant of “Rip ‘em” followed by “’Eaters” as it built louder and louder, the men of Nightlife linked together with their arms draped across each others’ shoulders as they bounced up and down together. Heard from one end of the field to the other, Nightlife was getting ready to be “freed from their chains” as good ol’ Abe stated during his speech.

Never heard of Ultimate? Played in over 42 countries around the world and with numerous leagues in states across America and college campuses nationwide, it’s a sport that takes the speed and agility required for soccer, the passing skills of football, defensive skills that take a cue from basketball and a disc in for a ball.

The Irvine men and women’s ultimate teams operate as a club sport under the ARC. With over sixty players between the two teams, it often feels like a family, as Rachel “Rocket” Brown, a fourth-year Ultimate player for the women’s team, the Grass Ninjas, noted.

Under the guidance of their three captains Disko, Silver and Vendetta, otherwise known as Tyler Kenney, Adam Silver and Eric Salazar, Nightlife thrives. With over forty players on the roster and practices held three times a week, the program has grown significantly over the years. This year’s Huckfest had 23 teams – the most that Nightlife has ever hosted.

Self-officiated by the “Spirit of the Game,” which means that they operate under an honor system where players call their own fouls, keep their own score, coach each other throughout the game and maintain a high level of good sportsmanship on the field. This spirit carried on and off the field and through every match at Huckfest.

There was no trash talking from either teams, even though they were all made up of highly competitive and athletic individuals. As Nightlife’s “X” team took on their first opponent of the day in full costume, one of the players from APU who was just decked out in a simple tank and gym shorts bemoaned, “We look dumb compared to you guys!”

For Saturday’s daylong tournament, Nightlife split themselves into two teams, X and Y, which blended the twelve rookies with Nightlife returners, giving them a chance to win, play as much as possible and try to learn some new skills along the way.

During their match against APU, Nightlife played hard, with their first point being scored by Jonathan “Chia” Chen, who soared to infinity and beyond in his Buzz Lightyear costume and caught a huck in midair.

Even with the unrelenting sun threatening endless burns and buckets of sweat and surprise allergy attacks, Nightlife played hard but fell to the first three teams that they played, which included Azusa Pacific, Cal State Fullerton and UCLA. After their frustrating loss to APU, Nightlife and their opponents demonstrated the extreme sportsmanship of the game, as they chanted in honor of the other team. Azusa Ultimate players yelled “alllllll night, NIGHTLIFE,” to much chagrin of our ’Eaters.

Even after a loss during their first game against Azusa Pacific, Nightlife was still stoked and ready to play but were getting noticeably exhausted. The captains often urged the players on the sidelines to pick out a fellow Nightlife player and give them tips during each play or, if they didn’t know what to say, just cheer them on and run with them up and down the field.

Most of the chants that emanated from the sides were hearty screams of “cut deep,” “huck it” and “under, under, under.” When goals were scored, Nightlife players often gutturally yelled “NIGHTLIFEEEE” and, for those who were wearing hats, threw them to the ground.

During their second match against Fullerton, the X team decided to name themselves Team “Xcrement” which incited chants of “team poo” from the sidelines, especially by John “Mowgli” Laughlin, the oldest member of Nightlife. Even though players were exhausted from hucking hard and running fast, it still managed to crack a smile on their sweat-drenched and sunburnt faces.

Going three games without a win frustrated the Nightlifers, but they channeled it into utter determination to win their fourth match against Cal Poly SLO. Points were scored left and right as Nightlife took to the field with three losses under their belts and came off with a win.

Every winter quarter, the veterans come together and officially welcome the rookie players, though they are always treated as respected members of the team and never as underlings. Their welcoming comes with a nickname that the veterans pick out from either crazy stories that they’ve witnessed, personality traits or even clothes that the players wear on a frequent basis, like Vendetta’s blue hat that has a “V” on it or neon colored clothes that led Kenney to be dubbed “Disko.”

Nightlife has been “breaking marks and breaking hearts since 2003,” as Captain Disko put it. Since 2003, Irvine has been one lucky school to have a group of guys and gals who are so athletic, passionate and supportive of each other and damn proud of their school. Party on, Nightlife.  Party on.

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To Market, To Market: A Guide to the Farmer's Market

Did you know that the campus we walk on every day used to be farmland? That’s one of the reasons why we live in a county dubbed Orange – it’s for the orange tree groves that used to cover the land here in sunny Southern California.

Although the farmland has mostly disappeared and been taken over by apartment buildings, homes and strip malls, Orange County still has strong connections to the agricultural industry that it once thrived on.

However, rather than growing produce, Orange County has become somewhat of a farmers market mecca. Orange County has over 21 farmers markets and we’re lucky enough to have one right next to us every Saturday morning.

Located right across from Campus Drive in the parking lot that would usually be filled with cars parked for Cha and Yogurtland, produce and craft vendors line up their red, blue, green and white tents on a weekly basis to sell everything from pumpkins to headbands for babies to corn on the cob.

Although the 8 a.m. wake-up call is probably unprecedented for most college students, especially on a Saturday morning, it’s a lot more fun than going to the grocery store, standing in line with a basket full of groceries and hearing the mundane beep, beep, beep of the barcode scanner. But unfortunately, there are no member rewards cards for those who frequent the farmers market.

What are the benefits of shopping at a farmers market? To start, it’s a lot cheaper than shopping at a grocery store. Instead of buying a basket of strawberries for around four dollars at the supermarket, three baskets of strawberries can be purchased for five dollars. As college students who are on a budget, it’s sometimes difficult to shop for healthy food while maintaining a budget.

Plus, the produce found at the farmers market is truly fresh. Most of the produce sold at every market is picked that day or the day before. Therefore, everything that’s sold in the market is truly in season, never refrigerated for months on end.

Another advantage of shopping at a local farmers market is that it’s local. Farmers markets feature locally grown produce, rarely with farmers coming farther than 100 miles to bring their produce to your local farmers market. The less farmers and vendors have to travel, the less carbon emissions are released into the environment and the less carbon footprint we leave on the planet.

Going to the farmers market isn’t a daunting task, but if you’re a first timer, here are some helpful tips on how to make your first few trips to the farmers market more successful.

Tip one: Go early! Get to the farmers market when they open, even ten minutes before. Many farmers markets have an opening bell, where they ring a bell that marks the beginning of the selling time for vendors. For some markets, the market coordinators are more strict on allowing vendors to sell before they open, but if you see other customers buying from vendors before the bell, don’t hesitate to start picking out your desired goods. The best stuff goes first.

Tip two: Get to know the vendors! How do you usually get to know people? By talking to them of course! By going often and becoming a “regular” with your favorite vendors, it’s likely that they’ll begin to cut you deals and even throw in some free goods!

Tip three: Bring a big bag! This is mostly for your own comfort, you don’t want to have plastic bags digging into your arms as you enjoy the fresh air! It’s infinitely easier to throw everything into a big bag and lug it into your car (or bike) later.

Although the thought of waking up and dragging yourself out of bed on a Saturday morning doesn’t sound too appealing, just think of the fresh produce you’ll score. Plus, in addition to fresh greens and fruits, one dollar coffee can also be found in the aisles of the Irvine farmers market.

[writtenthingsbylogan]

Ever since I survived my weeks as editor, I have found at least one pleasure in any newspaper that comes to my hand...

Mark Twain, from Roughing It

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'Wiches Galore at Which Wich

Sandwiches: probably the one type of food that let’s you be as creative as you want. Do you want to combine avocados and peanut butter? You can, just like my best friend’s mom does. I mean, if you really think about it, it’s strange that someone thought to put thin slices of meat onto pieces of bread.

If you frequent the Albertson’s shopping center here in Irvine, you may or may not have noticed the recently opened sandwich eatery dubbed Which Wich. Tucked quietly in the corner, right next to Albertsons and just one door down from Gina’s Pizza, Which Wich takes its stand against all other run of the mill sandwich chains (cough, Subway) with their ingenious ordering system.

Gone are the days of awkwardly standing on your tip-toes so you could dictate to the sandwich crafter what you want on your sandwich from the other side of the glass barrier. At Which Wich, customers choose a bag that denotes what type of filling you want. Ten different bags make up ten different choices that include a vegetarian and a breakfast option, along with the quintessential deli meats. Once you’ve decided what filling you want, just grab a bag and a red sharpie and mark it up!

Which Wich offers a dizzying array of choices, but refrains from being too overwhelming with its nice breakdown of toppings that can go on your sandwich organized neatly onto the slim paper bag.    Much like the simple paper bag that you use to order your sandwich, Which Wich’s interior is clean and industrial, but with a strong sense that it’s an eatery that keeps college students in mind – a quality that’s all too rare in Irvine.

When you walk into Which Wich, the employees happily greet you with a “Welcome to Which Wich, is this your first time here?” New customers unfamiliar with the Which Wich way tend to walk in with a befuddled look, unfamiliar with the ordering system, but employees enthusiastically walk novice Which Wicher’s through their sandwich building, giving them helpful step by step instructions.

When I visited Which Wich, I went for the Grinder, which falls under the Italian category. Filled with Salami, Capicola, and Pepperoni placed between two slices of fresh white bread, I decked out my sandwich with my favorite toppings that I would have never expected to find in a franchised sandwich shop. Spicy Mayo, Olives, Spicy Mustard, and Red Onions topped my sandwich and I was truly thankful for the sharpie and paper bag ordering system. It spared me from the weird looks that I usually get from sandwich crafters at other places.

For about $5.50 I got a seven-inch sandwich filled with fresh cuts of meat and a generous amount of toppings. The spicy mayo that I mentioned earlier added a perfect kick to the sandwich with its creamy consistency. It was so good that I even ordered it on a buffalo chicken sandwich the next time I went back. See, you can do weird things with sandwiches.

However, it did take a while to get my meal, even when there were only two orders ahead of me. Perhaps they’re just taking a little time to get on their feet.

Aside from creating seven, ten and a half, or 14 inch “super” sandwiches, you can also choose to make it into a “bowl” option with your filling selection placed over a bed of fresh lettuce. Of course, you can also choose between having your sandwich toasted or not.

I say go for toasted if you order a chicken sandwich, but stick with untoasted if you’re going for meats that are traditionally considered cold cuts. But the spicy mayo is good either way.

All in all, Which Wich gives students an inexpensive but perfectly filling lunch or dinner alternative, complete with a student friendly atmosphere. Although it takes a little longer to get your sandwich than other popular sandwich eateries, the friendly employees, gracious customer service, and tasty sandwiches make up for the wait. When you finish your meal, it’s encouraged that you grab a sharpie and mark up your bag with a creative doodle fueled by your self-created sandwich.

[writtenthingsbylogan]

Playa playa with my business card. (Taken with Instagram)

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Kickstarter page can be found here.

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Passion Pit's "Gossamer" Brings the Beats Along With a Quiet Melancholy

Image c/o soletron.com

I don’t know how many of you are familiar with Kristen Bell’s “Sloth Meltdown” video, but here’s the gist of it: In the video, Bell explains to Ellen DeGeneres that when her happiness level dips below a three or goes above a seven, she begins to cry. So how does this relate to Passion Pit’s new album “Gossamer”?

Well, with the follow up to 2009s highly popular “Manners,” “Gossamer” serves up an album that is full of depth and profound lyrics juxtaposed with Passion Pit’s joyously electric beats, creating a steady movement between carefree tunes and Michael Angelakos’s sorrowfully pinched voice.

The 12 tracks in “Gossamer” make up an album full of pure, marvelous, blue ribbon-worthy music. Every song is a perfectly moving and entrancing journey, making it easy for the mind to wander along and the ears to come along for the ride.

The opening track, “Take a Walk,” kicks the album off with a bang as the song begins with an airy synth opening, almost resembling an electronic version of church organs, before bursting into a methodical drum beat backing Michael Angelako’s voice, singing about life as an adult — complete with a family, paying bills and how they’ll “make love like we’re young” and “take a walk” to get away from it all.

“Gossamer” is full of surprises. Tracks such as “Love is Greed” and “Cry Like a Ghost” come with less than cheerful names, yet are distinguished by Passion Pit’s bombastic synths and Angelakos’s stunning falsetto. In “Cry Like a Ghost,” a clapping synth perfectly complements Angelakos as he cries, “And yes, I drank all those drinks on my own / my life’s become some blurry little quest.”

The “blurry little quest” that Angelakos croons about hits close to home for him. Recently, Passion Pit has canceled and postponed numerous stops on their tour, citing Angelakos’s need to work on his mental health, but have promised to be there for the upcoming Lollapalooza, Osheaga, and Outside Lands music festivals.

Angelakos’s tortured essence comes to light in “I’ll Be Alright,” the second track on this shining album, which gives the deepest insight into the front man’s struggles, as the assertive track is peppered with lyrics like “I’m so self loathing that it’s hard for me to see / reality from what I dream” and “I drink a Gin and take a couple of my pills.” But the partnering between the alarmingly melancholic lyrics and the absorbingly saccharine instrumentation allows the lyrics to go nearly unnoticed.

“It’s Not My Fault, I’m Happy” is like a ballad from the eighties that mixes with Angelakos’s childlike voice, making it sound as if he’s being backed by a choir full of children with the title lyrics only being sung by Angelakos, in another seemingly simple yet meaningful track.

Webster’s Dictionary defines the word gossamer as two things – the first being “a film of cobwebs floating in air in calm, clear weather,” and the second meaning “something light, delicate, or insubstantial.” Passion Pit’s “Gossamer” is light and delicate, sorrowful and reflective, but of course, hampered with the classic synth and dynamic instrumentation that Passion Pit is known for.

“Gossamer” gives a party to listeners, anthems for the lonely and heartbroken, and for those who are blissfully happy, an illuminating listen into the ups and downs of torrid romances, the woefulness of depression and finally, just some really good music.