Microwave Cake

Photo illustration by Tom Schierlitz for The New York Times. Prop Stylist: Amy Henry. Food Stylist: Brian Preston-Campbell.
Any art that has a food stylist immediately has my attention. Anyways, this is from a very interesting feature on “baby bulimia,” as the author coins it, or a story of a very interesting relationship with food at the very least. Worth checking out.

A woman and her three-month-old son, enjoying the cool evening in a small village in Northern Iraq. One of my favorite pictures.

My new method of self-defense. Kidding, but most of the other people carrying this around here are NOT.

theartofthematter:

Billy and I had a fight. Billy and I solved it using game theory… kind of.

It was finals week. I was hungry and wanted to order food from Pita Pete’s. I wanted Billy to eat something. He was willing to order something but he wanted me to decide what to get for him. I really wanted him to get something but I wanted him to make it for himself. Here, we realized that there is no Nash equilibrium, and he finally gave in. I win.

Except we both lose. Because we tried to use game theory to solve a fight. Losers.

hahahahahaha. this is why i love northwestern and why i’m living with you next year. best.

The kids who proceeded to trail my brother and I for a few blocks. More about being an American in Iraq and all the unwanted attention that comes with it here.

My Kurdish cousin Azheen at the summit of some harrowing mountains.

Ferris wheel in Sulaimaniya, Iraq. Had a great night at the amusement park and popular picnic locale in town, complete with cotton candy and cheap amusement park rides. The best part about it? There are no rules or restrictions on the rides, meaning that on the spinning “swings” ride, you can push the chairs around you and twist about around as much as you like! Great night here.

This is Iraq. More pictures here!

A lot of sites I access from Iraq are automatically in Arabic, which is quite challenging to navigate, regardless of how much I studied for my Arabic final on Monday. Also, did you know that Pandora is only available in the U.S.?

Other things I couldn’t have predicted:

• Turkish airlines have a complimentary in-flight bar with Turkish wine, hard alcohol, and beer. They also sat me next to a super cute grad student who was going to Turkey to teach English.
• Iraq is very, very, very hot. Especially when wearing pants and a long sleeved shirt.
• You feel really stupid when you can’t understand anything anyone is saying. I don’t speak a single word of Kurdish and though I’m trying to pick it up at least a little, I keep forgetting how to say thank you and goodbye.
• I am actually very shy. Especially when you stand out, as my brother puts it, like a sore thumb. We walked through the open air market and everyone stared, and one little boy followed us for several blocks. My little brother jokingly asked my parents if he could get a t-shirt that says “I’m a quarter Kurdish.” I would definitely think about wearing it.
• This is by far the coolest place I have ever been in my life.

Michelle Weldon, Medill’s resident Dragon, is the auntie of one of the 195’s contributors Mike Roche’s aunt. Hysterical.