Drake Magazine, Spring 2013

MUSIC SPOTLIGHT: CHRIS WALLACE / COHEED & CAMBRIA / KATELYN EPPERLY

SPRING 2013

‘S

CONTENTS

46 14 12 BITS & PIECES Read up on how to guard against webcam hackers, the dangers of diet soda mixers, the best Midwest summer art exhibits, and more. | 5

HEALTH & FITNESS Mother Nature Knows Best | 11 All-natural remedies may be the best solutions for common illnesses.

26 SAY WHAT

Deceptive Diets | 11 These three weight-loss methods may not be as healthy as you think.

Redefining Courtship | 22 Dating might not look like it used to. But one writer says that’s not so bad.

Pilates POP Star | 12 Fitness blogger Cassey Ho talks about her rise to Internet fame.

A Culture of Rape | 24 After the Steubenville rape case, one writer analyzes the media coverage of the incident.

FOOD & DRINK

FOLKS

All-American Spirits | 14 Find some of the tastiest cocktails in Des Moines this summer at Americana.

20-Something Meets World | 25 Thought Catalog writer Stephanie Georgopulos reflects on her honest writing.

Thinking Inside the Box | 19 Make an eco-friendly change by drinking water from a box.

Rolling with the Punchlines | 26 Comedian Amy Rhodes brings improv to The Ellen DeGeneres Show and her own life.

7 Days of Drinking | 19 Find a happy hour for every day of the week.

FASHION

Wine from the Heartland | 20 You don’t have to go to the coasts to get good wine. Here’s why the Midwest’s is best.

4 Wardrobe Staples For Every Guy’s Closet | 36 A fashion-focused duo from Minnesota gives guys easy outfit tips.

The New Ice Cream Element | 21 SubZero Ice Cream use an unusual ingredient in its creations–liquid nitrogen.

Beyond the Label | 37 Three blogs showcase how a wardrobe doesn’t have to match a stereotype.

Etsy in Des Moines | 34 Five 515 Etsy artisans talk about their creations.

64 QUICKIES Revolutionary Rubbers | 45 These three condoms provide innovative ways to play it safe.

Femme Fatale | 45 Acclaimed erotica writer Rachel Kramer Bussel lets us in on her sexy career.

Vagina in Panic | 46 Sexual pain disorders like vaginismus prevent women from having enjoyable sex.

MUSIC Coheed & Cambria | 60 A look back on this rock band’s beginnings.

Q&A: Katelyn Epperly | 62 Though she didn’t make it on American Idol, she’s living her dream and recording music in Nashville.

BACK TALK Chris Wallace | 64 Catch up with this rising pop star.

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CONTENTS

EDITOR’S LETTER

LEAN, MEAN EATING MACHINES Follow three competitive eaters through the preparation, the competition, and the aftermath of an eating contest.

FEATURES Pattern Play | 39 Splurge on prints from four local boutiques this season.

Patching Up a Broken System | 48 The mental healthcare system isn’t easy to navigate. But Iowa’s redesign hopes to help patients get the care they need with community-based, peer-to-peer services.

Hook, Line, and Sinker | 54 From the MTV show to Manti Te’o, catfishing has garnered media attention– but there’s more lurking beneath the surface.

Not to blow my own horn or anything, but I’m a pretty passionate person. Since high school, I’ve known what I’ve wanted to do with my life: pursue a career in magazines. And I’ve chased that goal endlessly—whether it meant sacrificing a grade in, say, astronomy because I was up late editing DrakeMag copy all semester or moving half-way across the country for an unpaid internship in America’s magazine mecca (NYC, duh). I try to surround myself with as many passionate people as possible because they, more than anything, motivate and ground me.

This issue is packed page-topage with passionate people sure to inspire. Look no further than our cover story on competitive eating (“Lean, Mean Eating Machines,” pg. 28).

These quirky athletes will stop at nothing to win the bragging rights—and prizes—in a seriously cutthroat sport. Then there’s “Patching Up a Broken System,” (pg. 48), which chronicles Iowa’s broken mental healthcare system and the fervent advocates taking a stand to get patients the help and understanding they need. And those are just a couple of the features: We’ve got online fitness sensation Cassey Ho (“Pilates POP Star,” pg. 12); a Thought Catalog contributor who, whether you know it or not, writes about your life (“20-Something Meets World,” pg. 25); a comedian who took her humor from high school improv in Des Moines to Ellen (“Rolling with the Punchlines,” pg. 26); and much more.

I can’t talk about passion without giving a shout-out to the DrakeMag staff. Not only do they get the job done, they keep me sane, too—whether it’s fetching me a Coke (Linley), joining me for late-night Mexican food (Paige), or just putting me in my place (Elle), I’d be lost without them. And while this may be my last issue editing the publication, I’m more than confident Kristin Doherty will do something special with the magazine.

So, once you finish flipping through, let us know what you think. Email drakemag@gmail.com with any questions, concerns, or smart remarks, and be sure check out drakemagazine.com for all-new content. And if you don’t already, be sure to follow us on Twitter (@DrakeMag) and like us on Facebook (facebook.com/drakemagazine).

Best,

Jeff Nelson Editor-in-Chief

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jeff Nelson

ART DIRECTOR Elyssa Yesnes

MANAGING EDITOR Paige Zidek

PHOTO DIRECTOR Ben Curtis

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Kristin Doherty

ASSISTANT EDITOR Linley Sanders

BUSINESS MANAGER Claire Vandercar CONTRIBUTORS Hilary Abrahamson Abbey Barrow Megan Berberich Lindsay Dressen Emily Gregor Hayley Mason Lauren McElmeel Erika Owen Jack Jaques Stephanie Kocer Kayli Kunkel Peter Ripple Brian Robinson Katherine Rousonelos Brianna Shawhan Kerri Sorrell Megan Stein Emily Tozer Ben Verhasselt Rachel Ward

DESIGNERS Mackenzie Anderson Rebecca Boneschans Morgan Cannata Susanna Hayward Kayli Kunkel Lindsay Susla Madi Wittenberg STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS Morgan Cannata Carter Oswood WEB Meagan Flynn, Executive Editor Kerri Sorrell, Webmaster Erin McHenry, Associate Editor Sami Smith, Associate Editor Lauren Kassien, Assistant Editor

Win $25!

We want to hear what you think about DrakeMag. For a chance to win $25, take our short reader survey at http://bit.ly/XsBJEy. Enter soon! Winner will be selected in August.

SPECIAL THANKS Drew Albinson Lori Blachford iKonix Jeff Inman Lucas McMillan Riane Menardi

Bridget Sandquist Jill VanWyke Jan Wise La Hacienda Wait Staff Americana Hannah Pink

DRAKEMAGAZINE.COM | DRAKE MAGAZINE | 3 © Copyright 2013 Drake Magazine is published with the support of the Board of Student Communications. Opinions expressed in the magazine do not necessarily reflect the views of Drake University. Letters to the editor are welcome but may not be published. Direct any questions to drakemag@gmail.com.

BITS & PIECES

BRIANNA SHAWHAN

BEN CURTIS

ELYSSA YESNES

KRISTIN DOHERTY

EMILY TOZER

Senior Magazines Peoria, Ill.

Senior Environmental Policy & Anthropology/Sociology Lake Zurich, Ill.

Senior Graphic Design & Creative Advertising Hopkins, Minn.

Sophomore Magazines Lisle, Ill.

Senior Magazines Flossmoor, Ill.

What she wrote: “Vagina In Panic” (pg. 46)

What he shot: “All-American Spirits” (pg. 14)

What she worked on: “Take a Bike” (pg. 9)

What she wrote: “Lean, Mean Eating Machines” (pg. 28)

What she worked on: “Pattern Play” (pg. 39)

Behind the Scenes: “Finding someone to talk about their struggle with vaginismus was difficult.

Sexual pain disorders are oftentimes unheard of or taboo and sometimes ignored, so many doctors don’t buy that women are suffering from them. It’s important to bring these disorders to light any way we can so women can get the proper information and treatment they deserve—and not feel like they have to suffer in silence.”

Behind the Scenes: “I had never been to Americana before, but after photographing (and taste-testing) some of its signature drinks, I’m sure I’ll be back soon.

Trust me—they taste as good as they look.

Behind the Scenes: “Talking to competitive eaters made for the most entertaining interviews I’ve ever done.

These guys are all so quirky and had plenty of funny stories to tell. But they’re also serious about eating—they treat it like a sport and train like athletes. I still find the idea of competitive eating a bit disgusting, but I definitely respect the competitors’ talent and dedication.”

Behind the Scenes: “For all the time I spend thinking about clothes, it was a dream to be able to style the spring fashion shoot. I enjoyed the entire process—from thinking about the theme to pulling the clothes to the day we spent on set. I think it’s most important to have fun with your style, and I wanted that to come across in the story.”

Behind the Scenes: “I had my hands in most of the design of the magazine, but my favorite part of the issue are the infographs— visually telling the story is something all designers can appreciate.”

SOURCES: publicpolicypolling.com, freedomtomarry.org, The Des Moines Register, aclu.org, Washington Post, omaha.com, dailynebraskan.com

CONTRIBUTORS

ON-SCREEN READS

A new library says goodbye to traditional books.

WORDS KRISTIN DOHERTY A library without books seems like an oxymoron. But in a techobsessed world, it’s possible—and it’ll be reality come fall. Plans are in place to create BiblioTech, the country’s first entirely electronic, book-less public library.

Instead of stacks of books, this San Antonio library will have an Apple Store-like atmosphere. BiblioTech—a play on “biblioteca,” the Spanish word for library—will provide computers, laptops, and tablets for patrons to use on-site, as well as e-readers available to check out. Patrons can download one of over 10,000 titles onto library tablets or their own personal devices to take home. But just like any other library, users can only check out books for a short period of time. After two weeks, the e-book disappears from the device. And BiblioTech is for more than book borrowing, too—like other libraries, it offers a quiet space to work and study.

4 | DRAKE MAGAZINE | SPRING 2013

Digital libraries aren’t entirely new: A few public libraries across the country have converted most of their selections to electronic copies. The driving factor for these changes: money. People simply weren’t reading the physical books, and buying more became expensive.

But unlike those libraries, BiblioTech isn’t just adapting to recent technological advances. Because it never had books to begin with, it doesn’t have to change for modern times. It was created to cater solely to our screen-loving society. Avid readers may fear that this is the end of books as they know it. But the library’s creators say BiblioTech isn’t attempting to replace libraries or books—it’s simply a supplement to a constantly changing world.

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BITS & PIECES

BITS & PIECES

5 MUST-SEE SUMMER ART EXHIBITS WORDS KAYLI KUNKEL PHOTO COURTESY OF FRONTROOM PHOTOGRAPHY THROUGH MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM, MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART

FIGGE ART MUSEUM—AMERICAN POP ART! Davenport, Iowa (May 4-Sept. 1) Admission: $6 for students

DES MOINES ART CENTER—TRANSPARENCIES Des Moines, Iowa (Through May 22) Admission: Free

It’s a flamboyant and materialistic spectacle—aka, an ode to 1960s pop art. The pop art in this exhibit glorifies eye-catching color and vibrant style: Think Warhol’s multicolored Marilyns and Lichtenstein’s high-drama comic book ladies. For all things kitschy and psychedelic, head to Davenport and check out this testament to 20th century American excess. figgeartmuseum.org

The Des Moines Art Center currently presents Transparencies, a series of breathtaking works crafted entirely from glass. These contemporary pieces—designed

by American and international artists—are composed of glass objects, such as everyday light bulbs and intricate chandeliers. Stained and blown glass pieces also adorn the installation. Get off your—ahem—glass, and check out Transparencies in the Anna K. Meredith Gallery. desmoinesartcenter.org

THE MILWAUKEE ART CENTER—LAKEFRONT FESTIVAL OF ARTS Milwaukee, Wis. (June 21-23) Admission: $15 The Lakefront Festival of Arts is a long-standing summer tradition that combines art, food, and excitement on scenic Lake Michigan’s shore.

Over 30,000 people are expected to gather on the lakefront for the acclaimed wine garden, food vendors, sculpture park—and, of course, artwork.

Visitors can browse or buy pieces from over 150 artists who work in photography, printmaking, and other mediums. mam.org

WALKER ART MUSEUM—PAINTER PAINTER Minneapolis, Minn. (Through October 27) Admission: $8 for students; free on Thursday nights Abstract painting is a playful, visual exploration of an artist’s inner workings. At the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, 15 European and American artists showcase their explorations of abstract art in the Painter Painter exhibit. These innovative artists are guaranteed to entice visitors with bold and beguiling paintings. The Walker also offers a series of online studio sessions in which featured artists explain the thought process behind their abstractions. Watch them at walkerart.org/painterpainter-studio-sessions. | walkerart.org

CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUM—DESTROY THE PICTURE: PAINTING THE VOID, 1949-1962 Chicago, Ill. (Through June 2) Admission: $7 for students

LAKEFRONT FESTIVAL OF ARTS 6 | DRAKE MAGAZINE | SPRING 2013

For those who prefer radical, politically charged artwork, look no further. Chicago’s Contemporary Art Museum will host this edgy event through the early summer.

Destroy the Picture features nearly 100 thought-provoking, eccentric pieces crafted by international artists of turbulent, war-torn countries. The rebellious pieces were painted during the unsteady decades after World War II’s devastation. The featured artists attacked their canvases, challenging what was considered “art” and creating visual representations of their shattered surroundings in the process. mcachicago.org

DRAWING

IN NEW DIMENSIONS Create 3D projects with the 3Doodler.

WORDS JACK JAQUES Drawing is no longer confined to pen and paper—now works of art can be created in midair with the world’s first 3D printing pen, the 3Doodler.

WobbleWorks, the company behind the 3Doodler, wants to bring easy, affordable 3D printing capabilities to everyone. Though 3D printing has been around for a few decades, it has been expensive and difficult to use.

The lightweight utensil lets users “draw” a sculpture with a stream of hot plastic that quickly cools and hardens.

Creations can be made freehand or on printed stencils, to be connected later with the 3Doodler.

The 3Doodler can be used for art, jewelry, décor, and even minor repairs. Plus, its fans plan to use the pen for architecture, engineering, and more.

After earning over $2 million on Kickstarter, WobbleWorks began production for over 25,000 pens, which will be delivered to donors starting in September. The pens will be available for pre-order for $75 on the3doodler.com.

CRASH

COURSE

Learn something new online for free with Coursera.

WORDS DRAKEMAG STAFF After a decade-plus of schooling, it may be difficult to imagine taking classes for fun—not to fulfill graduation requirements.

But that’s what Coursera.org, a website offering free classes from renowned universities, is all about.

Coursera students watch video lectures recorded by top professors from over 60 institutions. Classes typically last between six and 12 weeks, during which time students are given assignments and tests to measure knowledge and improvement—nothing new for college students.

The catch is that classes don’t usually translate to real college credit—and when they do, they’re not free. Right now, the American Council on Education deems only four of Coursera’s

7 COOL COURSERA CLASSES The Fiction of Relationship (Brown University)

The Language of Hollywood: Storytelling, Sound, and Color (Wesleyan University)

History of Rock (University of Rochester)

Passion Driven Statistics (Wesleyan University)

Exercise Physiology: Understanding the Athlete Within (The University of Melbourne)

Sports and Society (Duke University) Archaeology’s Dirty Little Secrets (Brown University)

offerings credit-worthy. These classes employ cheating prevention methods, such as webcam-monitored exams and typing surveillance, to prevent copying and pasting. Even if students pass the class with these strategies enforced, they must pay up to $99 for a completion certificate and transferable credit.

While these online courses may not count for credit, they’re ideal for learning about personal interests at a slower pace or on a tight schedule. Want to start a career in music? Take Songwriting or Introduction to Guitar offered by Berklee College of Music through Coursera. Prepare for a heated debate with Duke University’s Think Again: How to Reason and Argue class. Or find a new diet by enrolling in Fundamentals of Human Nutrition from the University of Florida. With over 300 courses in categories ranging from arts to statistics, there’s something for everyone.

RETHINK YOUR DIET DRINK

Science says diet soda and alcohol may not mix well.

WORDS BENJAMIN VERHASSELT PHOTO ELYSSA YESNES Choosing diet soda as a mixer may seem logical for calorie counters—but sugar-free drinkers should still be cautious. A recent study in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research revealed that combining diet drinks with alcohol gets party-rockers 18 percent more drunk than regular libations.

It may sound like a gift from the drinking gods, but it’s not that simple. Sugarless sodas significantly increase a drinker’s blood alcohol content (BAC)—the concentration of alcohol in a person’s bloodstream— without increasing the feeling of intoxication. The participants in the study who drank diet soda noted that they didn’t feel more drunk than their sweetened soda-

drinking counterparts—but they were.

The stomach reacts to sugar in regular sodas as if it’s food and digests the soda’s calories first. This keeps alcohol in the stomach longer and slows its release into the bloodstream.

Without any sugar to digest, the alcohol takes effect faster. This means that one extra rum and diet could end up pushing people over their legal drinking limit, which could lead to impaired driving, blacking out, or horrible choices.

Drinkers, order carefully—a few extra calories could prevent risky consequences.

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BITS & PIECES

BITS & PIECES

4 DOWNLOAD-WORTHY SOCIAL MEDIA APPS WORDS STEPHANIE KOCER

FITOCRACY With Fitocracy, working out becomes a game.

Created by two video gameloving guys, the app motivates users by awarding points for every workout—enough points lets users “level up” in their training. It’s social, too: Join groups devoted to a specific type of exercise regimen, like yoga or running, and follow others to track their progress. The app and fellow users send encouragement along the way. Available on the App Store and Google Play.

CINEMAGRAM Cinemagram adds a little animation to users’ lives by fusing photo and video. Take a two to three-second video, then put a portion of it in motion to create a one-of-a-kind GIF. Add a vintage filter before sharing on Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr. Available on the App Store.

POSE With Pose, share pictures of outfits and shopping finds with friends and other users. Follow bloggers, fashion designers, celebrities, and models to see what they’re wearing in real time.

Plus, make a personalized feed to follow products and styles for personal inspiration. Available on the App Store and Google Play.

BANG WITH FRIENDS Created by three California college guys, Bang With Friends revamps digital dating. After signing in with Facebook, the app presents a list of opposite sex Facebook friends. Choose one, and click the “Down to Bang” button, indicating that you’re DTF. The app notifies both parties with a charming message: “You’ve got a bangin’ match! Your friend wants to knock boots with you!” Message each other to get things started. Available on Facebook.

THE NEW PEEPING TOM

Protect against hackers spying through webcams.

WORDS ERIN McHENRY

Internet safety today goes beyond avoiding pop-ups and deleting suspicious emails. Computer hackers have now learned to spy on people through a very personal channel—webcams.

In the past, hackers installed software on computers to steal one’s personal information. Now, they use similar programs to access webcams and take video footage or pictures, which they use to blackmail unsuspecting victims. In certain situations, they can even turn the computer’s camera light off, so users are unaware that their webcam is on. This allows hackers to stream footage live.

In 2010, Luis Mijangos of Santa Ana, Calif., hacked over 100 webcams and watched women and teenagers without their knowledge. He found racy photos the women had taken of themselves and after obtaining footage of the victims, blackmailed them into taking pictures of themselves or performing sex acts on camera and demanded payment to keep the content secret.

“This is the new Peeping Tom,” says Parham Eftekhari, president and founder of CamPatch, a webcam cover producer. “They aren’t looking through your window anymore—they’re looking through your webcam. Most people don’t know they’ve been hacked until it’s already too late.”

After hearing about webcam hacking, Eftekhari wanted to prevent more people from suffering 8 | DRAKE MAGAZINE | SPRING 2013

the aftershock of webcam spying. He founded CamPatch, which sells webcam covers and provides free resources about webcam hacking.

“Anyone who is remotely tech-savvy would be able to do this,” Eftekhari says. “Even with anti-virus software, the bad guys are always smarter than the good guys. The only way to be secure is to cover your webcam.”

Luckily, this crime can be prevented easily: Keep laptops closed and webcams off when they’re not in use. Block hackers’ view by placing a sticky note over a webcam r by purchasing a webcam cover from campatch.com.

Holocaust survivors speak out with new technology.

HOLOGRAPHIC LEGACY WORDS KATHERINE ROUSONELOS PHOTO MICHELLE AOSMER, COURTESY OF USC SHOAH FOUNDATION A dwindling number of Holocaust survivors means future generations won’t hear their stories— in person, at least. Instead, they’ll be conveyed via hologram. The University of Southern California’s Shoah Foundation has created interactive 3D holograms of Holocaust survivors to ensure their legacies live on.

The program—New Dimensions in Testimony—uses voice recognition software and recorded interviews to provide real-time responses about survivors’ lives and experience in the concentration camps.

“The goal is to preserve the special relationship between survivors and students,” says Anne Marie Stein, communications director of the Shoah Foundation. “This technology will enable students to have a powerful question-and-answer interaction with survivors, long after the survivor generation is gone.”

Learn more about this new technology at ict.usc.edu/prototypes/new-dimensionsin-testimony/.

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BITS & PIECES

HEALTH & FITNESS

BIT OF LIT REVIEWS ABBEY BARROW

WE LIVE IN WATER

by Jess Walter Jess Walter is one literary golden child who deserves all of the praise coming his way. After a decade spent on the radars of The New York Times, The Daily Beast, and NPR, Walter’s first collection of short stories solidifies him as one of America’s great modern writers. Covering an array of topics—from an editor who changes his ex-girlfriend’s horoscope to a vision of post-zombie apocalyptic America—We Live in Water is a distinctive portrait of recession-era America, staged in Walter’s hometown of Spokane, Wash. This deeply personal collection shifts seamlessly from tales of addiction, heartbreak, and family to critiques on urban gentrification and consumerism.

Despite his heavy subject matter, Walter crafts the kinds of short stories that could become full novels. We Live in Water is an understated but poignant statement from one of the most powerful voices in modern literature.

WORDS HAYLEY MASON

Cure common ailments with all-natural remedies.

WORDS BRIAN ROBINSON When sickness strikes, most people see a doctor or pop a pill. But few realize that many cures for ailments can come right from Mother Nature. Try one of these all-natural remedies next time you’re feeling under the weather.

HEADACHE

Compounds in CHAMOMILE TEA calm the body and reduce inflammation.

LAVENDER’s scent soothes the body and reduces migraine-related depression and nausea.

I DO AND I DON’T: A HISTORY OF MARRIAGE IN THE MOVIES

by Jeanine Basinger I Do and I Don’t provides a comprehensive history of marriages in the movies, but if you’re thinking about picking up this book and actually reading it—don’t. Although the author did impeccable research on film history from the silent era to The Kids are All Right (2010), Basinger’s dry, uninspired writing style reads more like a film studies textbook than an entertaining overview. As the lengthy list of old, obscure films is combined with unnecessary details, readers are left with more confusion than clarity.

But Basinger knows her subject well—as evidenced by the copious footnotes more suited for a research paper than an analysis of Richard Gere’s ridiculous Unfaithful (2002). In all, I Do and I Don’t successfully traces the history of marriage-focused films but lacks any kind of sociological statement about these films’ significance.

LITERARY ROGUES: A SCANDALOUS HISTORY OF WAYWARD AUTHORS

by Andrew Shaffer Comprised of literary criticism, a mixed bag of biographies, and tabloid-worthy gossip, Literary Rogues is Iowa native Andrew Shaffer’s latest work of witty non-fiction.

Covering everything from the advent of print and copyright laws to the proliferation of cocaine in Manhattan society, Shaffer goes beyond the literary lives he investigates to present a full view of their historical contexts. Shaffer writes simply, free of his subjects’ pretentions, and crafts an entertaining take on scholarly biography. Progressing chronologically through the lives of figures such as Lord Byron, Ernest Hemingway, and Truman Capote, the scandal implied by the book’s title becomes more tragic than thrilling as addiction and mental illness cripple talented lives. Although Literary Rogues is certainly engaging, aspiring writers should take heed: Reading about the kinds of messy personal lives that put Lindsay Lohan to shame isn’t exactly career encouragement.

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Migraine sufferers have lower levels of magnesium in their brains. Available over the counter, MAGNESIUM supplements raise these levels to keep migraines at bay.

COLD

When made into a tea, LEMON BALM fights bacteria, preventing colds and upset sinuses.

ECHINACEA packs a punch when it comes to coldfighting. The flower’s juice treats upper respiratory infections. Take it as soon as cold symptoms strike to shorten the virus’s length.

When respiratory problems surface, MULLEIN is the answer. When brewed into a tea, this herb helps expel mucus from the body and eases rasping throat pain.

FLU

GINGER has treated digestive problems, upset stomachs, and nausea for more than 2,000 years. Plus, its warming nature causes sweating, which removes pathogens from the bloodstream. Brewing ginger tea or adding it to a favorite dish can fight the flu.

The immune system-boosting properties in ELDERBERRIES can prevent the onset of the flu. Take an elderberry tonic or herbal extract as soon as headaches or sore throats arise to stop a bug.

GARLIC is high in antioxidants, which strengthen the immune system so it can quickly combat illness. Boost intake by adding garlic to meals.

Watch out for these celebrity-endorsed weight-loss regimens.

Sweating it at the gym and munching on raw veggies don’t sound like particularly exciting ways to lose weight. Celebrities are infamous for finding the easy way to a hot bod, so many commoners take dieting to the next level—and people follow in their footsteps. Daily injections and calorie counting may help some shed pounds faster than post-Dreamgirls J-Hud, but it comes at a cost to health.

Aronson, president of Welltech Solutions in Montclair, N.J., dismisses Keto as a quick fix. “Ketogenic diets do work for quick weight loss,” she says. “So does starvation, having cancer, and eating nothing but Smarties. But why would anyone choose these? Is it worth it to put your health at risk for quick weight loss?” Keto’s danger hCG DIET lies in its restriction of many good carbs, The hCG diet gained attention when Jersey Shore’s J-WOWW such as fruits, veggies, and high-fiber credited it for her smoking body transformation. Human grains. “What happens during ketosis is chorionic gonadotropin—hCG for short—is the hormone what goes on during uncontrolled diabetes found in pregnant women’s urine and often used in fertility and starvation,” Aronson says. On top treatments. Dieters take daily injections of the hormone, of this, the diet can cause body odor, bad along with eating breath, headaches, only 500 calories and mood swings— “Ketogenic diets do work for quick per day—the not ideal side effects equivalent of eating for a new, sexy weight loss. So does starvation, having a Lean Cuisine and physique. cancer, and eating nothing but Smarties. a banana. Fans of But why would anyone choose these?” the diet boast losing PALEO DIET one to two pounds The Paleo diet is for of fat per day. those who consider Lisa Andrews, owner and nutrition consultant at Sound themselves old school—as in, way back to Bites Nutrition in Cincinnati, says this diet isn’t only unhealthy the Paleolithic era. For this plan, dieters eat but ineffective, too. “When compared to a placebo, hCG didn’t like ancient hunters and gatherers did—no induce more weight loss,” she says. “It’s the calorie restriction carbs, dairy, refined sugar, or processed that results in weight loss.” With such low-calorie intake, dieters foods. Famous hotties like Megan Fox and don’t get their daily requirement of vitamins and are at risk Matthew McConaughey swear by it. It of gallstones from the bile backup. “The key to weight loss sounds pretty simple at first: Just eat meat, is behavior modification, which this diet just doesn’t teach,” nuts, veggies, and other natural foods Andrews says. And if you shrug at the health of your body, straight from the earth. But Paleo can be consider the health of your wallet. A 40-day program of hCG extremely restrictive. “Your healthy eating injections can cost more than $500. plan should allow you to go to a party or restaurant and find foods on the menu that KETO DIET are part of it,” says dietician Toby Amidor, Once the “fad diet of the 21st century,” the Atkins diet owner of Toby Amidor Nutrition in New introduced the low-carb craze to the world. While this York. “While following Paleo, that’s tough particular carb-free diet may have faded from the public to do.” Amidor also stresses the importance interest, a new one has come to take its place: the ketogenic of making healthy, long-term goals, instead diet. This plan requires limiting carb intake to 15-20 grams of drastic changes. This means ditching a day, tricking the body into using its alternative fuel sources. the fad diet and setting more realistic, longThe body quickly uses up its carb storage and then moves term goals. on to burning fats. Sound good? Experts don’t think so. Dina DRAKEMAGAZINE.COM | DRAKE MAGAZINE | 11

HEALTH & FITNESS

HEALTH & FITNESS

PILATES POP STAR

Online sensation Cassey Ho gained fitness fame with her Blogilates brand.

WORDS SAMI SMITH PHOTO COURTESY OF CASSEY HO

What started as fragments of Cassey Ho’s life—instructing Pilates part-time, sketching yoga mat designs, and working in the retail buying industry—turned out to be the puzzle pieces she needed to launch a career as one of the nation’s most influential fitness bloggers with her brand POP Pilates, fitness videos, and popular Blogilates site. A fitness entrepreneur, Ho, 26, films videos to top pop soundtracks and embodies her mantra of “train like a beast, look like a beauty.” Now, she holds the titles of Fitness magazine’s “Best Healthy Living Blogger of 2012” and Sharecare’s “No. 2 Most Influential Online Personality.” We caught up with the viral fitness guru on everything from launching her career in her living room to her top health tips.

DRAKEMAG: Before Blogilates took off, where did you think your career would take you?

CASSEY HO: As a kid, I always wanted to be an evening gown fashion designer. When the blogging and vlogging got busier, I thought it would be more of a part-time job. But now I make videos and write full-time—and I’m absolutely loving every second of making Blogilates grow daily. Funny enough, today I’m a designer, too. It may not be dresses for the Oscars, but activewear is bright, exciting, and always changing.

DM: How does your current filming process compare to making the first POP Pilates video?

CH: At first, it was a mini camcorder, a tripod, and me and my mat. I didn’t even know how to edit really, so I had to make sure not to mess up during the routine. Now it’s a DSLR, a camera guy, me and my mat. Still simple, but we’re getting a little more advanced.

When I get a chance to film with channels like LIVESTRONG Woman, which have higher production budgets, it’s like being on a movie set with a crew, big lights, and a makeup artist. It’s crazy to think it all started in a living room.

DM: How long did it take to start gaining

CASSEY HO’S WORKOUT JAMS “22,” Taylor Swift “Kiss You,” One Direction “Swoon,” The Chemical Brothers “Can’t Hold Us,” Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Feat. Ray Dalton “I Could Be The One,” Avicii, Nicky Romero 12 | DRAKE MAGAZINE | SPRING 2013 11 | DRAKE MAGAZINE

popularity online?

CH: My first video gained a good amount of views and comments in the beginning, and that’s the only reason I even made another video. People kept asking for more. But I didn’t take the whole YouTube thing seriously until over a year later, after I quit my first post-grad job. I had more time to invest in the brand, and that’s when things started to grow rapidly.

DM: Your blog post in January about Honey Boo Boo’s unhealthy eating habits yielded a lot of backlash from your readers. How do you deal with the haters?

CH: I wouldn’t call people who disagree with me “haters.” People are entitled to their own opinions. I can get very passionate about certain topics, and I choose to speak my mind freely. Sometimes this backfires because I say things that aren’t politically correct. The comments section can get pretty heated—and when I say “pretty heated,” I mean “extremely.” When people start attacking people—and not their difference in opinions—I can’t tolerate that. We need to be polite to one another because at the end of the day, I’m also a human being sitting behind a computer reading your words. Just because you can’t see me, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t hurtful.

DM: How has your celebrity status in the fitness world impacted your personal life?

CH: The only difference is that I get recognized in public sometimes now, but it’s always so humbling to see my fans. It feels like we already know each other. Talking to one another and learning how POP Pilates and Blogilates have impacted their lives makes all of this work worth it.

HEALTH TIPS FROM A PRO Cut out refined carbs—like white bread, white rice, and most cereals —sugary foods, fried foods, and soda.

Start drinking more water and eating more fresh vegetables.

Try high-intensity interval training. It works you out harder in a shorter amount of time.

When you lift weights, go heavy. Your last rep should almost be impossible.

Change up your fitness routine every four weeks to avoid plateaus.

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FOOD & DRINK

FOOD & DRINK

For some of the best cocktails around, head to Americana in downtown Des Moines. With a wide variety of libations on the menu, this hotspot has a sip for everyone. Stop in this summer to quench your thirst.

WORDS KRISTIN DOHERTY PHOTOS BEN CURTIS

2 3

1. THE BOB HENDRICKS Blood orange liqueur and Peychaud’s Aromatic Cocktail Bitters mixed with Bob Hendricks gin give this beverage its tangy, fruity flavors. A garnishing basil leaf also makes it clean, refreshing, and great for a hot summer day.

2. DSM MANHATTAN Keep it classy with an old-school Manhattan topped with three bright red cherries. With a complex mix of flavors, this classic, whiskey-based cocktail is perfect to sip with dinner.

3. AMERICANO The perfect start to any morning, the Americano is a creamy coffee cocktail. Made with Kahlúa, caramel-flavored vodka, and topped with espresso beans, it’s a must-try for java lovers.

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FOOD & DRINK

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4. LEMON DROP MARTINI This frosty concoction is an easy summer sipper. Honeyrosemary simple syrup, sour mix, vodka, and a splash of soda—plus a sugar-coated rim— make for a nice balance of sweet and sour.

5. VIP ROCKIN’ RYE This Americana creation is unusually sweet, thanks to a stick of colorful rock candy. The yellowy, whiskey-based spirit slowly turns pale green as the candy’s blue coating dissolves.

4

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7 DAYS OF DRINKING 6. BUBBLY BETTY A mix of rhubarb and orange bitters topped with champagne, this bubbly cocktail might make drinkers pucker at first. A raw sugar cube slowly dissolving at the bottom of the glass sweetens it up.

THINKING INSIDE

THE BOX

Check out the hot deals at these happy hours around town.

WORDS ERIN McHENRY

WORDS BRIAN ROBINSON PHOTO COURTESY OF BOXED WATER IS BETTER Boxed Water Is Better, an innovative new company, is testing the waters by packaging H2O in cardboard cartons. Say goodbye to environmentally harmful plastic bottles—these recyclable boxes can significantly reduce our collective carbon footprint. “It’s the job of creatives and entrepreneurs to explore steps forward when a behavior isn’t changing—in this case, the purchase of packaged water,” founder Ben Gott says. “Small steps like ours, and continuing to innovate, are what move things forward.” Boxed Water Is Better is currently only available in a few states, but keep an eye out for these recyclable creations.

Raise a box to these fast facts: 1. Seventy-six percent of each box comes from continuously replanted forests.

2. Cartons are shipped flat in trucks before being filled to transport more at one time. Then water is carbonfiltered and purified. Boxes are filled at municipal sources.

3. Boxed Water Is Better donates 10 percent of its profits to world water relief foundations and another 10 percent to reforestation foundations.

For more information, check out boxedwaterisbetter.com.

SUNDAY: That homework has to get done sometime—might as well enjoy a beer while doing it. The University Library Café has all-day specials on Sundays, plus five types of nachos to offer an extra boost of brainpower. 3506 University Ave., Des Moines, 515.255.0433 MONDAY: A German-themed beer hall, Hessen Haus, offers happy hour specials from 3-6 p.m.

Forget the bottles—finish the 2-liter Das Boot. The bar offers $4 off boots, half-price appetizers, $2 off liters, and $1 off high proofs. 101 4th Street, Des Moines, 515.288.2520 TUESDAY: Check out The Lift from 5-7 p.m. with $1 off all drinks. Dwolla users get two-for-one drinks any time they pay with the account. Stay after happy hour for $3 old-fashioned drinks and live jazz. 22 4th Street, Des Moines, 515.288.3777 WEDNESDAY: Drown out the mid-week woes with $2.50 sake bombs, Kirin drafts, and domestic bottles at Sakari Sushi Lounge. Hungry? Try sushi specials, including house rolls for $4.50. 2605 Ingersoll Ave., Des Moines, 515.288.3381 THURSDAY: Wellman’s Pub offers $2.25 domestic draws, $2.50 domestic bottles, and other drink specials from 3-7 p.m. on weekdays. But Thursdays are best, thanks to $7.99 all-you-can-eat wings.

2920 Ingersoll Ave., Des Moines, 515.245.9737.

FRIDAY: Nothing beats beer and pizza. Get back to the basics at Beechwood Lounge in the East Village with $2.25 bottles and free pizza from 3-6 p.m. 416 E. Walnut St., Des Moines, 515.288.2337.

SATURDAY: Have a fiesta with $1.50 margaritas at El Rodeo. The party lasts from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Don’t worry—it’s 5 o’clock somewhere. 1234 Euclid Ave., Des Moines, 515.261.0551; 7420 Douglas Ave.,Urbandale, IA, 515.251.7647; 1310 NW 118th St., Clive, 515.440.2210.

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FOOD & DRINK

FOOD & DRINK

THE NEW ICE CREAM ELEMENT Liquid nitrogen is on the menu at SubZero Ice Cream shops.

WORDS LAUREN McELMEEL PHOTO COURTESY OF SUBZERO, INC. Gone are the days of just 31 flavors—a new technique for making ice cream boasts more than a trillion combinations. SubZero Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt, based out of Utah, freezes its ice cream with liquid nitrogen, bringing a new element to the ice cream business.

The secret to this treat is how it’s frozen. Because liquid nitrogen is so cold (minus 321 degrees Fahrenheit), just one blast of it can freeze ice cream in 15 seconds. Ice cream’s consistency is determined by its freezing time, so this method creates the creamiest treat around. This trend hasn’t hit the Midwest yet, but the process is still something worth screaming for. Here’s how it works: reaming for.

Hybrid grapes that withstand cold temperatures make the Midwest a vineyard hot spot.

When perusing the wine aisle, those on a tight budget concern may themselves only with price—not what region a wine is from. After all, a box of Franzia sounds everso-tempting for the light-walleted drinker. But next time, consider the wine’s origin because the region it comes from strongly influences its taste. In fact, the regions and temperatures associated with grapes are so important that the French have a name for it: “terroir.” What makes a good terroir? The rolling hills of Tuscany, the sunbathed slopes of Napa Valley, and the flat plains of the Midwest.

That’s right, the Midwest’s frozen fields are capable of producing wine—and good wine, too.

Wine experts separate terroir into categories that define the overall “feel” of the region. What does the Midwest taste like? Cold would be an appropriate response. But like most Midwesterners, wine finds a way to embrace the chill. In recent years, experimenting with cloning grapes has made the Midwest vineyard boom possible. For example, the Frontenac grape, developed by researchers at the University of Minnesota, specializes in not freezing

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5 GREAT MIDWESTERN WINES TO TRY WORDS PETER RIPPLE PHOTO CARTER OSWOOD to death. These hybrid grapes can withstand temperatures of up to minus 33 degrees Fahrenheit and still produce a full crop. Abbe Hendricks—a sommelier that selects and buys wines for Des Moines hotspots Gateway Market, Centro, and Django—describes how this Midwestern boom has been possible: “Seyval, Vidal, Foch, Catawba: These grapes are all grown in the Midwest because they are cold hardy,” she says. “We have fertile soil in the Midwest, but we’re also much colder in the winter than more traditional areas.” Whites and rosés are easier to make in the Heartland, and they’re generally sweet—the grapes rarely produce a dry wine.

When compared to California and New York wines, it may be hard to view wine from the flyover states as worthwhile. But Hendricks says Midwestern wines are underappreciated and misunderstood by the general public. “There’s still quite a hurdle to get over in getting the public to understand the difference in the wines produced here,” she says. It’s a task Henricks says will progress slowly— one person at a time.

Regardless, Midwestern wine is here to stay. “The Midwest still is growing in vineyards and wineries,” says Hendricks. “As research continues, improvements are being made to the industry, how we manage our vineyards, and how we make our wines. People are very interested in the wine industry. And ultimately, it’s an agricultural product, and in the Midwest, that’s what we do—farm.”

RIVERWOOD WINERY CAYUGA WHITE (Missouri) – Goes down smooth but still has a complex vanilla flavor.

7 C’S WINERY ROUND-UP ROSE (Missouri) – A pink wine that smells a bit like strawberries. Pair it with light foods or on its own.

JASPER WINERY’S FRONT PORCH (Iowa) – Another rosé with hints of strawberry and cherry. Drink during a summer day on your front porch.

GLACIAL RIDGE WINERY’S CASTLE ROCK RED (Minnesota) – A smooth and gulpable red wine with one of the coolest bottles. Get it just to crack open the wax seal.

CANNON RIVER WINERY’S VULCAN’S REVENGE (Minnesota) – Robust, adventurous, and damn tasty. Vulcan’s Revenge has hints of chocolate and cherry. It’s as drool-inducing as it sounds.

STEP ONE: Select an ice cream base. Options range from traditional custard and yogurt to low-fat and non-dairy. Side note: Flash-freezing can create smoothies and shakes, too.

STEP TWO: Choose some flavors. There are plenty of options—anything from cotton candy to pumpkin are up for grabs. For more traditional folks, vanilla and chocolate are always on the menu. Plus, customers can combine as many flavors as they please—so cherrycheesecake or peanut butter-banana can be made.

STEP THREE: After flavor customization, select mix-ins like candy, fruit, or dessert chunks.

STEP FOUR: Choose a “Chill Factor”—SubZero’s name for how frozen the treat will be.

From “Teeth Tingler” (soft-serve) to “Brain Freeze” (rock hard), the customer is in complete control of ice cream’s consistency.

STEP FIVE: The mixture is blasted with liquid nitrogen. For those worried about chemicals mixed in the dessert, relax. Liquid nitrogen is a non-metallic, odorless, and tasteless gas. The end product is a smooth ice cream with no crunchy ice particles to detract from the experience.

SAY WHAT

REDEFINING

COURTSHIP

Relationships aren’t really my thing. I’m fairly awkward, often too busy, and almost always concerned with what I deem to be more important things in life—and I’m not alone. Between social obligations, internships, and keeping up with classes, college students barely sleep at night. So when it comes to oldfashioned courtship? Ain’t nobody got time for that.

A recent article in The New York Times, “The End of Courtship,” reveals what I’m positive everyone already knows: Relationships don’t start organically anymore. Thanks to the rise of technology, social media, and godforsaken Internet dating sites (seriously, guys, we’re only in our 20s), it’s a miracle if a college student ever has a first date—much less experiences olden-day “courtship.” We’re stuck in the middle of an era plagued with drunken hookups and misunderstood text messages that lead to confusion and grief. On one hand, we don’t have to feel bad for not scrounging up a traditional date every weekend. On the other, we rarely communicate face-to-face, free meals are basically out of the question, and showing interest in a member of the opposite sex usually means letting them see you naked.

College students are encouraged to play the field. But “casual” has taken on a very literal connotation. If a guy buys a girl a drink at the bar, she’s pleasantly surprised by his chivalry.

If he texts her the next day? Hot damn, she’s

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sold. Instead of gathering the courage to put ourselves out there and meet someone in a sober state of mind, our generation has decided to take the easy way out by using the technology we know and love.

To be fair, this doesn’t make us bad people. While many relationships begin at the bar, that doesn’t mean they won’t succeed. These days, we go through a series of drunken-to-sober stages before officially dating someone. These stepping stones have a pattern: meet, drink, go home, text, repeat. After a few times through this cycle, it’s acceptable to hang out during daylight hours. Then, after easing your way into the sober sector, it’s appropriate to stay in on a Saturday night together. If all goes well, it’s safe to say you’re on the fast-track to FBO. Making it through these stages separates the longterm prospects from flings—that’s what I would call 21st Century Courtship.

And what’s wrong with that? Courting someone is weird. I would be severely uncomfortable if I couldn’t find the person pursuing me on Facebook. I’d rather have some sort of reference point as to whether the guy is a serial killer before going to the latest Nicholas Sparks flick with him.

Even better, stalking a potential date online provides talking points—an easy way to get through awkward small talk quickly and

WORDS MEGAN STEIN

We found love in a hopeless place–it’s called college.

move on to more important relationship building blocks.

It seems as though everyone thinks dating is dead and hookups are the norm. But I say, why can’t we have both? As long as we treat each other respectfully, are honest about what we want from the relationship, and enjoy each other’s company, I see no reason why we can’t redefine courtship positively. Every encounter doesn’t have to fit our grandparents’ mold of a functional relationship. But having standards about who takes you home is usually a good rule of thumb. Finding a happy medium is a mark of a mature, confident, and probably relationshipworthy individual. And in this day and age? That’s something to be proud of.

Hell, it’s résumé-worthy.

SAY WHAT

FOLKS

A CULTURE OF RAPE Oftentimes Americans are content assuming that sexism disappeared with chastity belts and gender-based voting rights. In 2013, there shouldn’t be room for sexual assault and victim blaming to run rampant—but there is. Last August, Trent Mays and Ma’lik Richmond, the two boys convicted of rape in Steubenville, Ohio, were photographed carrying their victim’s unconscious body. Meanwhile, their friends live-tweeted the assault. After this case, we need to look no further than media coverage of the rape to see that American rape culture is still thriving.

A New York Post headline read: “Two high school football players guilty of rape of drunk girl at party in Steubenville, Ohio.” ABC ran a similar headline: “2 Football Stars Allegedly Rape Drunk Girl.” These headlines send a clear message about the people involved in the crime—the criminals are talented and the victim is reckless.

In most other crimes, the media doesn’t resort to the victim blaming that takes place in rape cases. You’d be hard pressed to find a headline that reads, “Mother Accused of Brutally Beating Naughty Child,” or “Baking Expert Convicted of Hit and Run.” Why? Because an unruly kid isn’t an excuse for child abuse, and nobody cares if a criminal makes delicious banana bread. So rape shouldn’t be excused due to a drunk victim, and nobody should really care about a sexual predator’s athletic ability, especially if it has nothing to do with the events that unfolded.

CNN suffered major backlash following correspondent Poppy Harlow’s seemingly sympathetic coverage of the two boys’ convictions. During a sixminute segment following the trial, the assault victim was hardly mentioned.

Instead, Harlow and Candy Crowley lamented the lives that could have been for the teenage football players and asked experts what the lasting effects of their rape conviction might be.

The lasting effects of their rape conviction? Outside of the victim, the offenders, and their families, who should be worried how their lives will change by the conviction? CNN didn’t even touch on the lasting effects the victim might face. You know, the victim? Remember her? The young woman

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WORDS HILARY ABRAHAMSON

One writer criticizes victim blaming in the wake of the Steubenville rape case. whose life will forever be tainted by the stigma of a crime committed against her.

According to the Rape Abuse And Incest National Network, one person in the U.S. is sexually harassed every two minutes.

One in three women will be sexually harassed in her lifetime.

And in nine out of 10 rape cases, the victim is female. RAINN also estimates that 97 percent of rapists will never spend a day in jail.

But Richmond and Mays are part of the three percent of rapists who will go to jail. Richmond was convicted to one year in prison. Mays received a two-year sentence for the added charge of distributing photographs of the naked minor.

Which poses another question: What prompted them to document the entire crime online the way most people post updates about class and the weather? Did they think they would get away with it? Perhaps they even believed they weren’t doing anything wrong.

We live in a culture where violence against women is forgivable as long as the man is talented enough. Chris Brown is one example of this—he was sentenced to five years probation in 2009 after pleading guilty to assault. But the felony is all but forgotten in media today. Billboard’s Andrew Hampp described Brown’s most recent album Fortune as a “victory lap.” Victory lap? Just a few years ago, Brown’s girlfriend—Rihanna—was bloody and bruised with bite marks on her arms, and the assaulter walked away without jail time.

Yet here we are, applauding his aptitude for making music.

As long as media outlets feel it newsworthy to remind us how talented sexual predators are and point the finger at victims, rape culture will keep its place in American headlines.

STEPHANIE GEORGOPULOUS’S BEST TC PIECES 1. “Ten Ridiculous Lines From Cover Letters I Wrote” This piece tells us that cover letters don’t actually matter.

The glitz and glam of the blogging lifestyle is accessible to anyone—no matter your writing proficiency or level of self-awareness.

2. “The Writers’ Workshop” This one could be more accurately named “Every 20-Something Loses Track Of Their Passions, and You’re Going to Be Pretty Depressed When You Figure Out That Some People Never Find Them Again, So Try to Cut Through the Bullshit and Figure Something Out.” 3. “What Moving On Feels Like” This piece’s tone is what makes Georgopulos a TC legend. Be ready to grab the tissues and take a nostalgic brick to the gut with this one.

4. “What I Think About When It’s Very Dark Out, And I’m Walking Home Alone, And I’m A Woman” If you don’t like feminism, shut up. Just read this post.

5. “You Are A Visitor, I Am A Vacation” There are places, times, and people that embody all of the separate emotions you experience. Georgopulos knows every single one and will hold them against you until you’re positive she’s in your brain, fibers, and heart.

Honest writing guides Thought Catalog editor Stephanie Georgopulous.

WORDS KERRI SORRELL PHOTO COURTESY OF STEPHANIE GEORGOPULOS Stephanie Georgopulos writes what she knows.

The 26-year-old knows how love starts, feels, and ends. She’s a feminist at heart and an unwilling expert in the evolution from carefree collegiate to uncertain adult. She feels the vulnerable pangs of the 20-something life and catapults herself into her writing, voice, and work.

Bits of Georgopulos’s life are scattered throughout the archives of Thought Catalog, the popular, überrelatable blog she has edited and contributed to for two years. Her stories are honey-smooth yet raw to the bone, exposing more about her personal experiences and heart than the material things or places she writes about.

“Some writers have that, I think, they can touch these places in people that others would never be able to find,” Georgopulos explains on her blog. “Honest writing touches me the most, but being honest is hard, even if you’re your only audience.”

Over the last year, Thought Catalog has grown exponentially, mostly because of the honest and relevant pieces produced by its writers. “We try to create content that’s universal—things that people can relate to and will want to share,” says Thought Catalog editor-at-large Ryan O’Connell. The site is experiencing “mania growth,” says Brandon Scott Gorrell, Thought Catalog director of editorial. In February, the site reached 250,000 unique visitors each day—now, it reaches 300,000.

Georgopulos is a big part of that growth because she doesn’t just write what she knows—she writes what everyone knows. “I remember distinctly what it was like to have no voice,” Georgopulos says. “I think most people feel that way when they’re right out of college.”

The Brooklyn native worked tirelessly to develop her voice after graduating with a communications degree from Iona College in New Rochelle, N.Y. She wrote every day, whether it was professionally or personally.

The result was something special.

“Her writing resonates with people,” says O’Connell. “She has this interesting mix of vulnerability and strength, and she goes there with her readers, in terms of exposing her feelings. It can be gut-wrenching.”

Sharing so much of herself isn’t easy, Georgopulos says, but writing provides her with an outlet: “The only time I’m open that way is when I’m writing or drinking. I think people have the impression that I’m more fragile and thoughtful than I really am.”

Although Georgopulos has experienced everything she’s written about, she still finds it hard to completely let go. “When you draw from personal experiences and allow people to comment on them, they become a little less personal by default—it feels like a different ‘me’ who experienced it,” Georgopulos says.

“It might not seem like it, but I select subject matter based on whether I want to keep that thing close to me.”

These experiences not only shaped her past but also shape her future writing career, as both a Thought Catalog blogger and freelance writer. “Right now I’m taking a step back and trying to learn a few new tricks and fine-tune things,” Georgopulos says. “My goal is just to get better. I have no intention of stopping.”

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FOLKS

FOLKS

ROLLING WITH THE PUNCHLINES

For Amy Rhodes, improv is more than a comedy style—it’s a lifestyle, too.

WORDS JEFF NELSON PHOTO COURTESY OF AMY RHODES The assignment: begin conversations with strangers using only song lyrics. The scene: a California Costco, where unassuming shoppers paw through books, buttonups, and pleated khakis. Enter: Amy Rhodes. She approaches a man, pleading, “I just met you. I know this is crazy. But here’s my number. Call me maybe?”

“I don’t speak English,” he answers. Then his girlfriend shows up: “What is it?”

Rhodes high-tails it out of there, managing a quick, “No, I’m good—nothing,” before her escape.

With deadpan delivery, quick wit, and onthe-spot timing, it’s no wonder Rhodes made it in comedy. And when it comes to career planning in a competitive industry, her strategy is as improvised as her sketches. “Whatever’s going to happen will happen,” says Rhodes, a writer and producer on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which featured the Costco prank. This roll-with-the-punchlines disposition has served her well. Don’t mistake it for apathy or luck, though—this writer knows what she’s doing.

Rhodes grew up in West Des Moines and attended Valley High School, where she performed in an improv club and got her first taste of comedy. “It was clear from the skits she came up with that she had a natural inclination for comedy,” says Ryan Berg, a writer, former New York Foundation of the Arts Fellow in Nonfiction Literature, and long-time high school friend of Rhodes. “But she’d also

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produce really maudlin, overly wrought skits, like one about a mother mourning the loss of her son, a casualty of war. Not funny at all, I know—but she set it to a George Michael ballad.”

Fast forward to 1997: Rhodes graduates college and moves to New York to pursue her passion at Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, Amy Poehler’s stomping grounds. Between temping and teaching improv, she made enough to get by before striking comedy gold when she sold a pilot to the Oxygen network and moved to Los Angeles.

In L.A., Rhodes took over as content director of Funny or Die after the website’s founders—Will Ferrell and former Saturday Night Live lead writer Adam McKay— discovered her at the L.A. branch of UCB. When she started, Rhodes was working with hotshots like Judd Apatow and James Franco.

“Those guys taught me so much,” she says.

“I worked really closely with Adam, who ran SNL, and I got to see how his brain works and how fearless he is as a writer.” But after two years, Rhodes’s responsibilities shifted to more managerial tasks, and it was time to move on to a little daytime program called The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Since joining the Ellen staff four years ago, Rhodes, 38, does it all: writing monologues, producing content, and

performing in on-camera segments. And she couldn’t be happier.

She’s not complacent, though—Rhodes’s four Emmys didn’t just fall into her lap. “Amy’s success is a direct result of her extraordinary work ethic, her focused ambition, her incredible talent, and the fact that she’s fucking hilarious,” says writer Eric Pliner, with whom Rhodes created Spooky Dog and the Teen-Age Gang Mysteries, a Saturday morning cartoon parody.

“She loves to make people laugh, and she works very hard to make what she does look easy.”

She’s still working her ass off to achieve her next goal: write, direct, and act in her own sitcom, like her girl-crush Lena Dunham.

“With the performing I’ve done on the show, I’ve really started to enjoy it,” she says. “I haven’t done it in such a long time, and now that I’m getting back into it, I really like it.”

As for how she’ll get there, she still isn’t sure, but her affinity for improvisation—both in the workplace and in life—will get her where she wants to be. “You just have to work really hard: Write. Write a lot. Write all the time,” Rhodes says. “I’m not trying to make money. I just want to do the stuff I like.”

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WORDS KRISTIN DOHERTY PHOTOS BEN CURTIS ILLUSTRATION ELYSSA YESNES

LEAN, MEAN EATING MACHINES A hot dog is more than a meal for competitive eaters–it’s a serious sport.

Scarfing down 44 chicken wings in three minutes doesn’t even faze Joe Scrofani. He devours wing after wing, barely pausing between bites. The crowd chanting his name and the competitors chowing down beside him aren’t distractions. “The Italian Stallion,” as he’s called in the competitive eating world, is thinking only about wings. The buzzer sounds.

The 22-year-old throws down one last clean bone as the crowd erupts in cheers. It’s a landslide victory—Scrofani wins by 26 wings.

A smile emerges through a beard of barbecue sauce, and his orange-glazed hands rise up in triumph. This is a typical scene for a competitive eater: mounds of food, cheering crowds, and a full belly. But it’s not all fun and games—there’s serious training and strategy involved, too. “Competitive eating is a sport, and the participants are most certainly athletes,” says Todd Greenwald, chairman of The National Collegiate Competitive Eating Association. “I always reference my friends Merriam and Webster who have made it very clear that competitive eating is indeed a sport.”

THE PREPARATION Training for any competition begins long before the day of. “Competitive eaters train their bodies beyond what a normal human is capable of consuming to compete at the level they do,” says Matt Stonie, a competitive eater from San Jose, Calif. “I’ve trained my throat to swallow large chunks of food constantly, my jaw to not tire for the duration of a contest, and my stomach and abdominal cavity to accommodate five times what an average human can hold.”

But that doesn’t mean competitors binge all the time. In fact, they maintain particularly 30 | DRAKE MAGAZINE | SPRING 2013

healthy lifestyles. “The top eaters in the world are thin—none of them are overweight,” says Tom Cortina, a competitive eater and Chicago native. Stonie, 20, who’s ranked No. 5 in the world by Major League Eating, weighs in at only 120 pounds.

To stay in the eating game, competitors exercise regularly. Scrofani, a first-year law student at Syracuse University, lifts weights five times a week and eats balanced meals; Cortina jogs at least six miles a day. Both credit their stomach capacity to weight loss, too. “When I started eating competitively in high school, I was 290 pounds and played football, so I was always bulking,” Scrofani says. “After my freshman year of college, I lost 100 pounds and tried to live a healthier lifestyle. But my stomach was still able to hold the capacity it did before.” Cortina, 26, also noticed he could eat more after dropping 35 pounds.

Eaters take special steps in the days leading up to a competition—especially when they have to fit excessive amounts in their stomach.

“Two days before a competition, I’ll eat a lot of food—mainly what I’ll be eating in competition and a lot of milk,” Scrofani says.

This gives him a taste of what he’s getting into.

Most eaters fill up on a big meal 18 to 22 hours before the contest. Competitive eater Randy Santel’s blog suggests picking foods high in fiber but low in calories—such as cabbage and

watermelon—to expand and relax the stomach muscles so they’ll be more energized to take in a lot of food later. Plus, high-fiber foods are easily digestible, so the digestive system will— ahem—“clear out” before the contest.

After all that, fasting for a day might seem like the intuitive answer for competition preparation. But starvation shrinks the stomach, and eaters want to stretch it to its maximum capacity. Drinking lots of water will do the trick—some competitors drink up to a gallon throughout the day before a contest. The strategy is similar on the big day: Competitors don’t forgo food entirely.

Instead, they eat small snacks to avoid stomach shrinkage.

plate of hot dogs, wings, pizza, or any other food imaginable is placed in front of the eaters. Then it’s all mind over matter. “You have to mentally prepare for it,” Cortina says. “You have to block out everything—just eat and not think. Your mind is going to try to tell you to stop, and you’re going to want to throw up.

But you have to fight it and keep eating.”

Like many other eaters, Scrofani’s concentration strategy is his headphones: “I can’t do a competition unless I have my

earbuds in, playing my signature Italian techno.”

Then the most difficult part of the day—the eating—begins.

“The first couple minutes are always the best. That’s when you can enjoy the food at least a little,” Scrofani says. “It’s the only time I taste what I’m eating.” But Cortina says taste can also play a big role in his success. “It’s hard to block out certain tastes. I hate mayonnaise—I just find it disgusting. I once entered a chicken salad sandwich-eating contest, and that was my first time ever trying a chicken salad sandwich. I got last place because I just couldn’t stand the taste.” Stonie says that competitive eaters don’t take up the sport to enjoy food but agrees that bad flavor can spoil a contest. For him, the hardest foods are those with a little spice.

Perhaps more important than taste, though, is the food’s composition and texture. Scrofani thinks protein-based foods—

THE COMPETITION Not all competitions are created equally. There are three different types of eating feats to consider. First, there’s the food challenge, à la Man vs. Food: In this personal challenge, one eater is presented with a giant plate of food to finish within a time limit—just like the Adam Emmenecker challenge at Jethro’s BBQ in Des Moines. Then, there’s the speed competition, where several contestants race to finish a plate first. And finally, there’s the capacity race, which challenges competitors to eat as much food as possible in a set amount of time.

The real challenge begins when the heaping DRAKEMAGAZINE.COM | DRAKE MAGAZINE | 31

CHIPMUNKING: An end-ofcompetition strategy when eaters fill their mouth with food to increase the total count.

STOMACH TRAINING: Eating large amounts of cabbage, watermelon, or water to stretch the stomach.

JOE SCROFANI

DUNKING: When eaters dunk food in water or another liquid to make it softer and easier to chew and swallow.

PICNIC STYLE RULES: A competition that follows these rules does not allow dunking.

SOLOMON TECHNIQUE: Breaking a hot dog in half to fit the entire thing into the mouth at once.

HDB: An abbreviation for “hot dogs and buns,” usually used as a unit of measurement for each hot dog and bun eaten in competition.

FAT BELT THEORY: The idea that excess body fat is a disadvantage because it limits the stomach’s flexibility.

ROMAN INCIDENT: Simply put, throwing up.

TABLE-ENDER: A competitor who won’t likely win and usually sits at the end of a table.

32 | DRAKE MAGAZINE | SPRING 2013

such as chicken wings, burgers, or hot dogs—go down easiest. Another factor is what comes with the food. Eating a stack of pancakes with syrup, for example, will be a lot easier than eating dry flapjacks.

THE AFTERMATH “Imagine Thanksgiving dinner, thrice over, in 10 minutes.” That’s how Stonie describes the post-competition feeling. “I feel like a walking water balloon from the water retention and the salt.”

What goes in must come out. For a speed-eating contest of, say, 20 chicken wings, that’s no big deal. But after eating as many hot dogs as possible, it’s not enjoyable. “Once I went to California for a hot dogeating contest. My flight was right after the contest. I had eaten 19 hot dogs, which put me in fourth place, so I didn’t even get a prize,” says Cortina. “The hot dogs were sitting in my stomach, and I had to sit in the middle of the plane. I was uncomfortable the whole time. I had to go to the bathroom three or four times, so, needless to say, the people next to me were pretty annoyed.”

But discomfort is worth it for the most important part of any competition: the awards. With many prizes up to $5,000, it’s no surprise that cash is a driving factor for many eaters. In fact, Stonie has made so much from his eating feats that he considers competitive eating a part-time job. But even a few hundred extra dollars is worth it for skilled eaters. For Scrofani, it’s not as much about the money as it is for his love of food and the thrill of the sport. “It definitely makes for a great

icebreaker,” he says. “I can’t tell you how many times I bring it up to people and they’re just shocked.”

Besides the disgusting digestion, competitive eaters luckily don’t face many other health problems. Stonie, who’s studying nutritional sciences at Mission College in Santa Clara, Calif., says there may be some short-term dangers. “You offset your body’s balance, like in glucose levels, potassium levels, or dehydration,” he says. “Fortunately, the body is smart and has lots of ways to prevent this, such as slowed digestion.”

As for the long term? It’s hard to say—there aren’t any scientific studies on record to show negative side effects. But the American Journal of Roentgenology predicted one potential health concern: There’s a risk that a competitive eater’s over-dilated stomach won’t shrink back to its original size, making it impossible to digest solid foods. According to the study, if this happens, long-term competitive eaters could develop persistent nausea and vomiting—requiring serious surgery to relieve

symptoms and restore their eating abilities.

Even after studying dietetics, Stonie takes the health concerns with a grain of salt.

“The truth is that all competitive sports have a long-term health impact on the athletes because the nature of any sport is to push your body to its limits,” he says.

“The important part is to understand what you’re doing and take necessary measures to lower any potential risks for the future.”

Regardless of the risks, Stonie has some big goals for the future: “Short-term, my goal is to be one of the the top three eaters in the world, win a reputable contest, and place second at the Nathan’s Famous July 4 International Hot Dog-Eating Contest,” he says. “Long-term I have one goal: to be the best. I plan to continue competitive eating until I feel I’ve put forth all I have and am satisfied with what I’ve accomplished.”

TOM CORTINA

MATT STONIE

DRAKEMAGAZINE.COM | DRAKE MAGAZINE | 33 **Photos courtesy of Joe Scrofani, Tom Cortina, and Matt Stonie.

FASHION

FASHION

ETSY IN DES MOINES

BEAN AND THE SPROUT Vintage accessories

WORDS LAUREN KASSIEN PHOTOS COURTESY OF VENDORS

Check in with 5 local Etsy artisans.

ERiaDESIGNS Hand-stamped jewelry

ERiaDESIGNS

ERiaDESIGNS

ERiaDesigns specializes in creating accessories up-cycled or repurposed from vintage materials, making jewelry ranging from sterling silver guitar picks and custom charms to gemstone earrings. Owner Elane Axmear stamps all items herself, personalizing the jewelry for each shopper. “My style runs the spectrum from trendy to minimalist,” she says.

“My custom creations match the customer’s style.” Each order is shipped in a brushed silver tin, making these treasures perfect for giftgiving. eriadesigns.etsy.com

JOLIEBYRD Hair accessories Flower child meets modern at JolieByrd, which specializes in hair accessories perfect for finishing the ultimate hippie look. “A lot of what I make has a bohemian feel to it,” says owner Jolie Alaniz. “There’s a freshness to my items, whether it’s a pop of color or some fun polka dots.” Shoppers can choose from a variety of pieces, including colorful feather pins and ’60s-inspired floral headbands. joliebyrd.etsy.com

ERiaDESIGNS 34 | DRAKE MAGAZINE | SPRING 2013

BEAN AND THE SPROUT

Elegance is made simple at Bean and the Sprout. Dated fabrics make up the accessories found at this Etsy boutique.

Owner Christine Hilbert crafts each item by hand, whether it be a headband or rose-shaped bracelet. “Because each piece is one-of-a-kind and created from vintage materials, they each have a story,” she says. Hilbert designs her accessories to complement any outfit, whether it’s a T-shirt or a bridal gown. beanandthesprout.etsy.com

LEAH HOFFMAN JEWELRY Wire jewelry

BEAN AND THE SPROUT

BEAN AND THE SPROUT

MARIGOLD VINTAGE WEAR

MARIGOLD VINTAGE WEAR

Broken nails and pricked fingers lie behind Leah Hoffman’s creations. Her shop, Leah Hoffman Jewelry, sells handmade pieces constructed from bent wire. Hoffman crafts her jewelry using an ancient chain-making technique. “I weave thin pieces of copper wire around a stick and pull it tight to make Viking knit bracelets and necklaces,” she says. Her attention to detail results in pieces that feature semiprecious stones surrounded by an intricate swirl of copper and silver wire. leahhoffmanjewelry.etsy.com

MARIGOLD VINTAGE WEAR Vintage women’s clothing As past trends cycle back into style, Marigold Vintage Wear offers clothing that channels fashionistas throughout the ages.

“Each item is vintage,” says owner Jennifer Saprio. “I follow the fashion trends each season and work hard to find older looks that are in style.” Be sure to check out her authentic Oscar de la Renta pieces and vintage floral-print dresses. marigoldvintagewear.etsy.com

For more of our favorite Midwest-based Etsy vendors, head to drakemagazine.com/2013/4/etsy.

DRAKEMAGAZINE.COM | DRAKE MAGAZINE | 35

FASHION

FASHION

WARDROBE STAPLES FOR EVERY GUY’S CLOSET

BEYOND THE LABEL These three blogs revamp wardrobes and stereotypes.

WORDS LINLEY SANDERS PHOTOS COURTESY OF SONIA ORAM, TIFFANY TUCKER, AND ANTHONY URBANO

FAT SHOPAHOLIC

Blackjove’s business is to boost men’s personal style—and confidence. Stylists Carrie Erickson and Leah McMullen own this Minneapolis-based fashion consulting company, and their strategy is simple: Get to know a guy over a beer, then create a personalized wardrobe that matches his lifestyle and personality. Guys, upgrade your closet with these quick fixes from Blackjove.

Behind this blog’s bold title is Tiffany Tucker, the flamboyant founder of the plus-size style guide. She prides herself on experimenting with all types of fashion while owning her shape—confidently rocking clothing sizes 24 to 32. “I just wear what I want,” she says. “I love bold colors and prints. I used to spend so much time trying to be invisible that now I want to stand out.”

On her blog, Tucker discusses being bullied for her weight as a child. She says she had poor body image in high school but later began experimenting with her personal style. Her advice to others looking to embrace their body type? Try a new style—but bring backup clothes just in case. “You can take baby steps,” she says.

“It’s just the point that you got out there, that you made the effort and tried.”

Some may find Tucker’s blog title insulting, but she brushes it off. “People shouldn’t let the word ‘fat’ carry enough weight to hurt them,” she says. “Just let ‘fat’ be what it is: a description.” To her, confidence is the key to any look—no matter a person’s size. “Not having confidence makes you susceptible to society’s shitty standards for body image and clothes,” Tucker says. “Confidence is the road to the happiness we all deserve.”

THE BASIC TEE

CLOSET FREAKS

Go back to basics—buy a new tee. Blackjove recommends keeping it simple with Hanes white T-shirts. “A tee is super manly, super sexy, and brainless,” Erickson says. “Women are looking at your shoes, your pants, and your butt. We’re not looking at your shirt, so if that’s your focus, you’re missing the boat every time.”

“For guys who are really lost, we buy them a black sweater every single time,” Erickson says. “You can’t mess it up.”

The type of sweater depends on a guy’s personal style. Play it safe with a crewneck, or spruce it up with a V-neck or cardigan. Pair the sweater with nice jeans for an outfit that’s appropriate for almost any occasion.

Boyfriends Anthony Urbano and Dustin Tyler Moore blog about their life as a couple sharing one wardrobe.

After moving in together, the two discovered they wear the same clothing and shoe size. One night, they sorted through their closet and put outfits together—shortly after, Closet Freaks was born.

“We found that we had more combined options than we thought,” Urbano says. “As we picked out different outfits, I started taking pictures of each look. We wanted to have a place to store the pictures that we could both see, so we started a Tumblr account and posted them there.”

When it comes to the blog, Urbano styles and writes while Tyler Moore models. They highlight both sides of their styles on Closet Freaks—from preppy and tailored to urban street style. The blog is a full-time job: Between attending New York Fashion Week shows each season, styling photo shoots, and working with fashion designers, the duo is always busy.

While the two enjoy helping others discover fashion, they don’t pretend to be experts. “We definitely experiment, make some mistakes, and maybe even wear or say things that people don’t agree with,” Urbano says. “But that’s why we’re down-to-earth about it all. We’ll offer advice when asked, but it’s just that—advice.”

DARK, STRAIGHT-LEG JEANS

QWEAR

Choose jeans with minimal details—no extra stitching or accents on the pockets. And pay extra attention to the fit.

“The problem is the guy bought the wrong size four years ago, then he kept buying it,” McMullen says. “It’s OK for fabric to touch your legs.”

Toss out the flannel shirt stereotype: This lesbian fashion blog goes beyond those labels. Founder Sonia Oram combats the idea that the lesbian and queer community can’t look stylish and proves that those wardrobes can consist of more than biker jackets and combat boots.

Oram launched her blog because she didn’t identify with the typical woman’s wardrobe. She sported stylish menswear and launched the site to display her outfits. “I didn’t know many gender non-conforming people whose styles I really admired, so it felt rather revolutionary,” Oram says. “I wanted my blog to be empowering for myself and others in my position to share how we found clothes that fit well.”

Qwear showcases looks worn by Oram, her friends, and LGBT icons such as Ellen DeGeneres. The clothes vary, but there’s a strong mix of traditional menswear—like button-ups and ties—and more femme styles, like vintage dresses. While geared toward the queer community, the blog is non-exclusive: Oram welcomes anyone who’s into androgynous fashion. Ultimately, Qwear is there to inspire—and prove that there’s more to queer style than lumberjack.

WORDS RACHEL WARD PHOTOS BEN CURTIS

BLACK SWEATER

THE CLASSIC SHOE WITH A TWIST Erickson and McMullen love Greenwich Vintage, a Minnesota-based company that takes old-school shoes— think Oxfords and loafers—and adds a new hue to the bottoms. “A colored sole makes you look like you kind of know what you’re doing, even if you don’t,” Erickson says.

36 | DRAKE MAGAZINE | SPRING 2013

DRAKEMAGAZINE.COM | DRAKE MAGAZINE | 37

This season, experiment with bold colors and eye-catching designs.

A neon pattern—on a tailored pant or cute shift dress—is fresh without being overwhelming.

Purple pants ($86), by Under Skies, from Aimée; blouse by Mint ($39), from Mint L.A. Lime green dress ($190), by Derby, from Aimée

styling Emily Tozer | photography Ben Curtis | Models Rose Gillen, Ricardo Isais & Jenni Velez | Hair Lindsay Trappen | Makeup Alida Trocke-Fowler

THE NEW NEUTRAL Cinch a printed dress with a skinny animal print belt—they’re considered a new neutral.

Printed pants with a blazer of the same colors is a fashionable alternative to a suit.

Brown patterned dress ($350),

by Phillip Lim, from Velvet Coat Blazer ($795), by Rag & Bone, from Velvet Coat; pants ($350),

by Rag & Bone, from Velvet Coat; shoes ($79), by Jessica Simpson, from Von Maur

INSHAPE opposite

Stand out this spring in a black and white patterned top. A blush skirt softens the look.

Jacket ($130), by Cameo, from Aimée; textured skirt ($125),

by Cameo, from Aimée.

off

balance

tie it together A classic houndstooth print injected with color feels modern. The texture of a woven tie subtly complements the look.

Dress shirt ($255), by Eton; tie ($65), by Italo Feretti; from Badowers

Florals for spring? How original.

Go for interesting cuts and fits— like this asymmetrical skirt— for an updated look.

Layered floral skirt ($450), by Phillip Lim, from Velvet Coat; raspberry tank ($250), by Phillip Lim, from Velvet Coat; heels ($79)

by BCBGeneration, from Von Maur; peter pan necklace ($25),

by Mint L.A., from Mint L.A.

Full

bloom

42 | DRAKE MAGAZINE | SPRING 2013

For a behind-the-scenes video, check out drakemagazine.com/2013/4/springfashion/

IN FULL

BLOOM Don’t be afraid to go bold with color, too. And if you’re not the most adventurous with your style, work a little pattern into an accessory like a bow tie.

Floral skirt ($92), by GRACIA, from Aimée; blouse ($39), by Mint, from Mint LA; jeweled cuff ($21), by Mint L.A., from Mint L.A. Colored chinos ($199), by Mac; Oxford ($124), by Apolis; bow tie ($105), by Edward Armah; from Badowers

index AIMÉE 426 E. Locust St. Des Moines, IA 50309 515.243.0045 aimeestyle.com BADOWERS 2817 Ingersoll Ave. Des Moines, IA 50312 515.283.2121 badowers.com MINT L.A. 5515 Mills Civic Pkwy West Des Moines, IA 50266 949.836.5598 shopmintla.com VELVET COAT 500 E. Locust St. Des Moines, IA 50309 515.244.6308 shopvelvetcoat.com

QUICKIES

Three ways to play it safe in the sack.

WORDS DRAKEMAG STAFF

ORIGAMI While not quite as intricate as paper cranes, California manufacturer Origami’s distinctive design seeks to make condoms more functional—and sexy. They may look weird, but these folded silicone condoms claim to be more flexible and effective at blocking viruses than latex. The ribbed rubbers are internally lubricated, maximizing pleasure for both partners. These condoms are currently in clinical testing and will be submitted to the FDA in 2014. Learn more about them at origamicondoms.com.

DISSOLVING A recent development from the University of Washington looks to revolutionize contraception. Their creation: the dissolving condom, aka the “hypercondom.” These female condoms are made from tiny electro-fibers that do things traditional latex can’t—like release contraceptives and anti-viral chemicals into the wearer’s bloodstream to prevent pregnancy and STIs. The condom’s fibers dissolve in the body, so removal is unnecessary. Keep an eye out for this innovative contraceptive to hit the family planning aisle soon. Learn more at youtube.com/watch?v=hFaZXIpcBwc. CONDOMETRIC Face it—sometimes size matters. And Condometric has the answer to those who wonder how their partner measures up in the sack. These prophylactics feature printed rulers that accurately measure the length of the wearer’s manhood.

Condometrics are available in four flavors, standard and metric measurements, and in packs of three, six, and 12. Order online at curiosite.com/condometric/ enindex.html.

INTERVIEWED BY LINDSAY DRESSEN PHOTO COURTESY OF RACHEL KRAMER BUSSEL

FEMME

FATALE

Q&A with erotica author Rachel Kramer Bussel.

Rachel Kramer Bussel, a New York erotica author and editor, started writing sexy stories after law school. But this casual hobby turned into a successful career—her work has appeared in publications ranging from Playgirl to New York Post. Kramer Bussel told DrakeMag what it’s like writing to help readers get off.

DRAKEMAG: Why did you start writing

news, the Internet, random images, clothing items, sex toys, or locations. I get a lot of ideas when I’m walking around, not necessarily trying to come up with anything. The best ones seem to find me.

erotic fiction?

RACHEL KRAMER BUSSEL: I stumbled

DM: Is there a certain man or woman you

into erotica after reading a lot of it in school.

I’d never written fiction—and still haven’t outside of erotica—but the more I’d read, the more I wanted to try it. Around 1999, I submitted a story—“Monica and Me,” about Monica Lewinsky—and it got published in an anthology. Selling that first story inspired me to keep writing.

have in mind when you write?

RKB: No—the opposite, in fact. If I start to think about who might read my work, I clam up and find it very hard to write. I deliberately force myself not to think about anything but the story I’m writing so I can be true to the story. I also try not to think about what people might think after I’ve published something because I know I’ll never be able to please every reader.

DM: Do you consider yourself a sexual person, or is your writing where you express your sexual desires?

RKB: I consider myself a sexual person, but that manifests in different ways. I’ve found that writing about sexuality—in fiction and nonfiction forms—helps me understand it better. It often depends on the day and my mood: Sometimes I’m very sexual, and sometimes I’m more about sitting around in my sweatpants watching game shows.

DM: What inspires your writing?

RKB: I have lots of inspiration—from friends to partners to past relationships, as well as the

DM: Do you consider yourself a feminist?

RKB: Yes, and I have for as long as I can remember. My idea of feminism and what it means to me has changed over time, but it has definitely informed my work and my belief that I could do anything I wanted to. I don’t know if that means my erotica could be classified as “feminist erotica.” I do try to make sure the work I write and publish is respectful of women and other genders and that there’s consent and a level of emotional authenticity in my work. I consider that part of my feminism.

DRAKEMAGAZINE.COM | DRAKE MAGAZINE | 45

QUICKIES

QUICKIES

VAGINA IN PANIC

For women with vaginismus, sex can be a nightmare.

WORDS BRIANNA SHAWHAN PHOTO BEN CURTIS

Danielle Sato has no idea what good sex feels like. For her, sex is always painful. “It’s hard to fathom that when you have sex it could possibly hurt,” Sato says. “We’re kind of conditioned to believe that once it’s in, it’s supposed to feel good.” Her pain is caused by vaginismus, a disorder that makes sex painful—sometimes even impossible—no matter how much you want to get it on.

According to the Mayo Clinic, vaginismus is caused by involuntary spasms of the vaginal muscles that makes penetration painful. If intercourse is possible, it can feel like painful burning or stinging. Sometimes penetration isn’t possible at all—then, the vagina may feel like it’s completely closed off. This sometimes prevents a woman from even using tampons.

LIVING WITH VAGINISMUS Roughly two in 1,000 women are medically diagnosed with vaginismus, according to vaginismus.com. Sato, a 21-year-old from Oahu, Hawaii, is one of them. “I first noticed it when I lost my virginity,” Sato says. “I was 19.

Up until then, I had minimal problems with tampons. My case is a little weird—I only have a hard time inserting my boyfriend’s penis.”

There isn’t one specific cause of vaginismus. Any number of things can trigger it, such as fear of intercourse, performance anxiety, emotional or sexual abuse, believing that sex is immoral or impure, or medical conditions including urinary tract infections, endometriosis, and cancer.

Sato attributes her vaginismus to poor sex education, which caused her to develop a fear of intercourse. “When I asked my mom about sex, I was like, ‘Mom, does it hurt?’ and she was like, ‘Of course it hurts—it’s the first time!’”

Sato says. “My parents are very traditional. They never really talked to me about this kind of stuff, so I went in expecting it would be painful.”

Living with vaginismus makes dating difficult. While some women are able to carry on successful physical relationships without having penetrative sex, many others lose their significant others or avoid dating altogether. Sato has only been with one man since discovering her condition. They’ve dated about two years and have been trying to work through the pain. “When I found out about my vaginismus, it was kind of devastating,” Sato says. “My boyfriend and I hadn’t had sex for over seven or eight months. That’s when I got depressed. I just couldn’t keep forcing myself to have sex with him. For a while, I was in denial, and I just

46 | DRAKE MAGAZINE | SPRING 2013

wanted to keep up our relationship. He told me it doesn’t really matter, but sometimes I feel bad.”

DIAGNOSIS & TREATMENT Vaginismus is a generally ignored disorder.

There is no definite way to medically test for it, which often leads to misdiagnoses by medical professionals—some as ridiculous as attributing its cause to a too-small vagina. Because the pain often occurs just during intercourse, doctors can’t always find anything physically wrong during an exam, and brush off the problem. Sato’s doctor told her to use lube and try different positions—both of which seldom help women with the disorder. “My doctor told me I had no hymen left, so there was nothing physically impeding attempts at penetration,” Sato says. “Nothing changed, and I got depressed because she kept giving me the same advice.”

Once vaginismus is identified, there aren’t many places for women to seek treatment. But the clinics that do exist make it their mission to cure every woman they diagnose. The Women’s Therapy Center in Plainview, N.Y., has been treating vaginismus and other pain disorders since 1995 and has cured about 1,000 women.

“We treat the disorder with a body and mind approach because we truly believe that vaginismus is the vagina in panic,” social worker Ross Tabisel says. “We offer a two-week program where women who live far away can come and be treated and cured.”

Because vaginismus is commonly caused by fear and anxiety, seeing a sex therapist has also proved useful for many women.

Self-help kits have helped some women, too. To purchase a self-help kit (about $100), visit vaginismus.com. For more information on the Women’s Therapy Center, check out womentc.com.

OTHER CAUSES OF SEXUAL PAIN ENDOMETRIOSIS This disorder occurs when cells from the uterine lining grow in other areas of the abdomen. Painful intercourse is a common symptom, as well as pain in the lower abdomen, pelvis, or back during a woman’s period. Endometriosis’s cause is unknown, but available treatments include medication, exercise, and surgery.

OVARIAN CYSTS AND TUMORS All women have cysts on their ovaries. But if one becomes too large or a tumor forms, sexual pain can occur. Birth control reduces the size of cysts, but some may require surgical removal. Surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation will treat cancerous tumors.

PELVIC INFLAMMATORY DISEASE (PID) PID is an infection of the female reproductive organs, such as the uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries. PID is most often caused by sexually transmitted diseases, such as chlamydia and gonorrhea.

Treatments involve antibiotics or surgery.

DRAKEMAGAZINE.COM | DRAKE MAGAZINE | 47

WORDS MEAGAN FLYNN ILLUSTRATIONS ELYSSA YESNES

Iowa plans to heal its mental healthcare network with a redesign focused on community-based, peer-to-peer services.

Since Chelsea Strangeway was a pre-teen, she knew something was wrong. Once, she locked herself in her parents’ bathroom, screaming because she didn’t understand why— despite the doctors’ prescription medications—her depression wouldn’t pass.

Years later—after countless lousy evaluations, unhelpful medications, and misunderstandings about her condition— Strangeway reached her lowest point. Afraid she would commit suicide, she rushed herself to a physician.

On a scale from 1 to 5: How depressed are you?

5 How much anxiety do you have? 5 How suicidal are you?

5 This was too severe for family doctors to handle. Strangeway received a number for a trusted psychologist and got on the phone. The wait for an appointment? Three months. She tried a different number. By sheer luck, there was a rare cancellation within the week. Without this fluke, Strangeway isn’t sure she would still be alive.

Strangeway is one of millions who have struggled through the mental healthcare system. Nationwide, there’s no consistency among mental healthcare services. A wellfunded system is a rare find. And there

50 | DRAKE MAGAZINE | SPRING 2013

are more needs than there are services to fulfill them. For these reasons, communitybased, peer-to-peer services—in addition to individual therapy—are becoming essential options for the mentally ill. Iowa has a plan in place to make these services available. But it isn’t quite complete.

THE REDESIGN PROBLEM The National Alliance on Mental Health defines mental illnesses as “medical conditions that disrupt a person’s thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others, and daily functioning”—this can be anything from ADHD to schizophrenia. An estimated 26.2 percent of American adults have a diagnosable mental illness, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. That’s

“There’s not enough money to fund the mental healthcare services that are out there. There’s just not enough to go around.” Jen Haze

over 57.7 million people.

In Iowa, six percent of its 3 million residents have a severe mental illness—that’s 180,000 people. And Iowa ranks 47th in the nation in psychiatrists per resident. As of 2012, 88 of Iowa’s 99 counties were considered mental health professional shortage areas. “There aren’t enough providers providing services,” says Jen Haze, a team leader for family peer support at Visiting Nurses of Iowa. “There isn’t enough money to fund the services that are out there. There’s just not enough to go around.” The lack of personnel—such as psychologists, psychiatrists, and other therapists—creates problems for those who urgently need attention.

When insurance is added to the equation,

the mental healthcare realm becomes a mess. Strangeway’s experience navigating the system was never simple and was only exacerbated each time she switched doctors, medications, or insurance providers. Her insurance limited her therapy time, and she ran out of visits midway through the year.

Without the insurance, one visit could cost as much as $500 per hour. Apart from her understanding husband, Strangeway dealt with problems like this mostly alone. To add to the stress, she felt judged when she applied for disability benefits, when she lost her job, and when her friendships fizzled.

She was missing a sense of community.

“Community-based services could definitely benefit people with mental illnesses by letting them know they have

support throughout the community,” says Strangeway, 24. “I have a feeling that people with mental illness would probably use community services because they would be lower cost or free.”

IN THE WORKS “A life in the community for everyone” is the tagline for Iowa’s new system. Its mental healthcare redesign is supposed to be the key to providing community-based services statewide.

Because of Iowa’s shortage in psychiatrists and therapeutic care, the state’s redesign focuses on offering community-based, peer-to-peer services to keep mentally ill individuals connected to their community.

This should relieve Iowa’s reliance on

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RESOURCES Help Finding a Therapist 1-800-THERAPIST (1.800.843.7274) Suicide & Crisis Hotline 1.800.999.9999 National Alliance on Mental Illness Iowa Affiliate: 515.254.0417

institution-like services—which are significantly more expensive. Unlike the old system—which was fragmented based on discrepancies among the 99 counties—these peer services are now becoming more cohesive statewide.

Visiting Nurses of Iowa is one organization that already provides these types of services. Volunteers like Jen Haze are trained to guide clients through the complex system and help them make decisions. The difference between peer volunteers and a more expensive therapist? The volunteers have lived it—Haze is raising an autistic son, so she’s experienced the ins and outs of the healthcare system. Peer service providers can relate to their clients through their own diagnoses or, like Haze, having mentally ill friends or family members.

The Visiting Nurses volunteers might meet clients in a coffee shop to catch up one-on-one. They might go over to the client’s home to have lunch with their family. It depends on the individual’s needs. Haze and her colleagues are on-call at all times—so if an urgent situation arises, there will always be someone there to listen.

If Strangeway had access to similar services at her lowest point, she might have received proper attention immediately rather than struggling to set up an appointment with yet another new doctor. “There’s an agreement in Iowa that family peer support should be considered a core service,” says David Klinkenborg, Visiting Nurses mental health manager. “There’s wisdom in the redesignof the system. There’s something special about having

patients speak with other patients.”

Klinkenborg hopes the redesign will eventually change Iowa’s confusing mental healthcare system that has led so many mentally ill individuals astray. But because there’s a lack of funding, these great ideas—which are already supposed to be in practice—may never be fully implemented.

“While counties are responsible for administering the services, the state ultimately dictates how much money we have. They’ve done a pretty lousy job of funds keeping up with needs,” says Lynn Ferrell, executive director of Polk County Health Services. “The redesign was supposed to improve things. But so far, none of the funding that was promised is in the works.”

A report from California Senator Darrell Steinberg advocating for increased mental healthcare funding notes that from 2009 to 2012, states have cut a total of $4.35 billion in mental healthcare spending.

“The mental healthcare system has been dramatically underfunded,” says Julio Abreu,

In Iowa, six percent of its 3 million residents have a severe mental illness—that’s 180,000 people. And Iowa ranks 47th in the nation in psychiatrists per resident.

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Mental Health America’s senior director of public policy and advocacy, who’s lobbying in Washington, D.C., for a nationwide mental healthcare system. “We’ve never made the investment in community mental health.

It’s an empty promise.”

This is even a problem on college campuses. Buffy Jamison, a 22-year-old student at Iowa State University, has felt the same sentiments about the missing sense of community. When she was 10, Jamison was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, ADHD, ADD, and OCD. Since then, she’s seen over 30 doctors. But finding people who can relate to her has never been easy.

In her experience, mental health care providers have been accommodating for individual patients. But with so much focus on individuals, it leaves little time to focus on community building for those with mental illnesses, Jamison says.

“On my campus, they don’t have the manpower or the money to do anything like that,” she says. “There isn’t a sense of community for people with mental illnesses. These types of programs would help a lot.”

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE Funding is imminent, and Iowa’s new mental health construction could be the key for people who are lost in the system.

“Iowa has some work to do,” Klinkenborg says. “We’re a little behind when it comes to a more integrated, systematic approach to fixing mental healthcare.

The hope is that the redesign will address that and make some changes. We’re certainly not leading the pack, but we’re not at the bottom of the barrel, either.”

Once the resources match up with needs, Jamison is hopeful for a new sense of community. She has seen plenty of activism from her peers, mentally ill or not. But she says it will mean much more if people from the mental illness community find a way to unite and speak up.

“The more you’re around your peers, the more you can change things,” Jamison says. “If there’s actually an opportunity for people to get together in the community, raise their voices, and say, ‘This needs to change,’ that will have an impact.”

Iowa Respite & Crisis Care Coalition 515.309.0858 | www.irccc.com Provides referrals, advocacy, information and limited funding for respite/crisis care services.

Anxiety Disorders Association of America 240-485-1001 | adaa.org Provides information on anxiety disorders and treatment.

Mental Health Recovery & WRAP 802.254.2092 | mentalhealthrecovery.com Assists in creating a recovery action plan Hope for Mental Health Recovery recovery4all.com This website has been developed and is maintained for the sole purpose of putting those with mental illnesses in touch with materials that will help them in their recovery.

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WORDS PAIGE ZIDEK PHOTOS BEN CURTIS

Digital deception has gained attention in the mainstream media, but catfishing isn’t as simple as it seems. While they’re busy luring in victims, the catfish themselves are reeled in by the thrill of the catch.

At first glance, Rose Chiauzzi looks like your typical California girl. She enjoys tanning and partying and has dreams of making it big in the entertainment industry. But this beauty has a secret—she has deceived unsuspecting strangers on the Internet.

Chiauzzi, 21, is just one of many who have catfished online. In its simplest terms, catfish are people who trick innocent victims by pretending to be something they’re not—much like a fisherman reeling in his latest catch.

While lying online is nothing new, catfish take the practice to extremes by creating fake online personas and building romantic relationships with unwary people, some lasting for months or even years. Victims don’t know that their lovers aren’t real until they attempt to meet them in person—and they’re shocked by what they find.

It happened to filmmaker Nev Schulman, whose 2010 documentary Catfish chronicles his digital romance with “Megan,” a young photographer and musician who turned out to be a middle-aged housewife. It happened to Manti Te’o, the 22-year-old University of Notre Dame football player whose online

FISH TALES: A HISTORY OF DIGITAL DECEPTION For years, people have used the Internet as a place to escape from reality—or even become someone else. From To Catch a Predator to Manti Te’o, DrakeMag delves into the media’s coverage of catfishing.

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relationship ended when he found out his “girlfriend” was a fake identity created by a man. And it happened to Joe Sumeniski, the gawky farm boy whose online relationship with a former pageant contestant was exposed as fake on the MTV reality show Catfish, in which Chiauzzi starred as the episode’s villain.

With Reuters citing over 40 million users on online dating sites, catfishing has turned from a random occurrence into a trend—and the victims’ embarrassment has moved from behind the computer screen and into the public eye.

TAKING THE BAIT A fisherman’s most important tool is his lure, which must be flashy enough to attract the right type of prey. A catfish’s bait—the online profile—is just as significant, as it’s the main tool to hook victims. And it does: According to Facebook, 83 million of its 955 million worldwide users are actually fakes or dupes.

At first glance, a catfish’s profile is difficult to spot. With the ease of acquiring and manipulating information online, catfish victims sometimes have no idea that they’re

2004: TO CATCH A PREDATOR

Digital deception’s sinister side was first exposed in 2004 with To Catch a Predator. The NBC series used hidden camera investigations to convict men who initiated online relationships with underage children. These early catfish were lured to meet by a decoy to meet in-person—and then told to “have a seat” by host Chris Hansen, who confronted the soon-to-be convicted the perpetrators.

swimming toward a glimmering lure.

Deceivers take precautions to make sure nothing on their page is amiss—especially because frequent Internet scams have taught people to question certain tricks of the trade.

Alison Moran, 53, was one of those skeptics. After receiving a message and random Facebook friend request from a man named Daniel Rivers, she immediately did some sleuthing. “I had been warned about scammers—who have only a few Facebook friends—that were manipulating people. So when I got a random friend request from someone with over 90 friends, there was no red flag,” Moran says.

But she was fooled. Online con artists often inflate their activity and friend count to evade suspicion. Catfish populate their pages with content, such as photos, personal information, and frequent interaction with others. MyLife. com reports that fake accounts have six times more friends and over 100 times more photo tags than real users.

Rivers met such criteria. “There were people posting on his page and pictures of his children. He had enough information that it seemed right. So I clicked ‘Accept’ and thought nothing of it,” Moran says. Over the next few months, Moran and Rivers began a string of serious conversations via Facebook.

But soon, things got fishy: Whenever Moran mentioned at meeting face-to-face in her hometown of Chicago, Rivers became testy.

“He’d say, ‘I won’t be able to. I don’t have time. I can’t be in many places at once,’’’ she says. “I had never known someone who was so serious about not meeting me in person.”

And then, Rivers dropped a bomb: He told Moran that he wanted her to be the mother of his children. “I was shocked.

He had never met me and was saying he wanted to marry me,” Moran says. She asked to meet again, and Rivers said he’d think about it. Two days later, he asked her for money to fund a relative’s operation. When Moran declined, he became

2007: MYSPACE SUICIDES

2010: THE BIRTH OF CATFISH

Before Justin Timberlake bought MySpace and turned it into musical social media, there was Tom, mirror shots, and schools of catfish. While many MySpace deception cases have made local news, none were more memorable than one in 2007.

Megan Meier, 13, committed suicide after being cyber-bullied by a teenage boy named Josh. An FBI investigation uncovered Josh’s true identity: Meier’s middle-aged neighbor, Lori Drew, who created the fake account to find out what Meier thought of her daughter. The case made its way to federal court, where Drew was convicted of violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

persistent, calling her a “bad mother” for her lack of support. Moran had had enough: She blocked Rivers from contacting her on social media and reported his email address—but not before doing more sleuthing. “I Googled him, and none of his information checked out,” she says. “There was no way to tell if he was real.”

Like many other catfish, Rivers deceived his victim by remaining just out of reach. Some accomplish this by creating a fake profession that conveniently requires frequent absence or travel. For Rivers, his “oil consultant” career, ailing grandmother, and distant children kept him away from Moran’s prying eyes. On MTV’s Catfish, Chiauzzi used her friend’s identity—former Miss Teen USA contestant Kari Ann Peniche—to build a mysterious allure. Other times, she’s emulated lesser-known people. “They’re not always famous,” Chiauzzi says. “Kari Ann just happened to be a famous friend of mine.”

A catfish’s bait—the online profile—is just as significant, as it’s the main tool to hook victims. And it does: According to Facebook, 83 million of its 955 million worldwide users are actually fakes or dupes.

Online scammers received a new name with the 2010 documentary Catfish.

Filmmaker Ariel Schulman tells the story of his brother Nev, who built a romantic relationship with a young woman on Facebook—only to find that she was really a married, middle-aged woman.

The film’s title was inspired by a fable— told by the scammer’s husband—which details how seafood suppliers would put catfish in a tank with cod to keep the fish on their toes when the tank was shipped overseas. A new term for digital deception was born.

2012: CATFISH: THE TV SHOW

Following his documentary’s success, Schulman launched Catfish: The TV Show, an MTV docu-drama in which he and his trusty cameraman, Max, perform online sleuthing that rivals the most skilled Facebook creepers. Each episode features different couples and stories but with one common theme: the two have never met in person. Schulman does background checks and research to discover the catfish’s true identity and sets up first-time meetings for the couples. The show is currently in its second season.

2013: MANTI TE’O

Notre Dame football player Manti Te’o became a household name after being involved in an elaborate catfishing scheme that had gone on for years. Te’o, 22, had befriended a woman named Lennay Kekua online and soon fell in love. The two communicated frequently online and on the phone but never met in person. In the fall, Te’o found out that Kekua died of leukemia. Then it got weird. In January, sports blog Deadspin reported that Te’o’s dead girlfriend might have been a hoax. Media outlets pounced on the story, speculating that Te’o himself may have set up the scam. In late January, Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, an acquaintance of Te’o’s, confessed to the catfishing on Dr. Phil. Tuiasosocopo claimed he was in love with the young linebacker. To this day, Te’o claims he was completely unaware that he was duped.

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To Catch A Catfish Many victims of catfishing claim they had no idea that their online lover was fake. But online scams can often easily be prevented.

Follow these tips to avoid being trapped in a catfish’s network of digital deception.

BECOME A DIGITAL STALKER You already creep on your ex’s page several times a day and can recite his Game of Thrones-related statuses verbatim—stalking a catfish is no different. Before accepting a friend request, check out the sender’s profile for personal information, interaction with other site members, and most importantly, mutual friends.

“If you’ve never met an individual in person and friends haven’t met them either, it’s an initial red flag,” says Goal Auzeen Saedi, Ph.D. Use search engines to make sure that the information on a mystery user’s profile is accurate, and to see if pictures exist.

Reverse image search websites like Tineye.com can check if an image was used on other websites, exposing those who use models or avatars as their profile pictures.

WATCH OUT FOR FLATTERY Compliments are always nice, but be mindful if they come from an Internet stranger. Catfish often use flattery to earn victims’ trust. “Don’t respond to just any random person online who says nice things to you,” Alison Moran says. “If someone is beginning a conversation with ‘Oh my god, you’re just so beautiful,’ it’s a flattery for themselves more than anything.”

THINK BEFORE SNAPPING In today’s digital world, nothing says ‘I’m into you’ like a sexy picture or two. But when these requests come from a stranger, think before you snap. “Absolutely do not send sexually explicit pictures to someone you don’t know,” Saedi says. Frequent requests for nudes could be a sign of something more sinister— like posting the images to websites or using them as blackmail.

ASK TO VIDEO CHAT Resources like Skype, Google Hangouts, and oovoo allow Internet users to chat face-to-face from thousands of miles away. But if a digital lover is hesitant to show their face, be cautious—they may not be what they seem. “Whenever something’s a secret, that should be a big warning sign,” Saedi says.

UNDERSTAND PRIVACY POLICIES AND REGULATIONS According to AGBeat, several states have already passed legislation outlawing fake profiles. These regulations have yet to hit the Midwest, but there are still ways for victims to trap catfish.

Social media and dating websites like Facebook and OKCupid consider their terms violated if someone misrepresents an identity—so make sure to report anything fishy. “At the first sign of trouble, run, report, and block,” Moran says.

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Catfish can be entirely random or incredibly selective when choosing their victims. Chiauzzi, a self-declared “master of catfishing,” says there’s definitely strategy involved. “I usually choose someone that I know personally. After years of doing this, I’ve learned that you have to know something about the person you’re catfishing so you can get close to them.” Chiauzzi strings her subjects along for weeks—sometimes months—until they hint at an in-person meeting. Then, it’s on to the next target.

THE THRILL OF THE CATCH When media erupted with reports of Manti Te’o— the Notre Dame football star who was in a fake online romance for two years—onlookers were left with questions. How could two people carry on a long relationship without ever meeting in person? And even more unfathomable: Why would someone spend so much time and energy to keep a fake relationship going?

For Chiauzzi, it began with a desire for revenge.

“I was catfished by someone when I was young,” she says. “I was heartbroken and didn’t know how to deal with it, so I wanted to get even. It ended

“I was catfished by someone when I was young. I was heartbroken and didn’t know how to deal with it, so I wanted to get even.” Rose Chiauzzi up going too far.” Chiauzzi soon fell prey to false relationships that involved constant flattery and no strings. For once, she had the power to decide when things ended and would leave unscathed. Other hoaxers on the MTV show have had similar vendettas, seeking revenge from bullies, exes, and others who have wronged them.

But more serious motives may lurk under this shallow surface. Psychologists claim that catfishing has an even broader cause—one that can be attributed to millennials’ constant online connectivity. “As millennials get busier, they forgo real-life social relationships but still have the desire for connections,” says Goal Auzeen Saedi, Ph.D., and Psychology Today’s “Millennial Media” columnist. “A lot of work takes place on the Internet, so it becomes natural to seek companionship there. It’s a temporary way to keep us from feeling miserable.”

Other motivators may also be linked what Saedi calls the “loneliness epidemic”—like lowered self-esteem, anxiety over sexual orientation, or a need for attention. Saedi cites dissatisfaction with one’s identity as another important cause. “It’s the element of escapism,” she says. “I can go online and create an entirely new identity and image of myself to get people to like me.”

But Saedi believes these feelings are usually fleeting. “At the beginning, you may feel loved, but as it goes on, I imagine that folks still feel empty, like they’ve cheated someone.”

For Chiauzzi, that wasn’t the case. She used her exposure from MTV’s Catfish to further her career in the entertainment industry. Though she stopped catfishing, she still believes that online deception isn’t as serious as the media’s portrayal. “It’s harmless,” she says. “I don’t feel that it’s so bad because anything can happen to you online—whether you’re being catfished or not.”

Saedi disagrees: “The bottom line is that technology can bring so many great things to our lives. But there’s always a flip side. Deception at any point doesn’t produce something positive, and we need to be aware of that.”

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MUSIC

MUSIC

WORDS ERIKA OWEN PHOTOS COURTESY OF BINTA JAMMEH

COHEED & CAMBRIA

MARS VOLTA + THE DEAR HUNTER = COHEED & CAMBRIA The shrill choruses, intense instrumentals, and solos of Coheed & Cambria are easily comparable to Mars Volta: incomprehensible at times but always awesomely unexpected. The Dear Hunter has a similar sticky sweet rock vibe with a touch of fantasy thrown into the lyrics—although no match for C&C’s comic book-inspired sound.

This progressive band rocked the Val Air Ballroom and reminisced on humble beginnings.

It’s hard to imagine a major rock band as a small, unknown group playing a venue that’s littered with more empty beer cans than listeners. But every big act needs an opener—and it’s a place on a timeline that every musician reminisces about. Rock band Coheed & Cambria is no exception.

Coheed & Cambria is a progressive rock quartet and 15-year-old comic book concept band, whose albums detail a sci-fi storyline titled The Armory Wars when listened to in chronological order. After frequent name changes and lineup modifications, bassist Zach Cooper and drummer Josh Eppard still have soft spots in their hearts for their local music haunts—especially The Chance in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. “The first time I played The Chance I was like, ‘I can’t believe I’m playing The Chance, dude. A thousand-seat club?

That’s crazy,’” Cooper says. And by the looks of the showgoers at the band’s gig at the Val Air Ballroom this February, putting butts in 1,000 seats is no longer an issue for Coheed & Cambria. The reformed roller rink venue was filled hip-to-hip.

But playing for smaller crowds was no less fun—in fact, the band welcomed it. “We played with the same bands every weekend, and our friends would come to the shows,” Eppard says. “It wasn’t the best business plan because we were trying to make fans. But really, we were playing for the same crowd every weekend, just in a different town. Playing the same show, the same party, the same everything—but it was so much fun.”

One thing that hasn’t changed about the band is its fans—they’re just as into the music as the regulars the guys played for at their local 60 | DRAKE MAGAZINE | SPRING 2013

haunts years ago. Val Air was filled with rock hands as frontman Claudio Sanchez whipped his infamous, out-of-control hair back and forth while playing new grooves (“Number City”) and old favorites (“A Favor House Atlantic”). The occasional crowd surfers found their way to the front of the mob, where a fellow fan would help them to their feet and make room for them to enjoy the show up-close.

But not every show was as happy-go-lucky as the ones at the Val Air and The Chance. “I remember somebody booked us at this bar that normally didn’t have bands,” Eppard says. “There wasn’t a stage. We showed up and there was no P.A., so we had to figure things out real quick. We got my brother’s vocals coming through a guitar amp or something crazy. The place was pretty packed—we thought it was going to be awesome. By the end of the first song, not one person was left in the place. They all went to a bar across the street. We finished playing, and the bartender was just sitting there looking at us, shaking her head. As soon as we finished packing up, everybody came back over. I look back on it now, and my brother and I die laughing. At the time it was brutal. But we would take any gig. We would do anything. And that’s the point.”

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MUSIC

Q&A:

KATELYN EPPERLY INTERVIEWED BY JEFF NELSON PHOTO COURTESY OF KATELYN EPPERLY

MUSIC

Des Moines native Katelyn Epperly came this close to reaching the Top 12 on season 10 of American Idol. Fast forward three years–Epperly, 23, is living her dream in Nashville as a recording artist and just released her debut EP, Southern Gothic. Take five to catch up with the curly-haired crooner.

DRAKEMAG: What did you take away from your time on American Idol?

KATELYN EPPERLY: Idol was truly an eye-opening experience. It’s a boot camp for hopeful superstars. I’ll always cherish my time on the show and the experience I gained. But reality television is an exhausting experience that can eat away at your identity. I’ll never regret it, but I’ll also never do it again. Some of the tracks on my record talk about the darker side of my experience: You go from hopeful superstar with millions watching you every week to on the streets fending for yourself. It’s a harsh reality, but it strengthened me exponentially. And I’ve written some killer songs from the experience.

KE: I have a full home studio in Nashville. Over the last nine months, I poured myself

DM: Tell us about your journey from Idol to releasing

DM: You’ve said before that you’re not a mainstream artist and that you don’t listen to

your first album—what happened in between?

KE: Post-Idol, I stuck around Des Moines and played a few shows until my contract was up with Idol at the end of the summer. After that, I moved to Los Angeles.

I love L.A., but it just wasn’t good timing, so I moved back home to Des Moines for a while. It was then that I decided to finish my college education. I wanted to do so in a city where music thrived, so a little under two years ago I moved to Nashville to attend Belmont University. A year ago I moved into a house with Brooks Edwards—my studio engineer, co-producer, and a Drake graduate—and Nick Frampton, co-producer and musician. That’s when I threw myself into making Southern Gothic.

mainstream music. Why is that?

KE: I’ve actually started listening to a lot more mainstream music. I think Lady Gaga changed my perspective a bit. I’m also pretty obsessed with hip-hop—you might hear some of that influence in my second record that’s currently in pre-production.

DM: You write and co-produce all your own material.

How did the album come together? Do you have any rituals in the studio?

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into recording. Believe it or not, I’m extremely inspired by fashion. A lot of times you’ll find me up in the studio wearing 6-inch heels.

DM: What are your go-to stops when you’re back in Des Moines?

KE: I love Des Moines, and I try to make it home a few times a year. I never stop at home without doing a little partying and fried food-eating at the High Life Lounge—I love the bartenders there. Fong’s is another favorite, and I love to wander around the East Village.

DM: You have a very retro sound. Who are your musical influences?

KE: My current influences include Fiona Apple, Radiohead, Fleetwood Mac, Band of Skulls, Jack White, The Raconteurs, Tom Petty, Pink Floyd, and Ella Fitzgerald.

DM: How did Lady Gaga change your perspective?

KE: I feel like women are objectified in popular music and are expected to fit a certain mold of what a female pop artist should be. Lady Gaga broke boundaries that the industry and the media set, similar to what Madonna did in the ’80s. In my eyes, Lady Gaga brought the art back into pop music for our generation.

DM: What’s your end goal?

KE: No one in show business knows where they’ll end up or even exactly where they want to go. The one thing I do know is that I live to inspire and be inspired. I’m one of the most passionate women you’ll ever meet, and I believe that passion will take me where I need to go.

HER LIFE PLAYLIST Go-To Karaoke Jam: “Start playing some Madonna, and you better watch out.”

Most Embarrassing Album I Own: “ “I’m a show tunes nerd. I could sit, sing, and cry to Les Misérables, Rent, or The Secret Garden all day long.”

Artists That Got Me into Songwriting: “Lisa Loeb and Jewel were the first artists that inspired me to dive deep into lyricism.

Because of them, I was a poet before I started writing music on the keys at 13.”

Most-Played Song on my iPhone: “Right now? ‘Clique’ by Kanye West featuring Big Sean & Jay-Z. That track is so fresh.”

No One Would Expect Me to Know Every Lyric to: “‘Forgot About Dre’ by Dr. Dre and Eminem.”

Des Moines native Katelyn Epperly belts a throwback, Fiona Apple-meets-Corrine Bailey Rae sound on her first album.

BACK TALK

CHRIS WALLACE INTERVIEWED BY JEFF NELSON PHOTO COURTESY OF TREVOR HOEHNE

Last year, this 28-year-old Indiana native released his debut solo album, Push Rewind. With insanely catchy choruses, relatable lyrics, and Wallace’s trademark voice—think Adam Levine swagger meets sugary One Direction pop—critics welcomed it with open arms. Entertainment Weekly even dubbed it “the best pop album you probably haven’t discovered yet.” Commercial success could be on the horizon as lead single “Remember When (Push Rewind)” graces the Billboard charts and gains airwave momentum.

See what this up-and-comer has to say about his music, touring with Lady Gaga, and what he has planned next.

ON HIS SOUND— “I’m a really upbeat person. I would define my sound as my personality and lifestyle put to music.”

HOW HE STAYS GROUNDED— “I’ll always put music and fans first. Hell, I’m just a kid from Indiana who fell in love with writing and playing music and never gave up. I’m very blessed and grateful to have fans of the music I write.”

SMALL-TOWN ROOTS— “I think the challenge of breaking out of a small town gave me a lot of my motivation at the beginning. It just takes a lot of dedication and luck to really make it.”

THAT ONE TIME HE TOURED WITH GAGA— “We actually got to hang out a few times and had a couple long talks. The best advice she gave me was ‘be bigger than your songs.’”

THE STATE OF POP MUSIC— “I love pop music today. The charts are in a really cool place with all the alternative acts like The Lumineers and Mumford & Sons crossing over.”

SUMMER PLANS— “I’m always writing, especially on the road. I carry a travel studio with me at all times. Plus, I have lots of shows and events—and definitely a national tour—coming up this summer.”