I’m still not entirely sure why Sarah Kaiser wanted me to do the recipes this month. Left to my own devices in a kitchen, my mastery doesn’t go beyond frozen waffles. Dawn K. Shanks

October has been a long time coming, at least for the CW crew.  I’m not sure what inspired me to pitch over half an issue’s content to be on Lotus Festival.  Perhaps it was because I knew it would be a huge challenge to follow suit in September with my W and New York magazines [...]

Spotlight on a Lotus band
I was able to catch up with Antti Järvelä  of the Finnish string band Frigg.  The band is no stranger to Lotus Festival, but according to Antti, they’re still excited about their 2008 performance.  Throughout the interview, Antti kept me laughing but still had some very interesting outlooks on music and [...]

To kick off the blog we will be doing up-to-date reports of Lotus Fest.  More coming in the next couple of days!

“So many people think of Anne Frank as being a heartwarming, feel good play; I don’t agree.” Dawn K. Shanks

Dear Readers,
I’m going to keep this short because I’m eager for you to turn the pages of this month’s Cultureweek to read about some exciting things happening in August.  The writing aesthetic we try to achieve is the same one we have for our layout:  crisp, with a touch of whimsy.  I’ve been happy to [...]

MM: Every month in the calendar, there’s at least one day where a big group of people in the US are celebrating. Except August. Why are you putting me in your August issue? (Starts to run his hands through his hair, instead starts pulling it) Rrrrrgh, I hate August. I can’t get any painting done in August. F—ing —wad —nick! Do you have any gum? Dawn K. Shanks

In a matter of weeks, the most delicious nook of the street, overwrought with weedy Tree-of-Heaven saplings and cars parked on both sides of its narrow street-flanks for the sparse, tootling traffic-will yield to the annual transformation, the tradition over three decades in the making, of Fourth Street Festival. Dawn K. Shanks

Ready to get drinking? I’m not going to coddle you and give you advice on what to do to avoid a hangover and where to find the best digestifs downtown, but I’m not going to be the sorority girl hissing in your ear to chug faster, either. Dawn K. Shanks

Ahh, Art class. During the first few years of compulsory education, it seemed like I was getting away with something: a class where I’m encouraged-praised!-in my epic mess-making (of which I rarely had to clean up after, not having time before being shunted off single-file with my peers to first lunch or Language [...]