Dawn:So you admit Bender flailed a tad with the full-sized novel?
Ben: Oh, yes. But she flailed less than I expected her to going into it.
Ben Black and Dawn Shanks

It appears the recent surge in gas prices have not only diminished people’s checking accounts, but their personalities as well. People are increasingly becoming more selfish with their money, and in particular, their cars.
My best friend of 10 years asked if he could use my car to go to Ohio. “Not unless you return it [...]

“Gross,” remarked IU freshman Ashley Schmidt as a poor person walked past her on Indiana Avenue last Tuesday, “I need a Xanax.”
Schmidt, a Manhattan native who had never seen a destitute person before coming to Bloomington for college, admitted that she is not quite used to the Midwestern lifestyle.  “Everyone is poor and stupid, and [...]

The Monroe County Blood Bucket Facility was robbed last night by a pale-skinned vampire just after midnight. The nocturnal thief stole every single container of Type A blood, leading authorities to believe the bloodsucker is in fact Type A himself. It’s been speculated that he is Type B intolerant.
It’s not known if he has any [...]

Episode 17: Burn After Peeing
Nick: So, Ben, what are you going as for Halloween?
Ben: You.
Nick: Me? What does that look like?
Ben: Well, it looks like me, but with a worse credit rating.
Nick: Ben, I refuse to believe that actions have consequences. That’s why I always eat at China Buffet.
Ben: Gross. Speaking of inter-racial relationships, our [...]

Tamara Lowenthal is the volunteer coordinator for Lotus Fest, and Sarah Fargo caught up with her this month to find out more about what she does and why she works so hard to help this festival come together each year.
How did you get started with working with the Lotus?
I grew up with a lot of [...]

Michael Valliant is the executive director of Lotus Fest.  Sarah Fargo caught up with him to ask some questions about the festival and his role in making it happen each year.
How did the name “Lotus” come about?
Well, we had the temporary name Bloomington World Music Festival.  One of the tasks was to think of the [...]

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 [...]

Since the 1980s, The Rolling Stones have evolved as musicians. For many other bands, this growth means that artists mature and develop as songwriters. Unfortunately for the Stones, this change has been a backwards regression. They have turned into a marketing tool (lending songs to Coca-Cola commercials), pumping out commercial albums that operate on a [...]

Who is that person across the bar whipping up your latte? This month, we chatted with a Soma barista. Sarah Fargo