Category: Uncategorized

May 13, 2022

Flash Fiction

Summer is nearly upon us! We can finally look forward to warm weather, blooming flowers, and summer thunderstorms. There are other, much darker things that summer can bring as well…

The Rain

He walked along the woods at the edge of his property, the oppressive humidity of the miserable day an anchor tugging down at his clothes. When the rain finally spilt from the heavy grey clouds, Tim smiled as he continued on his way. As he passed the fresh dirt pile just beyond the tree line on his trek, however, his smile turned to a deep frown. He sighed but kept walking. All he could smell was petrichor and rot wafting up from the shallow grave.

—Serenity Block, Flash Fiction Editor

May 13, 2022

Serial Story: Noah’s Dream Journal #7

March 28th, 8:32 AM

I’ve been having dreams again, but they’re not lucid dreams anymore. They’re just plain, out-of-my-control dreams where I don’t worry about anything afterwards. I don’t have to worry if the Doc will come to me and something terrible will happen to me. I feel at peace.

My therapist was shocked when I told him the news, and that I said I don’t need his services anymore. He wished me luck, and that was the last I ever spoke to him. He looked disappointed because he seemed really invested in my dreams, like they were some story to be gawked at. Well, it was no story; it was real.

Every uneasy second that followed the realization of the ability to control what I do; every moment you wake up and wonder if you’re really in your bed or you’re still in REM sleep; every moment you fear going back to bed, hesitant to see what lies in store. That was all real, that was all something I went through and I hope to never experience.

Still, after all that, I can’t say I’m going to miss having those lucid dreams. I hated how they would turn on me, but I’ll miss the ability to do what I wanted, to have the fullest escape from reality apart from death. At least—if I never have one of those dreams again—I’ll still have that cursed melody inside my head.

The End.

Click these links to read previous entries: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6.

—Jake Puestow, Serial Fiction Editor

May 13, 2022

General Healthy Diet Tips

One in four Americans spend more than eight hours a day sitting, and 80 percent don’t eat enough fruits, veggies, and whole grains, according to the US Centers for Disease Control. Fortunately, there are some easy tips for a healthy diet, if that’s what you’re looking for. 

Tip #1: Natural Sugars
Believe it or not, sugar is worse for you than saturated fats and is added to a lot of foods whether you know it or not. Watch which foods have some form of added sugars, and stick to natural, healthier sources like fruit. You can indulge yourself in some sweet stuff once in a while, but don’t go too far.

Tip #2: No Cereal
If breakfast is the most important meal of the day, then why do we let ourselves eat cereal? Apart from being rich in fiber, most cereal tends to have a lot of sugar, and if not, then it tastes very bland. If you’re looking for a breakfast food with a lot of fiber and potential for taste, then eat potatoes with lots of spice! Enough said.

Tip #3: Try New Things
Don’t be afraid to try new recipes, and don’t exclude specific food groups unless you’re allergic. Our ancestors evolved as scavengers to eat basically everything edible. The more varied your diet, the healthier you’ll generally be and more willing to try new things.

—Jake Puestow, Cooking Editor

May 13, 2022

Taking Hold of Your Summer

It’s easy to forget in the midst of summer classes and the dentist appointments you’ve been putting off for time’s sake that summer is yours to plan. Or better yet, not plan. It’s a time to be spontaneous, to unwind and relax, and to experience new things before fall semester comes. Below are a few things to keep in mind while you plan out your summer; that way you can feel refreshed and mentally ready for the education to come.

1. Do something random. You heard me! Take one day and don’t plan anything. Get outside and look for new opportunities. Whatever activity you do, let it happen on its own. Don’t box off hours on your calendar and instead enjoy the satisfaction of a new adventure.

2. Take a nap. You know that thing you can’t do on normal days because of numerous deadlines? Remember how draining it was to be awake most of the day (and night)? Well, now you have a little extra time, so use it to restore your body to proper restfulness.

3. Get back into your hobbies. Unless your hobby is binge-watching movies, don’t spend all of your time with the TV. Go hiking. Write a book. Fall in love with your hobbies again and feel the same empowering energy of doing what you love come back to you.

4. Stop telling people you have to do your homework 24/7. Sure, summer classes have deadlines. But they’re also not as big of a workload as five courses plus two part-time jobs, you know? Let people take you out to eat and spoil you; don’t forget you have that time simply because you’ve been saying that you don’t for so long. Let them know when you’re free.

5. Tour your local area. Chances are, there’s a new store, restaurant, or walking trail that you haven’t been to yet. After all, you haven’t existed for roughly four months, and the last time you existed, all the seasonal places were shut down for winter. Again, entertain your own imagination and discover new things to add to next fall’s routine.

At the end of summer, what do you want to have accomplished? What will you tell your classmates you did or saw? Summer is a time for exploration and resting up. Don’t skip out on it just because you have a few appointments. Go out and live before the next school year arrives. From the editors of the 2022 Driftwood, have a great summer!

May 13, 2022

Summer Favorites

Try these local options for fun in the sun this summer. 

Bay Beach
Looking for outdoor fun this summer? Head over to Bay Beach amusement park for rides, concessions, and more! Home of the Zippin Pippin (a 2,500 feet long roller-coaster with a top height of 70 feet) this amusement park is perfect for a quick fix of thrill. Other top rides include the Sea Dragon, Scrambler, and the Ferris wheel. Hours vary due to staffing issues, but visit their website to check updates, information on rides, and pictures of the park. 

Kayaking on Campus
Looking for something quick and inexpensive to do this summer? Stop by the Marinette campus to rent a kayak and go on a peaceful paddle. Who doesn’t love a day on the water? It is as easy as filling out an equipment rental form and taking off. Spend your day enjoying the beauty of the water without having to leave town! Fill out the rental form to reserve yours, and someone from campus will meet you to give you your kayak and equipment. 

Farmers’ Market on Broadway
Nothing says summer like a farmers’ market. This year, Green Bay is hosting their annual Farmers Market on Broadway every Wednesday, May 25th to September 28th, 3 p.m. – 7 p.m. Stop by to see over 90 local vendors and listen to great live music. Get everything from fresh grown vegetables to soups and jewelry. It’s also a great place to get a bite to eat and hang out with a group of friends. Take a look at their website to learn more! 

Studio 1212
This restaurant is the PERFECT place to get a latte on a sunny summer afternoon or a delicious meal while enjoying a beautiful view. Studio 1212 offers a gorgeous outdoor seating area as well as made-to-order food! My favorite thing about this place is they don’t use deep fryers in an effort to make healthy food for their consumers. Their menu is a bit pricey but worth every cent. Stop in from Tuesday  – Thursday, 4 p.m. –  9 p.m. or Friday and Saturday, 4 p.m. – 10 p.m. To see pictures of the restaurant and its stunning view, view the full menu, or make a reservation, visit the website.

May 13, 2022

You’ve reached the place where all the bad, but oh so satisfying, entertainment exists. Here, in the Trash Vortex, we exist to provide you with only the trashiest, most bingeworthy recommendations. It’s a dark hole you won’t escape!

Summer Movies

The time has come for sunscreen and beach days…if Wisconsin will allow them, that is. Nevertheless, there is no better way to unwind after fun-filled days than with a lazy movie. We’ve conjured up a few that don’t take themselves too seriously—they’re in the Trash Vortex for a reason, but we’re sure they’ll leave you in the happy realm of summer spirit.

High School Musical 2

“What time is it?” It’s summertime at East High, that’s for sure! Troy and Gabriella are ready for long, sunny days, but college is only a year away, and they need to make a little cash. Their classmate Sharpay intends to spend the summer at her family’s country club, where she arranges for Troy to be hired. Her plans to drink tea imported from England and finally seduce Troy are rudely interrupted when Troy convinces the club manager to hire ALL of his friends—including Gabriella. The club will host a talent show at the end of the summer too, of course. While this event takes center stage of the movie, the usual summer job hiccups still take place. And these are only exacerbated by Sharpay’s ambitious goal to make Troy her talent show partner (the sabotage is real!). Will Gabriella and Troy’s relationship survive the summer? And will Troy stay true to himself? You will only find deep questions in High School Musical 2. Plus, in true High School Musical-canon fashion, the movie wraps up with a big, momentous musical number—a big bang, if you will. The acting is atrocious, but I still find the tunes catchy, making it a solid choice for an easy, trashy summer flick. Available to stream on Disney+.

—Shannon Ribich, Trash Vortex Editor

Barb and Star Go to Vista del Mar (2021)

When my sister-in-law from Florida tells me I have an accent, my response is usually denial. I speak in the dulcet, accentless tones of a news anchor without the awkward pauses, thankyouverymuch. But the same cannot be said for Barb (Kristen Wiig) and Star (Annie Mumolo), the titular characters of the mid-pandemic comedy Barb and Star Go to Vista del Mar. Theirs are the jawbreaking exaggerated Midwestern accents that only Hollywood can dream up—though truth be told, your mom probably has at least one friend who speaks that way.

Barb and Star (or “Bahrb end Stahr”) are veteran saleswomen at Jennifer Convertibles who have never been outside of their hometown of Soft Rock, Nebraska. When they discover they’re about to lose their dream jobs with the impending closure of their beloved store, they decide to throw caution to the wind and embark on a trip to Florida. Cut to their arrival at the Vista del Mar Hotel, where they momentarily revel in their luxurious surroundings, feted by a wait staff that welcomes them with a musical number. Tragically, the hotel is full, and one look at their receipts shows that they actually booked at the Vista del Mar Motel, which they soon discover is about one step away from a rent-by-the-hour facility. Undaunted, they sneak back to the hotel to take a dip in the lovely pool they’d spotted earlier, only to be caught by the manager. However, he explains, Barb and Star are in luck: there is one room available after the family that had been occupying it abruptly “disappeared.” Ignoring the ominous undertones of that statement, Barb and Star gleefully move in. Little do they know that deep in the bowels of the Vista del Mar Hotel lurks Sharon Fisherman (also Kristin Wiig), a pale, eccentric outcast who is allergic to sunshine and is furious about it. A brilliant scientist, Sharon’s nefarious plan to seek revenge on all Florida sunbirds centers on the genetically enhanced mosquitos she’s developed. She’s planting a homing beacon smack in the center of the hotel grounds, where, once unleashed, will attract the mosquitos, which will then kill every hapless, sun-loving tourist nearby in a violently itchy murder spree. 

Barb and Star Go to Vista del Mar is just as ridiculous as it sounds. If you loved Wiig’s Dooneese Maharelle, the Lawrence Welk singer with the giant forehead and baby hands, or her Target Lady on Saturday Night Live, you’ll probably find Barb and Star a riot. And if not, the movie is a trashy hate-watch with a group of snarky friends. As an added bonus, you can run around afterward telling everyone you just saw “Bahrb end Stahr Go tah Vihstah del Mahr,” which is awfully fun to say. (Or maybe just awful—you decide.) Available on Hulu and to rent on other streaming services. 

—Tracy Fernandez Rysavy, Driftwood Advisor

Teen Beach Movie

Nothing says “trash” and “summer” more than Teen Beach Movie. High school students Brady (Ross Lynch) and McKenzie (Maia Mitchell) are somehow transported to a 1960’s musical called “Wet Side Story.” When their actions start to affect the original plot of the film, they must work together to get the movie back on track. After the starring couple of this tacky movie fall in love with protagonists Brady and McKenzie, fixing the plot seems impossible, but through song and dance (the answer to all of life’s problems), they have a chance at setting things right. This Disney Channel Original Movie (directed by Jeffrey Hornaday) also stars Grace Phipps, Garrett Clayton, and John DeLuca. This movie is equally cringey as it is satisfying as the characters try to finish what they started. If you’re looking for horrible acting with some catchy songs, this movie is the one for you. Available for streaming on Disney Plus or Google Play Movies.

—Sydney Hansen

May 13, 2022

FallOut

There are plenty of games that come out nowadays that are optimistic and promising. When they hit the limelight, however, they turn out to be falsely advertised, and you end up buying a patchwork game with a big-franchise name attached to it. The game I am referring to is Fallout 76. In this game, you start underground in Vault 76. You awaken to find all the other vault dwellers gone, and you must then go out into the open land of Appalachia. Nukes have devastated the world, and you were chosen from the brightest before the country fell to help rebuild America. You leave the vault only with a few items provided to ready you for the outside world and your trusty Pip-Boy, the device that lets you use items to replenish your health, hunger, and thirst, or arm yourself with weapons if in danger. You are the future, and you must get out into it so you can restore your surroundings to a land of peace and happiness rather than war and fear.

Why was this game so well-known? Not for its gameplay loop but for what the game went through upon its initial release and where it stands now. The director and executive producer, Todd Howard, promised ten times the detail and ten times times the size of Fallout 4, so the hype for the game was understandably high. When launch day came, many gamers were surprised that the company quickly followed up with a 45-gigabyte patch, but even after that, gameplay was rough. Calling the game “buggy” was an understatement, and Bethesda (the company that makes the Fallout games) was slow to fix things and make them playable. There were videos that were three hours long just featuring all the bugs upon release. People somehow got into a developer-exclusive room, where everything in the game was housed. The one thing that got Bethesda’s attention more than anything else was people exploiting the things inside for their own benefit—they used developer cheats to gain infinite XP, infinite ammo, and infinite cash—so the company just started banning people from the game that had the best loot, regardless of them being legitimate or glitched.

Despite all this, Bethesda would then learn that they had ruined the game to start, but over the years since its initial release, they have been doing events in-game, giving free stuff, tweaking things to be more playable and better than when it was first released. Playing it now compared to back in 2020, there is a stark difference in stuff to do and all it has to offer. The game took a turn for the better with updates with free stuff, quality-of-life improvements, and new cosmetics for those who love variety.

—Will Kosmal, Gaming Editor

May 13, 2022

Summer Podcast Recommendation

It’s nearly summer, which means it’s time to get outdoors! Here’s a podcast to inspire you to explore nature and learn more about the environment and about others.

Overheard at National Geographic

Overheard at National Geographic is an educational podcast all about the many projects going on at National Geographic, the company behind the eponymous nature-themed magazine and TV channel. Each episode is different from the last, moving from climate change to ancient caves to lost slave ships and more. Join narrators Amy Briggs and Peter Gwin as they explore our world alongside scientists, explorers, and photographers. Each episode is a little adventure for your ears. If you love to learn about lots of unfamiliar (and interesting) topics, I highly recommend the show. Despite being based in science, this podcast tells many fundamentally human stories which you are sure to love.

Overheard at National Geographic’s first season was released in 2019 and has continued on until the present day. Currently, they are releasing episodes of season seven, for a total of 99 episodes so far; this makes it an excellent show to binge listen. Some of the topics can be a bit dark, but more often than not, those same dark episodes bring in a glimmer of hope for the subject at hand. Find Overheard at National Geographic on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcast platforms.

—Serenity Block, Podcasts Editor

May 13, 2022

May 13, 2022