6 in the Morning

Buongiorno, and welcome! I am a sucker for a good teen romance. I know, I know, laugh all you want, but there’s something satisfying about what I have fondly dubbed the soap operas of the literary world. No matter what kind of woes the protagonists have with their environment, self-esteem and each other, you can always count on a fairytale ending waiting for you on the last page. It’s ridiculously easy to get sucked into these characters and their all-too-recognizable laundry lists of bottled-up feelings ready to spill over plot twists you totally saw coming. Recommendations? Sure, I have tons. Jenna Evans Welch’s Love and Gelato is one I really enjoyed. My favorite part of Mrs. Welch’s book is that it offers multiple love stories all at once: one in the present, one in the past, and one with Italy and its culture. So, naturally, after I finished crying over the back cover, I was curious to learn more about gelato, the Italian treat the protagonist, Lina, was able to turn to at he...

Good morning, and welcome! My first experience in a maze was the pinnacle of mediocrity: back in grade school, a group of my friends took me inside a local farmer’s corn maze. We escaped in minutes and spent the next few hours of our time there wandering around aimlessly for something else to do. It was underwhelming, especially to a kid who had been dreaming of Theseus and the minotaur, the Labyrinth of Egypt, and the Parisian catacombs. I always thought being a lost thing would be so romantic, but my daydream served only to disappoint that windy autumn day at the farm. At least they had apple-flavored slushies to ease my pain. (I drank three.) Since then, I’ve wondered why getting lost is such a tantalizing ordeal for many of us. Does it awaken some inner thirst for adventure, allow for the reward of thinking one’s way out of a problem, or simply embody the joy of finding oneself again after an emotionally disorienting experience? Too bad I’ll never know - to this day, I’ve still...

Good morning, and welcome! One of my favorite Bob Ross quotes is “There are no mistakes, just happy little accidents.” It sums up everything I’ve ever heard about accidental inventions: fantastical tales of everymen who just happen to stumble upon something brilliant that goes on to take the world by storm. It’s the ultimate get-rich-quick scheme, infuriatingly exclusive to those who aren’t looking for it. Since it’s nice to dream, I started wondering about the lucky ones who were able to succeed in this tricky field. Who were they, and how much of our everyday life originated from their people’s mistakes? It’s not hard to imagine some long-dead inventor wailing with laughter each time they saw a commercial worshipping their own accidental invention, but were these people even out to create at all? With this (and a tad bit of good-old-fashioned research) in mind, I can confirm only one thing that each of these happy accidents have in common: a quirky, discombobulating ride of a s...

Hello, and welcome! My name is Maggie, and I am known to be curious about all sorts of things. From starfruit production to rare phobias, my research rabbit trails have taken me far as a writer, student, and… well… human. I love learning about interesting and little known corners of our world because, let’s face it, with 200 million square miles, 9 billion species, 8 billion people, seven thousand languages, and endless thoughts, ideas and possibilities, there’s no way any one person could get to everything. It’s so eye-opening to imagine faraway people, places and things knowing that they’re really out there waiting for me to experience them. Unfortunately, this rosy outlook is hard to maintain during a stressful week. Often, being a lifelong learner often takes a backseat to other, more immediate concerns. This is why I’d like to make it my mission to give you the opportunity to set aside a little time each week to learn something new. So each week, before you’re off to the daily...