Talk of the Quad
Mean eyes
Content warning: This Talk of the Quad contains depictions of an eating disorder that may be upsetting to some readers.
We all want to feel good about ourselves. And in many ways, I’m incredibly proud of the person I am. …
Avery Leisle
Columnist — Class of 2025
Number of articles: 6
First Article: September 27, 2024
Latest Article: April 17, 2025
Mundane Magic
Seen through each other
My mom is driving. She’s trailing our family friend’s grey car as it inches along a winding road of snow and mud. A storm blew through a few days earlier, depositing five inches of snow—winter’s first. And it’s forcing our …
Mundane Magic
Seen on the Quad
The quad is alive for the first time in weeks—and I’ve realized something about humanity.
Sorry—I’m an anthropology major.
Bare arms and legs decorate the still-green quad, students lying on their bellies like lizards. I’m tucked in my hammock without …
Mundane Magic
Seen through film
It’s all too easy to ignore mundane things. A plastic water bottle, stains on the grocery store wall, pigeons, sunlight more shadow than light. A pot of water just before it boils. The diffuse mutter of traffic. It’s so easy …
Mundane Magic
Seen through water
Usually, when we shower, we don’t expect to be intruded upon.
It’s Sunday—that time between dinnertime and midnight when the night abutting my door is the perfect thickness, like a sable blanket. I’m in bed, still in my day clothes, …
Mundane Magic
Seen through glass
The man wearing a baseball cap approaches our front door. Far from the door he stops and lays the box on our lawn of mostly hot dirt. Intrigued, I pause beside the stairwell. Just visible beyond the window trim is …