Entertainment

By Jordyn Turney, 22, reporting from San Diego, CA, on YA novels that aren't afraid to explore the heartbreaking nature of friendships

I just read I Heart Daily co-editor Melissa Walker's newest YA novel, Unbreak My Heart, and it really got me thinking. The book is, on the surface, about a romance. But underneath that—at its core—the cute, sun-soaked story is really about a best friendship fractured and the painful question of whether or not it can be repaired.

Friendships, broken and unbroken, are in our lives, on my mind, pretty much all the time. I even wrote about one personal experience of such a split. Unbreak My Heart doesn't shy away from the complicated side of friendship, and these other great YA books don't either.

Mostly Good Girls, by Leila Sales
This book manages to be both funny and heartfelt and a little bit excruciating, all at the same time. Violet and her best friend Katie attend an all-girls private school and, in their junior year, discover how different they really are. It's a realistic tale well told.

Like Mandarin, by Kirsten Hubbard
In the brilliantly written setting of Wyoming, good-girl Grace pursues a friendship with Mandarin, the wild girl she longs to be. This book explores the thrilling and fast-paced friendships that so many girls experience at one time or another. The friend that's just a little prettier, just a bit more popular, and—so you think—a lot more perfect.

Twenty Boy Summer, by Sarah Ockler
As in Unbreak My Heart, there's a boy at the center of this book as well. A boy and a secret that, in a summer of beginnings, threatens to tear best friends Anna and Frankie clear apart. The all-too-familiar struggles, secrets, and fights are heartbreaking in this moving story.

By Lisa Chau, 23, reporting from Ann Arbor, MI, on an awesome musical theater company—coming to your town

Musical theater. Pigfarts. Friendship. Slap bracelets. These are just a few of the things that come to mind when I hear Team StarKid.

StarKid is a sensational musical theater troupe formed in 2009 by a group of University of Michigan theater grads (including Darren Criss, aka Glee's Blaine) and now based in Chicago. Or you might know this team as the creators of the brilliant parody A Very Potter Musical, which had a budget of under $150 and pretty much took over YouTube.

I recently got involved with StarKid for their first national concert tour, The S.P.A.C.E. Tour, manning their merchandise tables with the one and only Ann Arbor T-shirt Company. I had no idea what I was signing up for—beyond living on a bus with performer-types for five weeks—and boy, was I in for a surprise.

Walking up to the first S.P.A.C.E. venue was spectacular. I had never seen so many crazy-dedicated fans in one place. They were all decked out in their pink sunnies and SuperMegaAwesomeFoxyHot tees, singing StarKid songs in unison, happily on their sixth hour of waiting in line to get the best spot in the venue. This happened at every stop on the tour.

It didn't take long to realize why people are so in love with this act. StarKid reminds us all that everything will be okay, friends will always have your back, and you should shoot for the moon because you can surely get there.

And that, my friends, is totally awesome.

StarKid is currently preparing for their second national tour, Apocalyptour, where they will attempt to please the Mayan gods with their mad musical skills before the world as we know it ends. Apocalyptour begins May 9 at the House of Blues in Chicago and runs through June 10, ending at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City. Get your tickets now before it's over – the world, that is.

Check out Team StarKid's latest musical, Holy Musical B@man!

By Erika Kwee, 21, reporting from Houston, TX, on an avid baker's easy, healthy ingredient swaps

Scones, cupcakes, brownies, cookies, blondies, muffins—if it's a baked good, chances are I've either made it or eaten it in the past month. I'm avid about it. Plus, spring always seems to come with a host of occasions that call for homemade treats. I'll bake away for Easter, Mother's Day, birthdays, events, fundraisers, or for no reason at all. I even co-taught a course in it this past semester at my school, Rice University.

There's something that scares me about the craft, though, and it's the sheer nutritional wasteland of most baked goods. Cups of refined white flour, sugar and butter and chocolate—not the kind of ingredients anyone should be eating on a regular basis. I'm all for staying true to the integrity of a recipe, and no doubt the classic elements taste delicious in nearly any combination. If I'm in the mood, there's no way you could ever get me to bake anything other than my mom's original chocolate chip cookie recipe.

But there are times when I'm up for something different—for tweaking a recipe to experiment with flavors and texture, adding complexity, and maybe in the process even bringing in a few extra nutrients.

I like to surf baking blogs for ideas, and there are a bunch out there with terrific healthy recipes. Some of my favorites are Oh She Glows(vegan), Texanerin Baking (Erin can "go putting weird things in" her cookies, like chickpeas, and somehow make it work), and Chockohlawtay (from a college sophomore majoring in nutritional science). Here are some ingredient swaps and strategies I picked up along the way and taught in my baking class:

• Flour: Try using whole wheat, white whole wheat, spelt, oat, or gluten-free flour mixes instead of regular all-purpose to add fiber, protein, calcium, and iron! I find that you can get away with replacing all AP flour in a recipe with white whole wheat and hardly notice the difference. If you're using whole wheat or another heartier flour, blend it with the AP so your baked goods don't turn out overly dense or gritty.

• Eggs: Substituting chia seeds or ground flaxseed for eggs ventures into vegan baking territory, which I think is awesome and shouldn't just be for vegans. Chia seeds and flaxseeds both add healthy omega-3 fats and can lower the cholesterol in a recipe. To replace one egg, simply mix 1 tablespoon of chia seeds or ground flaxseed with 3 tablespoons of warm water and let sit for 5 minutes or until mixture is gelled (flaxseed gels less quickly than chia seeds).

• Butter/oil: Greek yogurt is a great alternative to butter. It tastes great, even on its own (take that, butter), cuts fat, and increases protein in a recipe. Replace one half the amount of butter prescribed with half the amount of Greek yogurt. I know that was confusing: For example, if the recipe calls for 1 stick of butter (8 tablespoons), use 4 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of Greek yogurt. Oil is of course more liquidy than butter, so applesauce or regular yogurt are good subs for half the oil called for.

We modified a molten chocolate cake in class, and it was amazing. So were scones with springy add-ins that were not chocolate chips: craisins, orange zest, fresh coconut.

Happy, healthy baking!

By Jessica Goodman, 22, reporting from Los Angeles, CA, on One Direction she's proud to follow

There was a time, before the common era of Justin Timberlake as solo act and movie star, when boy bands reigned. JT was the lead singer of N'Sync, and 98 Degrees, the Backstreet Boys, and so forth turned the century and lots of teen girl heads. Greet today's news depending on how you feel about this 1990s-into-2000s chapter in music history: Boy bands are back!

And a pack of artfully rumpled British-Irish cuties called One Direction—five of them, all under age 20—is reviving the trend with a global frenzy. In true this-century style, Liam, Harry, Niall, Zain, and Louis were brought into stardom after the boys had applied to appear individually on The X Factor in the UK and failed to qualify. Guest judge Nicole Scherzinger suggested they get together and perform as a group. One Direction placed third and signed to Simon Cowell's label.

Their first single and biggest hit to date is "What Makes You Beautiful," which recently won Best British Single at the Brit Awards. But its appeal is universal: If you watch the video or really listen to their lyrics you can for sure see why girls are going crazy over them!

Not to read too much into a message delivered via boy band, but the song makes you realize you don't have to be somebody else for a guy. It's about having the courage to not be shy about who you are—which is the real beauty females have. You don't need makeup and you don't need to be insecure. Just be proud to be someone strong and brave, and people will notice. Surely Justin Timberlake would agree.

By Carey Dunne, 22, reporting from New York, NY, on homemade art for hanging

Mobiles are like jewelry for your ceiling. When my grandma was a teenager, she'd make mobiles out of coat hangers and sell them door-to-door in her town during World War II for $10-$15 each. Some of them have survived and now hang in my room—one dangles with bells and painted wooden birds, one has fairy Christmas tree ornaments perpetually chasing each other. They look great up there, killing the myth that mobiles are just for baby cribs.

My grandma drew inspiration from Alexander Calder, the mobile master of all time. Calder's moving works of art hang in museums all over the world. Using materials as simple as painted wood, wire, glass shards, and sheet metal, he created what often look like miniature solar systems with deranged orbits, or bunches of tree branches dangling with odd fruit.

A few years ago, my grandma showed me some of the tricks of the coat hanger mobile-making trade, and I have been making them ever since.

They're simple and completely free to put together, requiring only a wire coat hanger, string, and whatever objects you have lying around that you might want to send soaring. Plus, they make excellent gifts—or perhaps a for-profit product, if you're as crafty-entrepreneurial as my grandma.

Here's the quick mobile how-to:

Collect your objects. This can be anything from old toys—Legos, Star Wars action figures, a pog collection?—to beads, shells, photographs, it's up to you. Lately I've been cutting images from National Geographic and collaging them with drawings or photos of people I know. (If you're using photos, cut two in the same shape and glue them together back-to-back, so that you have an image on both sides, and the mobile doesn't look boring from either of them.)

Make your base. Get a wire coat hanger thin enough to bend into the shape you'd like it to be. The simplest maneuver is to make a diamond, bending the bottom wire down into a 90-degree angle. You can also form a circle, or tie two hanger diamonds together at different angles to make a cube[[note deletion]]. Feel free to paint the wire base, or if it's already painted white, color it in with markers; or string beads and wrap them around.

String them up. Take either string or thin wire and tie your objects to the base. Have one dangling in the middle of the diamond and then one hanging from each point of the diamond.

Hang!

For more advanced mobile maneuvers, you can try going all Calder-like, or introduce other materials, like felt. Whatever moves you.

By Maya-Catherine Popa, 23, reporting from New York, NY, on hybrid songwriting that makes her sing

First there was MTV's Hip Hopera based on Bizet's Carmen. We couldn't help but watch it: Wyclef Jean as a crystal ball reader and Beyonce-anything is enough enticement. Then R. Kelly released the notorious "Trapped in the Closet," perhaps the world's first musical soap opera to rhyme "Bridget" with "midget." As many of us are still recovering from sitting through the two-year, 22-chapter ordeal, I won't aggravate the wound…

But for those of you who seek a slightly more palatable, everyday kind of cross-category listening, might I suggest the music of Ben Lear, a blue-eyed California native with an ocean-wide heart? His folk-opera "Lillian" covers a man's musical journey to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the plastic vortex floating in the ocean between California and Japan. Lear's range, too, might be twice the size of Texas: He composed for a 15-piece orchestra and a gospel choir, and his music has the additional benefit of raising awareness on global pollution. Last year, he performed for the UN, and at Plastic Pollution Coalition's TEDx event in Santa Monica.

Another excellent example of hybrid musical entertainment is comedian and singer Gillian Cosgriff's album "Waitressing and Other Things I do Well." Not only is this Australian beauty gifted with a swoon-worthy voice, but her lyrics range from tender to absolutely hilarious — and always relatable with clever rhymes. Take, for instance, the "Job Song," in which she runs us through her odd employment experiences: "for something healthier, I joined the craze and worked at a boost juice bar/but the juices got me really wired/and that's the only job from which I've ever been fired…" Her album is available for purchase on iTunes, and there are many YouTube videos of her one-woman show. Now if we can only make her next job touring the U.S.

By Jordyn Turney, 21, reporting from San Diego on her five favorite books of the year

Choosing some of the best teen books is never easy—and 2011 was a year with some stiff competition. Even in this post-Hunger Games era, there were serious contenders, both as parts of series or one-off titles. But these five books take the title for me. They offer a mix of great stories, emotions and characters. For any reader looking for some great picks to end the year (or start the next!), here's your list.

Imaginary Girls, by Nova Ren Suma - This story of an underwater town, a drowned girl, and two sisters with an unbreakable bond is creepy good. While the writing and characters are beautiful, the setting and the plot are both weird and thought-provoking. Walking the fine line between realistic and paranormal YA, this imaginative novel is the best of both worlds.

Where She Went, by Gayle Forman - Picking up three years after the events of If I Stay (which, if you haven't read yet, you totally should), this is the story of What Happens After, told from the viewpoint of Mia's boyfriend, Adam. Like the first book, it's incredibly emotional; read with a box of tissues handy.

Rival, by Sara Bennett Wealer - This debut novel is about best-friends-turned-enemies competing against each other in a high-stakes singing competition. It's told from both sides of the rivalry, from popular Brooke's and quiet Kathryn's viewpoints. (And I honestly can't tell you who you end up rooting for.) In addition to being a great story of girls pursuing their dreams, this is also one of the best, most honest tales of friendship gone wrong I've come across.

We'll Always Have Summer, by Jenny Han - Consider this a recommendation for Han's entire Summer trilogy, books that follow Isabel (Belly) and the only boys—yes, plural, boys— she's ever loved. This awesome series about summer love is one that deserves to be read beginning to end, back-to-back.

Sequins, Secrets, and Silver Linings, by Sophia Bennett - Okay, I'm not a fashion buff, so no one's more surprised than me to find that this style-heavy book is one of my favorites and most original reads of the year. The story of a young Ugandan refugee turned fashion designer mixes heavier elements with an overall upbeat, fun feeling. I seriously love it and can't wait for the sequels to be published here in the US.

By Zulay Regalado, 22, reporting from Miami, FL, on her conversation with an incredible 16-year-old photo talent

Tess Mayer, 16, counts actor Andrew Garfield and model Devin Aoki among her list of hopeful photo subjects—not to brush with celebrity, but more to unbrush it. "I think it would be really interesting to see their actual personalities, instead of a character's," says the upstate New York photographer. An artist with a timeless ability to highlight the simplicity and beauty of her surroundings, Tess shares the details behind her love of natural settings, authentic people, and where she finds the occasional creative refuel.

Zulay Regalado: I'm loving your Tumblr. What first attracted you to the world of photography and building this amazing body of work?

Tess Mayer: Thank you! Discovering photography was coincidental for me. As I kept taking photographs, I naturally wanted some feedback. So I went to Flickr and Tumblr, and I found countless talents that inspired me and fueled my desire to stay with it.

ZR: How would you describe your photographic style?
TM: I think my style, mainly portraits, usually focuses on the purity and innocence of a person, rather than their superficial appearance. I very much resent modern media's depiction of humanity and perfection. I try to resist that as much as possible in my work.

ZR: Who do you look to for inspiration?
TM: I always look through my favorite images when I'm feeling a bit uninspired; Sally Mann and Paolo Roversi are my top-two photographers. I also go to my parents' art books. Gustav Klimt is a favorite; I have about five of his books on my shelf right now. However, the only way I've found to really cure a creative rut is to keep taking photos (or whatever medium your art may be).

ZR: Do you see yourself turning your love of photography into your work?
TM: Absolutely. I plan on going to college for photography and then ultimately making it into a career. I really want to incorporate travel into my work as well.

ZR: In the spirit of I Heart Daily, anything you're "hearting" at the moment?
TM: In terms of music I listen to a lot of Arcade Fire, Bob Dylan, Philip Glass, Lou Reed, and Beach House. Clothing-wise, I love my burgundy Dr. Martens boots, which I wear practically everyday.

By Zulay Regalado, 22, reporting from Miami, FL, on a whole new dimension of Glee

No need to anxiously TiVo the past two seasons of Glee to enjoy Glee 3D, the movie. All you need is a pair of 3D glasses, tickets ASAP (it's currently in theaters for a limited time!) and an appreciation for good voices and music. If you feel you might burst into song mid-film, like I did, you might also want to have a friend or relative to keep your theater etiquette in check.

The movie is based on the hit Fox show that showcases the members of McKinley High School's glee club. These students hail from all levels of the high school food chain, showing us that it‘s okay to co-exist with personalities different from our own (see for yourself in the show's rendition of Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" -- note each character's clever, personalized insecurity t-shirt!). The movie is an entertaining mix of some of the show's most notable performances and even features real-life gleeks who proudly share their stories of acceptance with the world.

Both the movie and show deliver the same empowering message -- it's important to embrace your quirks and never be afraid to let people see the real you, embarrassing insecurities and all. See for yourself in the trailer.

After watching this movie, I came to terms with one of my insecurities: I am an excessive talker. And I will proudly don my "Chatty Kathy" t-shirt as I wait in line for the DVD.

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by Jordyn Turney, 21, reporting from San Diego, CA, who interviews the star of a groundbreaking show

We love Switched at Birth, an ABC Family show with a great premise—neatly conveyed right there in the title—great characters and a great way of bringing deaf culture into the mainstream.

That is, via incredible, totally relatable family drama. At the forefront of it all is Daphne Vasquez, played by the talented actor Katie Leclerc.

Daphne is a hearing-impaired teenager whose life is turned upside down when she finds out that she's not really related to her hardworking (and often stubborn) single mother, and that her biological parents are the super-wealthy Kennishes.

We were excited to get the chance to interview Katie. Here, she gives us her take on the groundbreaking show—and her connection to the fallible but refreshingly optimistic character she brings to life.

Jordyn Turney: How do you get into the mindset of a girl who discovers that she's not who she thought she was?

Katie Leclerc: I think that teenagers always think, 'What if these people are not actually my family?' I get along great with my family and there's no doubt they're my family, but I definitely identify. Identity issues and finding where you fit in and what that means in the bigger picture, that's something a lot of teens can relate to. At the end of the day, these characters still love each other and they're still family, even if what family means is constantly changing.

JT: It's incredibly rare for a show to portray deaf culture so well; you really are introducing the audience to something different. Is there a sense of responsibility in portraying this very under-represented part of society?

KL: Absolutely. When you go on Twitter and see "thank you Switched at Birth, for making me feel comfortable in my own skin," it opens more and more windows. I hope it creates conversations and breeds tolerance. I think people are afraid of what they don't know, and this show just helps make things more familiar. I hope people watch it and feel like maybe the deaf and hearing worlds are not so different.

JT: How similar are you and Daphne?

KL: I really like her, as real and flawed as she is. I played basketball when I was younger…and I've known ASL [American Sign Language] for a long time. When I was 20 I found out I had Méniere's disease and lost some of my hearing. So yeah, I really like her and I hope we're similar.

JT: In the spirit of I Heart Daily, what are you "hearting" right now?

KL: I switched to the iPhone this weekend and I'm loving that. I just got a puppy, so of course I'm like totally obsessed with the little guy. He's an Australian Shepherd, just as cute as can be. And I'm just loving wearing really comfy sandals and the rest of summer.

By Amy Hunt, 21, reporting from Lexington, KY, on the awesome sound of mbalax

I recently spent a semester studying abroad in The Gambia, the smallest country in mainland Africa. It's on the west coast, kind of nestled within Senegal.

One of the most magical things about my experience there was its soundtrack: Everywhere you go in The Gambia, you are surrounded by music. I especially fell in love with mbalax, the Senegalese-Gambian genre that stars Youssou N'Dour and Viviane N'Dour. (Viviane got her start singing backup for the legendary Youssou and married his brother Boubacar.)

Mbalax kept my friends and me dancing everywhere we went, and whenever Viviane's "Waaw" came on we'd sing along as best we could (she sings in French and Wolof). Gambians would smile and ask, "You know Viviane?!"

Then I got back home and felt I was hopelessly asking the same of the Internet. Imagine my disappointment when I found out that you can't buy any of her stuff online. Not on iTunes, not on Amazon. But that's what's beautiful about YouTube. Check out Viviane videos there for "Waaw," "Kumu Neexul" and "Bamba Ji." If you like covers, I'd also recommend looking at the music blog Likembe to listen to her Wolof cover of Aaliyah's "Are You That Somebody," which is called "Goor Fit".

On the other hand, Youssou N'Dour is one of the most well known musicians to come out of West Africa, and his music can be found everywhere. He's been in the business since the 1970s, and he's spanned a number of sounds and styles: from developing the mbalax sound with his band Le Super Etoile de Dakar in the early '80s (I recommend the album Immigrés), to his 1994 duet with Neneh Cherry "7 Seconds," to his album Egypt in which he sings about his religion, Senegalese Sufism. He plays everything from traditional Senegalese music to the Beatles, and he collaborates with Peter Gabriel, Wyclef Jean, Paul Simon and many others.

Youssou N'Dour is also highly involved with the non-profit Malaria No More, an organization aimed at eradicating the disease, and is a partner of the IntraHealth International fund. Oh, and he's also worked with the United Nations, UNICEF and Amnesty International. N'Dour is a leader in a tradition of Senegalese musicians who not only sing about social issues but are highly involved in them as well. Right now, many local artists are getting behind the current political movement and urging youth to vote, despite a crackdown on protests and criticism.

Youssou and Viviane N'Dour are only two of the many amazing musicians I heard while abroad. Baaba Maal, Orchestra Baobab, Thione Seck—they're all worth a listen. Senegal's got a world of musical exports beyond Akon; you just have to dig a little deeper to find it all.

By Jordyn Turney, 21, reporting from San Diego, CA, on the best shows for sitting out the heatwave

If there's one thing summer definitely doesn't lack it’s guilty-pleasure television -- silly, stupid, vapid shows that come in to replace all the good fall series. But I don't believe in guilty pleasures. If a show is good or entertaining,awesome. And I'm not going to feel guilty about watching it. Even if it is built around the idea of laughing at people when they fall.

In fact, one of my favorite summertime shows is just that -- Wipeout, ABC’s reality game show, where contestants run various obstacle courses in the effort to win a bunch of money. The show's whole point is the comedy of watching people wipeout again and again. Not exactly highbrow, but definitely entertaining.

Also entertaining? Bert the Conquerer, on the Travel Channel, about a man on a mission to tackle the craziest rides and most insane local competitions. Every week Bert travels somewhere new to ride, say, the biggest roller coaster in Texas and compete in the Tough Mudder. Which, by the way, has a fire maze. While I'm completely coaster-phobic and would never consider doing these things myself, watching Bert tackle them, with childlike enthusiasm, makes for great, totally not-guilty television.

However, reality shows aren't the only TV delights of summer. There are also some excellent series, like the new ABC Family drama Switched at Birth. Not only is the premise (as laid out by the title) absolutely fascinating, but the addition of deaf characters and portrayal of deaf culture makes itreally interesting. This show has surprised me with how good it is. I was not expecting this level of goodness.

One last show that I'm loving in the air-conditioning is TNT’s Leverage. I have a fellow RED author Rebecca Murray to thank for forcing me to watch it, about a team of modern-day Robin Hoods who steal from the rich and give to the poor. Featuring a semi-sane thief, a criminal mastermind, and a computer hacker whose arrogant nerd personality is hilariously great. The plots are ridiculous, but the characters are incredible—and it's overwhelmingly fun. Isn't that the point of summer television?

By Carey Dunne, 21, reporting from New York, NY, on amazing illustrator Maira Kalman

Maira Kalman is the illustration powerhouse behind many a New Yorker cover (like the well-known "New Yorkistan"), illustrator of Strunk and White's Elements of Style, and author-illustrator of thirteen children's books. "Sayonara, Mrs. Kackleman," a story about two kids who go on a trip to Japan, was my favorite when I was little. Luckily, she also makes picture books for grown-ups. "And the Pursuit of Happiness" was originally an illustrated Blog in the New York Times, chronicling Kalman's yearlong trip across the USA. With drawings of George Washington's dentures, Abe Lincoln's dog Fido, and the Code of Hammurrabi, it's a meditation on democracy like none before it. "Hallelujah," it begins, glorying in Obama's inauguration. She published it as a hardcover book last year.

"Where is happiness? What is happiness? What did Thomas Jefferson mean?" she asks. Written in Maira's curlicued print, next to an illustration of bunny-eared dog walkers and lavender skies, questions like these no longer seem like the daunting queries of beard-stroking philosophers—they're fair game for anyone. How does Kalman pursue happiness? "I work. And walk. And go to museums… I make plans for trips to gardens where I will sit and draw and eat a meringue and savor the moment. By George! That's it. Savor the moment."

There is a lot to savor in Kalman's work. In her drawings, she turns objects into characters, giving a red velvet chair a human personality, convincing you that a piece of cherry pie is in a good mood. Martha Washington's purple heels with buckles look like they're tapping their toes on the page, and the faces of her people, bemused and beguiling, feel real. Kalman's colors, super-saturated, seem derived from tropical fruit stands. Each of her illustrations savors and praises the moment it captures.

Re-reading Kalman's "And the Pursuit of Happiness" post-fourth of July fireworks made me wonder what George Washington would have thought of these colorful bombs bursting in air. Or of the Budweiser, American flag bikinis, and barbecues of USA's birthday celebration. Kalman's explorations of the private lives of historical figures strip them of any textbook stuffiness, reminding you that they, too, had dental problems and pet dogs, one named Sweet Lips. Maybe they would have liked barbecues. The entire book is available online, so next time you're procrastinating at work, why not read it? Next on my reading list is her 2009 book, The Principles of Uncertainty.

By Zulay Regalado, 22, reporting from Miami, FL, on a great game to play for fun—and human rights

I enjoy zombie slaying and alien hunting as much as the next gamer. But I wouldn’t say I’m the best at it. Simply put: In the cyber-game food chain, I am bait.

So, when I discovered America 2049, a Facebook-based alternate reality game that launched this month, I was surprised at how my previously non-existent skills quickly took over. My mission, all set in the year of the game’s title, is to lead my team of agents on an intense search for an alleged terrorist (played by Harold Perrineau of Lost). To my even bigger surprise, I did not suffer a tragic, level-1 death, as I have in every other game I’ve played, but was simply able to "recharge" my depleted "energy" by digging for clues on the game’s futuristic search engine.

The best part about America 2049 is that it incorporates existing human rights issues along the way, so it’s as fundamentally eye-opening as it is entertaining. The game is headed by Breakthrough, a global human rights organization that uses interactive media and pop culture to raise social awareness.

In America 2049, you’re faced with making "high-stakes decisions involving some of the most pressing human rights issues of our time—racism, human trafficking, mistreatment of immigrants, and more," says Mallika Dutt, president and CEO of Breakthrough. This is a game with true global reach, one in which players, Dutt adds, can "reaffirm the values of dignity, diversity, and democracy."

Check out the trailer below.

And if you spot me—age 60!—on the streets of future-America, say hi.

By Lisa Chau, 22, reporting from Ann Arbor, MI, on a thrilling documentary film-to-be—that you can make happen

My marching band days were filled with crushed-velvet rainbow leotards, six-foot flaming flags, and the constant jeering from my peers for being someone who took my concert flute to band camp for fun. I can still conjure the tinge of embarrassment I felt whenever we stood before our unenthusiastic audience for halftime shows.

Thankfully, the trailer for Richard Barber's up-and-coming documentary about high school marching bands in New Orleans, The Whole Gritty City, struck a chord in my former band-geek heart. It opens with the bold sound of roaring brass instruments, taking me right back to the many times I exhaled teenage frustrations right into my own instrument — and was greeted with calming resonance.

"Once that band gives you that down beat…just for that brief two or three minutes, you forget every problem you had. You have no cares in the world." – Wilbert Rawlins Jr.

But here's the coolest part—you can help make this film happen. (Yeah, particularly you out there who might have mocked a girl with a flute at some point.) In a final push, until April 12 on Kickstarter, your donation (the minimum is only $1) helps fund the final cut of this promising project. Plus, if you pledge $15 or more, you get an on-screen thank you in the film's credits.

Barber's doc launches us into the lives of high school marching band students. But what it's really about is how music and performance can provide a bit of happiness in a world filled with troubles. These kids in New Orleans need a minute to forget that their sisters and brothers were killed, or that their homes had been swept away overnight. The bands give them a chance to celebrate what Katrina could never take away: their city's jazz roots.

This doc is a great reminder to us all that there are ways to momentarily escape from our troubles, and that we're not alone in the struggle of what we call life. If that's not a reason to sign up for band camp(aign), then I don't know what is.