This weekend I sat in the 
library, rigorously trying to finish 
an essay. Music was playing, my 
feet were tapping and my fingers 
were frantically traveling back and 
forth between my mouth and the 
keyboard. I like to believe that if 
I don’t bite my nails while I write 
essays, I could probably get more 
words on the page. Yet no matter 
how conscious I try to be about 
my anxious habits, I still fall into 
them.
I try to hide my nails from 
everybody. Having large hands as 
it is, I’m extremely self-conscious 
when it comes to my hands and 
fingers. I’ve been a nail biter since 
I was a kid, and although it has 
gotten better over time — like 
attending hypnotherapy sessions 
and meditating to become more 
present and aware of my actions — 
I still abuse my nails at least once a 
day. Like most people with habits, 
I hate admitting this to myself and 
to the public.
Many people have anxious 
habits even when they don’t know 
it: teeth grinding, nail picking, 
pencil chewing. Although our 
minds are listening to lectures or 
reading our textbooks, there is 
our subconscious mind, sending 
us 
messages 
to 
mindlessly 
wander off into a long list of 
events, 
assignments, 
people, 
work, fears and more. When this 
happens, we’re probably worried 
or anxious about them, and when 
that stress builds, we have to 
transfer that energy somewhere. 
Sadly, we mainly transfer this 
energy to ourselves, where verbs 
like “grinding,” “picking” and 
“chewing” are used against our 
own bodies.
Some habits, however, can be 
completely innocent and safe, like 
tapping your foot or twirling your 
hair. But it’s important to highlight 

the more dangerous habits like nail 
baiting, binge cigarette smoking or 
eating and even dermatillomania, 
the act of skin picking. I’ve been 
that girl who has picked the one 
small bump on my face until it 
bleeds, and to be quite honest, I 
have no reason for it. Habits like 
these can cause immense damage 
to our interior and exterior bodies 
without us witnessing each step of 
a progressive destruction.
For me, anxiety is like an itch I 
can’t scratch — it’s there and I can 
feel it, but I struggle to find the 
exact spot and alleviate it. So when 

I see something that irks me, like 
a hangnail or a zit, I want it to go 
away as soon as possible and I go 
at it. I take something microscopic 
and make it a bigger deal than it 
is, just like I do with my anxious 
thoughts.
Despite all the years of intense, 
anxious habits, there is never a 
wrong time to try and cure them. 
I was 19 when I went to my first 
hypnotherapy session (when in 
reality I should have gone when 
I was younger), and it was there 
where I learned the importance 
of diving into my subconscious, 
finding out what it was exactly that 
I was anxious about and learning 
to control stressful thoughts. I, 

along with many, learned that my 
anxious thoughts and habits were 
subconsciously developed as a 
child, and my brain chose to carry 
that stress as I grew older.
It took a few sessions and 
my own meditative practices 
to really become present and to 
acknowledge the danger (and 
disgust) of this habit. When I put 
my fingers to my mouth, I am more 
aware that they are there and that 
what I was doing was actually 
painful. In a way, I bring more 
feeling and presence to this area of 
my body, which is hard considering 
I am so embarrassed by my fingers. 
 
It’s an active, mindful and 
incredibly 
difficult 
challenge 
to 
continuously 
tame 
your 
subconscious, but it’s surely not 
impossible. Even though I attended 
hypnotherapy (which is not the 
only option), I’m still attempting to 
cure my anxious habits. I’ve played 
with rubber bands to entertain 
my fingers or twist my rings as an 
alternative fidgeting activity. I take 
a deep breath and mentally take a 
step back. Meditation has taught 
me to be present in the moment, 
which can take away from those 
spiraling, anxious thoughts and 
put myself back into reality.
Acknowledging your anxious 
habit is the first step to ending 
them. 
Whether 
it’s 
through 
exercise, writing or meditation, 
I have found different methods 
of building self-awareness and 
mindful presence in order to 
maintain a calm head and physical 
space. My fingers are used for 
typing and climbing and guitar 
playing. My fingers can be used 
to craft and create and cook. The 
more we can transfer our anxious 
energies 
into 
positive, 
useful 
activities, the closer we are to 
winning our individual battles 
against anxiety.

A bad force of habit 

HEALTH & WELLNESS COLUMN

ERIKA 
SHEVCHEK

TV INTERVIEW

ALBUM REVIEW

5 — Tuesday, April 10, 2018
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

On ‘Invasion of Privacy’ 
Cardi B is taking names

Cardi B has written a holy text 
for self-assurance, and its name is 
Invasion of Privacy.
The rapper started gaining 
attention in 2015 as an internet 
celebrity and cast member of “Love 
& Hip Hop: New York.” Since 
then, she has signed with Atlantic 
Records and released two complete 
mixtapes, Gangsta Bitch Music Vol. 
1 and Gangsta Bitch Music Vol. 2, 
in the span of less than a year. She 
was bold; she was brash; she was 
explicit and unapologetic about 
it. Then “Bodak Yellow” came out 
— her debut single — and when it 
captured the nation’s attention, 
it didn’t just show us exactly 
who Cardi B was going to be. It 
showed us who she already was: 
independent, brave and packing 
talent in every single word.
Invasion of Privacy does not 
disappoint. From the curtain-
drawing opener, “Get Up 10,” 
all the way through the final 
epilogue, “I Do,” Cardi B’s debut 
studio album is an explosion of 
bravado, irresistible beats and 
lyrical mastery. There isn’t a single 
track that does not demand the 
attention of the listener. Cardi sings 
about money and sex, she disses 
her enemies and references her 
relationship with Offset of Migos, 
and every step of the way, she has 
something to flaunt. Maybe this is 
part of why she has registered so 
much with the public as an agent 
of empowerment: She’s an expert, 

and listening to her music, you can’t 
help but want to be an expert, too.
The album makes use of its many 
featuring tracks, pairing Cardi with 
well-known artists like Migos, 
Chance The Rapper, Kehlani, 21 
Savage and SZA. In all of these 
cases, the artists’ talents are well 
matched. However, the real appeal 

of the album comes from Cardi 
herself, who fills in every track 
with the same insistent rhythms 
that made singles like “Bodak 
Yellow” and “Bartier Cardi” so 
popular. She repeats herself with 
new intonations, using hypnotic 
beats as her backdrops, making 
each line even more impactful than 
the one before it.
The lyrics are nothing to 
underestimate, 
either. 
Cardi 
slides from one line into the next 
with words so deftly chosen, it’s 
necessary to listen to each song 
more than once in order to fully 
appreciate the lexical complexity. 
“Only time that I’m a lady’s when 
I lay these hoes to rest,” from “I 
Do,” has to be the freshest pun of 
the entire year so far. And then 
there’s the title of the song, which 
sets up expectations that the song 
will have something to do with 
marriage, only to knock them down 
with the chorus: “I do / What I like, 
I do, I do.” From “I got enough 

bras, y’all ain’t gotta support me” 
in “Get Up 10” to Chance The 
Rapper’s line about “(turning) all 
my L’s into lessons” in “Best Life,” 
the wordplay that spans the entire 
album is artful and sharp.
As unafraid as Cardi B is of 
baring her confrontational side, 
she also doesn’t shy away from 
the more personal. In “Best Life,” 
she calls out her haters: “‘Cardi B 
is so problematic’ is the hashtag / 
I can’t believe they wanna see me 
lose that bad.” But “Be Careful” 
is probably her best example of 
vulnerability, a tender track in 
which Cardi warns her lover, “My 
heart is like a package with a fragile 
label on it, be careful with me.” 
With questions like, “Do you know 
what you doin’? / Whose feelings 
that you’re hurtin’ and bruisin’? 
/ You gon’ gain the whole world / 
But is it worth the girl that you’re 
losin’?” and promises that the song 
is “not a threat, it’s a warning,” “Be 
Careful” is where Cardi proves that 
she can draw just as much strength 
from vulnerability as she can from 
anywhere else.
Just like Cardi, Invasion of 
Privacy is impossible to shake out 
of one’s mind. She’s soft on “Be 
Careful,” imperious and explosive 
on “Bickenhead” and unstoppable 
all the way through. The album 
makes full use of her talents and 
her almost unrivaled personality 
and bravery. One could say that 
now that Cardi B is famous, her 
talent isn’t going anywhere, but in 
a sense, that would be wrong: It’s 
going straight up, with no sign of 
stopping.

LAURA DZUBAY
Daily Arts Writer

ATLANTIC

Invasion of 
Privacy

Cardi B

Atlantic Records

HBO
Co-creators Bill Hader 
& Alec Berg talk ‘Barry’

A good actor feels everything 
and lives in the spotlight. A good 
hitman feels nothing and lives in 
the shadows. It’s impossible to be 
both. Or is it?
This is the question that HBO’s 
“Barry” sets out to answer. The 
30 minute black comedy follows 
a Midwestern hitman named 
Barry (Bill Hader, “Saturday 
Night Live”), who travels to Los 
Angeles to kill a man, stumbles 
into an acting class and decides 
to leave his life of crime behind to 
become an actor. Of course, this 
is easier said than done. Barry 
soon finds himself living a double 
life, killing by day and exploring 
the theatre scene by night. What 
results is a deeply affecting, 
sharply written and genuinely 
funny show that explores what 
it’s like when “the thing you’re 
good at is weirdly destroying 
you.”
The Daily had the opportunity 
to speak with Bill Hader and 
Alec Berg (“Silicon Valley”), the 
show’s co-creators, writers and, 
in Hader’s case, the star.
Hader 
and 
Berg 
began 
brainstorming the show back 
in early 2014 after their mutual 
agent 
suggested 
they 
work 
together. Though Hader and 
Berg didn’t know each other well 
at the time, they ran in the same 
comedy circles and both had 
individual deals with HBO.
“The winds were pushing 
us together,” remarked Berg. 
After a few months of writing 
and one discarded idea, Hader 
and Berg decided to focus on a 
phenomenon that had previously 
tormented Hader: “The idea of 
being very gifted at something 
you derive no pleasure from.”
This is referencing Hader’s 
time as a cast member on 
“Saturday Night Live,” during 
which he suffered from crippling 
performance 
anxiety. 
It’s 
a 
fascinating contradiction, being 
tortured by talent — one that Berg 

and Hader wanted to further 
explore. After isolating the heart 
of the show, Berg explained that, 
“we pretty quickly landed on a 
guy who’s really good at killing 
but hates it, and what he wants to 
do is act.”
It’s certainly a bizarre premise, 
but it works. It works very well.
This is a testament to the 
quality of both the writing and 
acting on “Barry.” (Hopefully) 
neither Berg nor Hader have 
experience as hitmen, so they 
conducted extensive research on 
the profession to accurately fill 
out the show. This is not Berg’s 
first time working on a research-
heavy project — learning the tech 
world of “Silicon Valley” required 
similar preparations.
In both shows, Berg noted 
a similar trend: “You know 
you’re on track for something 
interesting if the craziest stuff 
you imagine is not as interesting 
as the real stuff you find.” 
Interesting 
is 
not 
always 
pleasant. “Barry” required its 
writers to watch torture videos 
and learn what getting shot 
actually looks like. Berg and 
Hader also visited many Los 
Angeles acting classes, which 
can be either a wonderful or 
miserable experience, depending 
on who you ask.
Berg recalls how surprised 
he was when, “we saw a woman 
do an exercise where the acting 
teacher kind of humiliated her 
to the point where she broke 
down crying and, in the end, she 
thanked him for allowing her to 
access that.”
This scene is almost exactly 
replicated in the pilot when 
Barry stumbles into that fateful 
acting 
class 
while 
trailing 
Ryan 
Madison 
(Tyler 
Jacob 
Moore, “Shameless”), the man 
he’s supposed to kill. There, 
he witnesses acting coach and 
self-proclaimed 
genius 
Gene 
Cousineau 
(Henry 
Winkler, 
“Holes”) berate flighty actress 
Sally (Sarah Goldberg, “The Dark 
Knight Rises”) until she breaks 
down into tears.
“To the outside observer it 

looks like abuse but actors we 
talked to were like, ‘Oh, yeah, 
that’s an exercise,’” said Berg.
It 
is 
this 
subversion 
of 
expectations 
which 
makes 
“Barry” so special. The show 
doesn’t shy away from dark 
subject matter; rather, “Barry” 
embraces it. Beyond its hitman 
storylines, 
“Barry” 
offers 
glimpses into the less-glamorous 
side of working as an actor 
in Hollywood. As the season 
continues, the narrative takes 
breaks from Barry’s journey and 
follows other actors in his class. 
The ability to tell heavy, dark 
stories in short beats and still find 
comedy in those hard moments 
is one of the show’s greatest 
strengths. No matter where the 
characters are — an audition, 
a party, a Chechen mobster’s 
garage — there is humor, heart 
and heartbreak. As Hader put it, 
“It’s not like that movie ‘La La 
Land.’”
Though “Barry” is certainly 
not like “La La Land,” the 
production process sounded like 
something of a fantasy.
“It was this thing where you 
really look forward to going into 
work every day. It never felt like 
an obligation,” Hader recalled.
“There’s usually a thing on 
shows where there’s one a-hole, 
you know like, ‘Ugh, we have 
to work around the a-hole,’ and 
on this show — I guess it means 
that we’re the a-holes — no, there 
were no a-holes on the show,” 
Berg added. “Everyone’s there 
to do great work and there’s 
none of that ego nonsense. On a 
lot of shows, the actors are very 
concerned with who has more 
lines or who looks cooler or who 
has a better trailer. Everyone was 
here to make the show better and 
that’s when things really work 
… when everyone’s there for the 
right reasons.”
That everyone’s there for the 
right reasons is evident on screen. 
“Barry” is a weird, wonderful 
triumph, and a killer piece of 
television.
“Barry” currently airs Sundays 
at 10:30 p.m. on HBO.

EMILY BICE
Daily Arts Writer

NOiR Runway to present 
Exogenesis fashion show

Student organization NOiR 
Runway will be hosting its 19th 
annual fashion show, entitled 
“Exogenesis,” on Saturday, Apr. 
14 at the Biomedical Science 
Research Building.
“My executive board, models 
and I have worked tirelessly 
to bring the student body 
a show they won’t forget,” 
wrote Taylor Williams, NOiR’s 
president 
and 
Ross 
junior. 
“With the help of our models, 
assistants, 
sponsors, 
and 
audience members we hope 
to execute a worthwhile show 
that’s 
entertaining, 
eventful 
and memorable.”
According 
to 
Williams, 
Exogenesis will feature clothing 
from well-known designers and 
upcoming creatives alike. The 
looks, coupled with production 

design, will offer audience 
members an extra-terrestrial 
experience.
“Our 
theme 
‘Exogenesis’ 

surrounds 
the 
unknown,” 
wrote Williams. “The place 
where creativity and flyness 
come together and go hand 
in hand beautifully. Deriving 
from the Greek term exo- 
meaning ‘outside’ and genesis-
meaning ‘origin,’ these words 
come together to hypothesize 

that life might have originated 
elsewhere in the universe and 
then spread to Earth. With a 
ticket to our charity runway 
show and our models as our 
muses, we are set to launch 
the audience towards fashion 
elsewhere in the universe.”
The runway show begins at 
7:00 p.m., while doors open to 
VIPs at 6:00 p.m. and to the 
general public at 6:30 p.m.. 
Tickets range from $17 (General 
Admission) 
to 
$35 
(VIP) 
and may be purchased here. 
Proceeds from Exogenesis will 
support Wish Upon A Teen, a 
metro Detroit-based nonprofit 
dedicated 
to 
providing 
opportunities 
to 
teenagers 
with 
life-limiting 
medical 
conditions.
For 
more 
information 
about 
NOiR 
Runway, 
visit 
noirrunway.org. 
For 
more 
information about Wish Upon 
A Teen, visit wishuponateen.
org.

TESS GARCIA
Daily Style Editor

STYLE PREVIEW

“Exegenesis”

Biomedical Science 
Research Building

Sat. Apr. 14 @ 7 
p.m.

GA $17, Preferred 
Exclusive $20, VIP 
$35

