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4B —Thursday, October 11, 2018
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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
I’ve
never
heard
anyone
complain about a grilled cheese
sandwich.
Even
the
most
cumbersome and uninspiring cook
— the kind that spikes your blood
pressure when you watch them
because their sleeve is dangling
just a tad too close to the flame, who
may not even know how to cook
scrambled eggs without burning
them — can make a grilled cheese
taste good. Two ingredients for a
whole five minutes of happiness.
But, eating a grilled cheese is
just as easy as making it. What if
this basic unit of melting goodness
could be used to inspire social
change? That’s where FeelGood
comes into play.
FeelGood is a national volunteer
movement working to end world
poverty by 2030. Their vehicle
to do so is the grilled cheese. At
the University, FeelGood is a
student organization that delivers
handmade sandwiches to locations
on central campus for a donation
ranging from three to five dollars.
All of the profits go toward
eradicating world poverty. It’s that
simple.
“World hunger is a problem
that seems insurmountable and
daunting,” Ross School of Business
senior and co-president of the
University’s
FeelGood
chapter
Madeline Demeter said in an
interview with The Daily. “But
FeelGood: ending poverty
one grilled cheese at a time
TRINA PAL
Daily Arts Writer
ARTIST
PROFILE
IN
Incandescence & Horror
Porn: To my hairdresser
COURTESY OF FEELGOOD
Nola’s Underground Salon is a
feel-good sort of place in its own
right. It’s demurely tucked in the
basement beneath that random
food court on North U., requiring
patrons to deliver themselves from
the commercial madness above
when they descend the otherwise
overlooked
staircase
between
Mezes and Silvio’s. The studio itself
is much like a womb, wrapped in
velvet fleur-de-lis wallpaper and
perpetually bumping some sort of
warm, spacy noise. My hairdresser
Nick owns the only bald head I
have ever considered gorgeous and
is always garnished in harem pants
that emphasize his alarmingly
clear eyes. Going to Nola’s has
evidently
become
a
spiritual
experience for me, and I was really
searching for some relief when I
crawled down there last Friday,
feeling utterly shackled by social
anxiety and Brett Kavanaugh.
Nick,
being
the
mythical
creature he is, picked up on my
funk and steered our conversation
into some revitalizing book talk.
Somewhere along that path, we got
into “weird little books,” and his
entire demeanor seemed shot with
lightning as he recalled Georges
Bataille’s novella “Story of the
Eye.” He needed me to read it.
“It’s written by this crazy
fucking French librarian,” he
explained, “but I really shouldn’t
tell you any more. I used to hand
it out to my students at the end
of the semester with an album
I find rather complementary.”
That was unique. I asked what
artist. He replied, “Have you
listened to of Montreal?” and
something in my brain exploded.
Too many wonderful things were
intersecting right when I needed
them to. I ordered the book right
then and there.
“Story of the Eye” is porn.
And it’s no standard porn — it’s
sensationally messy, impressively
constant,
poetically
visual,
overwhelmingly excessive, often
demonic porn that is constantly,
constantly flirting with death (if not
fucking it outright). In its mere 80
wild pages, the unnamed narrator
and his main squeeze, Simone,
manage to write some Kama Sutra
from hell as a secondary byproduct
of the relentless pursuit of their
most unrefined desire. Simone
and
Bataille-through-narrator
boast unfathomable stamina and
ambition, managing to throw an
almost satirically obscene orgy
and execute a full-on asylum
break, naked, on bikes, in the first
few chapters. Someone almost
dies,
someone
definitely
dies
and a host of others continue to
die as Simone and the Narrator
Boi somehow take their lethal
debauchery abroad, where it is
simultaneously
nourished
by
and unleashed upon the headiest
of landscapes: bullfights during
the day, cathedrals at night. The
repeated demonstration of this
relationship
between
physical
and/or material destruction and
raw sexual energy is some literary
Ouroboros — create and destroy,
nourish and damage, turn on and
turn off, but above all cycle, cycle,
cycle because, for Simone and
Narrator Boi, at least, it all seems to
average out to infinity anyway.
“The
goal
of
my
sexual
licentiousness,”
explains
Narrator Boi, “(is) a geometric
incandescence
(among
other
things, the coinciding point of life
and death, being and nothingness),
perfectly fulgurating.”
Holy shit. The last thing I’ve read
that presented “incandescence”
as a character goal was Virginia
Woolf’s “A Room of One’s Own.”
Beneath its indisputably singular
delivery, there’s some kernel of
fiery nirvana in “Story of the Eye”
that it shares with literature-at-
large. These kids are trying to
transcend. Forget good — they
want
incandescent.
Perfectly
fulgurating. This is how they do it.
This canonically routine theme
can certainly get lost in the genre
sauce. Pornography is seldom
considered “literature” at all, let
alone fertile field for transcendence
stories. Bataille’s novella, with
its innumerable perversions and
taboos, takes it a step further
in terms of accessibility. In a
particularly
keen
moment
of
reflection,
Bataille’s
narrator
seems to anticipate this exact
interpretive
hurdle,
explaining
with some encouraging judgment
that, “to others, the universe seems
decent because decent people have
gelded eyes. That is why they fear
lewdness … In general, people savor
the ‘pleasures of the flesh’ only on
condition that they be insipid.”
Luckily, there exists a trove
of amazingly helpful theory on
pornographic literature to dissolve
some of these insidious barriers of
convention, and perhaps embolden
us to embrace some new flavor.
In her essay “The Pornographic
Imagination,” which references
and is often included in critical
editions of “Story of the Eye,”
Susan Sontag taps into the unique
power of porn: “the physical
sensations involuntarily produced
in someone reading the book carry
with them something that touches
upon the reader’s whole experience
of humanity — and his limits as a
personality and a body.”
The thrill of pushing it. We do
this all the time: It’s the arguably
masochistic euphoria of writing
a thesis, fighting through a long
run, giving or getting an awesome
hickey. Corpse pose at the end of
the specific agony that is hot yoga.
Overwhelming the senses tends
to shock them into a brand new
sense of their own, and this style
of writing captures that. It would
be hypocritical if that were not
“literature.”
“Story of the Eye,” without a
doubt, is a whole different sort
of “pushing it.” Writing a thesis
and necrophilia aren’t exactly
comparable. To this, I say poetry:
Bataille is pushing our literary
senses, rousing us with so many
scandals that they seem to molt
their literal meaning, instead
operating as vector-like stimuli
that culminate in destroying our
idea of what we can possibly feel
while reading something. Sontag,
expectedly, is a little more cerebral
about horror-porn, explaining that:
“Human beings … live only
through excess. And pleasure
depends on ‘perspective,’ or giving
oneself to a state of ‘open being,’
open to death as well as to joy. Most
people try to outwit their own
feelings; they want to be receptive
to pleasure but keep ‘horror’ at a
distance. That’s foolish, according
to Bataille, since horror reinforces
‘attraction’ and excites desire.”
Pleasure
and
horror
—
Ouroboros
2.0.
Per
my
hairdresser’s recommendation, I
began to listen for this exciting,
excessive relationship in the music
of of Montreal and was pleasantly
surprised to find its undercurrent
pulsing beneath wide swaths of
their discography. The group’s
frontman, Kevin Barnes, seems to
have mastered the art of accepting
VERITY STURM
For the Daily
BOOKS NOTEBOOK
grilled cheese sandwiches are
super simple and easy. And people
love food.”
Some may be skeptical of the
monetary impact one sandwich
can make, but about one half of the
world lives off of less than $2.50
per day. The international poverty
line is currently set at $1.90 per day.
About 820 million people suffer
from world hunger. Anything and
everything is helpful to bridge
the international gap between the
privileged and underprivileged.
“We can have such an impact
with just one sandwich,” Demeter
said. “People think, ‘If I’m not
donating at least $100 then I’m
not having an impact,’ and that
prevents people from donating
when
really
any
amount
is
powerful and helpful.”
All the money FeelGood raises
from grilled cheese sales goes
toward the Commitment 2030
Fund: a group of organizations
that are dedicated to ending
world poverty by the year 2030.
A majority of the money raised
within these organizations goes
toward Asia, Africa and Latin
America: places where the need
is greatest. FeelGood is optimistic
that the Commitment 2030 Fund
can accomplish its goal.
“(World
hunger)
has
been
halved before, so I feel like it’s
foreseeable to do it again,” LSA
junior and marketing chair of
FeelGood Dylan DeBaun said.
The Commitment 2030 Fund
targets world poverty in an
environmentally
sustainable
way instead of “handing-out”
money, which often inspires no
lasting change in an impoverished
community. The Hunger Project,
one of the organizations in the
alliance, aims to eliminate world
hunger in a self-reliant way by
ensuring that agricultural and
culinary skills taught to the
community will be conserved
through
generations.
The
Pachamama Alliance works to
reduce the risk of infant mortality
by providing safe birthing kits
to women in the Amazon and
training them to be dulas, among
other goals. FeelGood is proud to
partner with organizations that
prioritize sustainability instead of
freely giving out money.
“If you go into a community
and give them a water purification
system — what happens if it
breaks?” Demeter said. There’s
almost no impact unless the
community is taught how to
maintain the system and can
troubleshoot for problems. This
type of lasting change is why
FeelGood prefers to think of
themselves as partnering with
disadvantaged populations instead
of viewing their donations as
charity.
“We give a hand-up, not a hand-
out,” Demeter added.
It’s easy to stigmatize world
hunger, especially living in the
United States and even just in Ann
Arbor.
It can be difficult to put
yourself in the shoes of someone
malnourished, and as a result
many tend to look down on
underprivileged individuals. As a
student organization, FeelGood
seeks to break down this stereotype
by starting conversations with
their customers and within their
meetings.
“It’s inappropriate to call these
countries ‘Third World Countries.’
There’s
a
hugely
negative
connotation with that,” Demeter
said. “They’re born into this
situation; it’s not in their control.
They’re really just like us.”
Few realize that world poverty
has
a
gender
component
as
well: About 60 percent of those
suffering from world hunger are
women. This is largely due to the
lack of resources female farmers
have access to compared to their
male counterparts. Women are
often given less land to farm on,
as well as fewer cattle and seeds.
Many organizations that target
world hunger focus on women
specifically, and FeelGood is no
exception.
“We’re
a
gender-based
organization,” DeBaun said. “We
focus on empowering women in
other countries.” Often times,
women are more involved in
the community, as well as food
production for their family unit.
Lifting up women can lead to
lifting up an entire community of
people.
When FeelGood isn’t running
delis, rushing off to make a delivery
or dressing up in a giant, plush
grilled cheese sandwich suit, they
facilitate necessary conversations
about world poverty with their
members and across campus. They
aim to de-stigmatize the issue by
making it more well known while
still conveying the full gravity
of the situation. Every semester
comes with a new fundraising
goal as well as different areas of
monetary allocation.
“It could mean allowing two
elected women representatives in
India to be trained and supported
throughout the course of their
five year term, or 23 biodigesters
installed in rural villages in Nepal.
It could mean 2.5 years of training
on water resource management for
a one-hand pump in Malawi or 120
safe birthing kits,” Demeter said,
speaking on FeelGood’s goal for
the fall.
World poverty is understandably
grim, but FeelGood tries to tackle
the
problem
with
optimism
instead.
“When you hand someone a
grilled cheese sandwich, they just
smile,” DeBaun said. That smile is
exactly what FeelGood is aiming
for.
and exploring the wit between his
own feelings in whatever form,
image or taboo they may naturally
assume. Furthermore, he pays
direct homage to Bataille in his
work: Barnes opens “The Past is a
Grotesque Animal, ” the intense,
ever-building 12-minute volta of
his most critically acclaimed album
to date, Hissing Fauna, Are You the
Destroyer?, with the statement-
confession that, “I fell in love with
the first cute girl that I met / Who
could appreciate Georges Bataille
/ Standing at a Swedish festival /
Discussing ‘Story of the Eye’.”
Skeletal Lamping, the album
that Nick would pair with “Story
of the Eye,” is Barnes’s self-
proclaimed project to “bring all
(his)
puzzling,
contradicting,
humorous … fantasies, ruminations
and observations to the surface”
in an effect that comes off as
quintessentially
Bataille.
In
particular, the bouncing disco
“Gallery
Piece”
achieves
that
poetically overwhelming volley of
scandals, shooting off triplet after
triplet of schizophrenic, verb-
based desires: “I wanna make you
scream / I wanna braid your hair
/ I wanna kiss your friends.” It’s
churning, obsessive, funky and
infectious; in fact, one might call it
incandescent.
Feel good food for the feels
If you’re anything like me,
when you get the feels, you
get all the feels. One night,
feels and all, you find yourself
spoon-deep in a Ben & Jerry’s
Cherry Garcia pint, running
dangerously low on fuel. With
a Calc 3 exam tomorrow and
no episodes of “Shameless”
left to watch, these are murky
waters. You rush to the fridge
in search of one more thing to
take the pain away, but you’re
met with nothing. Just a fridge
as empty as a your wallet, your
hopes and, now, your dreams.
But, don’t let the panic sink
in just yet — Trader Joe’s has
everything you need to stave
off all the feels this fall.
There’s
something
inexplicably satisfying about
walking into Trader Joe’s and
being blanketed by the warmly
tinted lights and aisle after
aisle of pleasantly packaged
products. And with fall just
over the horizon you can
count on pumpkin flavored
everything to be filling up the
shelves.
But sifting through all that
Trader Joe’s glory can be
difficult, so here’s a little guide
to take the edge off:
If your S.O. has run off
(no horse, no other lover —
they’re just running in the
opposite direction, leaving
you in the dust with a black
hole in your chest) you
should eat: Brownie Crisp
coffee ice cream sandwiches
Don’t even stop to think
about
texting
them
back,
they’re long gone now. It’s
just you and a box of the most
pleasure-filled
desserts
in
existence. Biting into these,
you won’t even have time to
ponder what your long-gone-
lover is up to. Fudgy brownie
crisp outside and espresso
ground ice cream: a dreamy
flavored medley you need.
It’s the most Penelope Cruz
(“Vicky Cristina Barcelona”)
ice cream sandwich on the
market — filled with spite,
allure
and
straight-up
seduction. I now pronounce
you two a match made in
heaven. If there’s anything you
need to melt the break up feels
away, this is it.
If
you’re
listening
to
Mitski’s latest album, Be the
Cowboy, while sitting in a
puddle of bittersweet, sappy
tears, you should drink:
You should just drink. It
doesn’t even matter what. Just
drink.
Just kidding — if you want
something to truly feel good,
Trader Joe’s has a cinnamony,
fall-fantastic Spiced Cider you
can chug, or mix in with some
rum for an extra punch in the
face of feeling. Serve it hot or
cold, just like your marble bag
of emotions.
But if Spiced Cider isn’t
enough to endure the heartfelt
chords Mitski strikes in the
build up to “Nobody,” then
try La Ferme Julien Rosé.
Imported from France, because
who doesn’t love sipping on
a nice glass of French wine
pretending that you’re walking
down les rues de Paris while
Mitski softly serenades you
through earbuds. Maybe with
an “Old Friend,” or just on
your own, thinking about a
“Lonesome Love,” TJ’s has
the specialty drinks that will
make your “Washing Machine
Heart” sing from delight. At
least until your glass runs
empty.
If the weight of your past
drunken texts, failed exams
and arguments with your
mom are flashing before
your eyes, you should eat:
Pumpkin Joe-Joe’s
Yep.
Only
Trader
Joe’s
comes up with a food name
that isn’t clever at all but
somehow sounds quirky and
cute because it has the name
“Joe” in it two times. Pumpkin
Joe-Joe’s take your average
trendy pumpkin spice oreos
one step further into Bougie
City, with pumpkin flavored
cookies and pumpkin flavored
cream. There’s really no other
reason to eat Pumpkin Joe-
Joe’s if you’re having afflictive
mental flashbacks besides the
fact that they taste great and
are fall flavored.
If you’re laying in a field of
grass, the stars in the night
sky and all their grandeur
unraveling profound depths
of existential thought within
you, you should eat: Harvest
Spice Trek Mix
Studies show nuts are filled
with Omega-3 and Vitamin E,
making them the perfect brain
power snack. Grab a copy of
Nietzsche’s or Kant’s most
renowned
works,
discover
what dark matter consists of,
become the last airbender. We
need to keep this thought train
chugging down its track.
If you just feel hungry,
you should eat: T&J’s Hatch
Chile Mac & Cheese
Mac & cheese. Enough said.
If you’re allergic to nuts:
No saving the earth kingdom
for you, I guess.
Now you’re equipped with
a grab ‘n go list for all the
feel good foods from Trader
Joe’s you’ll be needing this
fall. So put on your favorite
compulsively
oversized
sweater and get on in there. It’s
about damn time you feel good.
TESSA ROSE
For the Daily
FOOD NOTEBOOK