Life & Style. Have a fitness tip or recipe to share? Contact the editor at lifeandstyle@theotherpress.ca Between the Sheets: a courtship catastrophe! By Viv Steele, Professional Speed Dater heck the news, kids. Dating’s dead. Of all the criticisms levied against dating throughout its history (it’s expensive, it’s clichéd, there aren’t enough naked boobs), perhaps the proverbial nail in the coffin for the antiquated social ritual comes in the form of a recent New York Times article titled “The end of courtship?” The article posits that “hookup culture,” and its slightly more homely cousin online dating have left the youth of North America in such a confused state that they don’t even know what “dating” is, much less how to take a person on one. Dates have been replaced by “hangs,” or “meet ups,” or “hookups.” A casual survey would suggest that very few of my peers have even been on a classic date, like the kind where Archie picks up Veronica in his jalopy and they go for dinner. No, a date these days looks a little more like Betty showing up to the bar to meet up with Archie, but he’s there with Veronica and Reggie, and Archie's all like, “Oh hey babe these are my friends.” And then Betty goes home and tweets about it and then maybe posts a poem to her Tumblr about how she’s not sure how Archie feels about her and how she wishes things were simple like they used to be back in Riverdale. So, writers left and right are decrying this death of dating. Shows like The Mindy Project poke fun at hooking up (when trying to find a potential hookup, the lead character is advised that “The key, Mindy, is to find someone you're attracted to, but you don’t respect and you can’t see a future with”), and shows like Girls portray an uncertain romantic landscape where just being someone’s “main hang,” as Adam calls Hannah, is enough to consider yourself a mortgage holder in relationship city. But I don’t think this cultural shift is necessarily a bad thing. Navigating this crazy new Food for thought Fast and smart snacks for study sessions By Elliot Chan, Staff Writer hen we eat we often consider our waistline, but forget that food also goes to our head. Therefore, we must feed it the nutrition it needs to function at its full potential. But preoccupied students have no time to show their culinary prowess. Deadlines, responsibilities, and commitments take up time so that cooking properly is often placed on the back burner. Here are some quick recipes for eating well, so students can go from pots and pans back to pen and paper. Tuna Taco: Fish contains omega-3 fatty acids that increase brainpower assisting with comprehension, problem solving, and memory. Yet, fish can also assist in causing a big mess, so for now, let’s stick with manageable ingredients: one eight-ounce can of tuna, four 10 corn tortillas, a quarter-cup of chopped cilantro (optional), half a chopped onion (optional), two tablespoons of mayonnaise, two tablespoons of sour cream, one tablespoon of lemon juice, two tablespoons of cream, and one teaspoon of oil. Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the onion if you're using one. Mix in the tuna. In a small bowl, mix the mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon juice, and cream together. Portion the tuna into the tortilla shells. Add sauce, garnish with cilantro if desired, and enjoy. Fried Rice and Eggs: Eggs are a good source of essential fatty acids and yolks contain choline, which is a building block for brain cells. Whenever there is leftover rice, consider combining it with eggs in a frying pan to save food and make a quick dinner. The ingredients are: one cup of cooked rice, a half- teaspoon of salt, one teaspoon of vegetable oil, half a chopped onion, a half-cup of green beans, one beaten egg, and a quarter- teaspoon of ground black pepper. world of dating can be daunting, but at least it’s easy to develop a decent set of red flags, based on the reported behaviour of noted creeps. If a potential partner is being shady about other lovers, if they only want to see you once a week at like midnight (or only text you when they’re drunk), if you’ve never met their friends, or if you only hang out with their friends, then there is a good chance that this Romeo is not the one you’re going to grow old with. I’ve written about fuck friends here before, and my opinion remains the same: people these days are overwhelmingly busy and also horny. The face of relationships has changed to reflect that. Traditional dating is going out the window as we’re trying to fit more things onto our Blackberry calendars every day. Maybe what we need, as a society, is a road map for this brave new world and some accepted social guidelines for this crazy thing we call courtship. So maybe dating’s not dead, maybe it’s not just sleeping. Maybe it’s evolving. Sauté the onions and green beans on an oiled skillet or wok and cook for two minutes. Pour egg, stir until cooked, then add the cooked rice and mix. Sprinkle with black pepper and serve. Curry: Turmeric, the essential spice for curry, contains curcumin, which helps remove plaque from the brain. Although it may seem like a hard dish to pull off, a quick meal of curry is in fact pretty simple. So don’t be intimidated by the ingredient list: one pound of chicken breast cut into bite-size pieces, two peeled and chopped potatoes, one peeled and chopped red onion, one peeled and chopped carrot, two tablespoons of vegetable oil, two tablespoons of curry paste or curry powder, one cup of chicken broth, one teaspoon of granulated sugar, a half-teaspoon each of salt and ground pepper. Heat up the oil in a wok and then add the chopped onion. When the onion is soft and translucent, add the curry paste or powder and stir (add a bit of water if using powder). Insert the chicken into the mix and cook until brown. Add the carrots and potatoes. After a few minutes, add the chicken broth, sugar, salt, and pepper. Stir and Archie Comics | Illustration courtesy of Norm Breyfogle othe a Tuna Taco| Photo courtesy of J, Zay/Fickr (Creative Commons) mix well. Cover the wok and allow it to simmer on low heat for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Eat, clean up, and then get back to work.