January Editorial: Make It So

Sam Colbert and Anna Kulikov

Artwork by Joshua Lewis

One of the first things you’ll learn about 18^th-century thinker Immanuel Kant in an introductory philosophy course is that, in his nearly eighty years of life, he never once traveled more than ten miles outside of his hometown. And yet, despite his lack of foreign exploration, he’s been credited as the greatest philosopher since the ancient Greeks.

Like Kant, my travels have yet to take me very far from home. (This, of course, is only the beginning of a long list of striking similarities between the great philosopher and myself.) But I’d like to believe that a life of limited geography is not necessarily one lacking insight and excitement. Whatever your routine is, there’s fun to be had.

In, “For Queen and Country”, Kathryn Morrison discusses how, over time, the protagonists of our adventure stories have changed from being the Hero to the Everyman. In an effort to add excitement to her life, Meg Peters puts a twist on each day of the week in “Manic Meg’s Wacky Week”. Jane van Koeverden and Leanna Katz go looking for wild times at a downtown Hamilton bingo hall in “Happiness is Playing Bingo?”

Beyond that, Incite’s ‘Adventure’-themed December issue has nacho reviews, tales of risky fashion statements, an analysis of what technology has done to the fun in our lives, and a little poetry.

So go put your bed on the other side of the room. Substitute a few new ingredients in tonight’s dinner recipe. Have a few drinks, buy a watermelon, walk with it to an old friend’s house, and see what happens.

Our hope with this month’s issue is that it encourages you to try something a little different.

- SC

I have given in to temptation, and will begin this month’s editorial with Star Trek flair. Cue Sir Patrick Stewart: “These are the voyages of the magazine Incite. Its continuing mission to explore strange new themes, to seek out new stories and new witticisms, to boldly go where no one has gone before…”

While such an introduction may be thematically appropriate, I have just reached a new height of nerdom. In print, no less.

This month’s theme created the opportunity for our writers to tell tales of grand adventures past and to embark on new ones. Join Larry Evans on his risky self-guided tour of Hamilton’s abandoned places in “Urban Exploration”, and Devra Charney and Kaila Radan on their first Geocaching mission right on McMaster’s campus in “Gotta Cache ‘Em All”.

Adira Winegust recounts her experiences hitchhiking in a foreign land while Charlotte Mussels and Julia Redmond forgo the GO for a long bike ride from Hamilton to Toronto in “Hitchhiker’s Guide Meets Bicycle Diaries”. Karina Redick shares the story of her journey “In the Warm Heart of Africa” and discusses the implications of so-called ‘development tourism’.

The Romanian dramatist, Eugene Ionesco, once said, “A work of art is above all an adventure of the mind.” Incite has always striven to be an outlet not only for writers, but for artists as well – and this month is no different. Inside our pages, beautiful art and photography awaits!

So, with a cup of tea (Earl Grey, hot), embark on your own adventure through Incite. Fair winds and following seas, dear reader!

- AK

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Check out the full January issue here!