Top Stories
New stories you’ll love, handpicked for you by our team and updated daily.
A new community experience: luminhero
luminhero was started by founder Rock Lee in 2018. He grew up in Korea and played polo for many years. Being new to LA, he found that it was sometimes difficult to meet people that shared similar interests. This gave him the idea to start luminhero. Now, thousands of people have attended these workouts all over Los Angeles. People leave feeling inspired with a smile and lots of new friends.
By Blaine Strong6 years ago in Longevity
Top 5 Vogue Italia Covers that were more than just Fashion.
Franca Sozzani was the editor of Vogue Italia from 1988 up until her tragic death in 2016. Her work was considered controversial and she received constant backlash from critics about her Vogue Italia covers. Unfazed by the critics, she continued to create the most talked about magazine issues.
By Aashna Woodin6 years ago in Styled
A Case for Drugstore Beauty
As a Sephora employee, I hear a lot of unpopular makeup opinions. I also get the luxury of trying every new product that rolls its way onto the black tile. But before I was a Sephora doll, I was a CVS drugstore beauty die-hard, and after you swatch enough liquid lipsticks and shimmer shadows, you start to wonder what that $20 price difference really boils down to. Is buying drug store makeup bad for you or your skin? Does using drugstore brands make you "bad" at makeup?
By Lillie Superstar6 years ago in Blush
Fame for All
My face has been seen around the world over 25-million times, but I am not even remotely famous. In the early 2010s, I began creating profiles on various social media platforms. My first was Twitter, then Facebook, then Instagram, and so on. I was around 13 years old when I had signed up for virtually every relevant social media on the internet and I could not be happier because I spent a lot of time connecting with people I know, sharing statuses and photos, and scrolling through explore pages. A few years in, I decided I wanted to use these platforms to build a following and influence.
By Mark Sorace6 years ago in Journal
7 drinks, 7 days: caffeine edition
No one asked me to do this. I didn’t need to do it for any specific reason, except I was preparing to be in my house for a long, indeterminable amount of time and decided to make it interesting. I tried these 7 energy drinks over the course of the last 7 days. I’ve never had any of them before this, so here are my first impressions of each, along with a rating out of 10. Enjoy!
By Alyson Lewis6 years ago in Feast
When our world grows bleak, we must dance to the rhythm...
Spring's greetings, my fellow opinionated people! (*) I would like you to know: at this very moment, I am sitting in my favorite sports bar, sipping a beer, and watching professional basketball out of my periphery -- and due to the growing (and for some, paralyzing) fear of the coronavirus, this place is about half as busy as it usually is. Which means easier parking and priority seating, which is totally cool with me. I guess. But it has me thinking: if it comes to me being stuck at home in the near future, whether due to illness or work shutdown, which films would be my Chicken Soup for the Soul, as 'twere? Where might I run to first, to flee the binge-watching of super-TV, and find my happy place buried deep under the rising waters of preoccupation (and lack of work)? Where I landed was a universe filled with rollicking soundtracks and bodies dancing unencumbered...
By Orion Bradshaw6 years ago in Geeks
COVID Pandemic Exposes the Ugly Secrets Hidden in America’s Healthcare System:
Picture courtesy of Lenore Stutznegger and Norman Rainock (Norman Rainock Art Ca.) COVID, the hallways are eerily empty because of you. At night, where there normally exists an air of calmness as patients sleep, the hospital walls that surround me instead convey a sense of uncertainty. It is palpable. It is heavy. It is unlike anything I have ever encountered as a physician. Perhaps this is because deep down in places where fear and dread reside, we know you are there watching and studying our patterns of behavior. All the while, you silently spread yourself at exponential rates, knowing that our testing capabilities, while ever-growing, still fail to keep up with you. For this, you mock us. You are learning the truth about the American healthcare system as it stands. On the outside we are strong, with sophisticated buildings, fancy technology, and state-of-the-art equipment. To nearly any onlooker we appear to be thriving, at the top of our game. Yet you aren’t fooled by this; no, not at all because you have already penetrated these walls, exposing the hidden prison behind the shiny facade of our healthcare system.
By Dr. Megan Babb6 years ago in The Swamp
5 Reasons My First Attempt at Quitting Drinking Failed
5 Reasons My First Attempt at Quitting Drinking Failed On January 1st, 2016, I decided my New Year’s resolution was going to be to quit drinking. Nothing bad happened the night before. I just found myself drinking more than I normally did (being it was NYE) and noticing that it wasn’t really adding to the experience. If anything, actually, it took away from it. I wasn’t as present for my kids as I could have been and I feel asleep before it was even midnight because of all the wine and champagne I drank. I thought back to when I was in high school and overall did not drink much and was perfectly happy. I wanted to go back to feeling like that. If your track record with New Year’s resolutions is anything like mine has been, then I probably don’t have to tell you that this one didn’t last. I made it to mid-April, so about 3 and a half months. I eventually ended up stopping again in late 2017 and when I did, a book I read said that if you have not been successful with quitting drinking in the past, it is because you have not had the right tools. That, combined with all the buzz I was hearing about how failures and setbacks are lessons you can learn from, caused me to sit back and analyze why this earlier attempt was not successful. I have been able to narrow it down to 5 main reasons:
By Kate Crouthamel Nelson6 years ago in Proof
How to bake away the pain of being a bad person: Bread
I stand before you Brothers and Sisters, a bloated, Gluten enthusiast. Here to preach the good word of bread. I know it gets a bad rap, being blamed for our weight gain when it is in fact, our [read: my] self-control and not the loaves that stop us from being thin. In this day and age, it gets treated like a wheaten representation of the devil himself, being spat on by those with both faux and real gluten intolerances. Gross, thin, healthy-looking people make bread alternatives under the guise of “health” but really when I look at these Frankensteins monsters made of nuts and seeds I see it's true intention: HORRENDOUS TORTURE.
By Roc Travers6 years ago in Feast
Creator Spotlight: Mark Wesley Pritchard
Our creators are the ones who inspire us to provide a platform that rewards creativity and coming together over shared passions. Mark Wesley Pritchard has been part of our community for over a year and has since helped us foster this idea of coming together through his powerful stories. From interviews with some incredible cosplayers to raising awareness on human rights, he continues to inspire us here at Vocal. We got to sit down with Mark and learn a bit more about him in this Creator Spotlight.
By Vocal Spotlight6 years ago in Resources
Pineapple on Pizza
We all have different tastes in everything. Most of us accept that some people will like things we don't or dislike things we enjoy. It's a normal part of life. There are, however, certain bones of contention in the foodie world. You might say that certain foods or combinations are 'Marmite'. That is to say you either you love them or hate them. Of course, there are probably a few strange people who 'don't mind' Marmite, could 'take it or leave it' but I can honestly say I've never met anyone that crazy.
By Sapphire Ravenclaw6 years ago in Feast
The Godfather, Casablanca, Back To The Future: All Undeniable Classics That Can Be Remade
When asked whether he would sign off on seeing his time-traveling comedy classic receive the remake treatment, Back To The Future director Robert Zemeckis emphatically replied with an "oh, God no... That can’t happen until both [his writing partner] Bob [Gale] and I are dead. And then I’m sure they’ll do it, unless there’s a way our estates can stop it."
By Ghezal Amiri6 years ago in Geeks
The Future of Swag is Automated
Swag.com was founded in early 2016 when co-founders Jeremy Parker and Josh Orbach noticed that the current swag market was filled with things that didn’t resonate with its current buyer- often times a twenty-something year old assigned with the task of purchasing branded items for their newly coveted position at a swanky company. Parker and Orbach recognized a few things about these young buyers that other promotional product companies didn’t: these buyers didn’t want to speak to anyone on the phone, they wanted a curated selection of only the best items, and they wanted to feel competent in ordering a product that was exclusive to them. Now, just 4 years after launch, Swag.com has grown to 35 employees and brings in $7m in sales.
By Laura Odegard6 years ago in Journal
To Our Creative Community: What We Want You to Know
We’ve been exceedingly lucky over the past three years to have fostered a platform built on the values of rewarding creativity and coming together over shared passions. You, as creators and as our partners, have made this possible with your support and your sense of community, and we expect to continue helping you share your stories with the world for a long time to come.
By Justin @ Vocal6 years ago in Resources
