Mace Elsher

The warm lighting from the green, blue and beige lamps casts a gentle glow across the spines of books nestled safely on cypress shelves.
A teal curtain is pulled back by a gold rope over a small window. Cool lighting from the snowy space outside filters in to the cozy space inside. The smell of rose and freshly cut wood hangs in the air.
“We are the first and only (exclusively) Japanese book store in Calgary,” says Antonella Ella, owner of Nekoto Books. “The space is designed like a small Hokkai...

When you walk into The Sentry Box, if the Egyptian hieroglyph mural doesn’t capture your attention, the dungeon styled mezzanine certainly will. Perhaps the armies of miniatures that have been carefully sculpted and painted on display will draw you in. Ranging from Warhammer, to Dungeons and Dragons, to Gundam, Battletech, World of Warcraft, Pathfinder, and so much more. They sit poised in their carefully crafted scenes, inviting visitors in to have a look and marvel at the tiny details. Their s...

The stalactites fall from the ceiling and collide with the thin volcanic crust. The terrain shifts as the rock parts and the sea of molten lava spills forth through the cracks of stone. The rumbling of the volcano, a once quiet murmur, is now a roaring quake that shakes the walls, the floor, and the beings that have found themselves trapped within the stirring volcano. One by one, the adventurers are separated by plates of volcanic stone that are parted by the overflowing scalding waves of lava....

I fidget endlessly in my chair as I listen intently to my professors speak. Their words hang on the edge of my attention, and I can feel myself unable to pay them mind. I knew I should not have had so much coffee before making the hour-long trek to campus. I must use the restroom. I wait for a break, a pause, a moment for when I can slip away to find a washroom. I try to be the first. Everyone tries to be the first. I need to be first. Otherwise, the confused and disapproving glances are thrown...