By David Gales
galesdav@grinnell.edu

Hello.

My name is David, and this is my column, Gales’ Gevalt. I’ve been writing it since the end of last semester, but I figured now that we’re all back from break it would be a good opportunity to introduce myself, say hi, make the rounds.

I’m a first year, for starters, so I’ve only been here for a semester. I like music, The Office and adventures, just like every person you’ve ever swiped left to on Tinder. But I also love board games, speculative fiction and journalism. I’m non-binary, I think sweater-on-sweater is a valid fashion move, I’m Jewish by culture but not by faith, and my favorite type of D-Hall fry is the plain waffle fry. All of these parts of me, while disparate, are things I want to share with you now because they’re aspects of my life that I want to share more about in the future.

People have asked me what the central theme of my column is going to be many times, and the question always threw me. I knew I didn’t want it to be a purely political column, but I wanted the ability to cover politics if I deemed it relevant. I didn’t want it to be solely reviews because that narrows my options for how I voice my thoughts drastically.

So, let’s clear up that question: the theme of the column is me. I’ll talk about what I think is important, I’ll tell you why, and then I’ll do it again the next week. Every other week, I’ll publish a review of something, be it a board game, a movie, a book or a dish in dhall. If you want me to review something specific, email me at galesdav@grinnell.edu and I’ll make it happen. If people seem particularly interested in a certain topic, I’ll focus my column on it for a while.

Oh, and one more note on the title! Gevalt is a Yiddish expression of alarm. It’s a sort of general exclamation you say, one that’s stronger than “oy vey” but less severe than cursing in public. It can be about anything, it can be for any reason, it’s the sort of linguistic multitool you like to keep on hand for any situation. I thought it fitting to use a word of alarm for a column which, largely, will be filled with my ire and complaints.