Content warning: loss of a loved one and heavy emotions.

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It’s been four weeks since I received the worst news of my life. That’s a month since my great aunt passed away. It’s still a soft subject for me, I don’t know why I talk about it this much. I’m constantly upset because I’m thinking about her, and then I do things that make me think about her even more.

My life was nearly perfect before. I was attending my dream highschool, making new friends, finding out about myself and my personality. I was even losing weight and my acne was clearing up. I was the happiest I had ever been in my entire life. Then, my only mother figure was ripped away from me.

It was all so sudden. She was 84 and I understand that, but she was so healthy. She did everything she could to make sure of it. To most people, she looked nowhere near her actual age. I had seen her a day prior to her death and everything was perfect. It was Sunday and we went to church together, like we always did. We didn’t do much that day, just enjoyed each other’s company. I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

During the first week, my mind was quiet while my heart felt like it had been physically pulled out and ripped apart. If I wasn’t crying, I was asleep and if I wasn’t asleep, I was crying. It was a vicious cycle that I’m glad I was able to get out of. I was waiting to come back to MSA, I knew I would be happier there. I hate that quiet, empty house where everything reminds me of her, but I love my dad and my dog with all my heart and I’d do anything for them.

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“It’ll get better” is something that I used to tell myself all the time. A few years ago, I hit rock bottom. I lost a lot of my friends, failed half of my classes, and hated everything. I promised myself that things would be better and, with time, they did. I found new friends that showed me real friendship and love, my grades excelled, and (for the first time) I loved myself. After a year, I hit rock bottom again. I lost some friends and got caught in highschool drama and I was miserable. This time was different, though. I remembered how I pulled myself up out of the lowest point in my life and I didn’t have to promise myself anything anymore because I knew it would get better. And it did. I came to MSA and I was happier than ever for just 2 weeks.

I keep telling myself that it’ll get better. When I think it does, it all comes crashing down again. The first week back at MSA was great and I thought things were looking up. Then the second week was just awful. The third week started to look better, and now, I’m back in the dumps.

An entire month has passed and I don’t know how to feel. I’ll be completely honest, I’ve never been more disappointed in myself. History is repeating. I think I’ve already lost a few friends, I feel like my grades are dropping, and I don’t feel the same love I had for myself anymore. I tell myself it’ll get better, I know it’ll get better, but right now, it’s so hard to believe.

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When I came back to MSA, I was swarmed with love and support and I couldn’t be more grateful. My friends helped me stay distracted from the heavy feelings and my teachers gave me grace while I struggled with motivation and fought to stay focused during class. Dr. Blauw helped in so many different ways, I can’t thank her enough. With this amount of love around me, I’m hopeful for the future and thankful for everyone in my life. This wound will heal with time and I know it’ll get better.

 

One key factor that companies and businesses like to consider when formulating an advertisement is the influence of trends and fashion. We see examples of this at Mattel for Barbie or the evolution of IOS. Brands use the world around them to design their products in a way that is most likely to sell. Barbie stays popular with hair trends and latest fashion designs, and Apple collects data from most sold models to fuel their newest make. One company that uses the influence of trending fashion to expand their economy is Morton Co. and the Morton salt girl.

The Morton salt girl is one of the most famous staples in American history. You might have seen her on the cover of your salt container while cooking or trying to kill a slug. She first appeared in 1914 on the all- blue container along with the old slogan It Pours. This was advertised because the company valued the free-flowing quality of its salt. Other renditions of this quote were ‘it never rains but pours’ and “flows freely”. It was decided that ‘When it rains it pours’ advertised these qualities best and from then on, the Morton salt girl and famous slogan appeared together.

Through the decades the look of the Morton salt girl changed a lot. When she first appeared, the Morton salt girl was drawn in black and white (no color), had curly short hair, held a large umbrella while standing in the rain and was dressed in the casual wear of kids in the early 1900s. The whole illustration reminds me of an early depiction of the character ‘Annie’ (1982). And the fashion statements were (in my opinion) Non-existent.

In the 1920s, They changed her hair from curly, short and blonde to short, straight and brown hair. One important factor to consider was the roaring 20s. Bob cuts were popular and extravagant bows were a statement. Morton Co didn’t dive deep into the roaring 20’s, but we can promptly hit at the influence of the Era.

In 1933, The staples hair went from straight to, once again, curly or puffy. The color of the umbrella was a little darker and the pour of the salt flowed easier compared to any of the pictures before it. Though these changes were still subtle and easy to miss, one could infer Morton Co’s goal was to improve the overall illustration of the picture. But she’s still in her Sunday’s best and trudging through the dreadful weather.

 

1941: Instead of her usual Annie vibe, she’s given pigtails along with the surprising addition of a bright, popping yellow. Her Sunday best has undergone a few important revisions. There are Polka dots everywhere and puffy arm holes that show the growth of Morton Co. tremendously (It adds to the happy atmosphere of the child.) I think out of all the versions, this one considers the aspect of a kid a lot more. She’s happier and her outfit shows it!

1956: We get the 50’s vibe here. There is a thickness to the dress that reminds me of a ball gown. I read about this tool called ‘candy canes’ that was used in the 50s to give dresses a ‘ballroom’ look. It was a handy tool used by women to make their dresses look fashionable for events and such. The edges of her wardrobe are decorated with the simple yet favored style of the 1950s. Personally, these revisions don’t show much development from 1941, but I suppose the most important rule of business at that time was to stick to the trends. However, the yellow feels rejuvenating and fresh. And I love the new design of the dress.

For a long time, this question has been floating around regarding the live action Spider-Man movies. So, in this blog I’m going to sort them from worst to best. But when I say worst, I still think he’s good, just not the best one.

Tom Holland

I still really love Tom Holland. I love the movies and everything that this Spider-Man is in. I just don’t think he holds up like the other two. I feel as if his story was rushed a little too much. I see what they were trying to do with not showing his origin, but everything else about it was just strange. It felt like he never got to go through the big struggle of Spider-Man due to everything being given to him by Tony Stark. Yes, he still had to learn how to be a better hero and deal with his mistakes, but other than that, there wasn’t much for him to learn with him basically getting spoiled. The second movie shows him without Tony, but he still used a bunch of Tony’s equipment and had Happy to guide him. The third movie is where I think he does start to really start to feel like Spider-Man with the help of the other two. They did set it up for him to be more like the comic Spider-Man at the end of that movie, thankfully. But recent leaks show that he may still be on the huge multiversal stuff in the next movie rather than street level fights. Hopefully, this isn’t the case.

Tobey Maguire

Tobey Maguire’s portrayal of Spider-Man is pretty comic accurate. He is a really good Peter Parker. He really does encapsulate the nerdiness of Peter. But his Spider-Man, though extremely courageous and a really good hero, just doesn’t give off the Spidey energy. Spider-Man normally has really funny quips that are meant to be corny on purpose. The purposeful corniness of them is what makes them funny. Tobey’s Spidey is really serious a lot. Of course, he does joke around throughout the movies, but it seems like he’s actually trying to be really funny, but they just come off as corny in a bad way. Other than that, he is a really good Spider-Man.

 

Andrew Garfield

This one may be really biased due to him being the Spider-Man I grew up with, but I just really like him as Spider-Man. He doesn’t give off the nerd vibes, but he does give off the loser vibes of Peter Parker. He’s really awkward and gets bullied a lot. He normally keeps to himself like Peter does in his early years. When he is Spider-Man, he is really funny. He is pretty corny but does add in some real humor to it. I love seeing him beat up villains and mess with them in the process just to annoy them. His movies weren’t written the best story wise, but he seems to me to be an amazing Spider-Man. I also think the villains in his movies are pretty cool. I feel like they were some that most may not have thought to make a movie out of, but they did, and their stories were pretty cool.

Inside is an album that came out in 2021 made by Bo Burnham. It captured the attention of many young people who were trapped in their home due to quarantine. I will be talking about the songs from it as someone who is a huge fan of all of his work!! This will only be disc 1. I’ll do the rest another time.

1. Content 1:36

Content is the first song of the album where Bo speaks on being back online after disappearing for years. He starts off saying that he didn’t expect to be inside of his home all of the time. He talks about not being able to leave and being a bit depressed about it, doing little things to get back into the swing of things. “I’m sorry I was gone, but look I made you some content.”

2. Comedy 5:19

Bo Burnham starts this song off saying how everything is changing, and no one knows what’s happening. Everything is happening all at once. Politics and climate change are overwhelming and it’s getting harder to be a comedy in such serious times, who wants to joke at a time like this? He wants to make a change but feels like comedy isn’t something that can make a change. He says he should use his voice, but also says that white men have had the stand for at least four hundred years so maybe he should just step out of it. But no! Bo wants to help without standing on the sidelines, even though he really knows he can’t. “Should I be joking at a time like this?”

3. Facetime with my mom (tonight) 2:20

In this song Bo starts by saying he’s dropping everything to FaceTime his mom. He speaks about their conversations and dynamic. His mom is clearly an older woman who enjoys The Blacklist. He speaks about the odd relationship between him and his dad, the two barely talk with one another. His mother covers the camera with his thumb and Bo gets frustrated, we see him literally yelling at the phone. We never see his mom or dad. “I’ll waste my time facetiming with my mom.”

4. How the world works 4:15

This song takes the view of a show that is clearly meant for the children. He speaks about how the world works and that it can only work when everything works together. He speaks of thing in a very childish way, speaking about animals mostly and how they all give and get what they need. He then pulls out a sock puppet named “Socko”. The sock is more realistic than Bo, the way he speaks of things is devastating. Bo asks, “What can I do to help?” Socko tells him to educate himself and Bo makes a statement saying that he’s the one in control here. Socko argues against this but is almost pulled off of Bo’s hand. He begs to not go back to where it is he is when he’s not on his hand which is a state between not being dead, but not alive either. They end the song normally, but Socko gets taken off his hand anyway. “Remember who’s on whose hand here.”

5. White Woman’s Instagram 4:00

In this song Bo talks about just what the title is! In the song he names out very simple things. An open window, a novel, and avocado. Nothing that we all haven’t seen on Instagram before! The song is mostly repetitive, but in the video, we see Bo doing many poses of pictures I know I’ve seen on there before. At the end it gets a bit sad, speaking of the prospective from this woman. Apparently, both of her parents have passed. A lot of people think that it’s Bo’s actually story. I’m not very sure the condition his parents are in, but Bo made a bunch of jokes in the past about his parents being deceased. “Is this heaven? Or is it a white woman’s Instagram.”

 

6. Unpaid Intern 0:34

In this extremely short song Bo sings about being an unpaid intern, running around and not having any time for yourself at all. Questioning how most of the people there can even work there, but who cares? You’re just an intern. “I’m an unpaid intern.”

7. Bezos 1:58

This is one of out the five Bezos song Bo Burnham made and I’d say it’s the most the popular one. He tells us that Jeff is an entrepreneur, and he was born 1964. He’s above them all! Zuckerburg and Gates and Buffet can suck it, he says! Also has a crazy piano riff. “C’mon Jeffery, you can do it.”

9. Look who’s inside again 1:23

It might seem like it, but this isn’t the most popular songs! Almost everyone has heard this title before, but it actually comes up in a latter song, singing the part we all know and love. Bo talks about how it is to be funny while being stuck in his home. How hard it is to make a joke and feel funny without an audience in front of you. “Trying to be funny and stuck in a room.”

10. Problematic 3:13

So, before Bo Burnham disappeared from the internet, he had a bit of controversy attached to his name. During the times of 2020 we had people using their voices for things no one really needed it for, a lot of people who didn’t even have the authority to cancel him did try to! It didn’t go too far after those two years. He speaks about how times are changing. Is anyone gonna hold him accountable? He talks about the awful jokes he made when he was younger, but he isn’t using his age as an excuse. He did those things, but he does regret them. He ends the song saying sorry over and over “Isn’t anybody gonna hold me accountable?”

11. 30 2:34

In this song Bo talks about how he just turned thirty. We his birthday pass as we watch him make this series. He talks about how he got used to being so young, but now he’s thirty. He also speaks on how his granddad did so much at the age of 30 and he’s not doing anything, and everyone is having children except him. “Now I’m turning thirty.” (Not putting a picture. He was half naked for like most of this album, man.)

Good morning or evening Ladies and Gentlemen today I’m going to be talking about the upcoming comic book series Absolute Dc where they reconned all the characters in the original series but unfortunately this won’t be cannon to the original marvel universe.   

1. Absolute Batman.

Okie dokie since there isn’t a lot of information about him, I can’t go into a lot of details about him, but I can tell you what I do know. Compared to the original universe where he is stinking rich in this one his is dirt poor and works as a city engineer. he is 6ft but in his costume he is 7ft tall (I’m not Tryna fights this monster)

this batman does whatever it takes to clean up Gotham going through things that the original only even though of that’s why Alfred in this universe is his sniper is whereas in the original he is his adoptive father.

very brutal very efficient very demure

2. Absolute Wonder Woman 

so, in this universe wonder woman is still an amazon warrior but she dosen’t come from paradise island instead she is raised by witches in hell which may not infer that she has magic that we won’t find out until the comic comes out. 

at least she still as her sword though it’s quite big now. 

Absolute Superman 

So Again, not a lot of information surrounding this character but what we do know is that he will not have any morality. I know sounds like a certain someone  

in the absolute universe he won’t have the Kents with him at all, so we don’t know if that he won’t have parents at all or just bad parents in general. Now I got to be honest I’ve never been a fan of superman, but I can understand why people like him since he is basically like the allmight of dc but I’m not going to lie. 

He looks cold I he might just replace Kyle Rainer as my fourth favorite in dc.\

Expectations: I have very high expectations for this, and I know a lot of comic book fans do as well and with the support everyone’s giving the creator I’m sure it will be a hit. 

Dislikes:  I’m sorry but this is just a pet peeve of mine. 

WHY IS HE BLOND. Hear me when i say this no hate to the blondies out there I love y’all, but batman is not blond it ruins his entire aesthetics and a Frenchie… really his son had a German Shepard this one should at least have a bulldog.

Hello today’s blog will focus on just a few of Jack Stauber’s songs and what {in my opinion} they signify and mean! For some background Jack Stauber is American musician/ animator who is known for the unique sound parings he uses in his songs and how he sings in “cursive”. 

1- Easy to breathe

This song was released November 6th, 2020, and was a song featured in a psychological horror film titled “Opal” it is sung by a character who smokes cigarettes incessantly and is obsessed with tv. This leads him to go onto sing this and the whole premises of the song is how he does not understand how the people in the tv can breathe so easily. He also goes on in this song to ramble about how the women on tv love him and idolize him and how they “want his soul” (mind you he is also singing this song to a young child).  Though I believe there is a deeper meaning than just being a stay-at-home bum and bad grandfather. The deeper meaning is the story is about co-dependency and usage of unhealthy coping mechanisms. This can be seen because the man singing is both blind and has an illness. It is a theory that his illness is caused by his constant smoking but also that the illness in turn took his sight. Yet this man still chooses to watch endless amounts of tv? The answer to why he would do that is it is how he copes and it’s what he depends on. He watches the same shows daily because he can remember what they were like before he became blind, and it is his last connection to reality. As he seems to forget who his own grandchild is numerous times while singing. his cigarettes are something he has always had and is how he copes as his current living situation is quite unfortunate.

2- Dog nightmare 

This song was released March 25th,2017 and honestly is one or was one of his more popular songs released. It also is a song that not much has been found out about when it comes to any deeper meaning. On the surface level it seems very unassuming with lyrics like “(My name is Jack) Hello! (Okay-)(Mmm-oy) (Go outside)(Here we go, ah!)” as you can see most people may not want to or will find this hard to really analyze. I see it thought as something that could potentially lead to the topic of an unhealthy relationship. If you look into just the title of the song dog nightmare automatically alludes to something more. And we are hit with a few key lyrics such as “I was dancing to your house last Wednesday night (I was dancing to your house last Wednesday night)I caught a little word of something you said (I caught a little word of something you said)Now I can’t let little prose come out of my head, ha”. This already sounds like something has gone down and combining with the rest of the lyrics speaking about going for a ride and allusions to biting. This insinuates maybe they are physically going on a drive to escape what’s going on and biting is a clear symbolism for violence. So, although this is not one of my favorite songs by him in my opinion its mystery surrounding it makes it very fun to analyze!

3- Dead weight

I love this song to an unhealthy extent so as one does, I simply over-analyzed it to death. This song was released April 14th,2018 (writing these dates is making me realize I’ve been a fan longer than I thought). This song though you can already see the underlying meaning fairly easily. Jack uses tones that almost sound similar to whining or someone who is mourning a person. It is also a fairly popular song as it creates a nostalgic tone that viewers loved. This also probably why it is one of three songs which have their own music video! The meaning I took away from this was just honestly a person who feels like a failure. It seems as the person alludes to that they have everything they “need” but not really anything else of importance. This is what leads them to spiral and talk and repeat many times the word “dead weight”. It alludes to the sense of what they feel being that in the grand scheme of things they feel minuscular. 

So overall these are the meanings or take aways I have had after listening to these songs! Be sure to check out this songwriter if any of these speak to you and he also has many other silly songs and Claymation animations!

 

 

 

I’ve loved Nintendo games ever since I could remember, but I’m not as cool as most people who loved Nintendo as a kid, I had a 2DS instead of a 3DS because my dad thought they were cooler. Also, I was just an average enjoyer who didn’t understand half of the games I played because I was too young (and wasn’t conscious yet). 

One game has consistently stuck with me for years, though, and that’s Tomodachi Life. It was released in 2013 in Japan, then a year later in North America. Unfortunately, I was late to the party and found out about it through DanTDM’s series on YouTube. By that time, I had moved to America and in the process, somehow lost half of my stuff (including my 2DS that I lowkey hated). So, I bought a brand new 3DS off of Amazon and Tomodachi Life, as well as Animal Crossing: New Leaf. I don’t think I could ever recreate that excitement that little 8-year-old me had for that Amazon package. When it finally came, I tore that box open and got to work.

Tomodachi Life is a simulation game where you make little characters then feed them, give them gifts, play games with them, and watch them creepily through their windows. Little 8-year-old me loved that apparently because slightly bigger 16-year-old me still loves it. I made all my best friends, family members, and whoever else I could possibly think of, and I took care of all of them like a loving mother.

When you first start the game, you get the chance to make a “lookalike” of yourself on an island you get to name. I have such distinct memories of making my lookalike and moving the mole feature to the bottom right side of my mouth and making it huge so I could see it. I would always set my height as short as it could be and make my shirt pink. When I think back on it, I miss those days like crazy, but I left my 3DS (which is the same 3DS I ordered when I was 8) at home.

One thing about Tomodachi Life that I have to talk about is the music! I spent so many hours playing that game that I have almost every song’s melody memorized. The second I hear the night theme, my mind goes back to all those times I played my 3DS past my bedtime under the covers. When I hear the apartment theme, I remember every time I would show my friends the character I made for them, and they would usually react with mixed emotions because I probably made them look really ugly.

One thing that I’ve been silently hoping for is a version of Tomodachi Life for the Nintendo Switch. I don’t know how they would adapt it because the 3DS and the Switch are really different, but a girl can dream! I know a lot of people talk about how great it would be if Tomodachi Life came to the Switch and I’ve been tricked a couple of times thinking it finally happened, which is so embarrassing.

I’m about to tell you a secret I haven’t told anyone, but I guess I just spill all my secrets on this blog. Whenever I’m feeling unmotivated to do a task, like laundry or cleaning, I just play Tomodachi Life music and pretend that I’m a little islander doing my chores with my lookalike watching after me. It doesn’t even have to be Tomodachi Life, sometimes I pretend to be a Sim from the Sims 4. I just realized I play pretend a lot for a 16-year-old… But try it and thank me later!

Thank you for reading my silly blog about the game that’s been festering in my mind recently. I think I’m more obsessed with it now than I have been because I forgot my 3DS at home and I can’t get it for another week. Also, I haven’t even thought about DanTDM in years until I started writing this so that was a crazy throwback. 

Adrianne Lenker is a singer, songwriter and guitarist. She’s a songwriter for a band called “big thief” and she’s well known for her solo career. Her songs are mostly in the alternative/indie rock/ folk genre and her themes (to me) are about childhood, unrequited love and poverty. I can’t say I’m completely accurate, as I am just discovering her music in the car. But as far as Wikipedia says, she’s cool. Seriously though, her music is like a breath of fresh air to me. She depicts childhood, living in a rural area, lost love, hardships with self-harm and family troubles in such a colorful, captivating way. She uses her experiences to craft these songs, and I think it’s ridiculous how well she does it. Today I will be talking about 2 of my favorite songs from her and sharing why they are so interesting to me.

 

1. Half Return

       A little preview :

(Illinois toll road, Indianna plain

Roll the windows down, shoot at the change

Half return, Half return

Standing in the yard, dressed like a kid

The house is white, and the lawn is dead

Half return, Half return)

I’m 99% sure half return is my favorite because of the imagery and storytelling. Her voice adds a lovely touch, but the message and imagery behind it is so rare and crucial to me. The picture of a white house with a dirty lawn reminds me of the rural town I came from. Seeing those conditions in every neighborhood yet the children playing despite it was such a tearjerker. To say that this song makes me relive those moments is an understatement. It’s more like another experience itself.

Ingydar

A little preview:

 

(Fragilely, gradually and surrounding

The horse lies naked in the shed

Evergreen anodyne decompounding

Flies draw sugar from his head

His eyes are blueberries, video screens

Minneapolis schemes and dried flowers.)

 

Indygar is so beautiful. Its about a dead horse and how its body is being eaten by animals and nature, the whole message about how we must return to what we were. But the words and the metaphors/comparisons in this song is why I love it so much. For example, I thought it was incredible how she compared the horse’s dead eyes to blueberries and video screens. Almost like its being witnessed by a child or a person unfamiliar with dead animals. All the grassy, farm vibes made this song really stick out to me. The message and poetic scheme of her music never fails to amaze me.