junior literary – Page 2 – Literary Arts Blogspace

Nirvana series: Bleach Deep Dive.

This series of blog posts is about the instrumentation behind All four of Nirvanas albums the three studio albums in Bleach, Never mind and In Utero and the compilation album Incestiscide and depending on the reception of the series Unplugged will get a nod.

So starting off with Bleach (1988-1990) the Lineup of this era of Nirvana featured Guitarist Jason Everman and Backup singer Drummer Chad Channing ( and ocassionally Dale Crover of The Melvins) Bassist Krist Novosleic and Frontmand lead guitarist and Singer Kurt Cobain. Oddly Jason Everman doesn’t actually appear once on Bleach he paid for the production of the album thus getting him a writers credit. The trio of Kurt Krist and Dale Crover would hit the studio in late 1988 to start work on Bleach with producer Jack Endino the songs Downer, Papercuts and Floyd The Barber would be completed and though a attempt to rerecord with Chad came about the three ultimately decided to leave Dales original tracks as is. Every other song has Chad Channing in full force playing away. The odd sound of Bleach comes from the cheap recording style. The band was taped on a eight track and played every song live overdubbing in the post stages (which Kurt hated with a passion). The setup for Bleach’s studio recording is as follows: Track one Chads Kick Drum Track two his snare and hi hat recorded on a overhead mic track three his floor tom track four a mic for his tom 1 drum. Track five was Krists bass and mic up of his bass. Track Six was Kurts vocal then track seven was Kurts guitar and track eight was free for either one vocal or guitar overdub.

So as you can see Bleach had a troubling process to begin with but that didn’t deture the artistry of the group. The opening track “Blew” A more sludge Sludge metal take with the growly low distorted bass and aggressive guitar dives creates a song that invokes a sense of violence almost. Plus Chad Channing delivers a impressive triplet groove that slides around the kit and makes it really poppy. Eventually when Dave Grohl took over his power filled this song out live. The second song on the album is “Floyd the Barber” based on Floyd Lawton from the extremely popular Andy Grififth Show giving a darker take on the character. The song details Kurt walking into a barbershop expecting a haircut only to be subsequently tortured and murdered. “Floyd The Barber” instrumentally is dark and gritty Dale Crover of The Melvins recorded this song and gives a strong almost tribal beat paired with the harsh distortion and harmonic breaks mostly added and fixed in post by producer Jack Endino. Krists bass takes a lower seat holding a more funk inspired groove that Jack Endino would spruce up on the back end. “About a girl” Kurts beattle song was slower cleaner song about Kurts current long time girlfriend Tracy Mirander the song uses a true less is more approach. The lyrics are memorable digestable and feature a couple of recording quirks Kurt used a vocal overdub that usaully would have been a double track of his main guitar. “ School” is a noise rock song through and through the guitar over dub is strong on this one and pops out over the main track at times.

“Love Buzz” is the best noisy song on this album it has a explosion on sound at points with Kurt and Krists tuned up a half step the guitar scratches and yells at you with the nice instrumental pause to let the frantic low baritone vocals of Kurt Cobain just creep at you before a long scream of pure pleasure. A BUZZING sound is heard on the main guitar track as Kurt uses his boss ds-1 one a distortion sound box that creates a fuzzy banshee effect when turned up to the proper settings. Overall I’m buzzing with love over this track its quintessential Nirvana. You ever like hurt your hand on a piece of printer paper that weirdly shallow yet deep cut that stings even longer. Well if not you can listen to “Paper Cuts” this track is heavy dark gloomy and scratchy it fits a certain aura that is just the right amount of painful noisy rock mixed with a slight cleanliness of production plus Dale Crover leads a hard and powerful drum track for the ages. Kurt did overdub with a feedback noise with his guitar close to his amp. Its on to the B side of the album.

“Negative Creep” is sliding friendly full of powerful bass line Krist layed down fits the groove and pocket of Chad Channing plus a vocal overdub was instituted to help flesh out the singing. “Scoff” is just that a scoff in your face as it isn’t my favorite song yes it is a deep cut but its not my favorite. I do enjoy the snare floor tom eigth note grove but beyond that it loses flavor. “Swap Meet” is loud and noisy and required a few reruns to get it right but I love it and the few live versions were pretty good. The next song on the list is “Mr. Moustache” which is very very difficult to play as a guitarist. The song is captivatingly confusing and the drum part is winding the the count on the ride seemingly switches with the snare at points. “Sifting” is slow and sludgey and possibly the most sludge metal song on the album. The drop tuned guitars and high tom centered groove on the drums add a large amount of punch and the bass line is amazingly good it is five minutes though so it runs kind of long eith some repitition. “Big Cheese” is a pop metal song at its heart the faster jumpy fill based drums and long ride cymbal bell taps add a lot to the song. The final song from the original 1989 Bleach release is downer and last is definetely not least. By far the shortes song is a pretty good representation of future Nirvana ( so is “About a girl”) which leads it to be a good listen and this song was only recorded in three takes with Dale Crover drumming.

Overall Bleach is good my top listens are.

Floyd The Barbar

About A Girl

Downer

Negative creep.

Yelling about Mischaracterization Pt. 2

Helloo!! I’m not done being mad!!

This is a direct continuation of my last blog post, in which I talked about mischaracterization and/or misperception within fandom spaces and common things I see which I hate. If you haven’t seen that one, go look at it!! This isn’t self advertising!!! Trust!!!! If I add more exclamation points you may believe me!!!!!!!!

Horrible Four: I cry!!! I feel emotions!!! BLAME ME FOR IT!!!!

We all know that character, we all have one as a favorite – he or she may be our favorite character, but every time we see them drawn or in any sort of fan content they’re reduced to a singular emotional aspect of themselves, whether it be that they cry a lot, or they’re motherly, or they’re angry.. I was going to put Izuku Midoriya in here, but his face was staring at me the entire time I was writing this and it got unsettling.

No one knows you like i know you, Katara. No one.

Believe it or not women are allowed to feel things, and no it doesnt make them hysterical!! Guys it’s 2025!! we’re better than this!! She’s a character who is bad at forgiving people and holds a grudge, she’s not evil and she, believe it or not, doesn’t beat people with sticks!! Hope this helps!!

Yellowjackets Cast

Okay. Yeah. I know.

Here’s the one where I’ll actually comment, okay. Yellowjackets.. while it’s impossible to excuse half of the things that happen, you have to think about the fact these are teenage girls with a literal sociopath being the only one with survival skills. Enough Said. “They ___ though!!” I literally haven’t seen the show all the way through and I hate them all so much. (I’m talking about the girls when they’re younger. NOTHING justifies what happens when they’re older i DONT care)

This one is technically a joint with what was going to be #5. “Oh btw i have mental illness,” In which characters are reduced to having one mental disorder of the other.

In Yellowjackets there is a character, Lottie, who has Schizophrenia. People blame her for the happenings of the story, but honestly.. Lottie, girl. Lottie my diva.

Type Five: Oh btw I have [insert disability/mental illness]

This one can go for a lot of characters. Characters in Arcane ranging from Jinx to Viktor, they’re ALWAYS reduced to some infantilized version of themselves. Or they’re evil or something.

The main problem I have with this is that it reflects really badly in real life on people with this disability/disorder. While representation is SO important, for all kinds of things, for so many reasons. (Take Cho Hyun-ju, or player 120 from squid games as example of how media representation went well) sometimes characters are reduced to JUST that aspect. If you portray every character with Bipolar Disorder the same (as erratic, out of control, violent, and crying all the time) then people really aren’t going to know that’s not what the disorder is. The same thing with schizophrenia, or even physical disabilities like mobility disorders. If you depict people with something and THEN throw a bad stereotype on top of it then you’re just strengthening that stereotype!! Don’t!!!

Jinx Arcane Mobile Animated Wallpaper

Type Six: Everyone’s type, apparently (I’m boring but at least I’m cool (looking))

This applies to just having a nice cohesive design, like with half the background ponies in My Little Pony. When I ask your favorite the most out of the way better be, like, Apple Bloom. I don’t want to hear something about Sparkle Wing who has two sentences as her Wikipedia page.

Other than that?

Sleachta Daryl Dixon

Daryl Dixon.

He wasn’t even in the comics. He wasn’t important at all in the first few seasons. I had more interest in a hundred other characters before him (Me when i lie). He became popular in the 5th season, due to high demand and likability from fans.. Maybe i’m a bit guilty for this one, and it’s redeemed since he did get his own seat as part of the main cast later on, and even his own show. (Even if that show isn’t exactly good.

Honorable mentions: Moost of the Aftons. I was genuinely convinced when getting into five nights at freddy’s that there would be any amount of real lore on these people, but no. Yall really took it and ran. After that is Kieran Duffy from Red Dead Redemption 2, who i am also guilty over.

That is all of the possible things I could think of and this is all I’ve thought about for two weeks.. mmmm… I’m not driving myself insane for no reason so yay!! We’re through!! Any other things you see or know or want to share please tell me about it because characterization is VERY important to me!!! I have so much to say about all of these characters and I fear I cannot articulate those words onto a page so if I said anything wrong or in a way that didn’t make sense I LOVE feedback !!! Have a nice day <333

My next few blogs will probably be character studies on a few i’ve mentioned here (cough karara cough WHOOOO SAID THAT) because i love them and no one knows them like i know them (katara mmmm…. mmmm….)

Why Viva Pinata was Revolutionary

Viva Piñata. You don’t know em, but you’ll probably love em! Viva Piñata is a video game (and a TV franchise, fun fact!) that was created by Microsoft and Rare. Its universe is full of living piñata animals, with various personalities, that you can collect and care for! They interact with each other, some getting into fights and even eating each other in a hunter-prey dynamic. You grow different plants to attract different pinatas, and even build houses for them!

So what’s so special about this game? Well, it’s an XBOX 360 classic from 2006, meaning it was competing with titles like the Spyro the Dragon franchise and the first LEGO Star Wars games. Big and exciting things were coming out in 2006 for the 360, and Viva Piñata was no different. It contained over 60 different animals, each with unique models, with some even having variants. You also have several systems, like hatching eggs and watering, and fertilizing plants. You can interact with multiple different townsfolk with different shops and dialogue. Now, in the big age of 2025, with games like GTA and Monster Hunter, and Minecraft, these don’t seem impressive. But when we look at how this game was only 10 years after the shift to 3d graphics, it is absolutely beautiful. Many of the models still hold up today. Take the Preztail, while made of paper, you still see the fox-like shape and a soft look to the animal. Or the Horstachio, a horse piñata that is colorful and looks very charismatic. Each piñata has so much love and character put behind it. Having 60 diverse models for the pinatas alone is a huge feat for 2006 3D games.

^{Left: Horstachio}

^{Right: Preztail}

Viva Piñata is so relaxing and has so many elements that inspired the game genre of “cozy games”, like Slime Rancher or Stardew Valley. While the graphics might be outdated and dialogue a bit janky, we have to admit that, for it being made in 4 years (concept was 2002, and release was 2006), this is a wonderful feat. They even had sequel games, a TV show, and (my favorite game), Viva Piñata: Party Animals. It has so many mini-games, each having unique mechanics and advantages for some animals! The game also has races like Mario Kart. For 2007, a game with such a diverse animal cast and franchise is amazing. Party Animals is amazing if you want some XBOX 360 nostalgia, and a fun game that still holds up amazingly today. What’s also great is they both have backwards compatibility, meaning the newer XBOX consoles still run them beautifully!

If there’s anything I want you to truly take away from this rambling, Viva Piñata and its franchise is a feat for its time, and I would highly recommend trying them out. They’re classics that have been in my heart for over a decade, and I want more people to experience the classic, nostalgic feel of these games. I wish there were a larger community for it, and I really hope that at least this gave you some inspiration to seek out this game, or even games from your childhood that are now dusty relics of the past.

^{Some of my own art of Viva Piñata!}

First Post – Mischaracterization in Fandom Spaces

( !! Spoilers for the Percy Jackson Series, The Owl House, The Walking Dead, Avatar: The Last Airbender… honestly, just proceed with caution. !!)

When I think of Fandom spaces one of the first things I think of is how certain characters (. As complex or as single-faceted as they may be) may be handled. I’ve seen genuine strong, complex, and dangerous female leads be reduced to a forced romantic subplot or over explained to the point she’s just some 13-year old’s new oc. I’ve seen simple, nearly background, male characters be forced into spotlight, and for what? He’s got no flavor! Nothing exciting! He’s just a random white guy with brown hair, there’s no substance! Why is he everyone’s favorite!?

Now, don’t get me wrong. Mischaracterization can be displayed in a lot of ways, not only complex characters being reduced or boring characters being elevated (for what? He’s hot??). Sometimes it can be something as small as, say, people latching onto the fact a character cries a lot and reducing them to something weak, unworthy, or annoying. Or an annoying character being bad. A lot of the time, I’ve seen, it’s just someone taking a character so far away from their original plot that It’s not even the same guy anymore!

What is mischaracterization?

Mischaracterization is the incorrect portrayal or description of something. When a character is thought of in a way that is not intended by the original author. See, this is different from the instance of Misperception, which I find may directly lead to and be caused by Mischaracterization. Do I have to explain the correlation between the two? No. Do I want to? Also no. I still want to, so you guys are getting a link.

I’m SOOO good at explaining things, I know. A whole external link explaining my argument, and I’m continuing to use the term Mischaracterization when it’s clearly misperception that I’m thinking about.

Is Mischaracterization/Misperception the end of the world? In most cases, No. Not at all. Get over it. Except I can’t get over things, and it is the end of the world! Yay!!

What are you even talking about right now, dude?

Good question! I’ve no clue! Joking, joking. This blog is basically the types of mischaracterizations that I see a lot in FANDOM spaces. Heavvyy emphasis on FANDOM spaces.

The first, worst type: He’s bisexual I didn’t know that

I do think this one is the end of the world, yeah. I can get all into how we treat queer men in media as if they’re lesser, and how we portray them as extremely feminine in fandom spaces and how that draws back to societies perception of men and masculinity; however, I’m not going to do that. I prefer keeping this brief (I say at 564 words), so I’ll yell about it some other time.

(Flip this coin: How queer women are treated in media, and how fandom spaces deal with that like it doesn’t matter as much or they force one party into a masculine role, because women can’t possibly be taken seriously.)

The first character that comes to mind is Nico di Angelo. He’s so badly misperceived by fans that I honestly don’t even know how to characterize him myself. Thanks for that one, Rick.

Sorry i just wanted to put a picture of him. Anyways.

He has this incredibly complex character with so many ties to literal fascist Italy (???) with complex storylines and arcs!! Oh and by the way, He just so happens to be queer. “So this means he can be reduced to a blushing hyper-feminine queer teenager?” Uh??????? No????? Can we touch on the terrible, terrible religious guilt he feels?? ??? ?????? (A few more question marks for emphasis, ??????????)

Honorable mention of Jack Twist, the most criminal instance of a character being reduced to their queerness and stripped of all other sort of personality. He’s so much more than what people claim. ILY Jack Nasty. <33

Second, Tragically: OH EM GOSH, ROMANCE!!!

Powerful Women with forced romantic subplots.

KATARA, BABY! RUN GIRL!! RUNN!!

I will always be a hater of their entire romance thing. Sorry not sorry (extra not sorry). This isn’t even from he fandom, since the WRITERS THEMSELVES did it and it just does not make sense for her character. Not saying powerful women can’t have romance in their lives, but the entire subplot was so forced. It was just an excuse for the “Beats the bad guy, gets the girl” trope. Horrible. 0/10. to the chopping block with you.

Okay, okay. I can’t do much about what the writers did, because in the end that’s what happened. I can however complain. And I’m choosing to complain about how the fans, somehow, reduce her ENTIRELY to a motherly friend and Aang’s girlfriend. free her. free her from her prison.

Another few characters worth nothing are Maggie Rhee from The Walking Dead, Mary Linton from Red Dead Redemption 2, and Katniss everdeen.

(Honorable mention of Geralt from Netflix’ Witcher series. don’t know much about that guy but allegedly he’s a powerful woman reduced to a romantic subplot. love that for him.)

Three: I’m a horrible person but I’m also hot!!! So its okay!!!

The most often that i’ve seen this is in men. No comments. Just complaints.

I lied. There are c0mments. so many comments.

I’ve been so angry about Shane (TWD, not SDV) and his existence that I’ve genuinely been unable to sleep.

Also from The Walking Dead. I haven’t met him yet but apparently Negan Smith is a horrible person. I wouldn’t know.

This is just criticizing the lengths people will go to in attempt of excusing.. certain actions within media.

The Last, the WORST mischaracterization: WHERES MY MELANIN@?!!??!?!?!?!

Guys. Guys. Whitewashing is bad. Seriously trying to find a picture of Damian Wayne where he looks how he’s supposed to is incredibly difficult. Also one where he doesn’t look like someone just pulled him out of a lint trap.

For reference, He is described to be Arab and of Chinese descent on his moms side, and pretty pasty on his Dad’s, who is, uh, Bruce Wayne. Ignoring that. He’s BROWN. He’s supposed to be BROWN. WHAT HAPPENED YALL?????

(They just wanted him to look like his dad)

She can’t catch a break. free her.

I don’t think i even WANT to talk about how bad some of her fanarts are. because actually what???

Connie WHYYYYY Do they take your melanin babe you need thatt it makes me sick

A lot of what i’ve seen about her is, and i’m QUOTING here, “Her being brown doesn’t fit my image of her character.” Great! Because she’s not your character!! You’re really weird!

Also him

Okay!!!! I had to cut down like more than half of this because it was getting to be like 1.5k words and I think this one is at a similar length again (??) So!!! I didn’t yell as much as I wanted to but here’s like.. the worst instances of what I STRONGLY dislike in fandom spaces.

Adventure Awaits For This New Blog!

Hi! Hello! Nice to meet you! I’m your host, AJ, and it’s lovely to have you here. This week’s first-ever blog post is about my new club at MSA: Dungeons and Dragons! Alright, alright, settle down. I’m just as excited as you are.

So, to start us off with a simple question, what is D&D? Dungeons and Dragons, often shortened to D&D, is a tabletop role-playing game. Typically, you have a Dungeon Master/Game Master, who is essentially the guide and narrator. Normally, you have 3-6 players who are the main characters of the story! It’s a collaborative storytelling game with creativity and battles. Normally, your group meets once a week to play, or once a month, depending on scheduling.

Sounds cool, right? Well, I, AJ Eubanks, will be the club DM. I’ve been in the D&D community for over 4 years now, but this is my first time DMing. This club is going to be open to all players, whether they’re experienced and know the ropes or are brand new and don’t know what dice to get. I want to create an exciting and fun group for nerds to gather and express themselves through the power of roleplay and storytelling. I will help you with your character creation and even make cheat sheets to help with your class and abilities. I will also provide dice you can use during game sessions (several made by yours truly). Water bottles will also be given out!

So why am I starting a D&D group this year? I wanted to bring the same joy and community that I was given with Dungeons and Dragons in 7^th grade, because I feel like everyone deserves a good, safe place to express themselves and their creativity. I want to bring a place where those who feel like they might not “fit in” can feel comfortable and make friends. So far, I am loving MSA and want everyone else to have a great experience too!

Now, enough with the sappy stuff, let me tell you how the group itself is going to go. We will be doing a one-shot/session 0, which is a pre-game to get familiar with your characters and the basic D&D rules. The one-shot is very simple: The placid waters near a fishing village have been invaded by a huge, aquatic beast. The creature is destroying the ecosystem, attacking villagers, and blocking passage to an island full of healing herbs. The party needs to act quickly, before the creature claims its next victim. It is a very easy start and allows new players to get comfortable with the mechanics and storytelling aspects.

So, to wrap up this nice adventure with a golden bow, I would like to thank you for reading! I appreciate it greatly. Next blog post is going to either be my monthly favorite animal facts or my current fixation on cross-stitch. Pictures coming soon!! 🙂

Remembrance: Packing Up

The day that I’m writing this, May 1st, marks the last go-home weekend of the year, meaning that I don’t have much time left to move out of my dorm room here at MSA. I hate packing. Like hate, hate it. For multiple reasons, I think. I’ve only had to pack up and move 4 times in my life before coming to MSA. Mostly, I hate it because it lifts up dust, which in turn aggravates my allergies, but also, I hate packing because it symbolizes things ending. Some people think of it as peaceful, a methodical collecting of things and appreciating them, but I don’t and I’m not sure I ever will. For me it’s always a hectic and depressing game of Tetris, which items will fit where and how many can I shove in boxes without breaking anything, while also thinking about leaving the space. It’s sad for me because I have to wash a space that has been mine for so long of me. I have to put everything away, wipe off all the dust, and turn out the lights at the end, which scares me a little, I’ll be honest. It also comes from a fear of change. If nothing changes then nothing can ever end. But one piece of advice that actually helped, although it almost made me cry, came from one of my seniors, Cooper Brumfield. He came in my room trying to trade food, even though I didn’t have anything. I had almost cried twice packing up my stuff a few moments earlier, and I told him that, but he asked if he could give me a piece of advice. I said sure, and to my surprise, Cooper quite literally closed the door. For a second, I’d thought he left, but he opened the door again and said “I’ll never see that exact version of you again. That’s the beauty of being alive is we’re always changing.” Spoken like a true literary, right? I’m not going to pretend that I’m not what people would call a crybaby, because I am, but I also have a problem with that term. Why should those who feel their emotions readily and in the fullest be shamed for it? So I guess I’m happy to be a crybaby, and boy did that make me cry a little. I know I’m most likely coming back next year, but I can’t help but mourn how it is now, and I know it’ll never be the same. The seniors that I’ve lived with and that have come to matter so much to me are leaving. But this isn’t all bad. They’re going off to do great things, and by this time next year I hope I will be too. I know it’s always going to end, but it never makes it any less sad. The fact that I feel like I’ve finally found a place I belong definitely makes this harder, because that place is changing and won’t ever be the same. Of course it’ll still look the same, but the energy is changing. Anyways, enough of my pouting. If any seniors are reading this, thank you for being here, and I’m going to miss you.

Much love,
Jude ♡♡♡

Starting a Small Business

This week, I’ve been starting a small business called Blue Moon Magnolia Crochet. This involves so much more preparation than I could’ve thought would go into it. I am a, hopefully, talented crocheter, and I spend so much time doing it that if I don’t sell my creations, I feel like I’m wasting my time. Now, I know that the danger in monetizing your hobbies is going through burnout, but I’m really hoping that won’t happen. Prepping for starting up my small business, I’ve run into a few roadblocks that I can’t pass without parental assistance, something that I’m not particularly fond of in my hyper-independence. First, I had to think of what my products would be, and I think I’ve got a few first ideas. I feel that doilies are the easiest to make, but there is a smaller market for those. I’ve been working out a few patterns for some of my first products, though, and I think they’ll turn out great. Technically, I could just use patterns from online to make my products, but I’m absolutely not doing that. I will be using a few patterns, along with giving credit to the original makers, but I felt that if I only used online patterns, then that would be a bit fraudulent, as none of my creativity would go into it and I’d just be recycling old ideas and passing them off as my own work. This requires a mix of using both patterns and my personal ideas, because coming up with absolutely everything on my own is a bit unfeasible as a busy high school student. The next part of setting up my business is finding out where I’m going to sell. Online selling seems like the first course of action, but it’s not so easy. I’d love to just set up a shop on Etsy, but because of their hefty fees taken out of the final price of my products, it becomes a bit of a tough spot. If I were to sell on Etsy, I’d have to raise my prices to cover the fees so that I could actually make a profit, and that feels unfair to the people buying my products. I’ve been looking through different online alternatives, and I’ve found some good ones, but the problem I’ve run into is that they either require a PayPal account, which I cannot sign up for being under 18, or they require another service that requires an adult to help me sign up. Since living at MSA prevents me from having ready access to my parents, I’ve had to turn away from online selling for now. The other option is to sell in person. I could have a building to sell my products in, but that costs upwards of thousands of dollars and I’d still run into the same problem I did with online selling. The only feasible option left is selling at farmers and makers markets and finding a way to take card payments. Since I have Venmo, that takes out some of the hassle with card payments, and of course, I’ll take cash. The other downside to markets like these, though, is setting up. I’d have to factor in all the invisible costs associated with selling at a market, like paying for a spot in the market, a physical table, decorations for said table, the gas to drive to the market, and possibly the cost of labor if I were to get someone else to help me. Granted, I could probably just pay my helper with pizza or a different treat. Then, I have to work all of my products and pricing out. My stepmother has shown me how to use spreadsheets to my advantage, which has been insanely helpful (thanks so much, Lisa). Once I have everything built, I have to focus on pricing. Since I’m not super fast, factoring in the time it took me to make a product becomes a slippery slope, so I’ve had to cut that part out of the equation. Then, I have to combine all of the things that it took me to make a finished product, such as the yarn or thread, labels, bags, and wrapping paper, depending on how I package my products. Spreadsheets have helped me so much with this, as I can simply create an equation to combine all of these components, and simply input how much I used of each, and then the spreadsheet will do all of the work for me. Then, I log all of the vendors that I got my components from, their prices when I bought them, and possible alternatives if those components are unavailable or discontinued. Once it all boils down, I have to work out how much I received from sales, and how much I spent on materials, then add these two numbers together to receive how much I’ve profited. If I am making less than I’m spending, I’ll probably either change my course, or I might just call it quits, as falling in the red is never a good sign for a business. I’m currently working on setting up social media profiles for my business, but I’ve only set up on Instagram, so far. So, if you’re excited to see my products, follow me on Instagram at @bluemoonmagnolia, Facebook coming soon!

Much love,
Jude.

Deadstock and the Problem with the Textile Industry.

As we get nearer to Earth Day, I’ve been thinking about the fashion industry a lot more. One thing that I’ve been thinking about is deadstock. Deadstock is a term used for many kinds of fabric. Tulle and chiffon can be deadstock, as can leather. Deadstock fabric, by definition, is fabric from a textile mill or designer that has been either left over from a project or completely unused. Most of the time, deadstock can be thought of as the scraps left over from that pretty skirt you saw at Target the other day, but sometimes, designers leave over entire bolts of fabric that can’t be used for other projects. It can also be fabric intended for a specific project or buyer from textile mills that could have been unintentionally altered during the manufacturing process, which has now been rendered unable to be used by the buyer for said intended projects. Now, these scraps and mistake pieces of fabric would normally go to the trash, then into landfills where it would take centuries to break down if it were polyester or some other polymer-based textile, but, taking and selling them as deadstock pieces allow smaller designers to help out the environment by using these pieces to create a completely new garment, one with a completely unique vision, since no two scraps are ever the same. Using deadstock pieces, designers are able to reuse fabrics and keep larger producers from contributing to landfills.

Polymers are normally classified in the textile industry as any natural or synthetic substance made from large molecules that are combined from several smaller units called monomers. Monomers have the ability to group together and form a long chain through a process called polymerization. Natural polymers can include starches and proteins, things you’d normally find in potatoes as that starchy white residue left over on your knife when you slice them up, or in meats and poultry as proteins. Synthetic polymers are composed of petroleum oil (which you can get from the fossils of ancient marine life or zooplankton, and is also sometimes called crude oil) which is manmade and comes from engineers and scientists who have to refine it before use. Petroleum oil is then turned into things like Teflon (which contains PFAS, dangerous chemicals for the human body when consumed), epoxy, polyethylene, and polyester. The most common polymers used in the textile industry are usually composed of nylon and polyester-based polymers. Things like wool, silk, cotton, and cashmere are natural products, while things like acetate, rayon, olefin, polyester, and nylon are synthetics. We’ve been using natural hair and textiles to make clothes for millenia, but with the introduction of animal cruelty programs like PETA (which I fully support, by the by) we have had to move to synthetics. The only thing with this switch, though, is while it takes away from animals being farmed for their furs or hides, it also creates a bigger problem for the environment as a whole. Synthetic fabrics are prized for their lower price point and their durability, but this durability comes as a problem. With synthetics being so durable, nature cannot break them down as easily as natural fabrics. This means that they accumulate in landfills and in nature, creating obstacles for local wildlife when they are dumped in unsanctioned areas. Now, this wouldn’t be a problem if we could just keeps the clothes we buy, but with the emergence of fast fashion trends, humans are buying and disposing of clothes at an alarming rate, increasing the amount being sent to landfills astronomically. If we were doing this with naturals, I don’t think it would be as big of a problem (it still would be a problem, don’t get me wrong), but that makes clothes less accessible and more expensive. There are some companies that have adopted recycling other polymers, like the plastic from water bottles, to create synthetic clothing, but this still poses a problem when the garment is disposed of, as it goes to the exact same place as that plastic bottle would’ve gone. Deadstock could possibly solve this problem. If designers and big brands began using deadstock fabrics and selling whatever scraps they use, there would be much less waste taking up space in landfills. Though, using deadstock is not at all a silver bullet. It still has to be paired with more eco-conscious initiatives on the part of the companies such as making less clothes altogether, and on the part of the consumer such as buying less clothes and reusing your preloved items. I know it sounds sickeningly optimistic, but I think we can genuinely make our home a much better place if we hold ourselves and large corporations more accountable when it comes to our fashion, even though it is largely on the corporations, as most of the time, they are the ones indiscriminantly dumping things around as if they expect some maid to come clean up after them. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed my ramble about fashion this week.

Much love,

Jude ★

Fashion Trends, What do they have to do with the economy?

Fashion has long had an influence on society. What people spend on beauty and fashion products can almost directly correlate to the state of the economy. These trends can sometimes be helpful indicators of economic growth and recession. I saw a video the other day talking about this same thing, and I decided to write my blog about it.

Now, speaking specifically about economic growth, there is actually a documented phenomenon that indicates this. Economist George Taylor created the Hemline Index circa 1926 that said the shorter hemlines in fashion Trends are, the more the economy is growing (think flapper dresses of the 20’s and miniskirts of the 60’s) and vice versa, longer hemlines for the recession of an economy (pants and maxi skirts in the Great Depression). Even hair can indicate a recession, a hair trend from 2009 called “recession blonde.” Recession Blonde is a term coined for the grown out blonde color that comes from not going to the salon for a touch up. This can almost directly show that a person does not have enough money to maintain a near constant bottle blonde. Because, of course, when your bank account is low, you’re not going to waste your money on a touch up, are you? Unless looking blonde is an incredibly important thing to you, then I think it’s safe to say you wouldn’t be getting regular touch ups when you’re low on funds.

Makeup especially can show a declining economy. The uptick in buying smaller things can show that not many people have the money for things other than small luxuries. The increase of lipstick purchases can also indicate a recession. During the Great Depression, women began buying more lipsticks, a product that was relatively cheap during the time. This phenomenon is aptly deemed the “Lipstick Effect.” It’s a sort of manifestation of something else called by economists the “income effect.” Basically, when a consumer’s income lowers, demand for more everyday items goes up. And since people can’t buy a trip to the Bahamas to soothe their economic distress, they go to cheaper places like the movie theater and chain fast food stores to forget about their money troubles for a bit. Just like this, people begin buying lipsticks, small luxuries that give you a feeling of beauty without a hefty price tag.

Now, as nice as this indicator is, it does come with a few problems for the economic-savvy consumer. One of these is, lipstick sales aren’t public domain, so consumers can’t have these statistics on demand. The BEA publishes a monthly statistic of “personal care items” purchased, but this often comes with a few months of lag time, so it’s difficult to get an accurate estimate for the consumer of if we’re heading to an economic recession.

I could go on talking about this for hours, but I don’t particularly have the attention span for it. I love the idea that beauty and fashion are so so intertwined with a country’s economy that they can be such a great indicator of a recession.

Much love,

Jude

This is part 4 of the Luffy series

Arlong Park Arc

Okay so in the previous arc Nami left the crew and went to Arlong who’s basically her boss even though she’s treated as a slave. The crew are now left stranded on the Baratie until they see a rowboat but since Zoro is still recovering Luffy and Sanji leave to Arlong park to find Nami and get their ship back along with their navigator. As they are sailing, they encounter a sea cow which both Luffy and Sanji fight it, and they end up making it take them to the island. when they finally get to the island Zoro and johnny and Johnny tells them that Usopp had been stabbed by Nami but what had actually happened was that she stabbed her hand instead of stabbing her and she just pushed him into the ocean. Luffy shouts at Nami to come back but she chooses not to listen. The villagers start telling the group about namis past but Zoro and Luffy does not listen. A little while later we see that Nami is trying to stop the villagers from attacking arlong to the point where she starts stabbing herself with a knife trying to carve out the arlong symbol, but Luffy stops her.

He then gives her his straw-hat hat and leaves with the group to fight Arlong

in the end Luffy wins the fight between Arlong and the fishmen Pirates and Nami finally joins the Straw-hat Pirates

Lounge Town Arc

after the Battle between Luff and the Arlong pirates the crew heads to the last town before the grand line Lounge Town this is also where Roger the king of pirates was executed. As they are traveling there, we get to see Luffy first Bounty

The crew decides to stop there for supplies. the crew splits up and Luffy goes to the place where the former king of pirates was beheaded where he is then met by Buggy the Clown and Alvida (first pirate he beat) the put him in the execution alter to behead him but lighting strikes his sword and the pirates see it as a sign but all this fighting draws the attention of smoker and the marines who try to capture Luffy. Just as Luffy is beaten by Smoker since he had a sea stone pick which deactivates Devil fruit users Abilities and makes them weak a mysterious man grabs Smoker and lets Luffy get away

the crew gets back together and escape Lounge town and head towards the grand line