MISCELLANIEOUS LIST #2: Type tests, the taxonomy of vibes, and Zizmorcore
Another list for your Thursday – I'm on a roll.
10 Things That've Got Me All Tripped Up:
1. The Royal Family drama. I'm not going to expand upon this a ton, you either already know about it or have chosen blissful ignorance regarding the matter (which I love for you!); the only point I'd like to raise is remember when Prince Andrew was pretty much definitely in cahoots with Epstein and his child prostitution? The Firm did a beautiful job at sweeping that under the (ancient) rug. I suppose what's transpired with Meghan and Harry has greater implications for the future of the monarchy than one awry royal acting independently, but still. The power of PR, baby.
2. I ghosted my therapist two months ago. Is this a good sign or a bad sign? How long until she takes me off of her list? Should I look into getting another therapist to discuss this situation? I am absolutely wracked with guilt over this.
3. My typing test score. My personal record is currently 82 words per minute, and I welcome all to best it.
4. Magnetic lashes? Over the last five years, this search term has grown 6200%. As this reusable alternative to false eyelashes continues to gain traction in the makeup/beauty sphere, I can't help but think back on all of the glue, panic, and real eyelashes I could've saved myself during dance competitions. (Do I know anyone that has tried these out?)
5. The price of the blonde Dachshund I saw in Kips Bay two weeks ago. After a little poking and prodding, it seems one of those golden, long-haired pups will cost you $2000-3000. With not even the slightest inkling of an idea as to how much a non-aquatic pet realistically costs, I was in disbelief. Then I looked up America's favorite dog for comparison, which, to my surprise, also falls into that same price tier. So my bad? Related: city dogs have to be way hardier than non-city dogs, right? They have to be OK with taking a dump in the middle of the sidewalk, they have to withstand constant sensory overload, they have to exist in cramped living spaces, the list goes on.
6. To vibe or not to vibe? This digital zine was shared with me forever ago, and it's this specific page on the "Taxonomy of Vibes" that's been on my mind. I'd categorize the following as as "GoOd ViBeZ":
"saw this and thought of you" texts
when the lady at the bakery gives you a lil extra
Oldies playing in the cabin but you are on the front porch (wind in the trees, birds) (this entire YT channel, honestly)
And
Penn Station
when the hanger strings on the inside of your shirt show
the face of the man who tells you to stop scrolling and go outside when you've been on TikTok too long
can be objectively categorized as "BaD vIbEz".
7. MUJI 0.5 pens. In yellow, gray, or green. $1.50 a pop. No smears for this lefty! Crisp lines on every type of paper – a writer's paradise.
8. The Cut's article on Zizmorcore, which is the pandemic-triggered trend of repping your fav hyper-local haunts. I suppose I hopped on this trend last fall when I got a tote bag to support the secondhand bookstore down the street from me. What began as an effort to save local businesses now doubles as a statement of pride. It's one of those IYKYK kinda things.
"At first glance, Zizmorcore may appear to be an evolution of normcore, [but] . . . don’t be fooled. Both are about casual style, both are rejections of Eurocentric fashion trends, but normcore celebrated the anti-style style of the suburbs . . . Zizmorcore, however, is a rejection of that urge to make every city feel the same. It is an embrace of hyperlocality. It’s 'Lemme eat a slice while I sit on this stoop that doesn’t belong to me.'"
9. Fake German brand Häagen-Dasz's rum raisin ice cream, otherwise known as the gross ice cream my aunt loves. Well, well, well, look how the turntables*: I purchase it when I want to feel like a refined and sophisticated adult who wants a mature little comfort treat. This can be filed under "reasons why I'm grown-up now."
10. Arthur Jafa's exhibit "Love is the message, the message is Death", currently on display at The New Museum. As I walked into the darkened theater and the first bars of Kanye's Ultralight Beam began, I got chills in an intense feeling of déjà vu. It wasn't, however, just a feeling – I had seen this film before, four years ago, at The Museum of Contemporary Art in Lisbon. As Kanye and Chance the Rapper harmonize about faith in God, a mashup of public domain video clips depict the Black American experience. If it was moving four years ago, it's nothing short of staggering now. Obviously seeing it firsthand in the museum makes for the ideal experience, though (less impressively) it also exists on YouTube. I'm not linking it because it's a low-quality video of a video, so instead I'll link the New Yorker's profile on Jafa.
Still no guarantees,
Lanie
*So, so sorry for that reference. I don't even like that show!