On storms

We’ve been getting a lot of thunderstorms here lately. I’m not one to check my weather app every day, so I love getting surprised by thunder and rain clouds. It feels special when I can text my boyfriend (who lives in the same neighborhood as me) about the storm I know we’re both experiencing. It feels special when I check Twitter and see a bunch of people in New York posting about the same rain, the same lightning. This is true of all weather, of course—everyone in my city experiences the same sunshine and the same wind and the same fog. But storms are a special occasion, even when they happen several times a week.

– Jillian

I woke up around 3am this morning and there was a little earthquake! It was really minor but just a little spooky. It doesn’t storm too often in California, but whenever there’s an earthquake I think about living in Michigan and tornadoes. When there was a tornado warning, my family would sit in a room in the basement where all of my toys were because it was the only room in the house with no windows. It was eerie, to be in a room that was technically fun because…it had my toys! but also scary, because of the circumstance and the fact that you couldn’t really know what was happening outside. If there was a tornado warning while I was at school, we’d all huddle in between shelves in the library; a similar feeling here—surrounded by books, but unable to engage, just curled up in a ball listening intently to the wind. There’s a grotesque nostalgia attached to storm-sounds for me; scary! potentially destructive! but I was a kid? and things were easier? there were less things to be afraid of. And that’s comforting, somehow.

– Summer

We recommend

📖 Witch Hat Atelier

My friend Helen had been talking about this manga for a while and I had seen it recommended elsewhere as a sort of reparative-Harry Potter, lol. I finally started reading it a few weeks ago and I love it!!!! I’m on Volume 7, but so so so excited to get through the rest and also anticipating the anime soon. It is so sweet and the way it handles education is so HEART-WARMING? I feel like if society took on the pedagogical practices of Qifrey we would live in a better world? Which feels silly to say, but I’m having a blast. I checked out my copies from the library, but there are sure to be porn-ad riddled scanlation sites out there.

– Summer

🎶 Video game ambience

I know I’ve mentioned that I like to listen to lofi video game music while I work. But video game ambiance is a different thing entirely—think coffee shop vibes, but in your favorite video game. There are so many ambiance videos on Youtube: you could spend hours feeling like you’re exploring Central Hyrule, wandering around Garreg Mach, or taking a coffee break at the Roost. Some of my favorite channels for video game ambience are Luna Ambience and Gamescapes, but you can search for whatever game you want to hang out in.

– Jillian

🎶 Dance Fever

New Florence + The Machine album!!!!!! I’ve had this on repeat since it dropped. I love it SO much, the vibe is absolutely perfect for a “I’m kinda insane but let’s have fun with it”-streak which I am currently on. I think “Free” is my favorite song so far and also “Girls Against God.” The titles of the songs are also SO fucking good. Listen on Spotify or wherever you listen to music!

– Summer

📺 Stranger Things

Every time a new season of Stranger Things comes out, I resist for a few days, thinking surely I won’t enjoy it as much as I remember. And I’m always wrong! I want to be cool, I want to be critical, I want to be a hater (why? I don’t know). But the thing is that it is just such a fun show to watch. I love all the characters, I genuinely enjoy watching them grow, and I always have a hard time stopping myself from watching just one more episode once I get started. I had a great time watching this latest season—and I can’t wait for the next episodes.

– Jillian