after school snacks - volume. 01
non-alcoholic spirits, explicit puzzles, and the best drag race runway moment
(I recently saw someone refer to Kacey Musgrave’s new album song titles as her “moody lowercase era” and have decided that I, too, will be entering this era.)
While I created this space to distance myself from the disingenuous tendencies and infographic echo chambers of social media, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge how small and insignificant everything else feels when the world is rocked by the realities of war, racial injustice, and the devastating effects of rapid climate change (obviously not a fully comprehensive list.) The funkiness of the Internet in the modern age is the expectation that everyone should feel the need to comment on every major world news event, or worse, use current events to sell their brand or promote their content, despite the reality that it can often do more harm than good and will never make us the better, woke humans we think we will become scrolling our way through the World Wide Web, commenting and arguing with faceless strangers through retweets and reposts.
All of this to say, it’s a weird thing to talk about yourself on the Internet in the first place, let alone in times that feel dark and full of the unsurety (I googled it, it’s a word) of what is to come. I thought perhaps this week I would simply share things that I have recently consumed in some way or another, along with small things that have brought me joy.
Introducing —
10 random things bringing me some kind of joy.
This look from Jenny Walton. I’ve thought about it multiple times this week and have suddenly decided that gloves will be making a debut in my wardrobe at some point in 2022 because they don’t get the modern attention they deserve.
I have accepted that turning 30 means becoming an alcohol weenie (like, three day hangovers kind of weenie.) I recently tried this non-alcoholic spirit at our friend’s house and loved that it did not taste like licking a tree, a flavor note I think many booze free mixers seem to share. *add to cart*
Ghosts by Dolly Alderton. Slowly chugging away at my 2022 commitment to read instead of bedtime doomscrolling, Alderton’s first fiction novel filled a small rom-com shaped hole in my heart (I miss 90’s era romance) in a millennial quirky kind of way that wasn’t annoying.
STILL thinking about this moment from RuPaul’s Drag Race two weeks ago. (Click into the ‘gram to watch this icon being an ICON.)
While I can confidently say “hard pass” to two-thirds of the selection of fine china Kris Jenner has collected over the years, I 100% stan a Dish Room and will immediately be adding it to the #goals list.
José Criales-Unzueta’s article for i-D titled, “What happens to IYKYK fashion when everyone knows?” discussing the mainstream-ification of indie fashion fads in the new viral age. Criales-Unzueta’s insights on the gatekeeping of fashion trends and whether clothes stop being cool once people know about them brings up some interesting food for thought regarding “style vs. fashion” (one of my favorite topics.) The comment section on i-D’s instagram post was also worth reading (rare, but true in this case.)
Mrs. Maisel is back. And I am very happy about it.
This puzzle I will likely be ordering.
The installation works of artist Olafur Eliasson. After attending Wonderspaces this last weekend, I was reminded of Eliasson’s exhibition years ago at SFMOMA. His colour tunnel (pictured below) and frozen car being the two most memorable pieces from that exhibit.
Interstate Love Song by Stone Temple Pilots. My Spotify reminded me that this was one of my most played songs in 2017, likely because it’s one of my favorite songs to be stuck in traffic to and I spent a lot of 2017 stuck in traffic. (It still slaps when not in traffic, by the way.)
And thus concludes this first edition of after school snacks. I hope you were entertained at a minimum and found out a new fun fact to share with others at a maximum. As always, please reply to this newsletter/click one of the buttons below to let me know what you think OR what you’d like to hear covered on Junior Year (looking for reasonably priced vintage tees? not sure how to begin shopping on etsy? let me know topics you’d like to see! please! I wanna hear from you!)
Re: my #junioryearsupperclub tablescape challenge — I have been slacking, I won’t lie. I don’t know why I feel an insane amount of dread every time I go to post on my own Instagram but I do. It’s likely a mix of intimidatingly hip ex-coworkers that still follow me/one ex who still feels infinitely cooler than me lol. So I will be better about that/ get the fuck over it and will have an update next week, I promise.
That’s all for now folks,
xo Glenn