The ‘Dumb Blonde’ Narrative
Posted inPersonal narrative Writing

The ‘Dumb Blonde’ Narrative

I’ve been blonde for as long as I can remember. My childhood was filled with ‘dumb blonde’ jokes, and even after my bright locks faded to a light brown, I felt connected to the hair color. So much so, in fact, that I began dying my hair back to blonde at the age of 14. However, this hair color has always subjected me to playground insults. Classic ‘dumb blonde’…
Posted inPersonal narrative, Writing
The Truth Behind ‘Picture-Perfect’ Modeling: An Interview with Kristina Renaud
Posted inFashion Writing

The Truth Behind ‘Picture-Perfect’ Modeling: An Interview with Kristina Renaud

“I was seventeen. I remember walking into the room full of people and the designer gave me this bodysuit to put on,” said Sarah Stevens, a model in the fashion industry, during her interview with Vogue. “There was no changing room, she made me just... get naked. She took one look at my body and kind of just snickered and laughed and said, ‘that’s not gonna work.’”  This experience…
Posted inFashion, Writing
Song of the Humpback
Posted inCreative writing Writing

Song of the Humpback

A drop of sweat tickles my back. I fidget and try to get it off. The annoying thing just slicks down behind my shoulder blades. The air is stuffy in the car, and Mother refuses to crack a window. Something about my ears and hospitals. I swear I can squeeze the air and make some candyfloss. What would it taste like? “Jimmy, stop wrigglin’! You’ll get crumbs on the…
Posted inCreative writing, Writing
Naked Mole Rats
Posted inAnimals Biology Environmental Science Science

Naked Mole Rats

Earth is home to a wild variety of species, all with their own unique characteristics. Naked mole rats are one such species. They live in burrows in dry, grassy areas in Eastern Africa. One note: although they are rodents, naked mole rats aren’t moles or rats, nor are they completely naked. One might wonder how they got the name. Some may think they look odd. 3 (Mehgan Murphy, 2009)4…
Posted inAnimals, Biology, Environmental Science, Science
Ghosts
Posted inCreative writing Writing

Ghosts

First, you died.  Well, probably. How else would you still be here? You drift around the yellow caution tape, morbidly curious about how you died, yet still unwilling to know for sure. The splatters of blood scare you. You walk- no, float- down, and find your funeral, with your loved ones standing still in black above a plain closed coffin. You did not know you- they could afford it.…
Posted inCreative writing, Writing
A Tale of Climate Change: The Monk’s Fate [Part II]
Posted inPersonal narrative Writing

A Tale of Climate Change: The Monk’s Fate [Part II]

I immediately started drawing parallels between this story and climate change. Maybe it was because of the class I am currently taking (Global Ethics and Climate Change), or a history paper I wrote about environmental advocacy between the 1950s to 1980s, but regardless, the connections became pretty clear to me. The tiger on the verge of eating the monk can be likened to our climate reaching its ‘carbon budget,’…
Posted inPersonal narrative, Writing
A Tale of Climate Change: The Monk’s Fate [Part I]
Posted inPersonal narrative Writing

A Tale of Climate Change: The Monk’s Fate [Part I]

Five years ago, sitting in the passenger seat of the car, all I could hear was a mixture of engine noise, wind, and my dad’s mumbling. I could stare out the window in peace. When we drove by the river at dusk, apartment towers on the waterfront created beautiful reflections in the dark waters, much like Van Gogh’s Starry Night. In Seoul’s urbanized version of the pastoral scene, windows…
Posted inPersonal narrative, Writing
Song recording + guitar chord tutorial
Posted inArts Music

Song recording + guitar chord tutorial

Thank you for listening. If you’re interested in playing this song on the guitar as well, then here’s a tiny tutorial that is hopefully helpful. Don’t worry, you don’t need that much music theory to get started on guitar. The chords to wish you were gay by Billie Eilish include the four chords Am, D7, G, and Em.  The four chords are played in this order throughout the entire…
Posted inArts, Music
Flame: A Phenomenon
Posted inChemistry Science

Flame: A Phenomenon

Usually, we use the words “fire” and “flame” interchangeably. Technically speaking, fire is the state of combustion, which produces the visual part of burning: flame. As a kid, I wondered if flame is a solid, a liquid, a gas, or a completely undiscovered state of matter. It turned out that rather than being a matter, flame is actually a phenomenon. Background information Atoms & electrons Every matter is made…
Posted inChemistry, Science