Pop Culture

When midnight comes, I open EasyNet, click on a song, and observe the number of comments that are welled up with melancholy and wistfulness springing up like mushrooms after raining.

I don’t know much about music, unless you count the piano lessons my mom made me take when I was eight.

Most of the time, I go to concerts alone.

Through 80 years of comics, animated straight-to-DVD films, TV shows, video games and more we’ve seen dozens of interpretations of the Dark Knight.

Burnham gets our generational conundrum—do we curb our empathy because we fear it being turned into a mocking form of entertainment?

Eyes draw me in and allow me to more fully understand others. At UVA, eyes have allowed me to make new friends, distance myself from bad influences, and comfort broken hearts. My gray-scale drawing, done with graphite pencils, allows everyone, regardless of race or gender, to relate. The flowers surrounding the eye add a three-dimensional component that comes with getting to know a person. I have often been judged based on my looks. However, once I speak, my genuine and authentic personality blooms out from me.

I considered the five-pound bag of frozen peas to be an investment, as I stood, double-masked, in a Costco aisle. And I still do. Buying frozen foods and nonperishables in bulk has saved me both time and money, but there are more reasons that I find myself braving the big-box warehouse during a pandemic.

“What happened at car riders?,” Sydney asked at our party that I had strictly set to “invite only.” We played Minecraft every day after school, so we picked up where we left off on Llama Land 2. She still had a tuxedo skin on and was working on her signature spruce and snow house. I was adding a heart-shaped glass pool and golden block water slide to the top of my castle.

“Wow, Chloe sure is being dramatic right now.” Let’s face it: maybe you like Taylor Swift, but that’s probably what you’re thinking based on the title of this piece. But, hear me out. Life is hard, and the last year has been especially burdensome for everyone. Taylor Swift, out of the blue, released two albums. These two albums felt like they were written for me, composed with my exact situation in mind. And, of course, they weren’t. 

“OIL SEPARATION IS NATURAL—JUST STIR AND ENJOY” For those who also love peanut butter, you might recognize this informative directive from the lid of Smuckers’ Natural Peanut Butter, printed in white font, encircling a recipe for Peanut Butter Butterscotch Mounds.