Thoughts on Media, Aesthetics and Products

Hello Kitty Ferris Wheel Game

I have a vague, positive memory of a Hello Kitty game I used to cue up on my father's laptop. Turns out, it was pretty easy to find. It's called Hello Kitty Dream Carnival. You can find out absolutely nothing about it at this baffling Google Arts and Culture link.

Upon looking at screenshots (courtesy of Moby Games) I remembered my actual favorite game within the collection: Rainbow Smoothie Coaster.

I liked food games, although I never played the Papa's Pizzeria games or anything like that.

To All the Phones I’ve Loved* Before

*Or tolerated. I got my first phone fairly late, in the summer of 2012. It was suggested that I have one in case of emergencies since I’d be going to middle school soon. I haven’t been free since.

My beloved. I would force in my earbud jack every day before school and listen to the Cinematic Orchestra’s “Arrival of the Birds” and “Transformation” at the lowest sound quality you could imagine. It’s still my favorite song, even more so that I can actually hear what’s going on. If it fell out of my hands, it would break apart on the tile, and I’d be able to put the batteries back in and attach the two sides of the case together and it would be as good as new. I still have pictures of my old cat Onyx on it. I left it at my father’s friend’s house, and he just bought me a new one instead of going to get it.

Also my beloved. The release date means I must’ve still had that Extravert on the first day of high school, which is very funny. I remember the relief of now having a touchscreen, like all the other kids. This docile creature served me all throughout high school and beyond, until 2019. I didn’t believe it until I checked my Google Photos and saw pictures taken with it that year, making it the longest-lasting device I’ve had so far. Even the geometric lock screen fills me with nostalgia. I had this phone when the iPhone 10 was making its debut and being fawned over by my friends from my video class. I think that was my anti-Apple awakening.

We switched over to Visible Mobile (a subset of Verizon) in 2019, probably around October. The R2 is free if you switch, and you can definitely tell. It was fast and easy to set up, but the battery lasted two years, the latter six months of which was spent trying to keep my phone above 30% so it wouldn’t shut down. Dishonorable mention to my stepmother’s R2, which I had to switch over to and lasted even less time.

My current phone is the cheapest available that would accept Visible’s new 5G plan. It has an unfortunate Android 11-era bug, that being that it restarts whenever it feels like it, sometimes in the middle of phone calls with my therapist. Oh, and it didn’t come with a charging cable or block. But other than that, no complaints. I hope it lasts.

The Flavors of Nostalgia

I used to collect Lip Smackers, more broadly lip balms. I got up to 76 in 7th grade, and took my bag of them with me to class (I was really, really cool). My holy grail was Strawberry Grapefruit.

It baffles me that this flavor was so unpopular as to leave little trace. It was sour, strong, sweet, but not too sweet. I would wear it now. It leaned into the grapefruit smell and away from the strawberry. The texture was silky, clear, and youthful enough for me to wear as an eleven-year-old without feeling like there was goop on my lips. I remember packing it in a tiny bag and smelling it on my first-ever flight to my grandfather’s house, listening to Above and Beyond’s Sirens of the Sea album. It smelled like citric acid. Like Sour Patch and Toxic Waste and skin peeling off my tongue. Like the “margaritas” my cousins and I used to make at our grandmother’s in-house bar, which consisted of lime juice and sugar in fancy glasses. Maybe I should get myself checked for Vitamin C deficiency.

Sparkling Water Good

My friend calls it 'angry water.' I consider it to be excited water. Here are all the kinds I've had, ranked in order of enjoyment.

Fourth, San Pellegrino Essenza.

If you, like me, ordered some while trying to get the regular kind, you will find nothing but bitter disappointment. Even if you measure your expectations, there's no way around the fact it tastes like uncoated hydroxyzine. Like tonic water. If you like that, good for you, but I don't.

Third, bubly.

I never understood how my father could taste hard and soft water. I had been spoiled by hard water my whole life. How could water taste slimy? Weak? I get it now. Bubly doesn't really fizz, it trembles. You will wonder if it's gone flat. It hasn't.

Second, Kroger.

I have a can right next to me as I write. It sends my bowels into a tizzy, but it's lovely in the mouth. The flavor isn't much to write home about, but that's never the case with sparkling water.

First, LaCroix.

Meme on it all you want, I know the truth. Perfect level of fizz, adequate amount of flavor, pretty can (I'm an aesthetics person). I have no idea where the "fruit in the next room" thing came from--if I wanted strong flavor, I'd go for soda. Or the Essenza. This doesn't ask too much of me, and in turn relieves my dehydration headache and makes my tongue feel funny. What more could you want?