Hi! I’m Jess. I want to start consciously consuming media. And I want to help you do the same! I’m so sick of mindlessly scrolling on my phone, refusing to have a say on what I see and how it affects me. From now on I will be very purposeful with the books, films, articles, music, art, photography and podcasts I consume.

Turn it up LOUDER:

I’ve been listening to a lot of Mt. Joy these past couple of weeks. Not to get all into it, but I was raised Catholic and of course I recognize the difference between the patriarchal control of the church and people’s individual relationships with spirituality and the higher power. I like music that touches on religion in a less preachy and judgmental way and Mt. Joy does this. 

They reference God in a way that’s hopeful instead of from a place of fear. I like the songs “Bathroom Light,” which is track 10 off the 2022 album “Orange Blood,” and “Sheep” which is track 5, and “Astrovan,” which is track 8 off of their debut album “Mt. Joy.”

 In a completely different direction, I’ve also been listening to a lot of Bladee. He’s a Swedish rapper that I’ve been into for a couple years, but I really got into his stuff when I was in London.

His album “Cold Visions” came out in April of this year, and I remember while most of my friends were freaking out about Taylor Swift’s 30-track album, I was freaking out about Bladee’s 30-track album. I’m really into track 26 “FLEXING AND FINESSING.” The caps is so aggressive but that’s literally the title I can’t help it.

Surfing the Web (Cowabunga or whatever):

Okay you guys need to check out the website Drive and Listen. 

Basically, there are all these major cities you can choose from and once you click a city the screen is a p.o.v. of a car driving in whatever city you choose. You can also choose the local radio station for whatever that city is. It’s very nice for background. I use it when I’m reading or writing and just want some relaxed background visuals. 

I found this website in 2020 during COVID when I wanted to be anywhere but home so it was a bit of an escape. Now it’s far less bleak and I just use it in the background of other activities.

I read in article published in Psyche titled “How to Get Hooked on Opera.” From the website it says, “Psyche is a digital magazine from Aeon Media that illuminates the human condition through psychology, philosophy and the arts.” 

I thought it was an interesting “how to” and wanted to check it out. It discusses the history of opera and the traditional storytelling which I thought was interesting. 

It’s much different than theater that we might be familiar with. It’s also not really about understanding what is being said but the emotion the songs evoke, and the visual stories being told. 

It’s also incredibly impressive and I know I’d start crying immediately. This website has such interesting stories about humanity and science and arts and they are all really easy to digest.