*This article was originally published on April 25, 2025 on Shorewood Ripples . My grandmother, Kimiko, was so beautiful. I have a specific photo of her in mind—she is in her ‘50s nurse uniform which accentuates her slender features. She leans against the bathroom sink and her hand slopes over it elegantly. Her black hair is piled into a bun, with one strand youthfully swooping over her forehead. Her almond eyes gently gaze someplace out of frame and her lips form a delicate

*This article was originally published on Sept. 20, 2024, on Shorewood Ripples. Things knocked over are bound to fall, chimpanzee owners are bound to be mauled, and pop-stars are bound to be harassed a little. Isn’t that right? It feels so normal to want attention from celebrities. It’s considered a treat when they are seen in normal places, and selfies with celebrities can easily become prized photos.  Chappell Roan captured at 2025 Met Gala, courtesy Dia Dipasupil/Getty Ima

*This article was originally published on June 8, 2024 on Shorewood Ripples . Writing can be exhausting sometimes, which is why I like to eat a “back-multiplying,” or, in other words, fattening meal before I start a new project or article. The meal in question? A sandwich, with maybe a pickle on the side. I know that this is a lot, but I know that other people on the internet eat just as much as me.  A few months back, a trend emerged where TikTok users would post pictures of

The illusion of musical authenticity in the season of Wrapped * This article was originally published on Dec. 23, 2023, on Shorewood Ripples . Anybody who is invested in a music based subculture would be very quick to call me a poser. They’d be right. Yes, it’s true. I’ve been caught on more than one occasion saying that I “don’t listen to mainstream music,” and I’ll be the first one to brag about how underground my favorite artists are. What is a poser, though? Of course, we