My So-Called Newsletter
Digital archiving update, a 1997 MSCL blog, Miranda found, VS book 👩🏻🦰
I’ll give you a proper update on everything at Nicstalgia HQ soon, but I’m currently in the midst of my Digital Archiving project. The project is about how we decide what we keep, what we get rid of, and how we curate our memories in the digital age when we (for the most part) no longer continue to produce physical photo albums or scrapbooks.
I put this off for months and only pursued it again out of absolute necessity. My data consumption finally became a problem that started affecting my day-to-day life! I ran out of storage on both my iPhone (128 GB) and Google Photos (100 GB). First, I couldn’t take any more photos. Then my calendar and notes stopped syncing across devices. My email app refused to open unless I freed up storage. And finally – the last straw – my AirPods disconnected and failed to reconnect unless I freed up enough storage to update my iPhone software.
Very pleased to update you on my progress this week! On Google, I’ve gone from 91.69 GB to 67.7G, with a total of 23.99 GB either deleted or archived. On my iPhone, I went from having 10,372 photos and 818 videos to 8,807 photos and 579 videos, with a total of 1565 photos and 239 videos deleted or archived. WHOA!!!!! What has fascinated me the most so far is how our photos have gone from pics with family and friends to straight-up screenshot graveyards. But more on that later!
Talking about a super fun feature in
today, as well as more lovely links. xxICYMI, last week’s issue included 15+ links 4u to enjoy. Catch up on these before they enter the archive! 🔐
Huge thank you to Nicstalgia supporters who I will love forever: Janine, Marie, Liv, Mitra, CY, and Chet! 💐💐💐
My So-Called Newsletter
My So-Called Life is one of my favorite shows of all time. If there is one piece of seminal pop culture that perfectly encapsulates the 90s, it’s this one. MSCL is a coming-of-age story following the trials and tribulations of quintessentially Gen X high school student Angela Chase (Claire Danes). The theme song is instrumental, except for the whisper, “Go, now, go!” It gives me chills every time.
When the lovely
approached me to curate an issue of , I knew exactly which cultural scene to share. In the MSCL episode “Pressure”, Angela says:“People always say you should be yourself, like yourself is this definite thing, like a toaster or something. Like you can know what it is, even. But every so often, I’ll have like, a moment, where being myself and my life right where I am is, like, enough.” ¹
Okay FINE I won’t give you any spoilers, but if you want to dive into the episode, MSCL.com provides in-depth analysis. Not only am I obsessed with the show, I’m also obsessed with this unaffiliated, unofficial tribute site. It’s an old-school blog that has not been updated since 1997.
In this issue of Mise-En-Scène, I also share my recommendations, none of which you will be surprised by :) ² I was so delighted reading Natalie’s spot-on description of the Nicstalgia world. It is perhaps the only place that we can talk about “the butterfly effect”, emphasis on the [Mariah Carey’s] Butterfly, as well as somewhere that holds [psychoanalyst] Lacan and Laguna Beach in the same regard. I love it here!!!! Check out the full piece:
📲 I’m just a simple girl in a high-tech digital world
🛼 Best video I’ve seen maybe all year: rollerskating Spice Girls
🌈 Spice Girls’ Greatest Hits album has been released on Yoto, a screen-free audio player for kids and it’s the cutest thing ever
👩🏻🦰 I’m really happy for Anna Roisman, the comedian whose popular character is Steve Brady from Sex and the City (who I love), because Cynthia Nixon made a response video! MIRANDAAAA???
👙 Fun piece in Dirt about the new Victoria’s Secret book, Selling Sexy: Victoria's Secret and the Unraveling of an American Icon by Lauren Sherman & Chantal Fernandez (Nicstalgia book club??)
🧢 Appreciated
📼 Fargo resident looks to collect 1,000 copies of ‘Wedding Crashers’ (h/t Adryan!) This is gonna be me with Crossroads lol
📬 Thought this USPS Generational Study, Mail & E-Commerce Through the Ages, was cool and well-designed (h/t Zoe!)
📹 I really love this Returning Lost Photos To Their Owners series. Matt found LaBreesha, a young woman featured in a prom video from the 2000s. She has an amazing story!!
👩🏻🏫 Okay so real question: How do I get invited to be a guest lecturer at Yale’s Beyoncé class?
🍒 Very obsessed with online vintage fashion aggregate Cherry-Pick’s website. We need more DELIGHTFUL and FUN web experiences, if you ask me!
💅🏼 Iconic Rainbow Fish nails inspired by seminally classic 90s children’s book
💿 No but this was (is) literally me, listening to Mariah Carey and Celine Dion on repeat:
🦋 Social butterfly
Newsletter ☆ Instagram ⟡ Website ♡ Podcast ☆ Fitness Schedule ⟡
¹ If you love MSCL, Vulture did 5 special Mscl Hour articles for the show’s 20th anniversary in 2014. My favorite quote mentioned above was obv included in 20 Times Angela Chase Thought the Perfect Thing on My So-Called Life.
² I recently had an Italian friend recommend a local import store, so I will be stopping by soon to check out their chocolate selection. Also FYI they have Baci at Trader Joe’s!!! This is not a drill!!!
I thought I was the only one this in love with MSCL--glad to know I'm not! I don't even want to call it a perfect teen show because the beauty is that as you age you enjoy the parents' storyline even more. It really holds up so well.