Physical Media Treasure Hunt 01
Fashion dictionary, Miss Congenialities, Barbie Fashion Designer 💿
Very exciting news this week!!
Alexandra Lange won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism as a contributing writer for Bloomberg Citylab. Wow!! I’m currently reading her book Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall, which I’ve been loving, as someone who’s spent approximately 17% of their life in the mall.1
The other day, I went down a deep American Eagle promotional CD rabbit hole while researching for a new project. To my excitement,
launched Off The Cuff here on Substack! The fabulous from will be guest editing the first few issues. DREAM role alert!!
The Physical Media Renaissance™ continues! May is a big thrifting month for me, as many local libraries host their biannual sales. Here are my favorite picks from one I went to recently!
Directory of Retailing and Merchandising by Jerry M. Rosenberg (1995)
These kind of books remind me why I loved being a fashion major. The inner workings of the retail industry is one of my favorite subjects to read (and write!) about. This book from The National Retail Federation Series is a literal dictionary of industry terms. It’s definitely going to be a key reference point for a lot of research I have coming up! I’m extremely interested to see which terms hold up and which are outdated. After all, this book predates the advent of e-commerce!
Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman (1985)
There are some books I cannot listen to while driving, and this is one of them. While I’d like to fully digest the message, I cannot do so while operating heavy machinery. The foreword about George Owell’s 1984 and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World was so powerful, I almost had to pull over the car!!
“Orwell warns that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression. But in Huxley’s vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity, and history. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.
What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture…In 1984…people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us.
This book is about the possibility that Huxley, not Orwell, was right.”
It’s absolutely bonkers that this book is from 1985. The back cover describes it perfectly, “More relevant than ever – the prophetic landmark work exploring the corrosive effects of electronic media on a democratic society.” Amusing Ourselves to Death dives into what happens when politics, journalism, education, and even religion become subject to the demands of entertainment. The introduction to the Twentieth Anniversary edition – written by Neil’s son Andrew after Postman’s death in 2003 –takes the internet into account, but not social media. I’d love to know what
would say now, another 20 years later!Confessions of a Backup Dancer by Anonymous (2004)
I very much wanted to be a backup dancer at precisely the time this book came out, so I’m really its exact audience. Apparently it’s an early 2000s time capsule, written in a digital journal format and a colloquial tone, specifically targeted at middle school girls who don’t like reading but love [lowbrow] culture. (I feel attacked.) As one Goodreads reviewer remarked, “It was wonderful in the way that a mediocre burger at a greasy spoon diner is wonderful after you've been backcountry camping for a week and living off of dehydrated food is wonderful.” It was gonna be made into a TV show for The CW in 2012, but looks like that never happened. I’m so upset that this Young Adult book is fiction. I wanted to hear some tea! (It’s allegedly about Britney or Christina.)
Slumdog Millionaire (2009)
You don’t understand how obsessed I was with this movie when it came out. I haven’t seen it in a while and am due for a rewatch. I was completely enthralled with how it depicted the seismic impact of astral qualities – interconnectivity, serendipity, synchronicity, destiny, and fate. How did he know the answers? “It is written.” Okay, now I’m crying.
Miss Congeniality (2000)
I watch and rewatch a LOT of movies from the 90s-00s, and many of them are terrible. They may have aged badly, but more often than not, they’re simply terribly written and/or acted. There are certain movies that I love because they are campy, dramatic, musical, or nostalgic even if they are not exactly Oscar-worthy. But at times, there’s a romcom that stands out from the pack, and Miss Congeniality is one of them. It’s one in a million, you could say. I just rewatched it on April 25th because obviously! As the back of the DVD states, “From big laughs to sly quips, Miss hits.”
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous (2005)
I don’t remember the sequel at all, and unfortunately Benjamin Bratt doesn’t make an appearance, but it’s probably pretty decent. Will rewatch.
Ta-Dah by Scissor Sisters - Special Edition (2006)
Whenever I see Scissor Sisters in the wild, I spring on it immediately. This Ta-Dah Special Edition CD features bonus track “Transistor” and includes hits like “I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’” and “I Can’t Decide”. This particular CD was from HMV (which seems to me like the British FYE) for £10.95 ($14.55), so I essentially got it for 98% off.
Barbie Fashion Designer (1996)
“How long have you been interested in the intersection of fashion and technology?” Ummm since I was a miniature fashion designer in the mid-90s! This game was absolutely groundbreaking in terms of technology and in marketing games to girls. (Fun fact: Mila Kunis was in the commercial.) I highly recommend learning all the lore: The untold history of Barbie Fashion Designer, the first mass-market ‘game for girls’. Is this game for PC only? Yes. Do I have any way to play it? Not yet. But it’s worth having if for nothing but nostalgic purposes.
In case you missed it
Last week’s issue featured my Physical Media Renaissance™ zine that I recently presented at SMALL BATCH: SMALL BATCH: A Dataset Farmers Market, curated by LARPA for Rhizome. You can view and download it for free, and I will continue to update it as I acquire more items!
But wait, there’s more
Artist and friend of the letter
published Zine 101. Anna + MJ from released The Overthinker’s Guide to Getting Started zine. is running a giveaway – subscribe to (paid subs include access to a monthly digital zine) and leave a comment telling her one thing you kept (or wished you kept) from your teenage bedroom!!
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Alexandra Lange is an architecture critic, so the book largely explores design and architecture in addition to the sociocultural impact of the mall. I love the cultural part too, obviously – I AM that part – but I personally read for intellectual stimulation. I’m disappointed in the smooth-brained Goodreads reviews of people saying the book was too dry; they were clearly expecting “Let’s Go to the Mall” energy. Shoutout to Robin Sparkles.
I had that Barbie Fashion Designer game and I STILL remember the music from it. All the pink and chrome visuals from that game still haunt the deep recesses of my memory. And the printable clothes that came with it!! A++ Barbie product lol.
what an honor to be in your treasure hunt! thank you!