September Sun and the Autumn Equinox
How to theme your fall like the Gilmore Girls, and why you might consider letting your favorite art be a theme in your life.
Welcome to the first edition of Two Weeks Noticed, a twice monthly newsletter on living a life making bad art and using the art we love to theme daily life. I’m glad & grateful to have you here!
Before we dive into the Autumn Equinox edition, I’d like to tell you a little about what you can expect in this newsletter, where the idea started, and my hopes for it.
On Living Life By Themes
The end of August and start of the school year always make me think of carrying the memories of the summer on my body—bug bitten legs, shabby, fraying string bracelets, reddened cheeks mellowed out to a light tan. School starting, too, had its own familiar markers: the smell of my mother's perfume as she got ready in the morning, sometimes Pillsbury cinnamon rolls baking, the squeaky sounds of new pairs of sneakers on gymnasium floors. When we gather up the memories of childhood, each period has such unique contours, signature feelings, colors that surrounded us. Nostalgia certainly assists that memory, but it isn't all that made these time periods special.
As I've gone through my early, and now mid-twenties, part of me began to wonder about how we add a sense of timefulness into adult life, and at that point, I started playing with the idea of themes. If you have followed along on Tik Tok , you’ll know that I’ve had months themed like the Lover Album by Taylor Swift, Mamma Mia, and The Summer I Turned Pretty. Adding a theme to daily and weekly life—even in just small ways—has helped me do two things that I have loved being able to share with you all.
First of all, a theme, especially when we set it for a month or two weeks, gives a new and certain flavor to that period of time. In February, when I started doing this, it was because it was cold and my work in healthcare in that month was particularly draining. I decided something I could do, even if just in five minutes a day, was stay with one of my favorite Valentine’s related pieces of art: Lover, by Taylor Swift. When I look back 6 months now and remember that time, it is colorful, bright, memorable. Time didn’t seem to move too slow or too fast, and it wasn’t overwhelming. This is, I think, what we can accomplish when we pick a theme to devote ourselves to for a few weeks or a month. Like times in childhood, on vacation, or during summer camps, the time is limited and more single minded, and from this it becomes memorable. A theme also makes us think creatively about the small ways we do things day to day, and helps romanticize or flip them on their head. In other words, it keeps things interesting.
The second component of a theme is this: it helps curb my habit of over consumption of media, or at least, it helps mitigate it. Perhaps like you, dear reader, I don’t always have the healthiest balance of life on screens vs life out doors, and it’s something I haven’t been comfortable with for a while. A theme, for me, meant at least some of the time staying with a piece of media that made me feel something for longer than just the initial glance at it. I often find myself seeing so many news bits, fiction, photos, art, sketches a day, and many are wonderful, but none are lasting. One thing I know is that the more time we spend with something, the more we love it, and I want to know and be impacted by the good art I see.
Now, here is where Two Weeks Noticed comes in. I will continue to post on Tik Tok (duh), but what I wanted to create was a place to compile some longer form pieces, to gather activities and journal prompts and everything else in one place for you to have with your morning coffee or evening tea. In the future, my hope is also to be able to include comments or your, the readers, thoughts on different parts of the newsletter (kind of like how the best part of Tik Tok, or in blogging world, Cup of Jo, is the comments and community). I hope that my little way of viewing the world through themes, a favorite poem, wishlist, and things I’m loving, in addition to some other random bits and bobs, might be a space of rest, calm, and figuring out ways to apply the art we love to our daily lives, two weeks at a time.
Enjoy the start of autumn, dear readers, and may you have the most Gilmore Girl’s two weeks ever.
sincerely,
Bad Art Everyday
Words of the Weeks
“October was a beautiful month at Green Gables, when the birches in the hollow turned as golden as sunshine and the maples behind the orchard were royal crimson and the wild cherry trees along the lane put on the loveliest shades of dark red and bronzy green, while the fields sunned themselves in aftermaths.Anne reveled in the world of color about her.“Oh, Marilla,” she exclaimed one Saturday morning, coming dancing in with her arms full of gorgeous boughs, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn’t it? Look at these maple branches. Don’t they give you a thrill—several thrills? I’m going to decorate my room with them.”“Messy things,” said Marilla, whose aesthetic sense was not noticeably developed. “You clutter up your room entirely too much with out-of-doors stuff, Anne. Bedrooms were made to sleep in.”
Gilmore Girls Autumn
Academic It Girls: getting inspired by the brainy girls of the 90s
There are lots of arguments to be made about how Rory Gilmore, especially later seasons Rory, is problematic. Yet, there is something in the original iteration that makes her beloved, and it’s not just because she is portrayed as innocent and beautiful. Rory Gilmore is compelling because she’s a woman who is loved for her intelligence and intensity, at least by Paris and her mother. There are a couple other, more beloved figures who also embodied this from the late 90s and early 00’s, who should also be taken into consideration for our theme: Topanga Lawrence, Hermoine Granger, and Elle Woods. Here’s what we can learn from each of them as we turn into the fall season.
Topanga Lawrence, from the sitcom Boy Meets World (the original!), is what we all hoped Rory would be. Smart, weird, eventually with complete sureness of herself and an amazing blowout, it is never a question that Topanga was the smartest character on the show, in Mr. Feeny’s classroom, and anywhere else she went. What separates Topanga from Rory is the lack of a doe-eyed innocence, even from the first season. Topanga Lawrence knows who and what she wants, and there is a line through her character on the show of that fierceness and wildness from the time she is 12 years old. She is not the shrinking, uncertain Rory, hiding from the world with her books. She is stomping into the world to change it because of her books. Topanga teaches us that we can be loved because of our brilliance, in our wildness, in our weirdness, not in spite of it.
We cannot talk about a smart brunette in the autumn without touching on Miss Hermione Granger. Hermione, throughout the Hogwarts Universe, is known for her ability to figure shit out. There’s an air about her that her brain will not stop fiddling with things, and that inability to leave it alone is what makes her the brightest girl in our year. As she grows up, though, she learns to use that power purposefully, not just for achievement and control, but to bring good to a very uncontrollable world. Hermione teaches us that sticking with a problem, especially when the problem is one we feel purpose about, can create magic.
Lastly, and as an homage to my blonde readers, we have Elle Woods. Elle, in many ways, is sort of someone Rory or Hermione might have made fun of. However, as any of us who have seen Legally Blonde known, Elle is maybe the most powerful of all these ladies of the early 2000s, because she teaches herself she can change. She teaches herself things don’t always have to be the way they have been, and that you do not have to sacrifice the markers of who you are to be powerful and enact change in the world. Elle teaches us to have faith in ourselves, and to know that we can sometimes surprise ourselves for the better.
So what does Rory lose over the course of the show? She loses this wildness, this fierceness, this spirit that drew us as girls to her in the first place. Topanga, Hermione, Elle…all these women had purpose and dreams, and something about them that was uncontrolled by whether their respective prince charmings chose them or not. These characters don’t make us choose–they don’t say be feminine OR be fierce, be brilliant OR be beautiful, be in love OR be a leader. These seemingly separate parts of them, over the course of each of their stories, become integrated. They are loved for their intelligence, and their power is part of how they love others and themselves.
As you start whatever part of life you have that begins in the autumn, I hope you take this blessing of the academic it girl with you: You do not have to do it all, but you are so much more capable than what you realize. You are loveable in your capabilities, in your brilliance, and in your desire to know and learn. You are, as the saying goes, more powerful and more loved and more wild than you realize.
activities to consider for this theme
Teach yourself how to do the 90s blowout, and then pair it with an oversized sweatshirt, mom jeans, and a walk to your favorite local bakery.
Takeout dinner party—a dinner party that is so unstressful, even Rory and Lorelai could do it. Tell each of your friends to bring their favorite dish from a takeout menu, and you all meet up in sweats with your favorite foods, and have a potluck. Bonus points if you watch Gilmore Girls during this.
Create a cozy nook—there is no place more calm and encouraging than a nook to read in in the fall. Get creative with what you have, and limit yourself from purchasing things. Can you move that old chair somewhere new, or change your lights around, find an old blanket, or repurpose something? Make this corner a place of peace, and somewhere where you know you can reflect and be kind to yourself.
Write a real, handwritten letter for someone you miss but haven’t spoken to in a while. Bonus points for doing so by candle light.
Pick your favorite Gilmore Girls outfit from pinterest, and then challenge yourself to thrift it with as few new items to your closet as possible. If you do this, please tag me!
Print photos of bright memories, to bring a little bit of summer with you into Autumn.
journal prompts to explore within
On Gilmore Girls, one of the most aesthetic and appealing parts of the show is the community, and the ideal of a cute, New England town. However, wherever you live, you can apply this idea: “Small is all.” By this, I mean we can all do things differently to be known and to know our town, our neighborhood, or our busy city street. Where are you almost a regular? Is there a place you always buy your coffee, but don’t know the barista’s name? Do you go to a workout class, but have never talked to the person next to you afterwards, ever? At your local library, when you check things out, do you ever ask the librarian for recommendations? There are so many ways to be local, and most of them feel awkward at first. What are some ways you could make your big city or unknown place feel like somewhere you belong?
With the academic it girls, we see a lot of the power behind earnest, embarrassing effort. They try, hard. Tell me about a time where effort got you somewhere you are proud of. So often, we stay with the times we failed, or felt lazy, or just flat out screwed up. Tell me something you’ve done that you’re proud of it, or that you surprised yourself in doing.
Autumn, and this theme, are highly sensory. Tell me: what is it about Autumn that draws you in? Even if you hate fall, tell me some parts you love, or at least find interesting. Dig around in the colors, scents, smells, prior memories, art that you associate with this time of year.
Tell me about a woman who has taught you how it feels to be loved: a mother, an aunt, a best friend, a sister, a mentor. Gilmore girls is so centrally based on Rory and Lorelai, Lorelai and her mother, Paris and Rory. Tell me about a specific time that this woman made you feel known and loved.
Nourish & Savor: a favorite new recipe
This recipe After an attempt that failed due to lackluster, expired baking soda, this one is on the top of my autumn baking list. Chewy, fluffy, spiced, they are the perfect companion for a morning cup of coffee or evening tea and journal session.
Move & Rest : balancing moving and resting our bodies in day to day life
I have tried (and even taught) a number of different workout styles. One that I keep coming back to, especially since March of 2020, has been P.Volve. No workout company brand is perfect, and I won’t defend them as totally free of diet culture language, but I love the way I feel strong and connected to my body after each workout. Right now, they are doing 12 workouts in a month fall challenge, and it’s been the best motivation. Check it out here.
On my wishlist from around the internet: shopping small & local online
The Whimsy Committee, aka my favorite place for Taylor Swift inspired decor and art on etsy. I’m particularly eyeing the above linked Lover poster, but can’t wait to see if she comes out with Midnights designs too.
These refillable mushroom candles, which have also featured heavily in some of my favorite #robeculture videos. Part candle, part lamp, what more could one want to read by candlelight? Check them out here.
Good Art Every Day
“They are all the kind of people that, too often, get lost in the mainstream rush of life. Spending time with them was a revelation for me. What I discovered is that each time you look at the world and the people in it closely, imaginatively, the effort changes you. The world, under the microscope of your attention, opens up like a beautiful, strange flower and gives itself back to you in ways you could never imagine. What stories are hiding behind the faces of the people who you walk past everyday? What love? What hopes? What despair?” One of my favorite pieces on how to write, or, how to see the world Another favorite from her is here, on why it’s okay for kids (and adults!) to read sad stories.
Thank you so much for reading to the end. If you loved this, I hope you will stay subscribed, share with friends, and let me know your thoughts on Tik Tok. I will see you all there!
i have reread this now a handful of times, and i can not tell you how much i adore your writing and the way your brain works! this put a spring in my step the first day i read it, and it continues to bring inspiration. i can not wait to read more from you!