Waxing Lyrical: Taste of Time
Tumblr girlies rise up
I will always be a pen-to-paper kind of girl. I’ve tried to have it all be digital but it never lasts. “It” being the external extraction of my mind. Since toddler-hood, I’ve admired and hoarded notebooks of all kinds. At some point dotted journals changed my life. Yes it’s that drastic. I’m sad to say I feel confined by lined paper. Grid is possibly worse for me as it feels waaaay too mathematic. And me and maths never quite clicked at school. I don’t mind a faint ruled notebook, but those dots have me in a chokehold. I also like a plain paper situation. I recently re-discovered the freeing feeling of a blank layout and have been scrawling all over it since purchase. It’s become more of an idea book or spontaneous journal, which I didn’t know I needed. This is not a substack on notebooks I promise. But it is going somewhere. I think.
I love a research deep dive with my whole heart. It is an activity that feels so entwined in my being. I’ve noticed it makes me feel like I’m vibrating with intrigue and excitement for what I might find next. Now I know how Alice felt in Wonderland. A little lost, a little fearful but mostly reeling with anticipation. Connected to this is my origin as a Tumblr girl. I’ve had multiple Tumblr blogs over time but they all started when I was around 12 years old, which is honestly insane to think about. I even learned to code my Tumblr but no longer retain any of that css skill without copy and paste getting involved. A lot of my blogs have been lost since then, but the current version still holds a massive archive dating back 10 years. It’s been so interesting to go back and watch my taste develop via re-blogs. The phases of my visual obsessions take me back time-machine-style to the versions of myself that have come before my present iteration. To have my life so far mapped out by imagery, words and some level of art direction is pretty special. I have the utmost gratitude for my past selves. It’s been interesting to find the through lines that stick with me in the archives; seeing how each year of my blog connected to the next, whether it be by colour or topic or simply *feel*.
I guess what I’m trying to say is to trust your taste. There is a reason you like what you like, and you always have, even if you didn’t always know [what or why]. It’s good to refine it gradually - it’s a lengthy process! It’s good to look to every source possible, on and off screen, to truly figure out what sparks an inspired fire in your gut and heart. And if you need inspiration for where to look, other than your usual go-tos,
provided some great alternatives on recently. Here:
I’m also telling you, respectfully, to get back on Tumblr. And if you haven’t before, start one. The visuals and the catalogue of inspiration is like a whole planet over from Pinterest (which I also love and use every day). And then, as I mentioned last week, GO TO THE LIBRARY! And yes I’m shouting from the Substack virtual rooftops because there will be some sources of inspiration in that dusty, 70s building that you could never access from your laptop or phone. Let something surprise you. It’s ok to go in with no idea what you’re looking for. The library has no algorithm. Mark Zuckerberg will not be there. What a relief for us all.
I didn't intend to become an ambassador for public libraries when I started this Substack, but alas this is my life now.
And now for the visual component of this rambly newsletter. Here’s a plethora of stuff I deem worthy of intrigue from this past week. Save it, screenshot it, hate it from your side of the screen, I don’t mind. But at the very least let it warrant an instant response and inform your personal taste.
And that’s all for this week. If you made it this far ur kind of cool :)
I also posted a lover girl “run down” on TikTok this week which you can check out here if you like.
Lots of love x
Funny enough we have very similar tumblr background, I have a blog since 2010 and was 12 as well… and I can tell you that everything you said here is hella true. The way that tumblr works is magical for me still, the way I found so many references (that I use till this day) is just amazing. I always tell people to make a tumblr and use it and build it, it’s soooo worth it! All the luv *️⃣
the LRD and the jessica alba comparison…. too good. addison rae also falls within that family i think