Steffany

As part of my work study, I sit in a museum shop for five hours. I thought I had hit the jackpot—taking up a job that required very little actual work. I was wrong. I mean, I should be counting my blessings, but when there’s nothing to do five hours is a long stretch. There’s very little to sell outside of overpriced trinkets and our target demographic seems to be artsy, rich, white people. However, a closer look reveals that these people aren’t very artsy after all, and despite being rich, they’re not willing to part with $200 for an “African” rug. Any textile in the store that uses a lot of color is pegged as African, as if that drives up the market value. I imagine these people want to seem cultured because they can mention their African baskets and such at the next dinner party. We don’t get many visitors and I think the selection of art is mediocre. I watched a performance art piece in tribute to Eric Garner that felt disingenuous. Upstairs are run of the mill works, Rothko, Albers, and the like.

An exciting part of my week was seeing some rappers perform at my school. The beats were sick, but when I went on SoundCloud, it was like the feeling and sound in that little heat filled basement-like room couldn’t be replicated online. Between dabbing and whipping, I decided to embark on a journey to make my own music. I would like to get some music equipment when I come by some money. In the meantime, I’ve been teaching myself virtual DJ. My only issue is that, as a DJ, I want to play the music I want to hear. Nobody in the club wants to hear Cherrelle. I mean, I know it isn’t the ’80s, but if I remixed it maybe? I’ve been really looking to Kindness, the musician Adam Bainbridge, whose mixes incorporate the old and the new in fresh ways. He’s also kind of cute.

I grew up around music and I’ve been dying to make some of my own. So here’s to ditching self doubt and moving forward in pursuing our dreams, no matter how big or small. ♦