Is your writing stuck? Look no further! Otto Fritton PZ ’27 returns with his not-so-weekly column, “The Writing Process.” In this edition, he analyzes a young Stephen King’s short story, “Night Surf.”
Columns
The Daily Palette: Dislodging popular culture in ‘Interference Patterns’
Following little Meiya as she runs around her father’s store, carrying pens and paper, Meiya Rollins PO ’29 reflects on her and her father’s shared love of comics in the exhibition “Interference Patterns” at the Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College. Consisting of John Sparagana’s work, who splices and remixes popular images, she instantly gravitated towards his piece “Superman Variations.” Rollins questions her interest in this piece as she says, “What context is Sparagana wanting to take away from this popular comic, and what is he wanting us to see?”
5Cs After Dark: The algorithm ate my boyfriend
Do you ever get the feeling that your love interest is brain-rotted past the point of no return? Arianna Kaplan SC ’27 and Siena Giacoma PZ ’27 examine the effect short-form media is having on our ability to meaningfully interact with each other in the semester’s final edition of 5Cs After Dark.
Audrey Between Frames: ‘Whisper of the Heart’ and interior worlds
Audrey Green SC ’27 explores Hayao Miyazaki’s “Whisper of the Heart,” and the moments when we are forced from our quietude. She reflects on the parallels of her own childhood writing processes and those of the main character, Shizuku Tsukushima, and what our passions reveal about the self once we share them. “For a young writer such as Shizuku, this step is intertwined with the act of growing up itself, of learning that to be understood, you must first allow yourself to be seen by the world, even imperfectly,” Green writes.
Office Hours for the Soul: Write like no one is watching
Eight months ago, Siena Giacoma PZ ‘27 got some shocking advice — “You don’t matter.” In her final edition of Office Hours for the Soul, Giacoma reflects on her series of professor interviews from this year, discussing how they taught her to write like no one is watching.
Noise from the Underground: Flea fuses rock and jazz in ‘Honora’
Flea, the founding and long-lasting member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, just released his first solo album ‘Honora’. Andrea Miloshevska PO’ 28 discusses the unexpected and refined jazz soundscapes, the bassist’s rediscovery of his childhood love for be-bop and the trumpet, and the heartfelt meaning of self-knowledge and discovery, at the heart of the record.
Stories Retold: What makes stories stick? Five authors take on fiction
What is it about great stories that compels us to tell them over and over again? Ava Chambers PO ’28 examines five essential elements of compelling stories from five fiction authors: Donna Tartt, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Tennessee Williams, Vladimir Nabokov and Chinua Achebe.
Poem of ecstasy: Sakaguchi Ango and ‘Discourse on Decadence’
How does the individual interact with their culture’s moral decrees, and what happens when they decide to tear themselves loose from it? Leslie Tong PO ‘29 discusses Sakaguchi Ango’s Discourse on Decadence and how it relates to the historical context in which it was written.
The Daily Palette: The lasting effects of ‘Atomic Dragons’
Exploring the Cold War and its effects now, Meiya Rollins PO ’29 reflects on the exhibition “Atomic Dragons” at the Pitzer Art Galleries. From her previous readings in her curation class, she was instantly tethered to Judtih Dancoff’s work. Judith Dancoff narrates her own experiences of her father working on the Manhattan Project with Oppenheimer. Rollins describes the letters between Dancoff’s father and Oppenheimer in the piece, “The Dancoff Factor,” where they are a “window into their relationship with each other and their work. It was work that slowly killed them, but quickly destroyed the lives of so many.”
Animated Film Features: ‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ not the smoothest launch
In a departure from the usual anime movie fare, Columnist Joon Kim PO ’26 blasts off into the Mushroom Kingdom and beyond as he takes a look at Illumination and Nintendo’s newest endeavor: the long-awaited sequel to the original “Super Mario Bros Movie” from 2023. He appreciates the creative set pieces and various homages to the video games in “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” yet finds that the cavalcade of references ultimately distract from the otherwise barebones plot.