Nostalgia

Earlier this week, I had to explain a zine to someone. The person was about 15 years older than me, so they were in their late 20s/early 30s at the height of the Riot Grrl/DIY world of the mid-late 1990s. We were talking about the book I was reading, Jennifer Mathieu's Moxie, and zines are a central plot point in the book (and the Netflix movie). Our narrator, Vivian, creates a zine for the 21st century and inspires her classmates to demand more from their peers and their school. 

I enjoyed the movie, but I love the book. I'm in my early 40s, so closer in age to Vivian's mom than Vivian, but I identified so much with Vivian. The quote from today's piece is one of those moments that made me stop and think for a bit (which was good since I had lots of time for that while waiting for voters to show up) and recognize a kindred spirit. The quote is from a section about her mom, a Riot Grrl, watching a documentary about those years, and Vivian seeing both happiness and sadness in her mom's expression:

In the semi-darkness of our den, her face lit only by the flashing images on the television screen, I could see she was blinking away tears. But I could tell by the way she was smiling through her tears that she felt good and sad at the same time. Sometimes I wonder how old you have to be to feel really nostalgic. Sometimes I wonder if it's possible to feel nostalgic for something you never actually got to experience yourself. I think that's how I feel about the Riot Grrls.

My birthday is tomorrow, and I find I always get a little more nostalgic on my birthday. I've been playing some of my favorite songs as I write this. Marcy Playground plays in the background and I can picture exactly where I was when I listened to "Sex & Candy" for the first time. And then Matthew Sweet's "Girlfriend" comes on next, and well, it all hinges on the next song. 

Details:
Stitches: back stitch
Thread palette: DMC 310 (2 strands), C915 (3 strands)

PS: The next song was Mazzy Star's "Fade Into You followed by "Gone Daddy Gone" and "Coney Island Baby."