Liner Notes: March - Mitski/Your Best American Girl/I Bet On Losing Dogs/Puberty 2

During the lock-down phase of the pandemic, I did what a lot of people did: I baked bread, watched my comfort shows, focused on my artistic hobbies, and listened to music. I signed up for Hulu right before the pandemic started and also spent a fair amount of time watching movies on the streaming service. One of those movies was the 2018 release Hearts Beat Loud. The movie is about a record store owner in Brooklyn whose teenage daughter is about to go to college. They both love music, and in an attempt to keep their close connection as their lives are changing, the dad suggests they form a band. His daughter is less than enthused and takes some convincing. One of the things she does is watch videos of women-fronted bands. One of those videos is Mitski's song "Your Best American Girl."

Here's the video:

I had no idea who Mitski was prior to watching the scene in the movie, and just the short clip used was enough to hook me in. I immediately looked her up and watched the full video and ordered the album, Puberty 2, that the song appears on. Puberty 2 soon joined Rumours, Xanadu, Push the Sky Away, and #1 Record as the top five albums I listened to every week. Interestingly, I'll be featuring all of these albums in this year's stitch journal.

Anyway, "Your Best American Girl" just smacked me in the face when I heard it the first time. You think it's going to be a pretty love song. There's a swoopiness at the beginning that makes you think of holding hands and crushes and then her guitar kicks in and you're in the middle of every embarrassing moment you've experienced because of love. The song is about her struggles with finding love, particularly around racial identity. She's not American enough for the man in the song (she's Japanese American) and can't be the "ideal" for him. It's such a heartbreaking song but also there's power and anger in the heartbreak. I've listened to this song hundreds of times. I love it. 

The song right after "Your Best American Girl" is my second favorite song on Puberty 2, "I Bet On Losing Dogs." I included it in my 2022 stitch journal during the week I stitched to songs. It's also a swoop-y song and makes me think of big sighs and covert looks across a room. She's so freaking good.

In creating this month's piece, I decided to focus on the way Mitski albums feel. I own five of her albums, including Nothing's About to Happen to Me, the new album that came out at the end of February (I'll talk about it at the end of the month). All of her albums are like sitting in her apartment with her or being in her neighborhood while the songs are taking place. There's the swoopiness, the range of emotions and feelings when a person is falling in and out of love, the cats (Mitski has cats and cats are a part of the new album). I found the fabric at Upcycle and immediately she came to mind. I'm back to using MLM's thread collection for this month, and found two perfect colors to use, Highland Heather and Midnight. I have some other fabrics I'll use for hearts, a cat, and a few other elements. I also want to add some flowers and maybe some beads. It's all about the vibe of listening to one of her albums. 

Here's this week's liner notes entry: 

Highland Heather and Midnight

Some of the materials I'm using this month. I expect to expand more over the next two weeks.

March 1

March 2

March 3

March 4

March 5

March 6

March 7

The first week of Mitski Liner Notes.

I also started working on the "track listing" page that will be part of the finished journal:

WIPs, What I'm Reading, and Other Small Joys

I hosted my first art/craft supply swap last weekend. It was nice to see a few people and hang out for the afternoon. I'm going to do it again in April and then donate whatever's left to Upcycle and Dabble. Bea had a fantastic time and received the best gift...a Trader Joe's paper bag. Best day ever.

I made some progress on the mushroom needlepoint I started a few weeks ago. I need to find some time to work on it this week. 

I also have a dye project coming up next weekend. I found this great bag at Goodwill last Sunday but it's beige and I absolutely hate the color. So I'm going to dye it daffodil yellow. 

Also found this gem:

It's perfect.

A few years ago, I read an NPR article about a musician named Connie Converse. I had no idea who she was but was immediately intrigued by her story and her music. I bought Howard Fishman's book about her, and the book has been staring at me ever since. I finally started it this week, and it's a great read so far. Third Man is re-releasing her album later this month and I pre-ordered a copy. Very excited for that to arrive. I feel like Connie and Mitski would have been friends had they been around at the same time. 

Bea had a really active week. Y'all, she climbed the door frame of the bathroom door while I was on a work call. This is how far she got with no assistance:

I can only imagine her climbing trees when she was in the wild. Her energy is wild and I'm not sure the toys I have and our playtime is ever going to be enough. She also had some quieter moments this week, so there's that. 

My other small joy this week is buying my first Zuri dress. I've seen the ads forever but never bought a dress. At the Woodlawn reception last week, one of the Nelly Needlers volunteers was wearing this gorgeous pink floral dress and I complimented her on it. She told me it was from Zuri. She inspired me to go check out their site. I bought a dress called "Creamsicle." 

Zuri is focused on sustainable practices for producing their clothes and other products and works with designers and sewing collaboratives in Kenya to produce the unique patterns for their dresses. They sent me a card about the collective that created the fabric for the dress.

The dress can also be worn in more than one way:

I'm excited to wear it this week. It's bright and fun and feels like a little bit of good in the world. 

I'm off to celebrate my brother's birthday with some day drinking and a nice dinner. I hope you have a great weekend and do something nice for yourself.