As I take a seat by this fountain
And listen to you speak tonight,
everyone around us fades away.
It’s not that you have so much to say,
But your few words are arranged into a lovely bouquet.
My October boy,
are you a blueprint or abstract art?
You carry a California breeze in your back pocket,
But keep Chicago winds in your heart.
Your expression reads casual,
yet somehow still curated,
Like a timeless design,
you will never be outdated.
Your voice is soft, yet your charisma stays aloft,
October boy, you are now on top.
More adventurous than August, and sweeter than September,
Your eyes-closed smile is one that I’ll remember.
An old man walks by to say what he perceives,
Before asking our names, he tells us that he believes,
In us. What a magically frightful phrase to hear.
I think I’m falling for you like crisp golden leaves.
Hi everyone! I hope that you are all doing well and have had a good start to the semester! I’m sure that I can speak for the majority of us in saying that I am very excited to finally be on campus and have some semblance of a social life once again!
For those of you that are new and do not know me yet, my name is Riya Aggarwal. I am a sophomore in LSA Honors studying Molecular Biology with a double minor in Art & Design and Sociology of Health & Medicine on the pre-medical track! Art has been one of my greatest passions for my entire life, and in this blog, I share my love of art through discussion of different aspects of my Hindu culture.
I invite you all to take a look through my past blog posts on arts, ink. to get to know me and my voice a little better. In my blog, I will be discussing many aspects of Indian culture and customs as well as my own experiences growing up in a traditional household. I love to recount ancient Indian mythology, explain the meaning behind my culturally rooted artwork, and share aspects of my heritage that I have grown to love and cherish. Apart from that, I love spreading the word on some of my favorite artists and the people that have influenced my artwork as well both technique-wise and conceptually.
The goal of my column is to open up conversations about different cultures and religions. Each Monday, I will feature an art piece that demonstrates my experiences growing up in a strict Indian family, simple technical pieces, or whatever seems to tickle my fancy that week! These posts will not be limited to conventional forms of artwork such as drawing and painting. Being a henna artist, I love to showcase henna designs as well and hope to begin making video lessons on how some of the designs can be replicated.
I am truly excited to start my second year of writing this column and to share my love for art with all of you! If there is ever anything specific that I mention in a post or any questions regarding the topics that I discuss, please feel free to leave a comment!
Leo had just enough consciousness left to nod in affirmation.
His mouth popped open, desperate for oxygen.
Instead of filling with cold rushing water, Leo took in a ragged, gasping, but completely oxygenated, breath.
He opened his eyes.
He was at the bottom of the pond.
A glowing light about the size of a lightbulb illuminated the water around him. Beneath his feet were sand and stones and shells.
He was in an air bubble as big as those human hamster balls Leo had been hearing so much about.
Just outside the air bubble, small, brown fish swam past.
And there was a person floating there looking at him.
Except they weren’t a person, not exactly, at least. They had a tail, like an actual fish tail. It was brown-gold and scary and lined with fins, and looked way different from Ariel in the Little Mermaid. It was a lot more… fishy.
They had a human torso, but their skin was toned grey-blue, and was just as scaly-shiny as their tail, with gills lining their sides like ribs. Their fingers were webbed, their lips plush, their nose slitted and smooth against their face. Their ears were pointed like Spock’s and had small cilia fluttering off of them in the water current. Their hair moved in one big piece, oily and slick.
And their eyes.
Their eyes glowed orange, with dark pupils like a cat’s eye.
Leo was frozen. He stared at the other person in shock.
It was a lot to take in.
The fish person lifted a webbed, blue hand and waved it. Their bubble lips pursed in an awkward smile. They hugged their other arm around their sparkly torso. “Um, hi?” the fish person said. It was bubbly and strange, but somehow Leo still heard it, still understood. “Are you Leo?”
“Um…” Leo wasn’t sure how to respond. You didn’t really get taught the protocol for this kind of thing in school. “Yes?”
“Oh, good, cool,” the mer-person said. “I’m Aristea. We’ve been expecting you.”
“Oh… wow,” Leo said, feeling like an idiot. “What pronouns do you use?”
Aristea blinked and cocked their head. “What?”
“Like how should I refer to you? She spoke, he spoke, they spoke…”
Aristea shrugged. “Any of that is cool,” they said. “We don’t really use the same uselessly exclusive social constructs down here.”
An image taken before the start of the Michigan football game against WMU. Photo taken by an MMB alumnus very dear to the author.
Ah, I see you’ve stumbled upon my humble abode. Welcome to the column of all things marching band, or, should I say, the column of all things marching band according to Alias. Here, you shall find short fiction and poetry centered around the theme of marching band, though for today I begin by introducing some common band terminology:
Band Director (n.) — The Fearless Leader.
Band Geek (n.) — A member of the marching band; a super cool person who may be sitting next to you in your creative writing class.
Brass (n.) — A category of instruments constituting the alto horns, euphoniums, sousaphones/tubas, trombones, and trumpets. Trumpets think they’re the heart of the band, but we all know it’s the drumline* (see below).
Drill (n.) — The set of movements constituting the actual marching part of marching band; something you should already have memorized.
Dot (n.) — The specific spot on the field you’re supposed to reach, or “make,” within a set number of counts (ie, 16 counts means you take 16 steps to get from one dot to another ); someone is said to be “on their dot” when they make said spot. It happens once in a while.
Drumline (n.) — God’s gift to marching band.
Drum Major (n.) — A rad person, usually an upperclassman, who leads and represents the marching band. Ironically, the DM is almost never a percussionist.
Flags (n.) — The section of people who dance using flags and enhance the visual effects of performances. They make it look easy, but it’s highly technical and difficult.
Field (n.) — What’s the football team doing on the band field?
Fight Song (n.) — A song, typically a march, played at sporting events to celebrate victories and generate hype. The Victors (see below) is objectively the best of these.
Marching Band (n.) — A sport that involves playing fully memorized music whilst marching around the field in perfect time while in uniform (see below); definitely not a cult.
Michigan Marching Band (MMB) (n.) — The greatest marching band in all of human history.
Michigan Stadium/The Big House (n.) — The place where over 100,000 fans gather on Saturdays to see the marching band.
Practice (v.) — What you should be doing instead of reading this glossary.
Rank (n.) — Subdivisions into twelve or so performers, each with its own leader or two; in drumline, each individual instrument is considered a rank.
Reserves (n.) — The people who did not make the performance for this week’s show; in drumline, the people who don’t play in halftime at all for the whole season.
Section (n.) — A group of people who all play the same instrument; the group of people who constitute the holy order known colloquially as the drumline. Each section has a section leader.
Shako (n.) — The epic hats band kids wear.
Show (n.) — The sweet medley of songs performed at halftime during home games.
Social Life (n.) — Never heard of it.
Temptation & War Chant (T & W) (n.) — Two glorious songs always played consecutively because, as we all know, you can’t have one without the other.
The Victors (n.) — The divinely inspired fight song wrought by Louis Elbel in 1898; the best college fight song ever written; God’s theme song. Comes in several flavors, including “As Written” and “Parking Lot Victors.”
Twirlers (n.) — A small section of cool people who twirl batons that can be attached to LED lights or even set on fire.
Uniform (n.) — The awesome getup the band wears on game days.
Woodwinds (n.) — The piccolos (pics), clarinets (sticks), and saxophones are all considered woodwinds, and often play the melody or sixteenth notes. These instruments will be damaged by the evil entity commonly known as rain.
*This information was derived from a reliable MMB trumpet alumnus the author holds in high regard.**
**The author respects the trumpet section and loves the trumpet part of “The Victors” (see above).
“I’ve been waiting for a guide to come and take me by the hand.”
This week’s Scribble includes lyrics from Disorder by Joy Division, released in 1979, and is inspired by the spirals I tend to get caught in when I spend too much time in my head, something I’ve caught myself doing a few times this week. Lead singer, the late Ian Curtis, once said “All my lyrics are open to interpretation by the individual and imply many different meanings, therefore their relevance is purely subjective.” This makes the lyrics perfect for me to interpret in the way I need them most right now: trying to find my way back to myself in a time of stress and anxiety.
“Could these sensations make me feel the pleasures of a normal man?”
This is my first semester of college with in-person classes, and, sometimes, balancing schoolwork with my social life isn’t easy. With the stress of midterm exams, the deadlines for papers approaching, the countless clubs that I am a member of (I adore all of them, but they are still commitments!), the pandemic, illnesses, and other conflicts in our community and world, I haven’t quite felt like myself this past week.
“Lose sensations, spare the insults, leave them for another day.”
Luckily, for every emotion, I am always able to find a song that, while not necessarily alleviating my stress, makes me feel understood. Today, I found catharsis by sitting down, putting on my headphones, playing Disorder on repeat, and leaving the deadlines and stress behind to tap into my creativity and draw for a while. It’s little things like this that help me relax and reconnect with myself.
“”I’ve got the spirit, lose the feeling, take the shock away.”
Having a few off-days has caused me to focus on gratitude, which is one of the most effective tactics that I use to help me feel like myself again. It’s led me to reflect on how grateful I am to be here – at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, learning, making friends, creating art, expressing myself, and being surrounded by people who bring out the best in me. I’m so incredibly fortunate to be somewhere that helps me be my best self, and I am so excited to have the opportunity to share my art, and my emotions, with you.
