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The Gargoyle, January 1926

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The Evening Public Ledger, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 1, 1919

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Where We've Been. New York. 2021.

A collection of items tied to family, friends, and the nostalgia encompassing both. From childhood to today these items represent specific events and memories that will always be remembered.

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Small Curiosities. New York. 2021.

These are simple items that no one really questions but no one also knows much of how and why they are created.  It is easy to simpley accept these trinkets, even if they can be annoying like a candy wrapper

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Escaping The Ordinary. New York. 2021.

Collection of wonders, beginning from thoughts of questioning to rebellion and frustration rather than just searching through the wonders of the world. 

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Mae's Mystical Miscellanea. New York. 2021. 

Mae demonstrates a connection between the tiny items she cultivates and the energy she hopes to inspire in her life in this collection. Wonder is abound and viewers will find themselves inevitably drawn to the knicknacks contained inside her jar.

Day Thirteen Even though we were only expected to do about eleven or twelve days, I felt that this should be included in the jar with the other items. I began hoarding pens during middle school upon discovering how much I loved to write, and that love only grew as I began to fill notebooks with short stories, ideas of others, and (dare I say) fanfiction. I still remember getting reprimanded in middle school writing a story in my notebook instead of paying attention to the lesson. When becoming mature and responsible enough, I was gifted my first laptop and that only made that feeling skyrocket. I was able to create documents, visual boards, gather visual references, anything to get my work written down. It was phenomenal, the sense of pride when I got to write some of it out and send it to my friends to read and give their thoughts on them. Those early moments helped build my style as a writer, creating a unique voice that has represented itself in my assignments. And while I have shifted to working on my laptop when writing my new novel, I have developed a new method that creates a visual storyboard in sticky notes on notebook pages and parts of my world building on index cards (creating a physical and simple aspect that can also be brought along with a laptop and not be completely digital). [I applaud anyone who can be completely digital for major projects when writing a series of novels.] But, with the pen, it physically represents my desire of writing and the love that has stemmed from it. Deep down, I will always be a writer at heart, and I am happy with that.

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The Small Big Things. New York. 2021.

CJ shows us glimpses of his everyday life in small items from around his home. Though often mysterious, CJ allows us to understand bits and pieces of who he is and broader social life when he reveals uncommon objects like a single cheeto, Smart Water cap, and nail clippers one at a time. 

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The Everyday Life of Owen. New York. 2021.

Description: Owen encapsulates things present, things past, and things lost in his everyday life in this collection. This collection not only speaks to Owen, but the broader small details of what we take with us everyday and what we leave behind, and what different personal meanings we leave unspoken. 

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For my last addition to the jar, it will be this mask. I saw everyone else putting in masks and so I wanted to get in on it, plus, it’s really a statement of the moment we’re in that we need to do our class like this. I feel like my memory of pre-pandemic Oswego has just slipped away almost entirely.

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For day eight, I have chosen this Valentine that my friend Namyun gave me a year ago. He said he got it for free in the main hallway of MCC, y’know, back when there was tables in the hallway of MCC with free stuff. I have just kept it on my bedside table without thinking about it because I don’t want to get rid of it. I notice a lot of people have these little sentimental items too and I sort of wanted to get in on that.

Today I did think about putting my purple nail polish in but I was worried it might break if the jar ever fell from smashing against the glass. I liked the color and thought it would mix well with the others, but the nail polish was not to be. I thought about putting these little red heart candle holders but I know my mom would be so mad if I took something away from the decor she has set up, so I didn’t. This little Valentine had a hard time fitting, which I didn’t expect.

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Day seven, I have chosen this orange tennis ball. In October of 2012, I got my dog, Nugget. I did buy him from a pet store that is now closed (shameful, I know), but I do feel I rescued him from there as it seems he wasn’t being taken care of very well. His sister was already sold a month prior to him and his price was dropping since no one wanted him, so who knows what would have happened to him if my mom and I didn’t come along. It really was love at first sight and I don’t think I’d be here without him. 

ANYWAYS, we bought him this tennis ball the same day we got him as part of a little starter pack of puppy toys. Turns out, Nugget does not like tennis balls! Or any plastic/hard toys for that matter. He only likes stuffed animals. Who knew pets could be so picky, even with toys?! So now, it kinda just sits neglected on our floor near his toys because it fits the ~dog toy bin aesthetic~ even if he never uses it. Well, now it belongs to the jar.

dog tax

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For day six’s inclusion, I have chosen this loose cap from a bottle of Barefoot Strawberry Fruitscato wine. It’s my favorite wine (I’m 22 just so that’s established) because I love strawberries. Funny enough, my mom is allergic to strawberries, but I completely love them. Anyway, this cap has just kind been chilling all alone near where we keep the alcohols, as I got it for my birthday last year and finished it maybe sometime in October (I’m not a huge drinker so any alcohol I get takes a whileeee to be finished). I don’t know why we didn’t keep the cap with it when we disposed of it but oh well. I honestly didn’t really have any idea today of what to put in the jar so I saw this and thought okay, cool.

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Day five, I originally thought about including a loose battery that’s on my nightstand (yes, I’m really living a life of luxury and organization). However, I just didn’t like that because I was like, no, the battery is kinda ugly. So, instead, I saw this loose star earring I have. I think my Aunt got me this as some kind of Christmas present a while ago. I’m horrible with keeping earrings together because, as all earring wearers know, they kind of bother you after a while and you want to take them out. I take them out with the intention of putting them back in the next day and just forget or don’t want to after all. I think this sister earring is somewhere near my nightstand but I don’t know.

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So, today’s submission to the jar will be hard. Content warning for death.

Last night I was told one of my good friends I’ve known since we were in high school together had died. We talked all the time and I’ve just been reeling from it because he was a year younger than me and now he’s gone. No one really knows what happened yet but he really was such a unique, intelligent, and amazing person. He was going to go back to SUNY Adirondack in the Fall, but he had a job traveling across the state setting up power lines and he used to snapchat me from like hundreds of feet up in the air these incredible views he had. He loved nature and being outside so it was the perfect job for him. He rescued a ton of baby animals all the time, along with his cat, and he wanted to study biology and botany.

Even if I’m still fairly functional, I just can’t ignore it. If you’ve experienced death close to you in your personal life you know how complicated it is to parse. I want to honor him in some way and I feel like a lot of the objects I’ve been putting in the jar are things I wanted to honor. I know this is for our class but it really does mean something, as I think you’re all discovering as well. This is a stray fake leaf we’ve had lying around from a fake bouquet. He loved nature and so even if I don’t have a real leaf to put in, this will do.

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Wow, day four already? The first week is almost over! So, today I thought about putting something from the outside world into the jar after our discussion on Wednesday and the great points Jake brought up. I was going to get the baseline COVID test (even though I don’t have in person classes I still wanted to go to campus if I feel like it) and I thought I could put a little pebble or some other natural element from the campus into my jar...well I forgot all about that and was on a time crunch to get back to my house before my class so that didn’t happen.

What I did put in the jar instead was a lipstick by Wet’n’Wild called “Matte Mat” because its a matte nude shade. I bought it in like June or something because I don’t really have nude lipstick and thought I could try it out without spending too much on something that might not look good. Well...it looked bad. I, like a fool, tried to return it only to be told cosmetics can’t be returned anymore because of COVID. So, it’s sat, as an annoyance, on my bathroom sink, unused, for the last 8 months. I figured it could be less lonely (and less of an annoyance to me) and have something of a family with the other misfits in my jar family now. 

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For day three, I have chosen to put this glove into the jar. I got these gloves probably five or six years ago for my birthday (which is the day after Valentine’s Day, a day we’ll have class together!), but at the time, it just wasn’t my style. I kinda mistreated them, which led to me losing the other glove. I actually would love to wear this glove now because I think it’s cute, and it has the touchscreen fingers, which is invaluable for someone attached to their phone (me). But now, this glove sits mournfully, solitarily, with the rest of our winter clothing, looking for her sister, wishing to be worn out in the tundra of Oswego. It makes me feel bad, and so, I put her in the jar so that she may feel useful, and have a little family in the jar with the other objects, at least for a little. I should look for the other glove, I think I know a few places it could be.