Jacquelyn Scieszka

Grayscale Mode  changes all pixels on your screen to shades of gray. It's supposed to be for photosensitive users. Grayscale Mode has become something of a trend lately, but mostly for the youth obsessed with their phone. Me. It must have been January of 2024, when trying to get my head out of my phone, that I heard this mental health tip discussed in a YouTube video that attempted to rehabilitate addicts like me, from a former addict themselves. I recall not their name, gender (hence the gender-neutral pronouns), or even their facial features or  the nuances in their voice. Just what they said: Try Grayscale. They said this step might be a bit extreme, and I agree, it would be hard for many of us, and outright impossible for visual artists. I tried it anyway. At first, I had trouble acclimating my eyes to the dimness of my new screen. It kept me off my phone more. I rarely used it. The glamor and sparkle were gone. I don't recall very well, but it did the job. Th...

If you've been acquainted deeply enough with the internet over the last decade (particularly post-COVID), you'd have noticed that it's not just that we're not happy.. it's almost like we don't want to be. Now, what is irony, anyway? Google Dictionary would define it as: "of or like iron." Oops, wrong irony. Google Dictionary would also define irony thusly: The expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect. It's basically sarcasm, in a sense. Oh you know, lying. For fun. Irony is also a fun literary device I like noticing a lot. Different from Chandler Bing, irony in fiction is when the audience realises something the character does not, here's a situation where both humorous and literary irony are sizzled together:  On a fateful Valentine's Day, Kate whispered into her lover's ear. "Naomi, I'm so glad you're alive. I sure hope nothing bad ha...