Editor’s note: Tastemakers is a column where we give you, the readers, a glimpse into what we at The Spectator are interested in (fashion, music, pop culture, etc.). It also takes heavy inspiration from Perfectly Imperfect, a paid Substack with content in a similar format.
Winter break is almost here, meaning it’s time to get cozy. Staff writer Jake Degear spent some time reflecting on things he enjoys most, especially when time is better spent indoors than out. He loves listening to music and relaxing. Here are some of his favorite hobbies.
Spotify: I’d be willing to bet that my Spotify Wrapped was stranger than most others. I blame the Toby Fox and C418 cameos for being my go-to study music, but I genuinely have no clue how they made it to my top five. I don’t study that much.
Post Malone, on the other hand, makes complete sense as he has been my favorite artist for a while now. I have been continuously spending too much money on anything related to him, including tickets to his upcoming “Big A– Stadium Tour” and pre-ordering his latest album “F-1 Trillion.”
“Yours” will always be a classic and can definitely make me cry half of the times I listen to it. I find it to be a wonderful and heartfelt song referencing his daughter and her future, despite the fact that she’s only two years old right now.
American Eagle: A few years ago, I remember going to the Mall of America with my family right after Christmas. One of the things I was most excited for was to go to American Eagle and see the cool clothes. However, I was not big enough for the clothes there and couldn’t get anything.
Fast forward to now, and all that can be found in my closet is clothes from American Eagle. There are some other random shirts here and there, but at least half of my clothes are from this company alone. Whether people find me fashionable or not, I like my fits and it’s all thanks to the Eagle.
Diet Coke: My parents didn’t want me having sugary soda as a kid, so I basically grew up on diet soda. I recently had a stint with normal sodas and enjoyed them too, but Diet Coke pulled me right back.
I don’t know what it is about this soda because I would agree with the sentiment that it is objectively worse than normal Coke, and yet I prefer it overall. I find it to be a good boost of caffeine but not too much, and it has a nice and unique taste without overloading my sugar intake.
Don’t tell me about aspartame, I don’t want to hear it. I know it’s bad, but so is sugar, so I see it as a neutral exchange. Don’t fact check that.
YouTube: This platform has been a staple of my life ever since finding out about it early on in my “iPad Kid” days. No, I didn’t watch “Cocomelon” clips or cat videos on repeat, but saying I watched some Minecraft videos is an understatement.
These days, I try to use YouTube as an alternative to the popular short-form media platforms. I love Hank Green and other educational creators because I want to at least learn something from my copious consumption of the media.
I do typically end up getting sucked into YouTube shorts anyway, but it’s the thought that counts, right?
“Atomic Habits”: I love to read. College has made that a constant struggle and I don’t get to read much outside of the occasional glance at a textbook.
But like my YouTube consumption, I hope to learn things when I read, so I tend to go for biographies and self-betterment books. That also makes getting through books more difficult because these tend to be longer than some other book genres.
“Atomic Habits” is a book I saw a number of people carrying around in high school and I decided to pick it up for myself. It provides a personally relevant and proven method for creating good habits and breaking bad ones in a way that tries to minimize the internal struggle that often accompanies those changes.
With the new year coming up quickly, I hope to finish this book and implement some of these changes in my own life. Even just quelling my Tiktok/Instagram Reels addiction would be a huge win.
Hopefully everyone else had a more satisfying Spotify Wrapped. But if not, take pride in that anyway. Never forget to enjoy all of the little quirks of life, regardless of their popularity.
DeGear can be reached at [email protected].
