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“Cat Purr / gato ronroneando” by yetcop is marked with CC0 1.0.

Hygge is the Danish and Norwegian concept of embracing comfort, coziness, and contentment during the cold months. Since Tallahassee is experiencing its yearly one month of winter, I have been enjoying the opportunity to embrace coziness and comfort. I feel that this photo perfectly exemplifies a sense of cozy comfort. What could be more peaceful and warm than reading a book in fuzzy socks by the fire?

I added the sound of a cat purring because this is one of the coziest sounds imaginable. I am biased, of course, since I love my two cats immeasurably. However, some studies have shown that the sound of a cat purring may actually lower your blood pressure! For me at least, the sound of a cat purring immediately evokes a sense of warmth and peace. This sound adds that additional layer of comfort to the photo and implies that, out of frame, there is a cat enjoying the Hygge lifestyle with you. If you have a cat, you know that they are the perfect companion to the Hygge lifestyle, as there is nothing a cat loves more than a warm nap.

Terms of Use: “Maximum Coziness” by Olivia Samimy is licensed under Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Over the last few months my sister has really gotten into baking, specifically iced sugar cookies. I have never seen her take pleasure in a hobby before, but when she gets to cooking, I can see her face light up when her masterpiece comes out of the oven and it’s time to decorate. Looking through all of the pictures on Unsplash, none of them were really speaking to me on a personal level until this one caught my eye, and my sister immediately came to mind.

The audio to pair was easy to select. How it came so easy, you may ask? Well, my sister is what we like to call our “manic baker.” Jokingly, we describe her as this because she cooks as though she is being timed (with a countdown to the end of the world) and has no sense of the mess she makes while doing it. If you were to see my kitchen after my sister bakes, you would think the Tasmanian Devil went through it. It is truly chaotic, but I can attest that her finished product does not reflect the process. The audio I chose is very upbeat and just what I imagine is playing in my sister’s head while she bakes. Maybe there’s a method to the madness?

Terms of Use “Madness in the Kitchen” by Kaleah Gonzalez CC BY-NC 4.0

The image and audio I picked work together to show the complex and powerful nature of Dionysus, a god who represents both joy and chaos, creation and destruction. I was drawn to the marble statue because it has this timeless beauty, and even though it’s in black and white, it feels so full of emotion and depth. The details, like the flowing lines and the expression on his face, show both calm elegance and an underlying wild energy. It’s such a great reflection of his dual nature as someone who brings both delight and disorder.

The song “I AM Dionysus” adds another layer by telling the dramatic story of his revenge on Thebes. It gives the silent statue a voice and so much intensity. The music really brings out themes central to Greek tragedy, like revenge, justice, and the constant push and pull between human struggles and divine power. It makes these ideas feel raw and real.

I’ve always been fascinated by Greek mythology and the gods, and Dionysus has always stood out to me because of how complex he is. He’s a mix of light and dark, joy and chaos, and that’s what makes him so interesting. Pairing the statue with the song brings his story to life in a way that’s vivid and emotional, really showing the timeless power of Greek myths and their ability to capture the human experience.

Terms of Use: “Dionysus Unbound” by Amanda Pazos is licensed under Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)

“Operation Crossroads Baker” credited to the United States Department of Defense. Retrieved from Wikimedia Commons. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain in the United States.

“Oh, Christmas Tree” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

I am always a fan of dark humor and this particular combination of media certainly scratches that itch. I was scrolling through the creative commons websites while listening to music and I was on a fairly upbeat song when I came across this image and I could not help but laugh at it. At that point I started my hunt across various creative commons audio websites to find just the right sound that would maximize the juxtaposition between it and the horrific nature of nuclear weapons. I eventually came across a creative commons instrumental version of “Oh, Christmas Tree” that got the effect I was looking for.

The image of the nuclear explosion of the Crossroads Baker Test is both informative and sobering, showing the terrible nature of weapons of mass destruction. This is hard juxtaposed with the well known and very positive feeling the Christmas song “Oh, Christmas Tree”. These two clashing media forms something that I hope can invoke feelings that would contrast against the horrific nature of nuclear weapons.

As someone who believed they would be a paleontologist growing up, this image immediately stood out to me. I was instantly hit with a wave of nostalgia, recalling moments from my childhood filled with dinosaur figurines, books, and parties (yes, multiple). However, it’s a bittersweet feeling reconciling what the future currently is vs. what you thought it would be as a kid. Not to say that I’m unhappy, but there’s a tang of sadness when I realize I am no longer this little girl dusting off store-bought fossils in the middle of her room–I’m an adult, with a child of my own, watching time slip through my fingers. 

It took a minute to find music that successfully aided in emoting those intense feelings. The track, “The Stars Look Different (Ziggy Stardust Mix)”, features an infusion of soft rock and strings, creating a melancholy ambiance that aligns with the intention of my image selection. Overall, I think the audio/image combination enhances meaning and provides additional depth.

The reasons behind my choices for this painting and the pairing of music are very unclear to me even though I was incredibly picky throughout the process. When it comes to visual inspiration, I almost always turn to Pinterest. I use it so often that my algorithm is perfected to my exact taste. I have even had friends ask me to use my Pinterest for their search query. It is my fourth most used app behind the New York Times’ Games. Anyway, Pinterest is where I started. I originally sought out (and found!) a watercolor painting of birds, and through much querying found artist Alice Ravenel Huger Smith.

This particular painting pleases me for several reasons. Firstly, the colors and motifs are a complete evocation of my nursery, of which I keep photos around to look at when I am feeling nostalgic. My mom chose a “fairy” theme, painting the walls purple with clouds going up onto the ceiling, and fairy lights wrapped in organza are strung into the center of the room. Secondly, the location of the image, a bayou in Charleston where Huger Smith based most of her work, reminds me of The Princess and the Frog, which is clearly the best Disney Princess movie. No, South Carolina and Louisiana aren’t that close, but they both have bayous, ok?

The first direction I thought I may go in as far as audio was a jazz/blues song from the Charleston Renaissance, which took place around the time the painting was created. The problem here was that the jazz of the time seemed too energetic for the painting, which is melancholic and seems to depict a place where time stands still. Blues on the other hand, would pay no heed to the idyllic colors and impressionism (sorry, Bessie Smith). If I had my choice, I probably would have chosen a Mazzy Star song. Mazzy Star is not in the Creative Commons.

I found the chosen song on FreeMusicArchive.org by searching “ambient jazz”, clicking through many different songs until I found the right one, then finding it again after making an account and getting redirected. I wish the song page listed the instruments used, because it is hard for me to tell if the wind instrument is a saxophone or not. The song does sound more modern than 1920’s jazz, which, to me, is perfectly fitting for a painter whose work fits so well into my very contemporary tastes.

“M31 09-01-2011” by Torben Hansen. downloaded from flickr 1.17.2025 CC BY 2.0

“Nocturnal Tranqulity” by Skye Jordan. downloaded from dig.ccmixter 1.17.2025 CC BY 4.0

The vastness of space has always interested me. Something is mesmerizing about the way stars and space seem to go on forever in the night sky. This is an image of M31, otherwise known as the Andromeda Galaxy. This image, “M31 09-01-2011” by Torben Hansen, captures millions of stars and at least three galaxies. The Andromeda galaxy is the closest to our own, the Milky Way, about 2.5 million light-years away. The audio clips enhance this image by playing calming and dreamy music. As I listen to this music and stare at the image, a sense of serenity washes over me allowing my mind to drift into deep reflection about our existence. What is the purpose of life? Is there other life out there? I like to ponder these questions and am reminded to sometimes take a moment, reflect, and appreciate the complexities and beauty of life. We are so small in the grand scheme of things, yet we are deeply interconnected to everything around us. I hope you all enjoy the picture and audio and take time to reflect on your own lives and the wonder of space.

“Have I played my part well in this comedy of life? Then applaud as I exit.”

This quote is supposedly the last words of Augustus, first emperor of Rome and subject of the included photo. Born Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian, he later changed his name as he changed the political system of Rome, furthering the work that his adopted father, Julius Caesar, had already started. His last words were purportedly recorded by ancient historian Suetonius, although how he accurately got them is a mystery considering Augustus died in 14 CE, and Suetonius was not born until 69 CE. They also vary depending on translation.

I chose this photo because recently I’ve become extremely interested in ancient Rome, beginning with me reading Mary Beard’s book, Emperor of Rome. The most fascinating part of reading about Rome is that despite them living thousands of years ago, in some ways it feels as though their struggles mirror ours today.

The audio I am including is a snippet of a poem “On the Nature of Things” by Roman poet and philosopher Titus Lucretius Carus, better known as Lucretius. This snippet is from Book III – Part 3 “The Soul is Mortal”, translated by William Ellery Leonard and recorded for LibriVox by Daniel Vimont.

A poem from a Roman debating the fate of the human soul after life in juxtaposition with an Emperor who was deified and worshipped after death drives home for me the paradoxical nature of both Imperial Rome and human nature itself. In this statue of Augustus the artist included a small baby Cupid riding a dolphin, which was a direct reference to his claim that he was descended from the same line as Julius Caesar, who claimed his ancestry extended to the goddess Venus. Despite all of this godly lineage, in the end, Augustus perished the same as any other human. One can only wonder if he thought his soul would be borne to the realm of the Gods on his deathbed, or if he believed that his exit truly meant the end of all of his mind and soul, as Lucretius would suggest.

Lucretius would have died before the Roman Republic became the Roman Empire, but as with many words of ancient Romans, his poems and musings have lived a thousand lives after him. Augustus is the single Roman emperor with the most surviving portraits in various forms, and yet none of these marble busts contain the essence of his soul, or who he was as a person. All we have are artifacts that merely offer a glimpse through a distorted looking glass, as it were.

Together, this image and this poem speak to me of the ephemeral nature of being human. People have been fighting for power and wondering about what it means to be alive and have a soul for as long as we have been humans. No matter who we are, no matter if we have all the wealth in the world, for emperor and plebian alike, death is our final act. What comes next is anyone’s guess.

Terms of Use “Death of An Emperor” by Emily Bowlin is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International