Ramadan Kareem all! We are headed into the last 10 days of the best month of the year, and it’s already bittersweet. I pray that for everyone celebrating, these last 10 days are even more fulfilling and rewarding the past 20, and that we all come out spiritually stronger in the end.
Also happy birthday to my brother, Kerem. He is 11 as of April 1st, and currently tasked with the sacred job of waking us up for sohoor. He does this by composing mostly rhyming couplets in English, Turkish, or a mix of both, and banging on his drum, per Ramadan drummer tradition in Turkey.
Some other personal updates:
My parents and I were all fortunate enough to get our vaccines. However, as the last month has made even clearer, there is an unacceptable disparity in the world with regards to vaccine distribution. The situation in India is especially dire, so if you are able to, please donate! I chose Khalsa Aid, but there are a ton of other organizations providing different sorts of aid.
I have reached ✨ Day 60 ✨ on my language apps! Ich denke das ist wirklich gut.
I am working on an article with a writing group and excited to see how the whole process turns out… Fingers crossed for a publication (ultimately).
I also joined a reading group focusing on Plato’s Apology and Crito, alongside the Oresteia. It’s been fun to read these texts with people other than academic philosophers.
I volunteered to be part of a corporate responsibility committee at my job, to help choose non-profits the company should donate to, and in the process I got to learn about so many amazing grassroots, community-led organizations. Here is one called Hand, Heart + Soul Project. Another one is Backyard Basecamp. If you can, I’d encourage you to donate to them or nonprofits like this that are based in your own community and doing really cool work.
To Read 📝 To Listen 🎶 To Watch 📺
Sadomasochism: Not About Condemnation by Susan Leigh Star — This is a brief interview with Audre Lorde but it’s packed with so much wisdom about the reclamation of sexually oppressive practices by feminists.
In My Hometown, Opioids Are Still Stealing Lives by Shawn McCreesh — A harrowing piece on how the opioid crisis and addiction is taking so many lives & leaving communities in a state of perpetual grief.
Gestures of Care by Sasha Archibald — A poignant piece on what care looks like especially at a time like this when we have been stretched thin because of the pandemic.
The Logic of the Like by Daniel Silver — I think you should read this and then watch the Black Mirror episode Nosedive (S3:E1).
Animare Animam by Mary Townsend — A good review of the relatively recent Pixar movie, Soul. Appreciating its deviation from the general Pixar animation script but also highlighting its philosophical failings.
The Art of Writing Obituaries During a Plague by Allegra Hobbs — A short but revelatory piece on something I never would have thought about.
O’Donnell is part of a group called The Society of Professional Obituary Writers, whose members gather to talk about the craft and the ins and outs of the job. (They also hold an annual conference called ObitCon, where trophies called Grimmys are awarded for excellence in the craft.) That community has become especially important during COVID, when the demand for obituaries has overwhelmed many writers.
Favorite Substacks & Bloggers 📰 🌎
on being weird as a writer — potentially the best writing advice I’ve read (link)
on how extreme social sanctions for dissenting opinions don’t actually change people’s minds but only create posers (to nobody’s surprise)
on the faux over-confidence that’s expected of modern women and the inconsistent, half-baked mysticism and magic that’s part of the equation (link)
on the rise of trauma memes and the ultimately harmful pastel colored social media graphics for those who are facing mental health issues (link)
on the wild individualism of of self-care (link)
on Marvel movie humor & general commentary about insult comedy (here)
on the futility of well-publicized and symbolic activism (link)
on The Giving Tree and whether love is rational (it’s not)
on the greatest drug in the world (link)
on the self-righteous ideological conversion of older men (link)