What an eventful and busy August! I am back in the States, with a new job and a new house. I am working for a startup now, which is equal parts exciting and intimidating. I am finally living by myself, cooking by myself, training two cats by myself… Don’t be alarmed though, I am doing everything I can to prevent slowly morphing into the caricature of a 25-year-old woman who is entirely career driven and only loved by her pets. It is still questionable, how the cats feel about me.
Without further ado, here’s my August recap.
📚📚📚
Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake — LOVED this book so much that I went on Redd*t to ask a mushroom growing forum how I can get started growing mushrooms too.
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis — I definitely have an essay idea about this book and I hope I can write it soon. Please pray for me!
FAILURE TO COPE "UNDER CAPITALISM" by Clare Coffey — “If you think seriously about the good life and pursue it, you will probably fail in ways large and small.”
understanding is rare by Ava — “what I want most is to be a good tool or vessel for the few things I do understand and believe in. Something about that feels both urgent and meaningful”
Start With Creation by Simon Sarris — “It is annoying to humor someone dancing around the edges of creation, because most people never take any real steps, or worse, simply want you to do the work for them. On the other hand it is inspiring to help someone who has begun. […] The principle is not at all silly: Enthusiasm is contagious.”
You Don't Have ADHD Feelings. You Just Have Feelings by FdB — “But ordinariness is not incompatible with depth, meaning, value, or purpose. On the contrary, I find not being special conducive to exactly those virtues. Once you stop spending so much time wanting to be special, you can pursue them for themselves, just as they are, just as you are, just as you actually are.”
Shit Republicans Say by Jessica Valenti — Everything from this is quotable, which is exactly what Valenti has done.
If Everyone Learns to Code, the Value of Knowing How to Code Will Be Destroyed! by FdB
📺📺📺
Sandman (2022, Netflix) — This is an adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s comic book with the same name, and I hope it gets a second season, because the show really commits to its drama and grandeur. I now want to read the comic book as well, because I think it’ll probably be like the Watchmen experience. Gaiman is one of those storytellers I am always on the periphery of, but haven’t fully and directly engaged with. It seems like now is the time.
Dark (2017, Netflix) — Just started watching this but I already love it. I think time travel is a hard concept to tackle on TV because often it is just an instrument for comedy or a convenient solve for a hard problem. I am excited to see where Dark goes with it.
This animated short from 1963 depicting Gogol’s short story, “The Nose.”
🎨🎧
One cool thing that happened on the first day of work was that my scrum master told me he knew me from before. When I asked how, he said he had come across my blog! Then he berated me for being in tech and told me to become a writer. Last time I wrote on my blog was almost two years ago so I know I need to show some love to it. My goal for September is to actually sit down and write all the things I always think about writing. The piece from Sarris (linked above) really motivated me too. I am telling myself: START WITH CREATION. It is at the ripe age of 25 that I finally see the wisdom in Nike’s motto. Just do it.
I saw Lorde for the Solar Power tour on the 29th of August and it was amazing. Stage design, her energy, the set itself. I do wish she had sung Dominoes from the new album but she made up for it by singing Precious Metals — which is an unreleased song of hers she likes to whip out at concerts sometimes. Here’s a good quality recording.
I also saw Imagine Dragons and that was probably the best concert experience I have had. The vibes, immaculate. The setlist, perfect. The crowd, thoroughly enthused. The lead singer, built. What else can you ask for?
Happy Fall! 🍁