Good mid-Monday August morning, friends!
How've the weeks been passing in your lives recently? It's been a bit of an unsettling period of uncertainty for me, but decisions looking to be made soon enough. Regardless, these links have been accumulating for quite some time and I'm excited to share and hear what you think!
I hope these help distract you as you stay safe, cool, and healthy in this bizarre world we inhabit. As always, your thoughts are so very welcome to be shared!
Cheers,
Maya
Environmental-ish things are more complicated than they seem
- A helpful new study compares life-cycle assessments of common single-use versus reusable items, and how their impacts compare depending on how they’re used. The verdict? Ceramic coffee mugs, reusable forks, and such were generally lower impact when reused. Silicon sandwich bags and beeswax wrap, on the other hand, rarely broke even.
- I’m all for the bespoke GMOs.
- Just how dangerous are wind turbines to bats and birds? Our dogs may be the best ones to answer. A weird but fascinating article at the intersection of some of my seemingly-disparate interests.
- A long-read from the New York Times on those who “serially” file disability claims. A lot more complex than I initially imagined, and I want to spend more time thinking about the issues discussed here. Fascinating read, and would love to discuss!
More things are more complicated/interesting than I ever thought
- Very alarming things I never knew about concrete, and how much of the iconic infrastructure in our world is built on an experiment.
- The extent of American food monopolies is absolutely wild (and this is an outstanding visual investigation).
- Fascinating portrait of the cooking traditions of the FARC, Colombia’s disarmed guerrilla group, and how the group of 10,000 ate for 50 years. Another one of those things I never thought to think about.
Of personal interest
- I want to try this strategy of creating a menu of days based on mapping values to projects that are important to me
- So many feelings about Messi leaving Barcelona…
- Very cool and informative public resource to follow the trades of Capitol Hill politicians.
Short, sweet, and random
- Really loving this Latin-inspired cover of Für Elise... also known as, Para Elisa, from Los Dostellos.
- Water-tasting… like wine-tasting, but… for water. It’s a thing. My family and I did a blind taste-test of water a few months ago, and I feel so much more validated in doing so now!
- This is cool: artist Matteo Rattini programmed an algorithm to generate uncannily-realistic artworks based on Instagram recommendations for contemporary sculptures.
- I really want this Vestaboard-inspired clock.. but do I want it for $1500? Might as well pay double and get a whole messaging display system!
- Click for smiles :)
Last thoughts...
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These words by Oliver Burkeman so perfectly encapsulate how I often feel…
The problem with forcing yourself to do things (as it’s taken me, too, decades to learn) is that self-forcing just strengthens the underlying belief that work is the kind of thing you have to force yourself to do – and that you’re the kind of person who won't get it done unless you force yourself. And so you end up oscillating between making reluctant, unhappy progress, or procrastinating in an act of rebellion against the bastard (ie., you) who has the gall to treat you like an indentured servant.
Shifting some of the focus back to what you’d truly enjoy doing right now can be, ironically enough, nerve-wracking rather than enjoyable, at least at first. For many of us, that’s because we’re convinced, deep down, that we require this constant self-vigilance in order to make sure we do the things we need to do, so as to justify our existence on the planet. If you relaxed the surveillance operation and just let things happen… who knows what might go wrong, what obligations you might neglect, what important to-dos you might forget?