Friday Fun Flier XVIIII
What does it mean to make yourself?
A short note before we begin:
There was a typo in last week’s newsletter title, I called it the “Friday Dun Flier.” Not sure how I missed that, but something, something, growth is a process, right? My sincerest apologies to anyone who was confused.
Quotes of the week:
"I have many memories, and if I am not sure yet what all of them mean, I am nonetheless certain that whoever I am is whatever my memories have made me; that I am becoming whatever I can find out about myself."
-John Keats
“That would be a good thing for them to cut on my tombstone: Wherever she went, including here, it was against her better judgment.”
―Dorothy Parker
An essential idea:
If John Keats is right, and your memories make you, what memories are most important to who you are? Are they the happy ones? The challenging ones? The ones you wish had turned out a little bit differently?
What could you do right now to start making memories that could make you better?
An understanding-boosting three-episode podcast series:
We are drowning in misinformation in today’s world. We have two major sides in America, each in a gridlocked battle to own and control the truth.
In a recent series by NPR’s Invisibilia, Yowei Shaw goes to Stockton, California to cover the rise in misinformation that happens when local news outlets die and are replaced by blogs/media outlets with no journalistic oversight.
Stockton’s former mayor Michael Tubbs had a lot of political momentum last year after getting national attention for his community projects in Stockton. Unfortunately, local news blog 209 Times had it out for him and managed to knock him out of the running by producing huge amounts of misleading content.
Worth a listen if you’re interested in the news divide in our country and its implication for what we believe to be “truth.”
Episode 1: The Chaos Machine: An Endless Hole
Episode 2: The Chaos Machine: Wrathful Lord
Episode 3: The Chaos Machine: A Looping Revolt
A wonderful, cheesy, suspenseful read:
The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte
The review on the cover calls this “a beach book for intellectuals.” I couldn’t have come up with a better description. This is the over-the-top mystery that I needed in my brain-frazzling last two weeks of the school year.
Our (repeatedly described as wolflike) main character, Corso, is a bookhunter for rich collectors. He’ll find any book with a scent, for the right price. That is, until he he accepts the wrong job.
Corso is drawn into a web of secret societies, demonic rituals, and eccentric collectors, all centering around one theme: The plot of The Three Musketeers.
If you need a fast-paced puzzler that will keep you guessing (and you love old books) I highly recommend this mystery.
And now, something good happening in the world!
More than 60 major companies in Australia (where I lived for a year, the country that has my heart) and New Zealand have signed a pact to dramatically reduce plastic waste in Oceania in just four years.
Companies that have signed on include Coca Cola South Pacific, Nestle, Colgate, and Aldi.
The initiative has several bold goals, including “100% of plastic packaging to be reusable, recyclable, or compostable packaging by 2025.”
Let’s hope our corner of the world follows suit soon.
The full story can be found here
Here is the the ANZAC Plastics Pact website
Thanks so much for reading folks. If you liked what you read today, tell a friend! It helps us grow.