field notes may 👠
CIGARETTES are back in cultural discourse, shitpossttingg!! and wonder man is GREAT!
Holy hell. I wrote a post about cyberdecks about two weeks ago, and the post has become so popular, that I now have about 30 new subscribers. Which is tremendously terrifying because, how do you know you even want to be here? The post has received almost 200++ likes, and many many restacks as well, which I feel very lucky and happy and again, very scared.
For the new subscribers, I write a mix of long form posts, where I explore (sometimes in haste) things like the cyberdeck phenomenon, or pickles. I am trying to convert this into paid posts where I write much deeper about other cultural thoughts like the societal consequences of the pressure of marriage, or my forthcoming one (if I ever wrap my head around it): how we navigate intimacies in the digital world.
I also write shorter field notes, which are a culmination of links: essays I’ve read, things I’ve watched etc (like this one you are reading).
Lastly, and recently started my field guides, where I interview the people around me who inspire me by their process and passion, and ask them about their media diet and get to basically obsess about my friends on this platform.
also I have been relistening to avalon emerson’s written in changes album, (its grounded me in a time of little sleep) so i hope you read this while listening to it, and also her lot radio mix (little choppy at the beginning but worth it and obsessed with the tune at 13m)
1. WATCH
Agh! Kareem Rahma’s Keep the Meter Running is out! its wholesome and so fun to watch. Kareem uses his well honed interview skills to bring out the heart and soul of what it means to live in the diverse and intense city of New York. It’s heartwarming, and is a hopeful love letter to immigrants around the world.
I watched the Devil Wears Prada 2 with my sister. I was surprised to see that I enjoyed a pretty good sequel, as I expected it to be a lot worse. I will say there were RANDOM character choices!! I do not understand their presence, or what they did to the story. There were also some cringe moments, but then again a sequel of a film made in 2006, of coursee, there would be cringe moments.
Also, I am a big old marvel fan. So I was very surprised by the new series Wonder Man. It does not watch like a ridiculous marvel show, but watches like an ode to acting and storytelling. It’s like A24 has made it. It’s so surprisingly good that I have already watched the whole season. Both the lead characters Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Ben Kingsley are incredible and their on-screen chemistry is amazing, it makes me yearn for this type of friendship!
2. BOOKS
I have had a slow reading month! I am not sorry about it! This year I am trying to be slow at reading, inspired by a previously referenced article about consuming slowly! I even went to several bookstores in New York and absolutely did not buy anything even though I was so sooooo tempted.
So, I am re-reading (aka three pages in) Olga Tokarczuk’s Drive the plow over the bones of the dead. This is partially motivated by new recent reviews and reminders of how good the book is! It’s about a strange woman who ends up having to defend the killing of many animals. People think she is crazy and so they don’t view her as important!
My BEST FRIEND gifted me On the Dancefloor: spinning out on the screen. You should know that gifted books are my favorite things ever. So I am very happy to have this given to me. And also this book is very me, and I feel lucky and loved that I am seen by my friends.
Cute girls releasing books this month? Rachel Stephanie debuts her zine “Cantik Manis” in Climax bookstore. The book is an ode to Indonesian sweet treats and nostalgia and more. Also Lydia Pang’s Eat Bitter!!!
3. ARTICLES
Maybe dumb, but I hope you all subscribe to Roxane Gay’s newsletter The Audacious Roundup? It’s very smart, quick and sometimes get a lot of things that I share here from that.
Smoking is back in cultural discourse? (see here, here and here), but still bad for your health! Don’t do it! It’s also being reflected in social media as people are making content about which cigarettes count. “Maybe we’re just giving up. Maybe we just don’t give a fuck.” We are all trying to find the balance between wellness and nihilism. Specifically my feed has been bringing me news of chinese cigarettes, from the artists that document it to people building online museums to archive them.
Meet the Robinsons was one of my favorite childhood films. This article talks about how the film predicted the fall of the internet. I love when people use popular references to discuss present day events.
I love this article about stupid as strategy, by Protein. It questions (as everyone is) how AI is reshaping how we value intelligence. It brings up the fact that now there are so many intellectual influencers its become performative. It makes me question my intellect? It makes me value my spelling mistakes. God, it makes me wonder what kind of caricature I am in this world. Ultimately, it raises a point from Anu’s macro reports about how ‘humanwashing’ will become a thing.
And somewhat related, the rise of the esoteric internet girl.
The Internet has no benches, is a poignant article reminding us that we can still be positive about the connectivity that it provides. If we are open to it. “We still live on the Internet, and as long as we do, we can still bump into each other and have these life-changing encounters. But it’s been overdeveloped and undergoverned.”
An addition to the taste discourse…
oh wow, someone wrote this substack note about charli xcx’s rock music, and I can’t stop thinking about it. The article it refers to, is a great discussion on the difference between followers and fans. “In this new era of entertainment and media consumption, there is too much emphasis on scale and rapid growth at the expense of comprehension and loyalty. Sustainability is an afterthought.”
This article, “the problem with going viral”, comes to me at the perfect time: “With each essay, I become better and you, the reader, hopefully, get a better sense of what my vibe is and what I’m trying to do here. Some grievances come with increased exposure but, when you do it your own way, you’d be surprised at what can come true.”
4. RANDOM
This person built a tool that turned your digital consumption into a self portrait.
Shitposts are some of my favorite posts right now. Like this guy being a really bad singer, but is adorable for trying anyways. Or our substack heroine, danielle who has been shitposting on linkedin for fun. Yes please SHITPOST ON LINKEDIN! It is a platform so devoid of soul. It’s even funnier because people there can’t seem to understand humor! Shitposting is so popular its found its way into the analog with print_screen’s zine. Frome the esoteric girl article, “Weirdness has become a way to resist emotional numbness and general over-consumption online.”
OldSGtimes is an Instagram account that is posting low quality images of nostalgic Singapore, and making me think of the old high school days. This video is of the Mcdonalds we would drive through some days after school.
why does this guy know the malaysian women archetypes?
Eve 😇 vs Evie 🤪 is hilarious! I promise you, you won’t regret watching her try out different foods while sober but especially while high.
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser