Enkidu and Gilgamesh killing the Heavenly Bull Essay: When Gilgamesh tore down hustle culture Around two thousand years ago, the very first epic poem explored our fear of death, our neglect of duty, and the proper meaning of life. Two thousand years later, that same poem- the Epic of Gilgamesh -takes a swing at the bizarre trends of the productivity sphere, as if the Sumerian copper merchants personally got mad at the flood of hustle-porn and lying influencers on their clay tablet feeds. But...
18 days ago • 5 min read
Saint Jerome in His Study by Pieter Coecke van Aelst and workshop (1502–1550) Note-taking: The hidden perfectionism that ruins your reading I have a confession to make. It should startle you, but give me five minutes and it will make sense. My note-taking system is a bit . . . shit. Obsidian hosts my notes, and my style is modelled around the zettelkasten system, which uses all sorts of clever principles to archive and connect great ideas. Ok, maybe it’s not so bad. I still use it almost two...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Allégresse (Joy) by Abel-Dominique Boyé Mini-Essay: The Self-Determination Theory It’s bloody hard to be happy. In mere minutes of scrolling, you can be exposed to plenty of anxiety, tragedy and suffering. Hell, even if you delete Instagram and throw your phone into the Pacific, there’s no escaping reality. The world is connected, and it’s easy to get the impression that everything is falling apart. The modern career market, the fractured state of social life, the weight of the world’s...
about 2 months ago • 5 min read
Love and Pain / Vampire by Edvard Munch, 1895 Reading & Literature: Information Whores I used to be an information whore. I reread Wikipedia articles until I could recall every main point like a mindless droid. I treated book summaries with more love than actual books; real substance and depth gave way to merely . . . remembering the plot well. I got frustrated when the raw data of literature left me. The dates, names, events—they all escaped their skull prison, and it felt like every hour of...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Book Spotlight: A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold Coming up: Overview Context Writing Style Who's it for? What gave me the fizz? Essays Criticism Difficulty Overview Aldo Leopold’s three part almanac is a reverent letter to nature, ecology and the ethics they are torn between. Leopold is more than an experienced naturalist—he is a storyteller, a philosopher, a scientist and a symbol of rugged American independence, with every personality wrapped into this book. - Part one is beautiful...
3 months ago • 13 min read
Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth, 1948 Hobbies: Beating ourselves up over nothing Long time no see. The last issue was released about two months ago. I shifted my focus to the videos and left the fountain to dry up, and for that, I owe you an apology. But apology without action is as weightless as the words on your screen. I owe you a reason to read on, and luckily, this reminded me of a sore spot that hurts the polymath types (that’s you, reading this). Uncomfortable with stillness, we rush...
3 months ago • 3 min read
Les Amoureux by Émile Friant, 1888 Hobbies: Inspiration isn't flashy Inspiration is humble. You forever chase it for your next project -to ink your next piece of writing, to capture the immaterial in art, and to paint something that stands above the landfill of AI junk out there. But inspiration keeps to herself, missed when you need her the most. She is like an old lady with too much time on her hands, lost, but never lost, as she explores every square and avenue of the town. This old lady...
5 months ago • 4 min read
Student in his Study by Jan Davidszoon de Heem, 1628 Reading Skills: How I Beat Reading Slumps (pt. 2) Didn't catch part 1? If so, welcome! It's a pleasure to have you here. Find the first part here. Otherwise, I hope this one is just as useful as the other. Ironically, I'm in a slump of my own so hopefully this will kick me up the ass and rescue me. Enjoy. Audiobook Stacking After a long break with books, you probably filled the gaps with short-form slop- all the tiktok-esque stuff -and that...
6 months ago • 8 min read
Diogenes by Jean-Léon Gérôme (1860) Reading Skills: How I Beat Reading Slumps (pt. 1) Just as you, my foot is caught by life’s twisted root and I trip into reading slumps. Long, tiresome, guilty streaks of no reading. It’s awful to let yourself down and scrap what you know nourishes your mind. It’s different for everyone, but when you no longer open books to talk with your favourite authors, a wave of dry lethargy sweeps the mind and emptiness is replaced by . . . more emptiness -mindless...
7 months ago • 6 min read