November is the Thursday of the year
On my mind
This week flew by for me, despite being interrupted by an undesirable migraine and stomach flu yesterday. I’m trying to rush through prepping stuff at work ahead of a really big project and an international trip I’m taking that will have me OOO for 9 days. I’ll talk more about the trip next week when I have more time to process that it’s actually happening lol
Today is November 1st, which means there are now two more months of the year. That sentence just made you either freak out or get excited. November feels like a yawn to me. Sometimes it’s a frenzy if I’m doing NaNoWriMo, then there’s Thanksgiving and anticipating my birthday in early December, then BAM, it’s Christmas break.
I’m curious about what you want to get done before December 31. Are you nervous of how little time there is left? I have a few things on my to-do list that I really want to cross off my list, but at the same time, I feel sort of indifferent to how 2019 ends. It’s interesting how our New Year’s resolutions are so grand and ambitious and by the end of the year, we are often disappointed or kinder to ourselves.
I hope you choose to be kind to yourself. But if you need a kick in the butt and an accountability buddy for those deadlines, I’m here for that too so let me know!
What I’m noting
National Novel Writing Month // Every November, people all over the world attempt to write a 50,000 page novel in exactly 30 days. If you’ve ever wanted to try writing a book, this is the perfect month to do it without thinking too hard and connecting with other aspiring novelists in your city and online. Sign up for the NaNoWriMo challenge today. It’s day one, so get to those 1,500 words!
Tokyo’s mundane Halloween costume party // I absolutely love this thread of normal, boring costumes we can all achieve.
Happy Halloween Eve! It’s time for another year of my all-time favourite festivity, Tokyo’s mundane Halloween costume party, where folks dress up as an utterly normal and boring thing Here are my favourite costumes from the 2019 event this past weekendGuy who bought an umbrella, but it stopped raining.
See Something Say Something: The Tribes of the Jinn // Who doesn’t love a good jinn story? Satisfy your curiosity and expand your knowledge with some academics and jinn experts on this episode of the See Something Say Something podcast (formerly of Buzzfeed, but now you can support it through Ahmed Ali Akbar’s Patreon)
Let’s Talk About Death // This week’s Books Briefing from The Atlantic threads together stories and books that put mortality in perspective. One of the things I’ve appreciated about how Islam is how it teaches you that death comes for everyone and to not spend a lot of time mourning someone after they’re gone. We don’t do grand funerals with eulogies and all that, which I used to wish we did because I thought it meant we didn’t care enough. Instead, I learned that we should pray for our loved ones and use their life as a reminder that we’ve got a limited time here on Earth so we should make the most of it. It’s still scary to think about the end of course, but seeing death in that way helps me whenever I struggle with grief.
How Outrage Is Hijacking Our Culture And Our Minds // New social science research asks: What's the effect of all the outrage we’re exposed to on TV, online and in person?
How does the Internet laugh today? // The Pudding is one of my favorite dataviz publications to follow, because they illustrate such interesting topics like rappers sorted by the size of their vocabulary, common misspellings, where your adopted dogs come from and how inclusive are makeup shades and brand around the world. You can preview the essays on Instagram and read them in full on their website. Here’s one of their latest series:
That’s it for me. Have a good weekend and keep sending me what you’re noting!
— Nesima