when i find myself in times of trouble, the iconic pitbull saves the day, tweeting words of wisdom: “daleeee”
pitbull could’ve written “hey jude” if he wanted to, but there’s no way paulie could’ve penned “give me everything” i said what i said
Hello! I would apologize for that unhinged subject & preview lines, but let’s be honest: a) I’m never sorry and b) they’re usually non-sequiturs (or, I guess, technically the entire newsletter content is a non-sequitur from the headline). You’re used to this behavior from me by now. Also, it’s the last week of “Women’s History Month” or whatever it is now (International Women’s Month? Day? IDK, pay me an equal wage and give parents in America mandated, national m/paternity leave), and I was inspired by this tweet:
I’m down to the wire here, time-wise, I know. I’ve been thinking on-and-off about this edition for a couple days now, but of course, I forgot about it entirely in the face of *waves hand* Monday. It does do this letter a bit of a disservice, and perhaps I’ll try to get into the habit of writing it on Sunday’s instead; I think I’m my favorite self on Sunday’s, a little more thoughtful and diligent. Is this why people do church on Sunday’s? (What do I know, I’m agnostic.)
I’m going to address this week’s astrology, since I’ve been discussing it with several people already, so it seems the most relevant. Today there was a full moon/lunar eclipse in Libra. Eclipses are a bit tricky— think of them as chaotically-flavored full moons. Not the same chaos as Mercury retrograde (which is coming up as of next Monday) just intense. I kind of think of them like big waves, kind of crashing in and upending things a bit. What happens when they recede from the shore? What will you find? Well. Maybe not what was originally there, or what you expected. That said, I tried to take it easy today, and I hope you were able to carve out some moments to as well. The rest of the week won’t be terribly steady, either— you might feel the aftereffects of both the eclipse and the creeping shadow of Mercury retrograde. So what does this mean? Slow down. Be especially thoughtful and methodical in how you communicate; give yourself space to breathe.
That’s not to say you should isolate yourself, not unless you need to. I would say “I’ve been thinking a lot about community” lately, but that’s not true, because I think about it often. I sit at my little computer and write my little emails and think about how stupid this society is. Millions of years of evolution and for what? Capitalism? That’s the “pinnacle” that we’ve reached? Anyway, I’m thinking about Paris. I’m sure a few of you have seen that article in the New York Times (as heinous as I’ve found them especially lately) about how the Parisian government pours lots of money into public housing, and makes conscientious efforts to lease building and rental space to small businesses, to ensure that Paris stays itself, rather than just a corporate shell of itself. G*d, I have seen what you have done for others… which isn’t to say the French are perfect, obviously, but man, they got bread right, they got vacation-time right, and now this? That’s three more right things than America’s got right, I’ll tell you that much.
Anyway, this article showing up on my feed mere hours after reading this newsletter about The Dark Heart of Individualism? Whew. My unabashed dream is to live with my friends in the same neighborhood or apartment complex or whatever. Alas, this country is too big— no one wants to be that far from family, no matter how you slice or dice it. Anyway, the concept of a nuclear family and individualism is a scourge courtesy of the white patriarchy!! Again: we ‘evolved’ over millions of years for this? Yeah, I’m mad about it!
No recipe this week! I will say I’m daydreaming of summer produce, though. I can’t wait!
This week’s poem, “Oceans could separate us, but no” by Chet’la Sebree, once again from Devin Kelly’s substack, was chosen because he muses on connectivity and the idea of ever really “knowing” anyone. And I think it’s relevant to my little rant on community.
That’s all from me. Stay safe, take care, and see you next time.