hello, friends! thank you for following me here. I’m going to try to make a semi-regular practice of writing here, and it helps to have some structure. so I’ll talk a little bit about what I’m reading, playing, doing or otherwise thinking about.
what I’m reading
- A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James. the vast, sweeping narratives of the Cold War are brought down to earth by James’ direct prose and realistic characters. I’m only maybe 200 pages into this, but I’ve been working my way through it slowly. A brief summary: in 1972 Kingston, Jamaica, an election is approaching. The turf wars of the gangs who back each political party are shaken up by the arrival of a man, “The Singer”, aka Bob Marley back in his home country. As well as several crates of guns… and C4.
- Start With Worker Self-Directed Enterprises by Richard Wolff. In this short instructional packet by the man once described as "probably America’s most prominent Marxist economist”, he describes an approach to building worker autonomy which can live alongside market capitalism. Spoiler warning: it’s co-ops. But a special kind of co-op. He’ll explain more if you follow the link.
what I’m playing
- V Rising. I just dove deep into this game, which I’ll call Valheim-inspired resource management game with Hades-like combat and a cartoonish, gothic aesthetic. It’s very polished for an early-access game and I’ve been thoroughly enjoying chopping down trees.
what else I’m doing
- starting to build muscle with a personal trainer I trust and respect (for the first time)
- watching Stargate SG-1 (for the first time)
- starting a new job with Vitally.io!
what else I’m thinking about
- Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian journalist known for shedding light on, was killed a little over a week ago while on the job (very likely by Israeli soldiers). While arguments raged online about who shot the bullet than ended her life, IDF soldiers tore down the Palestinian flags in her home and beat the mourners carrying her casket. In the newspaper I get each weekend, the same inscrutable news on the war in Ukraine covered the front pages. I didn’t see an article about this. Her death is a tragic reminder that compared to the totalizing, monumental injustice of the occupation, one murder is a drop in the pond.
that's all for now! if anything I write here ever sparks your interest, feel free to send a reply :)
-Noah