March: Recommendations To Start Your Month
10 Useful and/or interesting things.
Friends,
Here’s 10 Useful and/or interesting things that found me this February.
This January List (No. 226) by Ella Frances Sanders and in particular points 6 & 13.
A strange day on which to be carrying on. Birds carry on, rivers carry on, libraries carry on, garbage collections carry on, the collective shriek-hum of everything carries on—though really I believe it should all stop abruptly if you consider that 13,022 Palestinian children have been killed in 111 days
The large swim of feeling, trying to look normally toward people who are carrying on (see item 6) and going about their daily perceived importances—going out to lunch, getting flustered by traffic queues, choosing new curtains. White phosphorus has been rained down on children, burning into their tiny bodies, and people are still going out to lunch
When music meets maths meets art.
I attended an online workshop a few months ago and was partnered up with Stefania who is not just an absolutely delight, she takes incredible photographs too. Here’s two of my fave series of hers: Litter & Old commute.
Just outside Annecy in France is one of my favourite little lake towns. (s/o to my friends Cristina and Richard who take me there when I visit 🫶🏼) Please all meet Talloires.
Speaking of Italy, CACIO E PEPE!
The question to ask isn’t, “how do I make time for this?” The answer to that question always disappoints, because that view of time has it forever speeding away from you. The better question is, how does doing what I need make time for everything else?
I cannot explain my fascination (bordering on obsession) since childhood with nuclear disasters1 — I’ve read pretty much everything I can get my hands on by now about Chernobyl. Netflix indulged me this month with not just Chernobyl (1986), but the nuclear disasters at both Three Mile Island (1979), and the more recent Fukushima Daiichi (2011).
The 8 episodes on Fukushima Daiichi may be one of the best documentaries I’ve ever seen.2 There is something truly special and unique about Japanese culture - the hierarchies, the respect, the neatness and order (the paperwork!!), and the bowing! Even as all the shit was hitting all the fans, everyone was ‘yes sir’ *bow*, ‘no problem sir’ *bow*. Beautiful.
What did strike me about all three though, was the absolute chaos and confusion shown in the leadership teams and the common theme of lying to the public. It didn’t matter which country it was (Russia, America, Japan) — the immediate decision taken by all was to withhold important information. So many lies! Also, so many men! Not a single woman working in any of the power plant control rooms which made me 🤨.
in case you missed it:
This took me down a rabbit hole of google searches, mainly ‘which countries do not have nuclear power stations’ which led me to find this wonderful fact.
The lead actor from the Netflix series, Kōji Yakusho, also stars in a movie I saw recently and loved — Perfect Days.
Thank you for the kind words, Nicole 💞