Monthly favourites — February 2024
Lessons in black humour, originality, productivity and low standards.
| 🎞️ | The Curse |
| 🎧 | How to discover your own taste |
| 📖 | One Percent Better |
| 🎒 | Done is better than perfect |
Watching 🎞️
The Curse (TV show)
Jess: A24 can do no wrong! The Curse is a black comedy about a couple who think they're doing good for the world but in fact are highly problematic.
In their words:
The Curse centers on Whitney and Asher Siegel, a newlywed couple struggling to bring their vision for eco-conscious housing to the small community of Española, New Mexico. Their efforts are complicated when an eccentrically flawed reality TV producer, Dougie, sees opportunity in their story. As the series unfolds, the couple find themselves caught in a mysterious web of ethical and moral gray zones - all while trying to keep their relationship afloat.
Listening to 🎧
How to discover your own taste (podcast episode)
Jess: This episode of the Ezra Klein show is a goodie.
In their words:
Being on the internet just doesn’t feel as fun anymore. As more of our digital life is driven by algorithms, it’s become a lot easier to find movies or TV shows or music that fits our preferences pretty well. But it feels harder to find things that are strange and surprising — the kinds of culture that help you, as an individual, develop your own sense of taste.
This can be a fuzzy thing to talk about. But Kyle Chayka, a staff writer at The New Yorker, has written a whole book on it, the forthcoming “Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture.” We talk about how today’s internet encourages everything to look more the same and is even dulling our ability to know what we like. And we discuss what we can do to strengthen our sense of personal taste in order to live a richer, more beautiful life.
Reading 📖
One Percent Better (newsletter)
Jess: As an Amantha Imberfangirl, One Percent Better is one of the few email newsletters that I'm still signed up to — with content like this recent issue with how to automatically colour code your Google Calendar using a nifty script 💅
“Every week, I share a practical tip, gadget, research finding, or strategy that will improve your life. It might be something to make you happier, healthier, more productive, or live a more impactful life.”
Learning 🎒
Done is better than perfect
Jess: This was the premise of my Time Realism > Time Optimism Medium article, but I'm re-learning the concept as it applies to being a parent. There literally aren't as many available hours in the day, so my standards have been dropped to match. This blog post for example, squished into a spare hour from conception to publishing!
“There’s no absolute definition of “the best” solution. The best is relative to your constraints. Without a time limit, there’s always a better version. The ultimate meal might be a ten course dinner. But when you’re hungry and in a hurry, a hot dog is perfect.”