Stuff I've consumed in 2024
5 things I've enjoyed in January
Hello everyone. While 2024 has contained an almost comical amount of Ls for your boy so far, I have managed to consume some good content in between the gaps. Here are some of the best things I’ve encountered so far, along with some commentary.
1. The single day that I worked at a recycling facility ended up gifting me one of the best reading experiences I’ve had in a while. I found a beat up copy of The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand among the trash and although it was long, I really enjoyed it. The protagonist, Howard Roark, is an antisocial genius architect who is shunned by the rest of the world for his weird habits of refusing to collaborate and refusing to compromise any one of his designs for the sake of profit or appealing to some board member, etc. It was a great tale of the virtue of selfishness, as Ayn Rand puts it, and it introduced me to her broader philosophy called objectivism, which I still am trying to wrap my head around. I do believe that we should all be like Howard Roark or Gail Wynand: a little ruthless in your endeavors for the sake of creating the crown achievements of humanity, but we should also be sure to protect the vulnerable, less ambitious population among us. They’re valid too, and I feel like Ayn Rand would disagree with that.
2. If you keep up with this little blog thing, you probably remember my in-depth summary of Tony Tulathimutte’s Aheago. Well, I’ve discovered another haunting work of fiction by the same author called The Feminist. I really love the way his characters are so lost in terms of dating and relationships. I’m sort of fascinated by the idea of the 30 year old virgin and the thought processes that accompany it: the hopelessness, the justifications, trying to find the “why”. It really makes me feel better about myself in some weird way, it makes me realize that my life is not that bad whatsoever. It could always be so much worse.
3. I went into the theater to watch The Iron Claw for 2 reasons: one was to see Jeremy Allen White, who’s becoming one of my favorite actors due to his intense, grounded personality that seems to permeate every single role he takes on, and the other was to observe what the male body is capable of in terms of bodybuilding, hopefully to get some inspiration into what I should be doing with my own body. I wanted to see what was possible. Judging from the trailers, each of the actors got absolutely ripped for this movie (I had no idea Zac Efron’s body was capable of looking like that) and while it was definitely a sight to admire, I did not expect the movie to be so heartbreaking. I don’t want to spoil too much of it, let’s just say that this movie motivated me to be a better brother, and to look out for my family. Also it made me grateful to not have a psychopathic dad.
4. My friend TEJI is constantly doing some of the most interesting things I’ve seen in a while. He is from Australia, but he travels the world constantly, visiting places like Africa, Las Vegas, India, all while creating great content along the way with such an optimist people-loving viewpoint that is so rare to find nowadays. He has a great weekly newsletter called TEJI TUESDAYS which I highly recommend if you like new-age philosophy, tech, and consistent cool shit. One of his latest videos titled I Got Invited To A Cult Gathering is a hilarious and interesting piece of investigative journalism, so absurd at times that I found myself wondering if it was real or staged, and I mean that with all due respect. TEJI is an extremely ambitious artist and I would not put anything past him. However, it was quickly made apparent that this is indeed an actual cult when the cult leader gets after TEJI for filming, and proceeds to play him in a game of rock, paper, scissors. The vibe of eeriness, humor, and downright surrealism made this video very enjoyable to watch, and I love how TEJI ended it on a note of respect, praising the cult’s hospitality and friendliness.
5. I came across this poem on instagram, and it’s stuck with me for obvious reasons. I think that stories of love and hope in Palestine are greatly overshadowed by stories of grief, despair, and destruction, and while this poem is pretty heartbreaking, I like how it doesn’t directly imply anything, instead it uses the universal importance of water to express love. It reminded me that water is a privilege, not a right: something I think we all tend to forget from time to time.
