Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear
News
It’s a bit of a mini-edition this week as there’s a bunch of short prose pieces I want to try and finish before the year is out. Head down and all that. So, here we go:
The latest Times New Human from Ganzeer is up, a wild, trippy journey through the idea of utopia and belonging. It’s always a joy to edit these!
Curriculum has begun its third issue. This time around Ryan is back on scripting duties with art by Josh George, colours by Chris O’Halloran and letters by Hassan Otsman-Elhaoe.
I really love what the entire art team did with this one. I’ve said it before but Scarlet is probably my favourite character in the series and this issue really lets her loose.
Links
“When you’re sad or really depressed, it really strips you. There’s something really cool about getting down to the minimal amount of security that you need. That’s what happens when you’re really sad, you become really unstable, and you don’t put yourself there unless you have to because it’s really uncomfortable. But once you’ve gotten used to that and you don’t—” she haltingly reframes her explanation of this life-shifting perspective. “In the beginning, I was really, really scared, and then after awhile, I felt like I didn’t need a lot of safety that I thought I needed. I was disabled in a way by my sadness. I couldn’t push through, which would be my natural go-to reaction. Then you decide to do things really, really, really softly, and you realize that’s more effective.”
- A really interesting piece on meditation in the modern world from The Ringer of all places.
“That meditation and mindfulness have entered the repertoire of global capitalism isn’t surprising: In the face of stagnant wages and an ever-deteriorating boundary between work and whatever we do outside it, why not shift the responsibility of finding peace to the individual? Put another way: Next time work makes you feel less than human, should you gently speak truth to power, or should you use mindfulness to self-regulate and maintain function in an oppressive system? And should you choose to self-regulate, are you tacitly thanking the oppressive system for giving you the tools of self-regulation to begin with? Furthermore, how much of this experience—this process of spelunking into my mind—should be comfortable and brightly colored? How much should feel good?”
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For Halloween Motherboard commissioned Geoff Manaugh to write a short horror story, called Summerland. Part 2 is here. Predictably, it’s great.
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As pointed out in a tweet from Kieron Gillen this week, the website This is My Jam has an archive of its users past picks. This was a nice trip down musical memory lane. Here is mine. No, I don’t know why Eddie Murphy’s Party All the Time is on there twice either.
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Don’t get me wrong, I love Manchester, but this ‘review’ of the city shines a light on the absolute ridiculous nature of British drinking culture.
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Newsletters forever and ever, amen.
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Speaking of newsletters, Infodump from Julian Simpson, one of my favourites, is back from hiatus. It’s the perfect time to get subscribed.