1.
becoming yourself is a social project
I keep thinking about how often the right help arrives through an almost-random conversation. You mention a problem over dinner and a friend says, oh, you should talk to my friend. You describe what you are stuck on and someone tells you, I went through this exact thing. You tell someone what you are trying to create and they say, wait, I think I know the person you need. Suddenly the room shifts.
2.
I never knew what I really wanted
I keep waiting for the day when everything will finally make sense. I keep imagining some future version of myself sitting across from me, laughing at how confused I used to be. I imagine him having answers. I imagine him knowing exactly where he is going, exactly who he loves, exactly what he wants to do every morning when he wakes up.
3.
Submit you essays and become a co-author in my publication!
Hello Fifi’s,
I know a lot of people who are newer to Postcards by Hasif probably don’t fully know how these collaborations work, so before anything else, let me quickly explain.
Every month, I open a handful of collaboration spots where readers and writers from this community get the opportunity to write alongside me.
The process is fairly simple.
A writer begins by sharing an essay about a topic that matters to them.
4.
When You’re Called Crazy
I have been called crazy exactly once by a person in my own circles. A notoriously peevish and petty professor asked his followers on Twitter for stories about me, to see if “I’m as crazy as my colleagues say.” Given that I had just criticized this man for going after one of my graduate students publicly, it was pretty clearly a vindictive Tweet, and of course nothing came of it. (I hazard that my lovely colleagues would report that I am collegial and unremarkable, even boringly normal, to work with.)
It’s striking, however, that I still remember this incident years later.
5.
Ghosts Are Real… And They’re Terrified of You
Between 3% and 8% of people have seen ghosts. That figure holds after eliminating psychological factors, misperceptions, and dishonesty. For those who have never had such an experience, it is perfectly understandable to regard ghosts and spirits as pure superstition. But the question is not whether to believe. The question is: if they truly exist, what exactly are they?
Human beings find it extremely difficult to make genuine contact with higher beings, devas of the desire realm (kāmadhātu) or the form realm (rūpadhātu).
6.
Firebombed Over a Vaccine
A Boston minister was firebombed over smallpox inoculation in 1721.
Measles, a disease we had all but eliminated, is back in American schools. “I did my own research” has become both a punchline and a battle cry. But the interesting thing is that none of this is very new. Three hundred years ago, the same types of tensions looked like this:
COTTON MATHER, You Dog, Dam You; I’l inoculate you with this, with a Pox to you.
Late on the night of November 14, 1721, someone threw a grenade through the window of Cotton Mather’s house in Boston.
7.
They Wanted a Grocery Store. They Got a 350-Acre Data Center Instead.
Want to know what it's like when a data center secretly comes to your town?
Today we're talking with organizers from Farmington, Minnesota, a small community of 25,000 that woke up to a 350-acre hyperscale data center approved near their homes.
Kris Akin is the Outreach, Communications and Partnership Director for the Coalition for Responsible Data Center Development. Matthew Shaw is a Virginia-based volunteer researcher, who tracks data center opposition movements nationwide.
8.
A Response to The National Academies' Vision for Science: Averting a Path Towards Mediocrity
The mission of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is to recognize outstanding science, foster broad understanding of science, and provide counsel to government and society. But none of this was an offer today. Instead, in this third annual State of the Science address, Pres.
9.
SHEIN Bought Everlane. The Reason Why Should Concern All of Us...
Everlane sold to SHEIN, Allbirds is leaning into AI, and Reformation sold to private equity, so I have to ask: what is happening? Is ethical fashion real, or is it just marketing? Because lately, it feels like this problem keeps getting bigger.
Everlane was the very first “ethical fashion” purchase I ever made.
10.
Kool-Aid Jelly
By now, the kiddos should be out of school and bored, right? No better time to get them involved, by passing down a simple homestead chore, making jelly. This Kool-Aid jelly doesn’t require hours of peeling or chopping fruit, which only adds to the boredom, but it starts with a kid’s favorite drink.
You can use any flavor of Kool-Aid to make the jelly, so feel free to get creative! Additionally, you can double the recipe and combine two different flavors to create your own unique blend.
