how's your Q4 so far?
Manila, 14 October—In true Q4 fashion, my calendar for the last three months of this decade has been filled. Yes, just like that. Must be a common feeling, no? So I felt like I should check in with you and ask about your Q4: How is it shaping up? Is it as crazy as most Q4s go? You know what they say about toilet paper rolls approaching the end—it’s out before you know it. I kind of agree.
Speaking of last quarters: Can you believe the 201x’s are ending?? I was too busy to notice, actually, until someone pointed it out on my feed. Ten years. That’s about a third of our lives, come to think of it, and what have we become—aside from Q4 slaves, that is. I remember how 2009 turning 2010 was kind of a hopeful time, as we were headed into an election year, and we were looking at our first new president after nine years.
And now here we are—well, what else is there to say aside from, What the fuck?
Anyway: The ten-year-olds who listened to this are now twenty, nbd. Still the best incarnation of this particular franchise.
Anyway, my Q4’s a little bit more complicated because of school and I’m in the middle again of having to write a lengthy term paper that I only half-know how to do (I think that’s actually a rather generous assessment of my capabilities right now lol). The sample paper is 150-ish pages long, so. Guess who’s spending Nanowrimo writing a long ass term paper that will definitely be more than 50k words + references??
That would be me. Haha.
On the upside: I do enjoy this class better now! We have a good book that I’m reading alternately on my phone and on my computer, and I have enough idea what to write—and just a dim idea of how to organize them and what frameworks to use. Gasp, dare I say I’m even kind of excited to actually write it? There, I said it.
Reading list
🍸 Why you never see your friends anymore via The Atlantic - Reading this I learned that Russians once attempted to abolish weekends. Also, over the weekend, I remembered this article again, because I attended my godson’s first birthday in Batangas, and I saw my friends-slash-fellow-godparents at the party. The tribe you build, people. You gotta work on it on regularly.
🚬 How your insecurity is bought and sold by Mark Manson - Reading this I learned that the tobacco industry capitalized on the women’s liberation movement to sell cigarettes. Hot damn, what a ‘good’ campaign though? Also, who else to better start this than Sigmund Freud’s nephew???
✒️ A forty-year career by Will Larson. Something to think about—how does one build an enduring career in a world that wires us to burn-out (and burnout quickly)?
🖤 Eulogy for a Gadfly by Kristine Fonacier. Renowned activist and performance artist Carlos Celdran died earlier this week. He was 46. The New York Times has an obituary on him, too.
🌈 Here, have Tessa Thompson feeding Brie Larson to the lesbians. You’re welcome.
Have a kind week ahead,
K