#2 it’s august

I’ve entered my sloth phase and it might get worse if I don’t intervene.

It’s noon and I got out of bed about 40 minutes ago. Every morning I follow the same routine. I wake up and say “fuck”. Think of it as a sigh and groan combined. But sometimes I say it even when I’m happy and woken up at a healthy time.

So, in the past weeks, I spent entire days a healthy amount of time watching YouTube videos. YouTube has been my companion since I was 15 years old. I love it there in every season, every mood, every everything. There’s nothing like a YouTube video. YouTube is to me what coffee is to those caffeine-addicted people, but it doesn’t cost me 7€ to watch one YouTube video. (I made up that amount because I don’t know how much coffee is). YouTube is where I first listened to august by Taylor Swift when folklore came out (coincidentally on 24 July, same date I went to the Eras Tour four years later). I think I spent hours and hours on YouTube that month watching the lyric video and feeling every emotion. You might say that August slipped away…

My usual YouTube session, which would be hours-long, involves me unsubscribing from a channel, subscribing to a new channel that has been placed in my algorithm through divine intervention and a little window in which I quickly decide to check some news headlines before deciding I’d rather live without knowing. I had a dream a few months ago that we were getting bombed here in Berlin. It felt so real; I woke up in a panic. Now, imagine what all the people in Sudan, DR Congo and Gaza are experiencing. I wonder about the mental health state of children in these places in the future. It’s scary to imagine how a society can function when its children have suicidal thoughts, depression and almost endless cycles of trauma. Unfortunately, we’ll find out in a few years, that is, if they survive the violence and genocide.

Here are some videos I watched recently that got me thinking about a lot of other things:

The Facts About Men and Reading (US-centred)

How HIV Started a Century Before Anyone Noticed

How AI Became More Expensive Than The Workers It Replaced

Researchers studied AI layoffs. Here’s their warning

Neukölln: Deutschlands liebster Problembezirk || HYPECULTURE mit Gringo, Omar Nhas und Fayechanel

FIFA’s Decades of Corruption Exposed

Zoroastrianism Explained

The last one is one of two videos about ancient religions that I have in my list. The other one is about Yazidism, but I haven’t watched it yet so I won’t link it here. Growing up in a country where the only religions one can (and should) follow are Christianity and Islam (and there’s a Hindu minority, of course, but not in my immediate social circles for most of my life), it’s interesting to learn what others have been up to.

I also read this essay with some very concerning information. US-focused but definitely relevant everywhere: The End of Reading Is Here.

I’ve also been reading the book At Night All Blood Is Black, a translated work by French novelist David Diop. It’s very graphic and we’re basically in the head of an African soldier from what is now Senegal, who is fighting for France during WWI. I bought it once someone casually mentioned it in an email and immediately decided to read it because I’m very fascinated by this concept of Africans fighting in European wars. You can read some things I wrote about this on my Substack, ubuyu: here and here.

Today though I have to start reading The Polygamist by Zimbabwean author Sue Nyathi, the book on which the now-popular Netflix show is based on. I read something about the show on last week’s issue of The Continent and suggest it to my book club as our next reading. I’m sure a lot will be said in our next meeting.

On the job front

I found some jobs I can apply for that seem like a great fit (in my head; the recruiters probably won’t think this lol) and they happen to be at places I used to work at so let’s see how that goes. I even went to the library yesterday but it took me nearly four hours to write a cover letter for one job.

I’m hoping that next time I write a post I’ll be sharing news of a job interview. That would be the best thing to happen this year.

Until next time.