I flew home on Friday (Los Angeles) to spend the 4th and my birthday with friends and family.
I have 3 observations from my trip so far:
I love New York and I’m incredibly grateful I moved there
LA is still beautiful and the air is more crisp than NYC
I forgot how stressful traveling is
TikTok:
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Yesterday, Israeli forces attacked Palestine and killed 9 people.
I’m not a geo-political expert, but it’s hard to ignore the violence Palestinians have had to endure since Jewish people began reclaiming “their land.”
This TikTok shows just how one-sided the human carnage and land conflict are in this never-ending war.
Essay: What’s Going On with Youth Sports?
Even though we are more connected than ever, we are also lonelier than ever.
It can’t be a coincidence that the rise of iPhones and social media from 2008-2010, coincided with a rise in loneliness, lower youth participation rates, and higher depression rates.
The article is worth the read if you are interested in youth sports involvement and want to brainstorm ways to solve it.
Media: The Idol
The best advice I can give you this week (or in my lifetime) is to stay away from this series. It’s like watching a train crash while its passengers are having a rabid naked orgy trying to create their first LP.
I don’t know who read this script and green-lit the film, but I guess when the Weekend pairs up with a writer from Euphoria, anything can get made. While there are Euphoria-like parts of this series, it feels more like a non-sensical fever dream than anything resembling a hit TV show.
Quote
What happened, though, was that I woke up late (near seven-thirty by my watch) and, as it turned out, that was not so clever. You can viddy that everything in this wicked world counts. You can pony that one thing always leads to another.
-Alex from '“A Clockwork Orange”
A Clockwork Orange is the most disturbing book I’ve ever read. It’s well written and vivid. Its scenes include rape, murder, and downright nastiness.
The quote seems pretty normal, but for some reason, it has stuck with me. Alex woke up at 7:30pm after skipping school and partaking in filthy filthy behavior.
Rather than blaming his late wake up call on his repellent actions, he blames it on the clock. He blames it on the fact that everything is counted.
Alex notices that life has a scorecard, both explicitly and non-explicitly. You can’t expect things to wither away into oblivion. You can’t live like a wild savage and not reap the consequences of your actions.
Vile acts will pile up against your record and your conscious until one gives way to the other.
Experience:
I want this section to be a human moment from my week.
I (a 24 almost, 25-year-old man) surprised my beautiful mother last weekend.
Maybe I’m too old for this stuff. Maybe it’s unnecessary, but you know what… I enjoyed it. She enjoyed it. And sometimes it’s fun to surprised your mom like she’s your high school girlfriend.
-P.S: Still working on part 2 of Cultural Moneyballism. Should be done soon.