cool shit i found #4
Lemonade stands, gradient yams (ass), and Frank Ocean
Zhong-Lin, IG post
You will be one of the sound craftsmen, and other sound craftsmen
will know it. This group of craftsmen will by no means coincide with
the Inner Ring or the Important People or the People in the Know. It
will not shape that professional policy or work up that professional
influence which fights for the profession as a whole against the public:
nor will it lead to those periodic scandals and crises which the Inner
Ring produces.
- C.S. Lewis
Welcome to the fourth edition of my newsletter! We’re still on pace and I think I came across some neat stuff this past week. In fact I even shared an essay I wrote in this week’s drop. You might note the newsletter has changed its name to Sound Craftsmen. I’ll write a post on why I decided on that name, but for now we can just say I was deeply inspired by the CS Lewis quote above — yes the same author as the Chronicles of Narnia.
As per usual, I will be continuing to create a sort of highlight reel of cool stuff I’ve come across in the past week or just in general. I hope that this newsletter will inspire meaningful conversations and connections. Thanks for joining me on this journey of exploration and self-discovery.
This newsletter is broken up into the following:
I. Articles / Excerpts
II. Visual Art + Media
III. Music I’ve been listening to
I. Articles / Excerpts
**FEATURED**
All Hail The Lemonade Stand!
Listen, who would I be if not a fan of my own shit? Go read it already bro, jeez! (with love xoxo)
This thread was so incredibly heartwarming that I couldn’t not share it. I hope it warms your soul, fills your cup, and makes your day pal.
I think Katt Williams was the one who once said of Flavor Flav, “some guys you just don’t expect to learn a whole lot from". Despite his many courses and lectures, I feel that way about Jordan Belfort (wolf of wall street guy). But I saw the excerpt above about the idea of future pacing, and found it to be helpful. Hope you do as well.
seeking clarity
I recently discovered this newsletter called bookbear express, and this article is the first thing I’ve read and what caught my eye from the newsletter. I like the little anthology thing they got going on over there, and this passage resonated with me. As a friend of mine once said it quite well one late Ramadan evening in Berkeley as she put her joint down for a split second, “I think love is where it’s you and your partner versus the world.”
Community Page (interactive)
This just a spontaneous idea I had. So much of newsletters is the author just talking at you guys, and if you want to say something you have to leave a comment. And something about leaving a comment to a post feels super hierarchical and I’m not feeling that — kinda boring. So I just made a google docs page where you can add, draw, and generally do whatever the fuck you want to get ur creativity muscles movin! have fun!
II. Visual Arts + Media
Yesterday was Valentine’s Day! I came across this aesthetic ass image while scrolling, and turns out its a neat lil exercise you can run with your long-distance partner. Something to wholesome up (im trying to think of the opposite of “spice up” (i mean i can see how this activity can get raunchy)) your relationship for all u love birds.
Riri led the halftime performance for this year’s superbowl. It was nothing short of iconic.
Both a free meme for you and a chance to take a break with Uncle Iroh.
I recently discovered a photographer named Zhong Lin who has this breath-taking/mesmerizing/disturbing style of film photography that I really wanted to share. Shout out Patricia for tweeting this out. Here’s another one for the shock value:
Who doesn’t love a good yams + gradient collab?
The design of these spaces took my breath away, and I hope they make you pause if only for just a moment.
III. Music I’ve been listening to
One of my buds shared this with me in honor of the essay I wrote so it’s front of mind.
lol i’m sharing this because i saw a Tiktok that referenced this song and its stuck in my head as i write this.
I found this gem on this one IG fashion influencer I follow and my roommate found the song for me.
Here’s some low key talent I discovered going down a rabbit hole. I think he’s gonna blow up, but, even if he doesn’t, it’s still a catchy ass song.
This song was autoplaying as I was editing this newsletter, and I fucking love this song so much. So it felt natural to include it.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed another edition of this newsletter. I definitely hope to publish a few more essays that are in the pipeline as I write this, so please subscribe if you care to read more! As always,
Sincerely,
Haroon