cool stuff i found #9
Moving goalposts, MidJourney landing pages, and nasheeds
welcome back! this is the ninth drop of my newsletter! well, i’m personally super behind and i now owe the world 2 essays. This week’s and last week’s! no worries, keep a look out because it’ll come. i’ve just been bracing myself for Ramadan for the past few days, and I’m back on track.
note the name change of the newsletter. as i’ve entered Ramadan, i plan to cut back on my vulgarity as much as i reasonably can. i think its also a step in evolving as a writer, who knows, maybe this new style is here to stay.
“Cool Stuff I Found” (formerly “Cool Shit I Found”) is a series where I create a 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. As always, thanks for joining me on this journey of exploration and self-discovery.
This newsletter is broken up into the following:
I. Articles + Essays I’ve read
II. Visual Art + Media
III. Music I’ve been listening to
I. Articles + Essays I’ve read
Keep Moving the Goalposts by Will Bamberg
Last week I had the pleasure of attending an online salon with other writers to discuss different strategies of overcoming writer’s block. There were a lot of cool folks, and amongst them was Will. We hopped on the phone a few days after the session to get to know each other, how we understand and pursue creative endeavors, and what our writing systems looked like. One of the essays Will mentioned he worked on was “Keep Moving the Goalposts.” I decided to give it a read on his blog, and it distills to the following core point: “you’re a constantly evolving human being, and so the nature of the goals you set should consistently reflect that.” Haroon in one season in life may have very different goals than Haroon in a different season in life. In fact, this essay reminds me of the concept of muraqabā, or accountability as it pertains to spirituality. As we go through life, our levels of commitment and belief oscillate and that’s perfectly natural. But in order to stay the steady course, one must hold oneself accountability with consistent checkins. The following passage struck me:
Good stuff Will, great meeting you g.
NYC taxi drivers reveal best stops for food and more in viral TikTok series by Asia Grace
There’s some news sites you never… you never really plan on quoting if you get what I meant? NY Post is one of them lol. I thought this was a pretty honest description of a really cool project that’s gone viral on TikTok. Hope you enjoy reading it and that it puts a smile on your face.
To be honest, I didn’t read much in the past week. So I’m not gonna force it and I’ll just be real with you lol. Onwards to the next part!
II. Visual Art + Media
Dating is Trash! | Opey Olagbaju | Stand Up Comedy
This guy had a really smooth delivery that I enjoyed.
Random Minimalist Paintings?
i just saw this on my tl and just thought it looked hella cute lol.
Midjourney Landing Page Designs
this guy has been messing around and finding out inside of MidJourney V5 by creating some really dreamy landing pages. if i didn’t look at the details, i would totally see it as an actual webpage for some MMORPG game!
III. Music I’ve Listened To
I haven’t really listened to new music recently either. But here’s a soundcloud that has a bunch of slow + reverb nasheeds (google it if you don’t know what it is).
Thanks for reading this edition. Hope this new format worked out for you. Share this with your friends, your grandma, or your neighbor. And if you made it to the end of this essay and you didn’t just scroll, dm me a 🌙 on either twitter or instagram. or leave a comment! As always,
Sincerely,
Haroon
P.S. Check out my previous newsletter if you’re curious: Cool Stuff I Found #9
The slowed and reverbd nasheeds are bangers
moon emoji