Nearly every essay I've written for this newsletter has been longer than the previous one. This week was no exception. I just wrote a VERY LONG essay on AI writers, parables, the psyche, and the global economy. It's not done—but I'm done! (I know, you're thinking, wasn't that also the story of the last essay in The Gift? Gawd, honestly, it's the story of my life. I'm so repetitive! Cycles!) Anyway, I'll spare you the long read—it's summer, let's let our eyes rest! And it's THE FAIR on the island and I'm late but I intend to go. I'll leave you with a book rec, a couple of photos of island life, and a big thank you for reading The Gift!
Book recommendation
Self Care
by Leigh Stein
You might like it for
Laughs! This book is satire. I found it so funny.
And you might find it funny because maybe you, like me,
Devoured The Hairpin and Jezebel and fell apart when they went off-line
Half-wish you'd had the courage to leap into the fray, move to New York, and make it as a writer
Spent YEARS in a not-to-be-named, secret, private Facebook “group” where you e-met Leigh Stein (though she would never know because you never commented) and are a huge fan of her writing style and initiative
Are not-so-secretly interested in self-care and self-help—but also see it's plagued by paradoxes and ironies (what isn't!)
Did you think the popular feminism in Barbie was a total gas? Stein writes about popular feminism. I want to reread this book again after watching Barbie. So GOOD!
If this rings true to you, then you will probably get everything in this book and you will laugh-cry and feel seen. But, then again, maybe it's just me!
"As a millennial feminist, I was supposed to be liberated already, fine to frolic the beach in my bikini, no problemo, the cellulite on my as cheeks a proud mark of my body acceptance and rejection of society's punishing patriarchal beauty standards." Stein, p. 96.
You might also like Leigh's newsletter, Attention Economy. Tips and insights! Funny!
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That's it for today, time to take a real ride. I'm happily SURPRISED the carnival made it, considering the challenges to staffing the Washington State ferry system. I've included a photo my mom took of a shirt for sale at the fair. WTF! Where’s that ferry?! The only thing that seems to be working is the alert system. Our phones are constantly pinging us with updates about the latest delay or cancellation.
But the Ferris wheel made it! I must go now to try the art food offerings by a favorite friend Natalia Swan! So I'm going! Weeeeeee!
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Until next time,
Monika
The Gift