Weekly Report

Weekly Report: July 8th - July 14th 2024

Good Morning Magpie

14 Jul 2024 — 3 min read

The Week in Summary:

After many half-measures, I finally made the decision to delete my Instagram and Reddit account. It feels good to be a bit bored, but it is also challenging too. I'm going to go through some mixed feelings about it over the next while.
What can I say? I played a lot of Elden Ring this past week.
On Friday evening, Taylor and I met up with some friends at Calgary Stampede. I've never gone to Calgary Stampede in all the years I've lived here, but I had a much better time than I anticipated. We tried some ridiculous food (deep-fried oreos and deep-fried blooming onion), went to the Orville Peck concert, and hung out (they went on some rides whilst Taylor and I watched). It was a great night, but I was absolutely exhausted the next day.
On Saturday morning, we went to the Porch for brunch for some shakshuka. Afterwards, Taylor went to the cafe to catch-up on some work and I stayed at home listening to some records. In the evening, I played Elden Ring with my buddy and we made big progress together. For Sunday, Taylor and I hung out at home throughout the day listening to an audiobook called Wildland: The Making of America's Fury by Evan Osnos. We got a bit of cleaning done too.
The assassination attempt on Donald Trump dominated the news over the weekend and made it really difficult to focus on anything else. I spent a lot of time doomscrolling and chatting about it, though I eventually made the decision to remove some news apps off my phone to give me a break (it kind of worked). In any case, I continue to worry about where the US is heading, but hopefully sanity prevails and we use this as an opportunity to cool political tensions.

Recommendations:

The Gunman and the Would-Be Dictator by David Frum (Article): The best article I've read about the assassination attempt on Trump (so far).
Are ‘Manosphere’ Influencers Disengaging Gen-Z Men from Climate Activism? by Jake Hall (Essay): Explores the intersection between the peddlers of toxic masculinity and their climate denialism, especially within the context of recent reports on Gen-Z men and their views on feminism.
The Beauty of Games by Frank Lantz (Book): Great philosophical text discussing games as an aesthetic experience. It is a really appealing idea to think of games (which are after viewed as juvenile and lacking seriousness) as an artform that matters.
A Legendary American Photograph by Tyler Austin Harper (Article): In regards to an era-defining American photograph.