Nature, quirkiness, and digital writing
Postcard #5
Hello and welcome back to another edition of THE POSTCARD, Unregistered’s fortnightly roundup of recommendations.
Thoughts, tools, and treats
This week is about spending time in nature, quirkiness, and what’s going on in digital writing.
The moral of hiking
It’s fall, and Cecily Carver aptly reflects on the ambiguities of spending time outdoors. I shared my two cents in the comments, and Cecily replied.
Tweed dreams are made of this
An informative and nicely illustrated article about Scottish tweed in the National Geographic, written by Mike MacEacheran. You’ll learn about islands and hills, textile traditions, local pride, sustainability, and fashion.
Perfection versus quirkiness
In a brilliant piece, John Gruber compares Apple under Steve Jobs with Apple led by Tim Cook. He avoids the common Jobs = genius, Cook = bean counter-narrative, and disputes the claim that Apple is in decline because post Jobs, no mind-blowing game-changer has been presented. Instead, Gruber offers a far more nuanced take. Money quote I: „Apple today is aiming for, and achieving, utterly consistent excellence. Quirkiness no longer fits.“ Money quote II: „Jobs was driven to improve the way computers work. Cook is driven to improve the way humans live.“ It’s an intriguing analysis that makes one think about the state of society and the optimization of the self, too.
A writing renaissance
Over at Compact Magazine, Sam Kahn observes a writing renaissance coming along with digital distribution. „New, professional, well-produced digital magazines“ and „individual voices suddenly able to find audiences online“ mark a shift in the publication landscape, Sam writes. Either ignored or defamed by legacy outlets, much of it takes place on Substack because the platform offers a gatekeeper-free, potentially viable business model for writers.
A social medium you might actually like
Speaking of Substack, I’d like to draw your attention to Notes, Substack’s built-in, ad-free social medium. It allows you to read only the writers you are following or use the explore/home tab, which adds algorithmic recommendations. I have done the latter for quite some time now, and it turned out to be a calm, stimulating conversation, unlike anything you usually experience on X or elsewhere. Next to my weekly newsletter dispatches, I regularly post short shots on Notes. You can read them here, but the best way to follow and join the discussion is to download the free and ad-free Substack app.
Noteworthy
“So I will vote for Harris, despite my profound reservations about her. Because I have no profound reservations about him. I know who he is and what he is. I know what forces he is conjuring and the extremes to which he will gladly take his own personal crusade. To abstain, though temptingly pure, is a cop-out. I vote not for Harris as such, but for a conservatism that can emerge once the demon is exorcized. And exorcize it we must. Now, while we still can.“
—Andrew Sullivan, endorsing Kamala Harris without endorsing Kamala Harris. His take manages to avoid the two largest threats democratic culture faces today: either the complete identification with one side without seeing its weaknesses and the valuable elements of the other or dropping out motivated by irresponsible, self-righteous, and lazy cynicism.
A mystery link leading into the unknown
Never underestimate the force of nature.
As always,
Dirk
P.S.: Feel free to send me pointers to articles, books, sites, pods, tools, and treats that could be interesting for this roundup. While I cannot promise to link them, I read and appreciate every hint.