Cat psychology and the unfairness of it all.
Plus other cool things people wrote, recorded, and created.
Psycho-cat?
— ANIMALS
Let’s face it—when it comes to pets, only a cat parent fully understands the love for cats. The majority opinion is that cats are selfish and scary (spoiler alert: neither of these is true). So why do the rest of us think that dogs are God’s gift to mankind, while cats are, well, just cats? The Atlantic has some answers to help us understand cats better.
High Seas
— HISTORY
Our ships today are equipped with all the gadgets and gizmos sailors need to navigate the seas and oceans. But man has been sailing for centuries—how did we do it before modern equipment? There was, first, the studying of the stars—the constellations and the zodiac to tell time and see if you were on course. Then came the formal study of mathematics and the more formal business of exams.
In the 1760s, a Dutchman, Frans van Ewijk, already held a position as a merchant captain. Unfortunately for him, the Dutch East India Company passed a rule making exams mandatory even for captains. In October 1768, Van Ewijk presented himself in Rotterdam for the exam – and promptly failed.
In this essay in Aeon, Margaret Schotte explores how sailors employed knowledge and technology, from Euclidean geometry to the printing press, to become better mariners.
Satyajit Ray and the Art of Illustration
— CINEMA / ART
Satyajit Ray’s films have guaranteed his immortality. Pather Panchali is taught on college campuses across the world from its setting in Bengal, and Ray’s status as an icon in Indian cinema is undisputed. But a lesser-known fact about Ray is that he was also a talented graphic designer and illustrator. Ritupriya Basu travels through Ray’s career, highlighting the work of Satyajit Ray the Artist.
What Does ‘Authentic’ Really Mean?
— FOOD / CULTURE
I disagree with people who consider that food needs gatekeeping. Food, like language, evolves with time, and older, ‘authentic’ dishes can peacefully co-exist with new-ish ones (à la Manchurian, the hero of Indian Chinese food). But the problem doesn’t lie with taking another cuisine and making it more palatable for locals, as writer Payal Dhar points out—
There is nothing inherently wrong in learning, adapting, or adopting from another culture, of course. It’s only when the Western world claims to have “discovered” them—just like Columbus “discovered” America—and dresses them up in glitter that it becomes a problem.
Like many other people from India, I, too, have rolled my eyes at ‘chai tea’, ‘naan bread’, and the magic that is ‘turmeric latte’ that the West seems to have discovered. In this article for Fodor’s Travel, Dhar takes us through food authenticity, assimilation, and appropriation, highlighting the diversity of India’s cuisine.
After Dark In London
— PHOTOGRAPHY / PEOPLE
There’s a whole world happening in London while the city sleeps. Jon Day and Dougie Wallace introduce us to the people keeping the city alive at night—night shift workers, waiters closing for the night, people going to a 24-hour bagel shop or gyms or nightclubs. It’s part of the City Nights series for 1843 (you can read Rio here and Beirut here), and I hope they bring us more cities soon!
All the feels. For real.
— MUSIC
Jealous is just such a beautiful, heartbreaking song, made even more tragic when you find out Labrinth wrote it about his father, who abandoned the family when Labrinth was a child. Don’t listen to this song if you aren’t ready to feel pain.
Work as if you’re in a Parisian café (without actually being in one, sadly).
— SOUND
I’ve been in a bit of a creative rut lately. I’ve been finding it challeging to write, to concentrate, to create even a few words I don’t think are completely crap. So I did what any self-respecting writer would do—I procrastinated.
I spent some time on Twitter, Reddit et al., then I looked up some ‘top tips for writers’ type of lame query in the hopes my friend Google would deliver. And it did.
I stumbled upon Hipstersound*, a website that lets you simulate ambient noise to help you be more productive. The free version has three sound options—a Paris café, a Texas cafe, or a quiet restaurant. You can add further sound effects (which vary, depending on which of the three you’ve chosen) such as rain, a fireplace, cars whizzing past, jazz, and the ocean. You can adjust the volume of each of these independently and, if people speaking interferes with your concentration, you can just turn off the main location sound and keep the added sound effects on instead. I never thought adding noise to my surroundings would work, but it did. My productivity that day shot through the roof, and I know I will get something done, as opposed to staring at the screen and then calling it a day.
*There are plenty of websites that do the same thing, and while I was procrastinating I checked out a bunch of them. I’m featuring Hipstersound because it suited me best in terms of options and user interface.
Cat photo by Mikhail Vasilyev on Unsplash
Headphones photo copyright sklyareek on Adobe Stock
Thanks for reading! I’m Shivani, a writer & editor, caffeine addict, and runner who loves tacos and has no hand-eye co-ordination. You can find me on Twitter at @wordsbyshivani.
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