things i think about while powerwashing 100

Shortcut to anonymous subscriber submission link: https://forms.gle/2MABf8jNr2V8kEY87

Sorry for being gone for the last few weeks everyone! I got sick and was pretty jet lagged so I didn't really have the energy.

It's also the first time in a while where I've taken a break from writing the newsletter (which is ironic, as this is the 100th edition). And I think I really needed it! Just one of the many ruts I've worked through in my long newsletter journey.

I started writing this newsletter as an alternative to social media, and over time it's kind of evolved into a weird pseudo-tabloid (that I very much still do enjoy writing). The written content has eventually gotten a lot less introspective, so maybe we'll bring it back a little with this post.

When Twitter first started getting terrible during COVID, I eventually stopped trying to read tweets but being the attention hog that I am still wanted people to read the thoughts I had. This desire got so strong that I even developed a tool that allowed users to post to Twitter via a command line tool (no reading, just posting).

This went on for a bit, and I finally had a realization. Twitter is a microblog. Why microblog, when I can just ... macro blog????

And thus, my return to the blogosphere returned.

Due to my lack of direction on what to contribute to the world and with a heart full of fear of failure, my first newsletter was a list of cool things I found online during the week. Not very original, but also very safe.

It was also reflective of the times. The pandemic definitely restricted me so much that I started to gain an appetite for travel (one that has been recently sated!!) and since writing that first edition on Substack the focus of my content has shifted from online commentary of the weird metaverse we live in online to the real world. Travels, food I've eaten, museums I drop in every week. Due to my desire to write, I started to grow as a person as well.

I started this newsletter as a way to continue writing and get the same feeling that I did when I tweeted. But I think now that I'm still writing this newsletter because life feels like a new adventure that I can share with you all. To another 100 editions and more!!!!

museum of the week: national museum in tokyo

It's rare that I don't really like a museum (World of Coke was albeit strange but still a fun and informative visit). But most of the museums I've visited have had a very strong gallery design that help guide the visitor through the story of the exhibit, whether chronologically or not. And when a museum tries to rest purely on its laurels as the national museum of the country, I think it can get complacent.

Being Japan, walking into the courtyard of the Tokyo National Museum obviously included walking under the watchful gaze of the towering, 20-foot inflatable Hello Kitty (which was there to help advertise for a special exhibit!). But entering the main exhibit felt listless, and the dim lighting wasn't helping my energy at all.

So to enter a bit of a museum snob phase of my life, I would actually rate this a 3/5. I think the amount of historical content is great but there wasn't much effort put into the arrangement of the galleries. The descriptions also didn't feel very compelling (but granted this was a museum in Japan so I can kind of excuse it).

anonymous subscriber news

YES I LIVE IN NEW YORK. I AM IN NEW YORK. NO GASLIGHTING. Please submit your trauma dumps at the link below!!!!

Submit here: https://forms.gle/2MABf8jNr2V8kEY87

• I was not gaslit by Ryan for several months and now have proof he did indeed move to New York but still find it mildly suspicious he was “out of the country” for 8 out of 10 days I was in New York

animal of the week

Esteemed subscriber Junghyun Choy comes in with a Canada Geese contribution! They look like they are comfy and having a good time despite the dreary and cold weather.

Send me your animals at ryan@torrtle.co!