Sunday Seven No. 008

Artificial Art, Ugly iPhone, and an Old Friend

Hey Friends 👋🏼

Here is your weekly Sunday Seven, 7 things I’ve learned and loved this week.

It’s been an unsettling week, to say the least. Last Sunday I said this newsletter is a place of refuge from the unending news cycle. I spent the week thinking of what I could say or do, regretful I have not said more. There is plenty being said and shared — I believe it is a time to listen and learn. With this in mind, I’ve decided to give away a few books as gifts. The first 5 subscribers that reply here will get a book on the subject of systemic racism, injustice, and police brutality. If you feel that you have more to learn on these issues, as I do, hit reply here and I’ll send you a book this week.

With all that said, let’s get into it…

Last week’s email had a 72% open rate. The top links were my bookshelf and Surfcity.

---

No. 008

1️⃣ ALBUM — We’re New Again (Spotify, Apple Music, Youtube) by drummer Makaya McCraven is a reimagination of Gil Scott-Heron’s 2010 album I’m New Here.

2️⃣ DOCUMENTARY — For Sama (watch, 1.5hr) has won over 50 awards — including Best Documentary at Cannes and Best Documentary at the 2019 SXSW. It also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Feature Documentary. I am incredibly proud of my dear friend and film editor Denniz Göl Bertelsen for his work on this.

In a time of conflict and darkness in her home in Aleppo, Syria, one young woman kept her camera rolling — while falling in love, getting married, having a baby and saying goodbye as her city crumbled. For Sama unfolds as a love letter from Waad al-Kateab to her daughter Sama.

Denniz and I met in 2009 while backpacking the Middle East. Together we traveled throughout Syria, entered Hamas territory in Lebanon, slept in a bedouin’s cave in Jordan, and graffitied the wall in Bethlehem, amongst other mischiefs. He is superbly talented one of my favorite humans on the planet.

3️⃣ SHORT READ — How to talk to strangers (read, 8min).

4️⃣ ARTIFICIAL ART — Artificial Intelligence artist named AI Gahaku generates a painting from your photo in styles such as Renaissance, Pop Art, and Expressionism. The tool is free to use and was created by Japanese developer Soto. Here’s mine:

5️⃣ BOOK I’M READING — Atomic Habits: an easy and proven way to build good habits and break bad ones by James Clear. For an introduction to the author’s ideas, I highly recommend his free weekly newsletter.

6️⃣ SCREENTIME — How to make your iPhone ugly (read, 1min). I applied a simple idea from Atomic Habits to spend less time on my phone. Clear says in order to break a bad habit, make it invisible, unattractive, difficult, and unsatisfying. If you’re interested in spending less time on your phone check out my guide with video.

7️⃣ WORTH THINKING ABOUT — “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." This is known as Hanlon’s Razor. People make mistakes. We need to ask ourselves if there is another reasonable explanation for the events that occurred. The explanation most likely to be right is the one that contains the least amount of intent.

---

Last Words

We’re moving! Super excited to share that we’ll be moving into our second Toronto home at the end of this month. It’s a 2-bed duplex rental in Toronto’s Corso Italia neighborhood. Look out for photos of our new home once we’re settled in.

As always, if you’re enjoying reading Sunday Seven, I would really appreciate it if you shared it with friends who you think would like it too.

Thanks for reading,

Yashar