Sunday Seven No. 007
Bookshelf, Surfing, and SpaceX's secret
Hi Friends 👋
It’s heavy out there. I hope you and yours are safe.
It is undeniable that we are all affected by what is going on. While it is hard not to talk about, you can count on this newsletter to be a refuge — small bits of goodness to snack on and (hopefully) uplift and inspire you.
Last week’s email had a 75% open rate. The top links were my new personal website and half a billion monarch butterflies (watch, 3min)
Let’s get right into it.
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No. 007
1️⃣ ESCAPE TO SURF CITY — Surfcity is fascinating (watch, ∞). I put it on to unwind and find it incredibly soothing. It’s a live network of 20 channels that is sure to give you an escape from information overload. Created by Cody Brown (@codybrown) the channels are handpicked and best watched on your tv/laptop preferably lounging on the couch. Channel 18 is a personal favorite.
2️⃣ BOOKSHELF — I created a list of the books I’ve read over the last few years for three reasons: 1) Remembering the books I read. 2) Self-accountability to make reading a consistent part of daily life. 3) Helping others discover new books. I’ll be adding notes and highlighting my recommendations over the next few weeks.
3️⃣ SPACEX’S SECRET — An old article from 2018. Given SpaceX’s historic launch it is incredibly relevant today. Gwynne Shotwell (@gwynneshotwell) is SpaceX’s President and COO, second in command to Elon Musk. Rising from the ranks as SpaceX’s 7th employee and head of business development Shotwell was instrumental in the $1.6 billion SpaceX deal with NASA that got her promoted and added to SpaceX’s board. It is worth your time to learn about Gwynne Shotwell (read, 17min). I came across this article thanks to Paulina Marinova’s excellent newsletter The Profile.
4️⃣ GIRL POWER — The modern-day lemonade stand. Nine-year-old Eloise created the Girl Power socks. She launched online and sold out in 15 seconds. According to the site, “each pair of Girl Power socks is customized with low-quality fabric marker." Genius. Get the backstory.
5️⃣ NO ONE KNOWS — Continuing on the themes of uncertainty and overconfidence from a couple of weeks ago, I’m reading this opinion piece in the New York Times.
“Human beings want to feel that they are on a power walk into the future, when in fact we are always just tapping our canes on the pavement in the fog.”
6️⃣ TOMB OF HAFEZ — Dozens gathered this week in Shiraz to play Daf, a large Persian-Kurdish frame drum. They were celebrating the reopening of the tomb of 14th-century Persian poet Hafez (watch, 1min).
7️⃣ WHAT I’M LISTENING TO — Two-hour set recorded live by Gio Israel just a few days ago in the middle of Joshua Tree. Listen in at 22:10 as he mixes in the beat from Googoosh’s Talagh then compare it to the original (listen, 4min). If Gio’s name sounds familiar it’s likely you remember it from one of his sets I shared a few weeks ago. It led me to rediscover Soundcloud and music that’s just not found anywhere else.
Last Words
This week I’m headed to Toronto’s Rosedale neighborhood for a self-directed photography tour. I’ll be sharing the photos with you here.
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