On summer

It’s June and I still don’t have an air conditioner yet, which has not been very fun. The weather has been oscillating between 80 to 90 degree humidity—days where I have to keep the windows open and a box fan so loud I can’t hear anything else pointed directly at my body at all times—and 50 to 60 degree rainy gloominess—days where I have to sit under a blanket on the couch and I can’t go outside without an umbrella. This is the in-between of spring and summer, I guess. I don’t mind the rain, because it’s cozy and it gives me a reprieve from the heat. And I don’t mind the heat, because it’s nice to spend time outside and feel the sun on my skin. I guess it would be too much to ask for something in the middle. My air conditioner gets here next week, and the temperatures will go up, and I will go the park with my friends and sweat in the sun.

– Jillian

OK name pun out of the way, my name is actually Arabic not the season, means something even cooler, etc etc. I was looking outside around 7pm the other day and thought about how it was still light outside, maybe just getting dark. I can remember one summer evening in Michigan where I was running around my neighborhood until very late (for a small child), maybe 9:30? and it was still light out! And it was just so amazing that it was night time but the sun was still around. That agonizingly long of a day doesn’t happen in California, or maybe it does and I just do not go outside enough! I do not like hot weather, truthfully. What summer does mark for me, though, is an incredible amount of fruit I love: apricots, watermelon, figs—I wait all year for fig season.

– Summer

We recommend

🍽 Pizza for dinner

Listen, I am SO tired every day & there’s a constant barrage of poison gurgling around in my brain because of my Twitter addiction or the World Events making me feel inhuman & sometimes! nothing sounds appetizing except pizza. There have been a few times the past two weeks or so where I just ordered a pizza instead of looking in the fridge and it increased my mood significantly; listen, pizza isn’t even my main comfort food. But I guess we’re all different after over a year of being inside! Everyone should order a pizza in my honor.

– Summer

📺 Madoka Magica

I watched Madoka Magica for the first time while I was recovering from my second dose of Moderna and uh. Wow! It’s probably one of the coolest shows I’ve ever seen—the story is absolutely devastating and twists the magical girl genre in a dark, satisfying way. And the art style is just really really neat. It’s only 12 episodes, so watch it on Hulu over the weekend if you want to cry!

– Jillian

✉️ NAZAR

This newsletter by Vanessa Taylor covers surveillance, often specifically how it affects Black Muslim communities. It was on break for a little bit but is officially back! I’ve learned a lot—tech writing through the lens of the harm of surveillance is the main angle I am interested in, and this newsletter encompasses a broad scope under that lens. Start with this letter with testimonies from Muslim Abolitionists.

– Summer

🎮 Mario Kart

I’ve been playing a lot of Mario Kart online with my friends lately and it is so fun!!! I’ve always loved Mario Kart, but I’m particularly enjoying its resurgence in my life right now. So if you’re looking for fun, kinda low effort ways to hang out with friends for an evening, set up an online multiplayer game and go wild. Our favorite, most chaotic match is 200cc on the Baby Park course with shells only. It makes me feel like I’m driving four cars at once and they’re all on fire, and it’s great.

– Jillian