everyone is up for change as long as it doesn’t involve them changing
Thoughts, or something like it.
The newsletters I open with the greatest interest appear only occasionally, approximately whenever the writer feels like it. (via: The Sound of my Inbox)
That way, dear reader, you can keep up with me and not rush to unsubscribe. I unsubscribed from the London Review of Books for two reasons: 1) the copies were piling up and I could not keep up; 2) there was too much stuff about Victorian times and in the end I was only reading 2-3 articles. I feel this way when I excitedly sign up to a newsletter only to realise this person writes too frequently to keep up "the brand." Or they have way way way way too many links. I unsubscribe. I’m going to limit the linking I do now FYI. And that's why I write this newsletter infrequently; unapologetically, and as if it were my old blog (this article quoted above really sums up newsletter feelings).
I am also not one for themes. Sometimes I am in the mood to continue discussing one topic, but others, I think of writing in snippets. This was a problem with my previous project Kalimat, when a certain editor from Mag Culture told me the lack of a theme for each issue means it's not worth featuring on their (then) new website. I like to make myself feel better by thinking Kalimat was ahead of its time, and that the editor was intimidated by the magazine's mission1: written by Arabs for everyone else, not by people interested in the region and its people.
Last month, a friend and I discussed the state of the internet and sloppy journalism (the genocide in Gaza has put a spotlight on how poor and inadequate mainstream media is2). The increase in online publications is an amateurism that puts photocopied zines to shame (except the latter never claimed to be direct competition to mainstream media). And the impenetrable writing that passes as 'good'… ugh. Too much noise. I miss Jezebel, and Gawker, and all that pre-the-internet-went-to-shit-stuff. 💩
The writing extends to design writing, which, let's be real, is like a charity shop: you have to dig to find something good3. I read an essay on decolonising design by a designer who recently discovered the term decolonisation that quoted everyone's work but ours. It cited the popular easy to digest work not backed by any real research that they can find through a quick google search. Moreover, while we as a group discuss the politics of citation, most people discussing decoloniality in design quote the same one book. Despite scholars admitting there's a problem with who is cited, most call for papers still cite white scholars from the Global North who wrote a semi-influential book over a decade ago, or default to Papanek from 1972 instead of bothering to look for new references.
Speaking of sloppiness and citations, I have come across/been sent a few texts citing my work that misspell my name and attribute a quote to the wrong text. 🤦🏼♀️
It's all so…boring. I find myself bored in the presence of most people and things. Why is everyone now a bore? Am I a bore, or is it the world? To quote a friend of mine, is there a work/genocide balance?
Even London – one of the greatest cities on earth – is losing this aspect of being a great city and becoming both sloppy and a bore. Setting aside the fact that friends are leaving almost on a daily basis, I found this thread called 'Londoners, what are some of your icks about London?' Some are ridiculous but others ring true and it had me thinking about how much [bad] change the city has undergone in the last five years. There are things that are baffling about being here now: The Evening Standard isn't even finding it viable to run anymore (which means a city of over 9 million people does not have a printed daily); everyone you meet doesn't know how to give you directions without looking at Google Maps or because everyone's a tourist; every thing is way too expensive, even fast food, and a lot of it has become utter shit; the whole place is cashless; the number of cars and traffic in a place with excellent transportation links; everything is bookable but sold out before you have a moment to breathe which means there is no spontaneity; places close early (try getting a coffee after 6pm, or food after 10pm); it simultaneously is a mecca for shopping and you can’t find what you’re looking for; and any vacant storefront or arches or building is bound to become a) a luxury flat; b) a hotel that emulates the Ace (which doesn't even exist here anymore); and c) an overpriced food hall.
We have been robbed of spontaneity thanks to the post-COVID world. Is there anything more annoying than important meetings and events – or all meetings and events – defaulting to online or hybrid, four years on? You can get excited about someone being in attendance only to realise they are online. What's worse is people coming back saying "this enables everyone to join" as though prior to a global pandemic, people did not make the effort to get themselves to a physical location. It's nonsense. Some meetings need to be in person, and just because you choose to live further away (and continue to work in London), does not mean you are exempt from attending. There’s a time and place for online, but it’s not all the time.
And then there's the excuses for cancelling, just not working, and the "out of office" responder that signals ‘I'm busy’ epidemic. Cool, I get it, take longer to reply. Unless you're away for a few days on annual leave or a conference, there's bereavement, or you're on some form of leave like parental or sick or any other, I don't care if you're in interviews or teaching all day.
In actuality, my feeling of boredom and being fed-up goes back to the day after the 2019 election. I remember walking down Oxford Street and being engulfed by a sense of sadness. Looking at every person around me and thinking "you did this, you voted this government in." The UK has been crumbling for some time, but it hit x5 on that day. When COVID-19 hit a few months later, it jumped to x10.
On the topic of elections, and forgive my ignorance, but since Starmer has been purging Labour for some time, why didn't popular MPs like Jeremy Corbyn, Diane Abbott (who has decided to run as a Labour candidate), and Faiza Shaheen start their own party, or why does no one defect to the Greens? Personally, I think there's more of a chance than running as an independent.
To end on a positive note, it's heartening to see all the student encampments all over the world 🇵🇸. I think back to being an undergraduate student (2004-2008) and how few visitors would come to our tabling activities and events. We could fill a room if the speaker was Robert Fisk or John Pilger, but the work we had to do behind the scenes and the cost was immense. I am touched by all the sisters, brothers, and white people (not just anarchists anymore) who wear Palestine merch, attend protests, and organise. I remember a good friend of mine in uni wearing a keffiyeh (the only merch in back in ‘06) telling me her dad told her not to wear it for fear of getting into trouble. Now it’s banned in some countries, but you can also walk anywhere in London and come across little moments of Palestine: a badge here, a keffiyeh there, a flag, stickers, some graffiti. One way or another, change is coming because this is so very untenable, and we are already in a time of change.
Things
I was featured in a video interview for STIR magazine. Watch it here.
My monograph Design Otherwise: Transforming Design Education in the Arab Region is available for pre-order from Bloomsbury. Release date is December 2024.
Earlier this year, I was featured in Issue 175 of one of my favourite newsletters Dense Discovery. (correction Anam Cara is Irish not Welsh).
Realising the necessity of projects like Countless Palestinian Futures now more than ever, if you would like to invite us to host a game, please contact us at palifutures.com.
Read
Watch
This short documentary outlining a plan from the 1970s on the 11 locations (other than St Pancras) considered for the channel tunnel. Watch it on YouTube.
Listen
Due to infrequent publishing schedule, I’m just adding songs I enjoyed lately to a Spotify playlist. Listen to the most recent one.
During the six years Kalimat ran, this mission was considered controversial. A few years later, it became much more common. Can we say ahead of its time? I think so.
Repurposed from a friend using this very quote to describe the search for good looking people at our former workplace.