Cruel Compendium #78 🤞🏼
Fake jobs, Tarot 101, and hopescrolling
🎧 New episode alert! 🎧
Listen now to Tarot 101: Finding Yourself in the Cards on the Cruel Summer Book Club podcast.
Tarot is for everyone! Yes, even those of you who are anti-woo woo. For me, Tarot is a practice to tap into your intuition and know yourself better. The magic isn’t in the cards — the magic is in you.
In this episode, I share:
🌞 The basics of the Tarot deck
🌞 How Tarot came into my life (shoutout to my friend Jenn for gifting me my first deck back in 2019!)🌞 How I use Tarot pulls in conjunction with the new and full moons and astrology
🌞 How you can start to integrate Tarot into your life (even if today’s your first time ever hearing about it)
As I say in this episode, I didn’t discover Tarot until I was 31, and five years later is one of my most nourishing personal and creative practices. That gives me so much hope and pleasure — imagine all the joys we have left to discover, all the people that we have yet to love, that will change our lives in real, positive ways. Tarot reminds me to continue to craft a beginner's spirit, keep an open heart and mind, and let new gifts in.
More of my writing on Tarot:
Be sure to click “View entire message” at the end of this email so you can read the whole post in your browser. On to the links!
The 100 best books of the 21st century
As voted on by 503 novelists, nonfiction writers, poets, critics and other book lovers — with a little help from the staff of The New York Times Book Review.
This list is a blast for book nerds/snobs of all kinds. I loved exploring the top 10 lists of so many different authors, from Roxane Gay to Stephen King to Jessamine Chan. And I added a bunch of new books to my library list. I’ve read 13 from the official list of 100, FWIW.
I changed my race to white on Hinge and got better matches. Is the algorithm the problem, or the men? by Jamilah Lemieux
Now I’m left wondering if this new crop of men popped up because the app’s algorithm codes white women as more desirable, and thus presents them with the “best” options, or if these men are just searching for white women. Neither would surprise me. It’s well known that Black women have dismal experiences on dating apps: User data collected by OkCupid in 2009 and 2014 showed that men rated Black women less attractive than women of other races. Meanwhile, college-educated Black women are 53 percent less likely to marry a well-educated man than white women are. Perhaps Hinge doesn’t think that the most popular guys on there would want us. But also, I live in L.A. Most of the Black guys you’ll see out on dates are out with women who aren’t Black, and Black women who live here can tell you stories of simply trying to speak to a Black man and being iced out.
Why more and more companies post fake jobs and actually interview candidates for them by Abigail Bassett
Enraging reporting from the author of the Six-Figure Journalism Jobs newsletter, of which I am a paying subscriber.
Did you know only 4/10 posted jobs lead to a hire? That's because nearly 40% of companies posted fake job listings in the last year, and 85 percent of those companies actually interviewed candidates for those fake jobs. They'll waste our time any way they can.
Laugh in the face of standards by Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks
With a little time and practice, the end result – the work you produce, the way you are in the world – isn’t bad, but instead honest, authentic, juicy, full of vitality, and therefore good. Life flows through you, into real-world action, with fewer obstructions than before. You no longer wait to act until you feel entirely calm and focused, or until you know exactly what you’re doing, or until the world political situation has calmed down. You just act, in the wholehearted spirit of ‘here goes nothing!’ Because otherwise what’s the point of being alive?
But I can’t draw by
I’ve been self-conscious about my bad drawing and even my bad handwriting for decades already, which is why I’ve consciously been taking art classes and cultivating beginner’s mind with handmade art over the last year. So I love this exploration from artist Aubrey Hirsch about why drawing can be so hard for writers in particular, and how to embrace your “bad” art.
Bits and bobs about freelance writing.
The only pitch format you’ll (mostly) ever need by
An updated list of mostly audio jobs
A regularly updated list of journalism jobs from Rebecca Aguilar
Have you downloaded my FREE list of 101 tools and resources for freelancers? Otter.ai is on there. 👇🏼
Causes I care about and actions for change.
Here’s a dashboard to see what access to abortion (or lack thereof) looks like in every state, via The 19th.
Mary Kunesh, the first Native American woman to serve in the Minnesota state Senate, on her landback efforts in the state.
Use Operation Olive Branch’s spreadsheet or the Gaza Family Funds directory to donate to help evacuate a Palestinian family to safety. Nearly 800 families are desperate for help.
Looking for one family to directly donate to? Six-year-old Rita’s family is still trying to meet their fundraising goal. Or donate to the efforts to build sustainable tents, charging stations, ovens, etc. for displaced families.
Visit ceasefiretoday.com for helpful links to email/call your Congress members, sign petitions, find a protest near you, and more.
I adored this episode of the Blindboy Podcast, all about taking a long, mindful walk in the rain in Limerick, Ireland. It really reset my nervous system and recenter my priorities. Plus, it helped me choose a goal for my five-week, nature-filled, end-of-summer jaunt away from Austin: a daily, solo, no-tech mindful walk.
Well worth your listen:
🤞🏼 We’re in yet another unprecedented time in American politics, but I am taking the time to enjoy a rare moment of hopescrolling.
🏝️ My thoughts exactly while watching Love Island USA:
🍆 A comic about reading All Fours by Miranda July, by
👕 What 16 people wore to McCarren Park, Brooklyn. God, I miss Brooklyn sometimes.
🧽 It’s SpongeBob’s 25th anniversary! Can you pass this silly little quiz about the iconic cartoon?
🍽️ Pete Wells writes about leaving his role as the New York Times’ restaurant critic for his physical and mental health.
🌍 Did you know you can now renew your passport online?
🧵 30 hobbies to explore for the girls learning how to be alone
💐 Big ditching Carrie at the wedding from the Sex and the City movie, made with Barbies. The production value?! The cell phone drop?!
🎤 “Pink Pony Club” sang from Plankton’s soul. I’ve watched this many times.
🤳 What you clicked on most in the last Compendium: Why are men raw-dogging flights?
Support for the week ahead from your higher self.
How can I use my strengths as a communicator to move past the things that no longer serve me?
Six of Cups — Familiarity, innocence, nostalgia
Princess of Cups — Flow, synchronicity, mystic messages
Now is not the time to ignore your emotions; instead, pour into them. The clues for your next moves will be found there. Tap into both your intuition and your inner child, and let them be in conversation with each other. Find ease in who you are and who you are becoming. You don’t have to try hard to move forward right now — you are water to the stream. Embrace the flow.
Sunday welcomed the Full Moon in Capricorn, and Mars is in Gemini, meaning communication is supercharged. Chani Nicholas has a lot to say about how this Full Moon and recent astrology played into this weekend’s historic events. The Democratic National Convention is mid-August, as Chani talks about here. 👀
