Cruel Compendium #87 ♈

Double Aries energy, Dying for Sex, and reading like an artist

Happy birthday to me! Your favorite double Aries turns 37 today! ✨

Here’s my birthday mood board:

ICYMI, I recently shared my new and improved, FREE list of my favorite tools and resources for freelancers! Get it!!!

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!

What we knew without knowing by Joan Didion

An excerpt from the soon-to-be-released book, Notes to John, of her journals written as letters to her husband. Reading about someone else’s therapy sessions is so titillating to me, I pre-ordered the book.

Eid Mubarak by

Aminatou Sow

Your stories of non-traditional marriage from

Miranda July

’s newsletter

I’m in a WhatsApp group with mostly 40-something women in Austin inspired to connect by July’s magnificent book, All Fours. I love listening to their stories of exploration, self-discovery, pleasure, nonmonogamy, polyamory, chosen family, divorce, and falling back in love with their husbands after meeting a new boyfriend.

Related: My 2021 podcast talking with a nonmonogamous married couple with two kids — after I went on a first date with the husband in 2020.

How to read like an artist by

Austin Kleon

12 women on living alone

I’ve lived alone for four years, and I will never go back.

A love letter to yourself by

Alex Elle

Highly advise you to try writing a literal love letter to yourself this week! Bonus: Choose yourself at a different age than you are now.

bookpeople

A post shared by @bookpeople

Bits and bobs about freelance writing.

• My newest for Tribeza: The best performing arts to see in Austin this spring

• ICYMI: Here’s my new and improved, FREE list of 142 of my favorite tools and resources for freelancers

• I shared some of my most formative reads for Women’s History Month in

  Real Self-Care

• One of the sources for my Vox story on the benefits of rejection goals,

  Carla Birnberg
  , wrote: I want you NOT to want me.

• How to plan a solo writing retreat by

  Otegha Uwagba

• Is freelancing more secure than a job? from

  Freelancing for Journalists
  . It certainly can be! You know my opinion on this.

@kittyknorrTAKE THIS FEELING AND TURN IT INTO ART

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Causes I care about and actions for change

ppact

A post shared by @ppact

• Resources for young trans Texans

• Rebecca Traister
  ’s guide for how to prepare yourself for potential changes to Trump-era healthcare

• For anyone traveling internationally soon: Know your rights when border agents want to search your phone

• Donate to your local abortion fund

• Parents of Texas child who died of measles stand by decision to not vaccinate. I will never understand.

• Download the free workbook: Let This Radicalize You by Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba

• A letter from Palestinian activist and permanent US resident Mahmoud Khalil, who has been unlawfully detained for a month today.

  • “For Palestinians, imprisonment without due process is commonplace.”

• Jasmine Mooney, a Canadian woman detained by ICE for two weeks, tells her story, as well as the ones of women facing much more dire circumstances. So dark.

@lulacorgIn cities like Los Angeles, neighbors are using megaphones to warn each other about ICE operations, reminding families of their rights and stopping unlawful detentions. ICE relies on fear and misinformation, but the law is clear: they cannot enter without a signed warrant. People are taking action—informing their neighbors, recording encounters, and refusing to open the door. This isn’t just about one city. Communities everywhere can do the same. Know your rights. Speak up. Protect each other. #AbolishICE #KnowYourRights #CommunityDefense #NoMoreRaids #WeKeepUsSafe #LULAC #fyp

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• Help Omar’s family evacuate Palestine

  • Follow his journey on Instagram.

ezzedine_muasher

A post shared by @ezzedine_muasher

@lolaokolastart creating your dream life (and listen to the new new podcast) or else 😡

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@theebouffants

• ❤️‍🔥 Dying for Sex, the Hulu show and the podcast (I signed up for a free Wondery+ trial so I could devour it all). SO MUCH TO THINK ABOUT AND DISCUSS HERE. About love, sex, friendship, autonomy, knowing yourself, the meaning of life, being with someone in the beginning, middle, and end, the beauty and horror of illness and death. And, especially, how deeply desire sits at the core of who we are.

• 👶🏻 Loved hearing

  Nicola Slawson
  talk about having a baby with her platonic best friend!

• 🎨 An art zine for your inbox by

  Erik Winkowski

• 💯 Doechii: “I need to create what wants to be created.”

• 💦

  Platonic Love
  ’s sex survey. Most of us wish we were talking about sex more!

• ⛔ How to change your Facebook and Instagram settings to make yourself less valuable to Meta

• 💌 Tarot Celtic Cross spreads for creativity from

  Chelsey Pippin Mizzi

• 🎤 Rachel Bloom doing Rent karaoke with someone who doesn’t know the lyrics. SO FUNNY.

• 🕺🏼 I’ve watched this dance so many times, I’m starting to learn it through osmosis.

  • PS, I’m a huge Tate McRae fan now. THIS! IS! POP!

• ♂️ Male feminists

• ⛸️ “Dancing On My Own” — on ice!

• 🎶 Sarah Klang’s new album:

• 🏠 What you clicked on most in the last Compendium: What moving to a new place (and the right place) can do for your happiness

Support for the week ahead from your higher self.

For Aries season, and spring’s sweet arrival:

What sets my heart on fire this season?

Ten of Wands
Duty, responsibility, obligation

How should I fan the flames?

Death
Change, ending, rebirth

Where should I remember to keep my cool?

Ace of Swords
Clarity, pure power, breakthrough

Jumper card (card that jumped out of the deck with a message):

The Sun
Positive vibes, warmth, radiance

My take: Abundance, joy, and ease will light the way for you this season, even through challenges and changes. You have everything you need to navigate unexpected bumps in the road, and you’re clear about which path to take. It may not be the easiest or simplest road — but you are ready to travel it. Keep trusting yourself, and the timing of your life.

Guest cat appearance: My sister’s handsome cat, Kitters, enjoying the ribbon bouquet from her bridal shower.