Date Night #1: Rivers, Ramps, Rambling
Been a while since we've last hungout, but I'm glad you were able to make Date Night!
Welcome to Date Night. According to www.ourrelationship.com, couples who build date nights into their relationships experience better communication, greater affection and gratitude for each other, and a desire to spend more time together. To those ends, if you’re down, I’d like to do this once a month. Let me not waste any more time, we have a lot to catch up on! Just to get a feel for things, did I ask you out, or did you stumble upon me first?
Studying Rivers @ Princeton
My research under the mentorship of Professors Rouse and Himpele at Princeton Anthropology has been going strong. I have had the opportunity to interact with and present my ideas to local municipal administrators, thought leaders, and those at the grassroots of the narratives I am exploring. I had the amazing opportunity to present some of my work at a summer conference at the High Meadows Environmental Institute at Princeton, speaking about environmental colonialism and the lasting impacts of bad sewage infrastructure. You can find the deck I used here, and of course I would love to geek out about this stuff with you if that’s something you’d like!
I’ve since been working on an ethnographic article with Professor Rouse which follows the story of the Gotakhors, a community of people who live along the banks of the Yamuna and dive to retrieve corpses. I’ve made an outline publically available, and I’d love any and all feedback as we continue working towards submission to a peer-reviewed journal. I’ve had the most enlightening time these past few months working on the High Water-Mark project, and I can’t wait to see the things the team continues working on as I finish my time with them.
Scantily Clad @ Lakme Fashion Week
I had the amazing opportunity a few weeks ago to walk the ramp at Lakme Fashion Week, India’s largest showcase of fashion and couture, in Mumbai. Walking for GFWi, I wore outfits designed by graduate fashion students at STADIO in South Africa and at MFI in the UK. Although my 6-inch stilletos weren’t the most cooperative during my second change, I (hope I) managed to make my wobbly walk and loose heels look intentional
Did We Write an Amazon Besteller?
Short answer: YES! My collection of poetry that I put out into the world this August has exceeded my expectations in terms of sales. Thanks to the support of so many friends and family and acquantainces and relatives, my book People say we can’t feel remorse like it’s a bad thing has been featured on the Amazon.in bestsellers list (Top 100 in category based on recent sales), two seperate times these past couple of months, even peaking at ~#4000 on the worldwide all inclusive charts.
It is so surreal to see people holding my musings in their hands and telling me that they foudn meaning in them beyond what I had intended. This collection of 18 poems includes explorations of mental illness, social stigmatisation, suicide ideation, but also love, hope, lust, friendship, and success. If you’re outside the Amazon delivery zones, I would be happy to send you a signed PDF, just hit me up!
And He Codes?: the first 2 months @TKS
Probably the main reason I’m working on this newsletter is because, in the words of the lovely Director of Programs over at The Knowledge Society, Ian Lockhart, ‘serendipity works’. I’ve had an absolute baller of a time engaging with the smartest people I’ve ever met about the smartest things that exist in the world today. From finishing modules on longevity, AI, AGI, Blockchain, to having intense debates on the viability of cryogenic preservation of human bodies—it has truly been an experience like no other.
To help accelerate my growth I have also been working on completing Olof Paulson’s Python course on Scrimba, which has a super cool interface which allows you to interact with and modify the code mid-tutorial. I wouldn’t call myself an expert just yet but it is super cool to start to understand what people are talking about when they fall into the techbro mindspace;)
As I start my Focus (longer structured involvement with an area of our choosing) on AI, I will be writing my ‘learn’ article on NPCs in video games, and how they have evolved from a technical standpoint over the years. I look forward to engaging with industry experts and to have a better-than-usual excuse to get those gaming hours in;)
I’ve also been involved with a couple of cool projects within TKS. The first is a super exciting podcast series with some friends which we will be announcing and releasing soon. Our aim is to highlighting people at the cutting edge of exponential tech while demonstrating how one can get involved with little to no experience: sure, it is great to hear about how quantum computers work, but did you know IBM allows you to play around with simulated ones online? I’m also a part of a group of super cool people working with data science through Kaggle, and I’m excited to create cool shit!
Securing the Bag
Of course it isn’t enough to just do cool shit, someone’s gotta pay the bills. I’m grateful I have a home and food with my family, but a part of taking a gap year was becoming as financially independent as possible. Apart from stipends from the projects talked about above, I’ve also been building my portfolio as a graphic designer and copywriter. This past month, I’ve been working on tees for CoverStory, and a Web3 book for a fellow TKS innovator’s newest entrepreneurial pursuit. I’m also selling/making new commissioned art! My work can be found on my personal website.
Phew, feels like I’ve been talking forever. Your turn now.
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