WEEKLY NEWSLETTER 01
Welcome from the technological world of the 90s :)
This is the third year of me doing the “90’s challenge” and this time I didn’t want to be cut off from people around me and since I’m also always eager to share some fact, anecdote or reflection on life you are now receiving this email newsletter as if we really all were in the 90s.
The 90’s challenge
In case you are wondering what the 90’s challenge is: The 90’s challenge is a digital detox in which I only do what was technologically possible and available in the (late) 1990s. The rules are as follows:
For now, I am aiming for two weeks of strictly following these rules and I can only recommend for you to join because it is almost rejuvenating, probably the deepest sleep I reach all year and the most time you will have on hand to do all the things you were once thinking of doing. I will give an update on what it’s like doing the challenge and what’s difficult/easy/surprising about it with the next edition.
Weekly update
This Sunday I got to travel north to the countryside close to Girona to visit family friends. I was warmly invited to their grandparents house were I met the whole family and together we ate Calçots, which is a type of spring onion that is charred, then peeled and dipped into a pimiento-similar sauce, tasting sweet and "oniony" (for lack of a better word). It's great and it’s messy which kinda makes it even greater if you like that kinda stuff. I also got to try roasted almonds from their own almond tree (!) which really makes you think about mediterranean climate and how maybe I do have to go and start my own commune one day where I plant my own food and harvest almonds from my almond tree. I am sure we would be happy. And it really is this - having a family to go to for Sunday lunch, having cousins, uncles, and aunts close by, maybe a house with a garden and a dog, and a lot of great food - that is the simplest privilege and my favourite happiness I get to savour from meeting new people and travelling the world :)
The other thought about mediterranean climate is unavoidable and creeps up when you check your armpit sweat on the 4th of February where we we found ourselves having to move inside for lunch with blushed skin from the incredible 24 degrees outside. I feel like no region has seen early climate change effects like Catalunya. The on-going three-year drought visibly appears through dusty ground, dying trees and receding green spots like the receding hair lines of the politicians that still deny nature’s dynamic to be reciprocal to human treatment no matter how much they try to Cartesianize nature and “us”.
So I guess, moving to Barcelona is like bringing summer to your life all year around - Scandinavian Summer in Winter and Spanish Summer in Summer -, but it also is sweating in February and hoping that Bruna’s grandma’s almond tree will make it through winter.
Weekly recommendation 1
Since I have chosen four albums to accompany me during the 90’s challenge, I would like to share one a week, so that you can improve your music taste while I am stuck in an endless loop repeating the same four artists. Sounds like a fair trade?
This weeks album is Coco O. - Sharing is Caring. You might have seen her name as she featured alongside the Erykah Badu on Tyler the Creator’s “Wolf” and I haven’t forgotten about her since discovering her feature on “Løb Stop Stå”. This album - Sharing is Caring - only came out in September 2023, but it has gold status for me. If you like Cleo Sol and the Neo Soul genre, this is something for you but honestly everyone should give it a listen :)
Click here to listen!
Weekly recommendation 2
CHICKPEA FLOUR!
Chickpea flour really is revolutionary because you can make tortillas, pancakes, etc. just by combining chickpea flour and water. What can I say, simplicity and tastiness just win me over. For those who wanna get it, LIDL has it.
I made a really nice savoury spinach and corn pancake and let me tell you it was delicious, as you can see here:
Questions for you:
What did I miss in memes this week? Please send screenshots if you want to :)
Which albums would you have chosen, if you could only listen to four albums for two weeks? Send me recommendations :)
What did you do this week? Send pictures, thoughts, and stories, etc. I will read them all :)
Thank you for reading!
This newsletter will hopefully find you again next week and I appreciate you wanting to read this and let me know how you liked it/what you care for :)