The future is fear. 💀

This edition: Generational colors, now extinct, foodie Simpsons

I feel like in the last week, I’ve gotten on the struggle bus and haven’t deboarded yet. Anyone else feeling kinda bleh lately? Let’s commiserate together.

Anyway, thankfully I’m feeling better the past few days but only after I kicked myself back into gear. Maybe shed a few tears my frustration.

Have a great week, folks!

—Connie

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Never too young or old: color preferences change with age

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If you ask your grandparents or parents what colors they like, chances are they’ll like neutrals or naturals (similar to neutrals but with a bit more pop!). While I’m in the camp of, “whatever floats your boat”, there seems to be generational distinctions when it comes to color preferences.

Millennials like me? Well, apparently we like energetic shades and “millennial pink”, so aptly named, which covers a range of muted pinks (think more rose gold and less hot pink). Looking at the palette in the article, I can agree those colors are pretty pleasing to my millennial eyes.

But interestingly, I find myself enjoying the lively Gen Z palette too; it’s bright, contrasting, and oh-so-unforgivingly-bold. Just my style, even though I’m not, and don’t claim to be, anything remotely like Gen Z.

Without a paddle(fish): Chinese paddlefish and wild Yangtze sturgeon now extinct

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The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), recently declared these two species extinct (both of which look scary AF to me, not gonna lie); to be more specific, the Chinese paddlefish is completely extinct, while the Yangtze sturgeon is extinct in the wild. If that wasn’t enough, 100% of all sturgeon species are now endangered, as is the iconically brilliant orange-and-black monarch butterfly.

Let’s talk about overfishing for a hot second. As humans, we’ve been exploiting the ocean well before industrial fishing was a thing, possibly as far back as 1000 years ago. And these days, at least 50% of fish consumed worldwide comes from a fish farm—which to me seemed like a pretty good solution, until learning that these farmed fish, carnivorous and “vegetarian” alike, are fed tons and tons of fish meal…made from wild fish. So even farming fish means we’re still taking too much from our waters.

What’s the long-term solution to overfishing? I’m not sure. At least at the individual level and in the short-term, choosing to consume less fish is probably not a bad step. 😬

For realsies: future-proofing fear of the future

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In honor of my recent rising fear of uncertainty, I have to remind myself that being afraid of the future is a very normal, very human experience. And, even though I sometimes feel like I’m not enough, I know by now that I am more than my work and that, even with work stuff, I’m plenty good.

Five years ago, I wrote about my fear of the future. Today, it resurfaces to serve as a reminder that everything’s gonna be okay.

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Fun finds

Everything’s coming up Milhouse with The Simpsons cookbook. Aside from the fact that I love the Simpsons (the older stuff—I haven’t cared to watch much past the 90s), this technically-unofficial cookbook brings us through the waves of nostalgia.

Binging with Babish makes Homer’s “patented space age out-of-this-world moon waffles”. While we’re in the Simpsons foodie vein… Moon waffles are gross but there’s a real recipe afterwards that you can try at home.

How vinyl records are manufactured. No comment other than: now THIS is what I call cool.