A quarter-year update

I'm going to try out using this space for regular monthly updates and essay stubs, in addition to posting fully-fledged essays.

It’s springtime. Gaia breathes freely again, no longer choked by snow. I’m in Toronto right now, and the streets are covered with what look like AI-generated trees. They’re all slightly too vivid, too intricate.

I’m going to try posting more logistical life updates more regularly, inspired by Andy Jones and Ben Mann. I’ve derived so much pleasure reading about the minutiae of their lives. This mode of writing also captures one of my favorite aspects of friendship: getting to accompany someone, and listen to their observations of their own way of moving through and encountering the world.

Life updates

1. I started a new company, Trellis, with Danish Shabbir, which I plan to work on for a very, very long time. I’d love to hire someone to lead growth with me very soon. I’m feeling deeply excited; there is a lot of work ahead, but I believe with my entire soul that this will be a generational, world-changing company. You should join us!

2. I’m organizing a Montreal retreat June 29 - July 8 for Trellis folks, Verses contributors, and 100+ of my friends (at least there are that many of us in the OG signal chat — don’t worry, I’ve hired two friends to run operations). If you’d like to come, join this Discord. Those dates overlap with the second largest international jazz festival in the world, a street circus festival, and my birthday! It’ll be life-changing, I promise. We’ll be organizing lots of gatherings, hackathons, and get-togethers. Plus, Montreal during the summer is the best city on the planet. Come and fall in love.

Experiments and experiences

1. I’ve been travelling a lot! Toronto, Edmonton, Washington DC, and a few weeks in New York. I am going to sign my first lease and stop travelling cold turkey.

2. I’ve been going on a lot of first dates. I went on the best first date of my life a few weeks ago in NYC, where we meandered through art galleries and bookstores and boba shops, and made a dozen friends out of strangers we encountered on the street. We ended the night at Book Club, a lovely bookstore that also doubles as a bar and event venue. There was a trivia night happening, and we happened to join the winning team, which included a retired literature professor, a pair of couples I expect I’ll be friends with for a long time to come.

3. I gave my first proper conference talk at Causal Islands 2023. I’m super proud to have been featured alongside the rest of the speakers - it was a super interesting group of folks. It’s just 15 min, and you can watch the recording here. I highly recommend Chia Amisola’s talk which is immediately after about the Creation Myths of Computing. It is the most poetic talk I’ve ever attended.

Writing work

1. I’m looking to place an almost-finished piece on digital phenomenology / worlds / home-building / cosmotechnics at some magazine. Logic Magazine initially accepted it but then said it was insufficiently focused on technology, but I can’t modify it. It’s very philosophical. Let me know if you have recommendations.

2. I’m writing a piece on the digital epistemic commons for Trellis’ magazine, BLOOM.

Consumption

1. Read/reading:

   1. Look at the Lights, My Love by the Nobel Prize-winning author Annie Erneaux. It’s a series of observations about supermarkets, which I adore. I love nonfiction that feels like observing the world together with really smart people.

   2. Tough Enough. This covers the lives of some women who have comprised some of the most fundamental parts of my intellectual bedrock: Hannah Arendt, Susan Sontag, Simone Weil, and Joan Didion.

   3. Two Cheers for Anarchism by James C. Scott - I had heard about this book but didn’t realize it was by Scott. I’m reading lots of Kimmerer, Scott, Graeber, Le Guin — please send me recs for anarchism (I’m interested in both political anarchism and relationship anarchism).

2. I watched Hamilton for the first time, which was a wonderful experience!

3. I put together a playlist of my favourite songs here, and would love to listen to yours (preferably annotated as to what you love about individual songs and particular portions you love!) if you’d like to share.

Creation:

1. I did a series of portraits while in NYC, just holed up in a cafe and asked friends to come by who I wanted to draw. I’m proudest of my portrait of Priya, which took me ~70 minutes!

What my life is missing:

1. I’m looking for a lease - either 1 or 2 bedroom - in SF for 9-12 months in Hayes or NoPa.

2. I’m actively looking for a life partner. If you’d like to see my draft dating doc, let me know! Or just introduce me to lovely people, ideally in SF.Looking for a healthy food subscriptions in SF, as well as a personal trainer focused on bodybuilding/bikini competitions, and nutritionist. I am looking to lose 25-30 pounds of fat by the end of this year, which I gained over the last year as a result of depressive eating.

3. Looking for classes in massage, silversmithing, and writing based out of SF.

4. A keyboard + speakers - if you have a high quality keyboard, like a Kawai ES920, I’d love to buy it off of you.

5. I want to buy 2-bedroom apartments, one in Mile End in Montreal, one in West Village in NYC. NYC is the only city in North America that can match my tempo. I feel a deep sense of comfort that there is always someone awake at the same time I am. Please send me leads!

6. I’m interested in speaking at more conferences; it seems like a great way to recruit people and make new friends. Please send me CFPs to interesting conferences, and ask me to speak. Prioritizing paid opportunities, and happy to travel. I can speak about Trellis (more broadly, education x AI), Verses (more broadly, creative participatory software / pluriversality / interdependence), iiicorporate governance, and various flavors of philosophy.

7. I’ve been trying to speak more French, and plan to pick up Mandarin again quite soon. I’m functional in both languages but not fluent. Hit me up to form French and Mandarin-speaking social groups in San Francisco while I’m there the next year please! (I’m searching for a lease but afraid of becoming a monolingual tech bro). I’m really excited by this new language learning software based off of the demo.

May your next month be meaningful,

Jasmine