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#4! Little Simz!! Chile! Slow (?) Supermarkets!! Minimal Exercise & more

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How To Stay Curious
July 04, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes

Curiosity is the one thing invincible in nature.

- Freya Stark
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She was one of the first non-Arabs known to travel through the southern Arabian Desert in modern times - Wikipedia 

I did a values assessment I guess, last year, and the top value I landed on was family. So this issue is a day late, but in my eyes for the best of reasons in two ways.

My youngest saw me working on this last night and wanted to know what I was doing. And that turned into an hour+ tour of the design of the newsletter, this issues contents, and the exploration of additional questions.

From Chile to the grocery store to chats about Little Simz (the kids know their Little Simz already!) we ended up exploring tectonic plates via Iceland and discussing the Big One on the West Coast.

So I got some quality time with my wee one, and he was full of curiosity, win-win/sorry, not sorry.

Curiously Counting: HTSC #4
This week, the topic is crows, and it’s not a murder.
Crows + 4 = ??? (jump to answer)

WHY…

is Chile so long?

Chile is so long, it's curved. How long is it? Why not longer?
Why is no other country as thin? How does that make Chileans incomprehensible?

I would have thought based on this post and the title of Uncharted Territories, Tomas was all about telling stories with maps, but that’s not the case (although he does so here quite well).
This is a great post on how the physical features of a place can impact so much (and you’ll also learn a theory as to why North America is made up of so few countries).
Why is Chile so long? - via Uncharted Territories 

WHO…

is Little Simz?

There is no one in hip-hip I am hoping for all the best things to happen to and for than Little Simz. The talent this woman possesses is evident via the consistently great releases she’s dropped since 2015 (Discography).

A rare talent with the combo of having something to say, and being able to deliver it in a means worth hearing (on repeat).

Little Simz at Glastonbury 2024: an all-time great UK rapper ascends to headliner status - via NME
&
Little Simz: What you don't know about me - via Harpers Bazaar
&
One of my other fav UK acts, IDLES, with one of my fav albums of the year so far in TANGK, just dropped a Little Simz cover too!
IDLES – “Mood Swings” (Little Simz Cover) - via Stereogum

A: Seth Globepainter / S: Colossal / L: ?

WHERE…

is the farthest city from where you are?

For me it is going to be Perth Australia at 18,594km.
Via https://furthestcity.com/

WHEN…

is slow the goal at a supermarket checkout?

First found at: A Grocery Line Where Slower is Better: Supermarkets Open ‘Chat Checkouts’ to Combat Loneliness Among Elderly - via Good News Network

I went looking for a newer article to see how it was going:

As of early March, Jumbo had more than 125 slow checkouts across the Netherlands and Belgium, a spokesperson for the company wrote in an email. 
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Sometimes innovation means slowing down operations rather than speeding them up. That’s the approach Dutch supermarket operator Jumbo has taken with its Kletskassa — which translates to “chat checkout” in English.

Just like the name suggests, these checkout counters allow customers and cashiers to leisurely chat with each other. 

Jumbo first rolled out the chat checkouts in the summer of 2019 as part of the Dutch government’s campaign to fight loneliness and now positions them, alongside “chat corners” where people can enjoy coffee and small talk, as part of community-building efforts.
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While Jumbo has received a lot of recent press about its initiative, it’s not the only grocer to turn to this type of concept. French supermarket chain Carrefour has a similar concept called Blablabla Caisses, which translates to “Blablabla checkouts.” Canadian grocer Sobeys also has a slow checkout lane at one of its stores. 

Dutch grocer Jumbo embraces a slower checkout option - via Grocery Dive

WHAT…

is the Least Amount of Exercise I Can Get Away With?

This is a question I can get behind!
I am all for the benefits of a healthy lifestyle/exercise/getting fit - but I am not joining a gym.
(My current efforts are based around HIIT workouts and simply trying to be active/MOVE).
There is a lot of advice worth considering in this article:

What’s the Least Amount of Exercise I Can Get Away With? - via Time

Just do SOMETHING. Go for a walk even (I already have issue #7 geared towards all things walking, stay tuned).

Our bodies, even on a cellular level, require movement to thrive and survive.

- The Healthiest Way to Sit at Your Desk – And It Isn’t What You Think - via Pocket

&

Back then, I didn’t know that activity breeds energy.

my experience on starting exercise from zero - via winnielim.org

Getting moving is key…gardening counts! Do something you enjoy, take the stairs, just go, it will get easier.

HOW…

to cope with an Existential Crisis?

This question is one that kind of pushed its own way in, with various threads shared below all presenting themselves almost one after the other. Together there’s 3 great options (pick your battle, appreciate this opportunity, get creative) to move through all that is happening now, and to come; I’m working on finding my own approach with each.

Even a quick search of the term “existential crisis” brings up topics such as wars and conflicts, emerging technology, the erosion of democracy, climate change, and many more. There is evidently much to worry about.

There are a lot of tips in the above article on how to cope, but as noted a few other pieces popped up too.

The next article that followed, Silence, Violence, and the Human Condition offers this step that I’ve seen variations on from many activists of late:
“pick your spots and pick them unapologetically.”
We can’t fix everything, or fight for everyone.
But we can do something. We just have to make the choice that makes the best sense for ourselves first.

Nick Cave’s The Red Hand Files (a newsletter worth subscribing to) also tackles this topic this week in answering these questions: “When you reach midlife and are made to truly pause, frozen in horror by a tidal wave of grief of lives ended, personal loss and our Earth relentlessly harmed….when you look inside for surety and solace and all you see is a multitude of selves… how do you know who you are?” + “What are we doing here?”

…move through life with a joy that is reconciled to the sorrow of things but is not subsumed by it, that apprehends darkness and is not afraid of it. I try to receive some form of salvation in this life by paying witness to, and being lifted by, the great, uncontested value of existence.

- Nick Cave

Arthur C. Brooks proposes: If you have anxiety, or simply want a greater sense of well-being, getting creative is just about the best thing you can do. (via The Atlantic; alt. link)
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One more link that’ll open up a rabbit hole:
Albert Camus on How to Live Whole in a Broken World -via the marginalian

But I’m going to end with another quote from Nick Cave that I’ve been thinking about a lot:

It’s the audacity of the world to continue to be beautiful and continue to be good in times of deep suffering.

- Nick Cave via On Being

Curious Counting: The Solution for #4
Four: That’s how high, a study has shown, crows can count.
I have a minor fascination with crows and love hearing about about new studies or appreciations for their abilities.

“So, crows’ brains can represent different quantities, and crows can quickly learn to match Arabic numerals to those quantities –– something humans usually explicitly teach their children”

Crows can count up to four, a new study finds - via CNN

Until next week - stay curious!
Rob


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