Jon Tan

"Most simply stated, our usual way of listening overlooks or rejects the otherness of the other. We rarely listen to what makes a story as told by another person unique, specific to that person alone; we quickly assimilate it to other stories that we have heard others tell about themselves or that we could tell about ourselves, overlooking the differences between the story being told and the ones with which we are already familiar. We rush to gloss over the differences and make the stories similar if not identical. In our haste to identify with the other, to have something in common with him, we forcibly equate stories that are often incommensurate, reducing what we are hearing to what we already know.1 What we find most difficult to hear is what is utterly new and different: thoughts, experiences, and emotions that are quite foreign to our own and even to any we have thus far learned about."

a tweet by Francis Fukuyama (yes) dated 10/11/18, reading "Just passed a house with a child's skeleton as a Halloween decoration. People should realize these are not cute; when you see one in reality it is at minimum a human tragedy and at worst a #WarCrimes"

missed the anniversary of this by one day, sorry, but still

YouTube video by Hiromi Official Channel Hiromi’s Sonicwonder - Balloon Pop (Official Audio)

nice one www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7MA...

People bristle when I say this, but:

It's horrific that at a time of ascendant fascism (driven largely by criminalization), Zohran Mamdani is committed to following through on NYC's 2019 plan to spend $16 billion (a pre-tariff pricetag that's unrealistically low) on building *JAILS* throughout NYC.

8. after evil, robert meister

made a mix of some of my favorite songs. best listened to in the dark of night. includes reggae, jazz, beverly glenn-copeland, etc. please give it a listen.

www.mixcloud.com/yljt/night-m...

7. four lessons of psychoanalysis, moustafa safouan

6. on the sovereignty of mothers, gil anidjar

underwhelming and questionable w/r/t its thinking about the slave, but the slow pace of the writing allowed me to free associate about mothering, so at least there's that

5. the three theban plays, sophocles (translated by fagles)

shame on lew-williams for laundering the image of a genocidal state by accepting the dan david award

pastandfuturepresents.blogspot.com/2023/03/no-p...

made a good fried rice today. that counts for something

4. fundamentals of psychoanalytic technique, bruce fink

"Most simply stated, our usual way of listening overlooks or rejects the otherness of the other. We rarely listen to what makes a story as told by another person unique, specific to that person alone; we quickly assimilate it to other stories that we have heard others tell about themselves or that we could tell about ourselves, overlooking the differences between the story being told and the ones with which we are already familiar. We rush to gloss over the differences and make the stories similar if not identical. In our haste to identify with the other, to have something in common with him, we forcibly equate stories that are often incommensurate, reducing what we are hearing to what we already know.1 What we find most difficult to hear is what is utterly new and different: thoughts, experiences, and emotions that are quite foreign to our own and even to any we have thus far learned about."

yesterday i wrote about the world i've lived in since long covid changed everything a year and a half ago. we're all in this new world together whether we accept it or not

jamietommins.substack.com/p/the-new-wo...

“1914 but without even the illusion of 1914. All slipping consciously into a pit.”

3. stay true, hua hsu

An unmasked man sat next to me (masked) and said “are you feeling okay or just preventing illness?” To which I replied “I feel fine but what difference does it make if you’re not wearing a mask?” He said he’d throw one on if I said I was unwell (he didn’t have one), this rationale is lost on me.

2. the savage detectives, roberto bolaño

1. creation lake, rachel kushner

thread of books read in 2025

pozole rojo

sometimes, when people say "i can't imagine what you are going through" i want to reply: well, just try. try to imagine what i might want from you

the bar is so low

i have been/will be regarded - not in all circumstances, bless the good listeners - as a hysteric for trying to speak about the presence of death and suffering in life

it still feels very difficult to speak about my disability from long covid and being excluded - in a hostile manner - from public life

YouTube video by Rick Beato The Keith Jarrett Interview

"i come in here and doodle around, i have to call it doodling"

youtu.be/xgL30jDhoQU?...

Nice one 😎 that’s one cool customer

Going to solve 100 chess puzzles on my commute home

Steve Jobs? More like Steve can’t do any jobs, because he’s dead!