Odessa’s Oddities & Curiosities | Week of 3/25/2024

Dear friends,

Many apologies for the two-week gap in newsletters. I did thoroughly intend to write during break, but you know what…I needed the break. I’m scheming about how I deliver three weeks of content in the form of a newsletter that is not incorrigibly long…I think I’ll break it into sections. Feel free to skip around to the sections that interest you most.

Travel Update

In recap, I traveled from New York (where I visited Maya and Isaac) to Madrid (smooth red-eye! windy city, visited delightful speakeasy with Ava & Abe, Prado Museum! National Archeological Museum!), to Toledo (feels a bit like Jerusalem, 2/4 remaining synagogues in Spain, Torture Museum) to Granada (fulfilling dream of visiting Alhambra since AP Art History senior year of high school) to Seville (visiting Elena on study abroad + her family + Olivia + Tetsu + Jeremy + Molly) to Tangier (note: don’t visit during Ramadan, gorgeous winding streets of Kasbah) to Málaga (unexpected favorite, thrifting, Picasso Museum) to Córdoba (Mosque! Home of Maimonides! Jazz Cafe!) and back to Madrid (the best dinner over the best tacos with Sarai). You can see photos of my trip on my Instagram.

My Jewish Pirate research was not as fruitful as I imagined — I did enjoy bewildering most of our tour guides by telling them about my project.

Also, huge shoutout to Ava who was the most wonderful fellow traveler ❤️ 

Also, Spanish food sucked! If the tapas didn’t have pork (which I don’t eat), they had shrimp (to which I’m allergic), they had dairy (to which I’m intolerant). Ava and I avoided Spanish cuisine at all costs — to be fair, the Spanish cuisine is predicated on exposing Crypto-Jews. Although, the fresh plums and strawberries were delightful!

Podcasts

Some of you may remember that I recommended a 99% Invisible episode a while back about the city of Chicago. Here’s part two: Roman giving an audio tour of Santa Fe.

There is also this just superb episode of The Ezra Klein Show where he interviews Marilynne Robinson.

I’m also recommending this other 99% Invisible episode on the history of Proposition 65 in California…which warns you boldly that certain chemicals are known to cause cancer (which I always mainly notice at Starbucks). The episode follows the history of how the proposition was passed with the help of a celebrity caravan and how it helped standardize the impact of the environmental movement. But then the episode dives into the consequences…excellent mix of depth & breadth.

Chuck Schumer’s moral courage in calling out Netanyahu!! Covered in The Daily!

Freakonomics is starting a fabulous series on the history of the immigration system — highlights ancient Jewish immigration! I also loved the interview with Madeline Albright.

And this episode on the history of the sports bra (and the fascinating physics of boobs)!!

And this episode on the Tootsie Shot from Decoder Ring!

And Reply All’s two-part series Exit & Return (recommended to me by Elijah!)

And this crazy story about the National Association of Realtors!

Articles

I also recommend this really touching and brutally honest essay about brain cancer and a new lease on life. Also, this phenomenal multi-modal article on how wordplay functions in sign language. And this article exploring how trash lives and moves in the peripheries of New York City, which lacks a proper trash placement protocol. And this incredible strategy to combat homelessness in Paris.

Film/Television

The new season of Love is Blind came out a couple of weeks ago, and I’ve held off on binging it till Spring Break. Love is Blind is my favorite reality TV show…by far. For me, it’s not about the drama — I find the drama stressful. But the fly on the wall capacity to be in other people’s lives…fascinating. I think the experiment is not really if love is blind..it’s not. But how frequently do mental and physical attraction overlap. You see having Netflix on my phone is a dangerous game. Because I’ve started watching the show everywhere, between sets at the gym, in the laundry room…

I had the honor of showing Ava Casablanca for the first time when we were in Morocco, and goddamn, that film is so brilliant! Here’s looking at you, kid!

Art

I went to ~13 museums (not counting palaces/ruins) in Spain/Morocco. I wanted to collect some art highlights for all of you. My favorite museum was actually the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum — well laid-out, incredible modern art collection, good size! I sat for a long while in front of their Rothko, feeling it pulse before my eyes. Not sure if that’s because I had a fever or I’m an adult now…regardless, I think I get the hype now.

Some more works that took my breath away:

A World by Ángeles Santos

Greenwood Lake by Jasper Francis Cropsey

I was really into Sonia Delaunay (born in Odessa!) — particularly Simultaneous Contrasts

Express by Robert Rauschenberg

Ophelia In the Forest by Antonio Muñoz Degrain

Music

Neil Young is back on Spotify. I spent all day in Málaga walking to the tune of the Neil Young Radio playlist on Spotify. I was reminded of an old favorite: Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay”…Max taught me that the song was actually unfinished according to Redding, but he died in a plane crash before finishing it. From a little Wikipedia research, I learned he was actually inspired by sitting in a houseboat in Sausalito!

Also, Hozier’s new EP! So brilliant

And Olivia Rodrigo’s deluxe album! Special shoutout to “so american”!

Books

I’ve always been a reader. I love to read (sometimes more than anything else), especially when I have a good world to dissolve into. The past five days, I have been completely and absolutely (yes, the two adverbs were necessary) subsumed by this fantasy series called Spark of the Everflame. Even though I should have been jetlagged, I was up till 4 in the morning in agony because of this book. I could not stop. I could not sleep. I have read nearly 2000 pages of this series since last Wednesday. The fourth book comes out June 1st — the wait will be agonizing. If I’m not responding to your texts, know I’m reading.

Curious Kernels

Did you know that surgeons of the Medieval European era were generally barbers? The red & white stripes on the barber pole representing bloodletting. Abe taught me this fascinating historical nugget while we were in Toledo.

I walked by a lemonade stand the other day, and I was tickled to find that they only had a printed Venmo QR code — no cash. I felt old.

I’ve really upped my popcorn game these last few weeks. For Hannukah, Aunt Elena gave me a silicon popcorn maker (like what Glamma uses). For a while, I was sticking to the basic with just kernels and salt, but I went on a little Amazon shopping spree and bought popcorn butter/oil and all these different seasonings and now my popcorn is next-level. But my gums are not pleased with all these new kernels.

One of my new favorite words is agglomeration — thank you hierarchical clustering lectures <3

Many of you have heard me rage about how little the Yale administration funds YCK (the student-run soup kitchen)…a couple weeks ago, I got to express that rage to a reporter (along with my co-heads). Written up here! Hopefully, the article will lead to change!

And Yale defeats Auburn in March Madness!!! Gosh, what a rush!!!

Happy belated 21st birthday to Athena!! Soul sister ❤️

With love & curiosity,

Odessa