✡︎ עם ישראל חי ✡︎

The wise anon.

The wicked anon.

The simple anon.

#2: "hi [professor], hope you're doing well! unfortunately, I'm [sick/stuck at work/dead] and won't be able to submit [assignment] by [due date]. could I please have an extension? if not, is there anything else I could do to make up this credit? thanks so much, [op]"

The FIRST SENTENCE is the thing you want the recipient to do. Do not make them guess.

I want to let you know about ... (This email is to inform someone of something not to ask them to do anything)

Could you please do ... (This is a request. You want them to do something).

I'm looking into x and wondering if you can help me (this is also a request but for information instead of an action).

People do not want to read an email and even if they do read it, most people are skimming and not interested. Tell them what you want first, then provide context or other information (when you need a thing is often key). If the email is informational, you can even add "you don't need to do anything, this is just to keep you informed!" People will appreciate not having to figure out what you want from them.

If you can't articulate what you want the recipient to do with the message, you are not ready to email them. I read too many emails where I have no idea what the person wants from me.

I’m in my mid-thirties and I have never had sex. I’ve thought about it and could have had one or two opportunities if I put in more effort, but I always decided against it because I just wasn’t into it at the time.

I can safely say that I do not feel I have missed out on anything. I was perfectly capable, by myself, of learning about my own body and boundaries without anyone else there to muddy the waters. The immense pressure that was there in my teens/twenties to Have Sex Just Do It is basically gone. I’m vibing. I’ve got my routine by myself in bed that I enjoy, and that’s enough for me.

And in the unlikely event that I ever decide to have sex with someone in the future, I don’t feel at all like I’m lacking some essential Knowledge or Skill that would “make it good” for someone else. I fully expect to ask my partner out loud what they like and to receive an answer clearly communicated and to relax and have fun. And if it’s a disappointing experience, I’m fine with that too. It is what it is.

This means:

If you draw a hard line between "drug" and "medicine" based on current legality where you live (or any other criteria) you've gone wrong somewhere,

If you think legality and/or prescription status tells you all you need about a substance's capacity to do massive harm to someone's body, mind or well-being you've gone wrong somewhere,

If you think legality and/or prescription status tells you all you need about a substance's capacity to contribute meaningfully to someone's healing, function or happiness you've gone wrong somewhere,

And something I've noticed recently is that the attitudes of progressives today regarding Jews in media and art is very reminiscent of the Soviet era, where Jewish participation in art and culture was praised as long as it wasn't actually Jewish.

Jewish actors are allowed to be loved as long as they never talk about being Jewish or only turn it into a punchline, like in Friends. Jewish writers and directors are allowed to be in the writing room as long as they don't make the show or movie too Jewish. Jewish comic artists are loved for their works and allowed to make their characters Jewish. . . as long as it's as a metaphor that can later be erased or twisted into something Christian.

I've noticed this very strongly in the reception to s2 of The Pitt; Noah Wyle was praised for including the Shema and having Robby wear a Magen David in s1, but in s2 where Robby is more openly Jewish in a way that isn't gifable or aesthetic or fascinating to a gentile audience, suddenly Robby is the evil villain and Noah Wyle is a baby killing evil Zionist and the show is just Israeli propaganda. Because Robby's Jewishness is no longer something that the fandom can ignore or turn into an aesthetic, it's front and center, it's something he openly talks about, he has a synagogue and a denomination and a complicated relationship with Judaism that doesn't fit into Christian ideas of religious trauma.