In the club this week: Some ordinary things that we can learn from and enjoy. An original book blog, fashion icons, puzzle thoughts, moons, women crushing it in the business world, and a yellow vibes playlist. Enjoy!

HEAD IN THE SKY

MOON: This Saturday, February 24^th will be a full moon, shining at its peak illumination at 6:30 AM CST. This moon is recognized by several names, the Snow Moon is common, but it can also be called the Quickening Moon, Hunger Moon, Ice Moon, or Storm Moon. Despite the name you favor this full moon marks a time when we should remember to be mindful of our environment and take cues from nature around us. While some areas are still blanketed in snow, some are beginning to see the signs of spring and the earth awakening and transforming around us and we should be ready to do the same. This process does not look the same for everyone so find what process for growth and transformation works for you. We would love to hear about what you are doing to wake up as a more powerful version of yourself.

ASTROLOGY: See what to Letao Wang, an astrologer and spiritual counselor, has to say about what the full moon means for your sign.

FOR STARGAZING: make sure these dates are on your calendar.

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1954: This is wild. Polio plagued post-war America, and on this day seventy years ago, the first mass inoculation against Polio with the Jonas Salk vaccine took place at Arsenal Elementary School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. What fascinated me about this, is that Salk was uninterested in personally profiting from the vaccine. When asked about a patent, he replied, "There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?" Capitalism must have been shaking in its boots.

OTHER THINGS TODAY

We know these days are silly and quite meaningless. However, they are a great way to ground ourselves in something that reminds us of common connections we have against a backdrop of an otherwise curated and echo-chambery media landscape. With that, let’s see what’s on the calendar today…

Skip the Straw Day: Don’t buy the greenwashed products. Go strawless if you can, but if you do desire one, check out Difford’s Guide to the best alternatives to plastic straws. We are not fans of the narrative that places pollution and climate issues on the individual, but we are fans of making easy, everyday choices that encourage other individuals to create a more thoughtful and sustainable collective experience.

Banana Bread Day: This is my go-to for a healthier alternative to classic banana bread. I’ve probably made it 50+ times. But listen, if you have a favorite recipe that is scrumptious and filled with sugar, go ahead and bake that thing. We must allow ourselves such pleasures.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

While not surprising, it is staggering the amount of black stories that were not included in history lessons. I’m not saying anything that has not been said time and time again, but we should consider it our responsibility to not only educate ourselves on what we missed, but also work to ensure that younger generations learn the good, the bad, and the ugly that we didn’t. And, hello, the great. We need to shine light in the areas that have been kept dark to reveal the truly incredible accomplishments made by individuals facing environments and circumstances that most of us could not begin to understand. There is much to learn, and much to celebrate. A good place to start is with this list of barrier-breakers who achieved firsts in arts and entertainment, science and tech, sports and athletics, and politics and government. Sometimes one new piece of information can spark your curiosity and inspire a new appreciation for something or someone. This is exactly what happened with this week’s Hall of Greats honoree, found a bit further into the club letter.

Post-Roe America: Last Friday, the Alabama State Supreme Court made a ruling declaring that frozen embryos are legally regarded as children. According to the ruling, individuals who destroy these embryos could potentially face charges of wrongful death. While the ruling does not explicitly prohibit In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), it poses a significant threat to the ability of both families and medical practitioners to engage in this form of treatment. Certain legislators in Alabama have pledged to safeguard the practice of IVF. However, until such measures are enacted, individuals in anti-abortion Alabama find themselves once more stripped of the ability to determine how they form their families. Read what Kate Ryder, founder and CEO of digital health company, Maven, had to say, here.

Good News: A new report found that the growth of women business owners increased at a rate nearly double that of their male counterparts. The research also revealed that black women are the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs in the U.S. What does this tell us? Well, this study looked at the effect of COVID-19 on the state of businesses, so what I’m taking from it is that women are what we’ve always known: brilliant and resilient as hell.

Making Music History: Beyoncé became the first black woman to reach No. 1 on the country chart with ‘Texas Hold ‘Em'.' We wouldn’t want it any other way.

Israel and Gaza: Today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unveiled a plan for Gaza’s future post-Hamas, which includes the “complete demilitarization” of the enclave, closing off the territory’s southern border with Egypt, as well as the overhaul of Gaza’s civil administration and education systems. The plan also stipulates that UNRWA, the main aid organization in the Gaza Strip, must be closed.

As a “next-generation” media company, we are committed to contributing to a rise in global consciousness, which means we will not shy away from sharing information that aligns with the need to increase a human-centered awareness of what is going on in the world.

WORD

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ARTIST

SOMETHING TO DO: Does anyone still receive the paper? I’m honestly curious. When did we stop receiving the paper? It’s one of those things I feel happened slowly, but also all at once. Something we're trying to channel with The Ozuree is the feeling of being able to sit down with a morning paper, enjoy a variety of content, and oh… what’s that? a crossword puzzle? That’s right, my “what are we doing as a society” spiral of the week started with the simple idea that we no longer have regular crossword puzzles delivered right to our doorsteps. Oversimplification? Sure. But there’s something to it. My grandparents have completed the crossword puzzle in every paper they’ve received for as long as I’ve known them (my whole life) and they’re two of the sharpest, smartest, and well-spoken individuals I know. This is what we call correlation, not causation, but science has my back when it comes to the fact that doing crossword puzzles improves vocabulary, memory, cognitive functioning, problem-solving skills, and can even help relieve stress. And of course, there are apps and websites. The problem is not that the option to do the puzzles went away, but that in a time where the entire internet is at our fingertips and each app and every possible outlet are battling for our attention, we lack the encouragement from any of these sources to indulge in the slow simplicity of pausing and allowing a simple crossword puzzle to be a valuable part of our daily or weekly routines. With that said, something like the New York Time’s mini crossword is a good place to start in getting the benefits of the puzzle itself, but I’m not giving up on bringing back the classic pen-to-paper of it all.

SOMETHING TO CONSIDER: Our living spaces. Having a place to call home is a luxury. Wherever that may be for you, it is worth considering how the items, colors, energies, and other things in your home are making you feel. I enjoyed this article by Ingrid Fetell Lee, touching on the elements that make for a “feelgood home.” We’re not talking about expensive home-improvement projects, but rather a reflection on the purpose of your home in providing comfort, functionality, and support to you and your lifestyle. There are many free and low-cost changes to make if you ever feel like your spaces are out of sync with how you want to feel when you’re in them.

SOMETHING TO SHOP: I stumbled on this shop through Pinterest and I’m so glad I did. I’m not entirely sure where I’ll be putting my new “Eve Was Framed” patch, but I’ll find a spot. Let me know if you have suggestions, and in the meantime, check out the rest of these handmade products (socks, totes, pouches) from Patch Ya Later.

We’re very excited to have our friend, Madi, sharing her thoughts and ideas on books with The Ozuree. Do yourself a favor and head over to her dedicated space to read all about it!

FOUNDERS’ NOTES

I happen to be swept up in one of the books that my good friend Madi mentioned in her spot last week. I am, in fact, reading Manacled. I have a habit of putting off the books I want to read most. I think it might be for the delayed gratification of finally allowing myself to do something that I have wanted for a long time, but I also think that I just hate the idea of it being over. I find myself not finishing TV shows because of this, but we don’t have time to unpack all of that.

I have been a fan of Harry Potter for a long time. Admittedly I watched all of the movies before I read the books, and I didn’t even watch the movies until the last one came out. I grew up in a family that did not really stay up to date on pop culture. We didn’t have cable so I wasn’t watching the TV shows that were popular and I didn’t have friends with similar interests as me, so I wasn’t hearing about what books to read, I went to an extremely small school that had all of a closet they called a library. To this day I don’t even know how people my age were aware that these things existed. I started catching bits and pieces of the movies on tv channels here and there that prompted me to go buy all the movies. Once I was thoroughly obsessed with the movies, I bought all the books and read them in college. Now I drag my family to the Harry Potter store in New York every time we are there and I am one of those insufferable people who will point out every inconsistency between the books and the movies if you dare to watch them with me.

I have been hearing about Manacled for forever. At the beginning I felt weird about fan-fics because I didn’t want it to change the way I felt about the story. But ultimately, I have always loved the idea of “Dramione”. I think that in part this can be attributed to the story, but I think another part of this popular idea of having Draco and Hermione be together stems from the actors that played the parts in the movies having love for each other in real life. I think something like that is hard to hide even in acting, we can see it, we pick up on those things even if we don’t realize that we are. Whatever the reason is, if you have ever given the idea even the time of day, I don’t think there is any going back. Once I started to go there and decided I wanted to read it, you guessed it, I put it off. Recently I have been avoiding reading another book and decided I would read Manacled in the meantime. Madi was not lying when she told you guys it was the most beautiful story. It’s not a feel-good book. It’s got some pretty dark and messed up stuff happening, so head the trigger warnings, but SenLinYu is an artist. I have not finished the book yet; I am about 80 percent through it according to my kindle and for me I think that’s the point where I can no longer read it in public. I have been taking it when I go to physical therapy and other spots where I know I can or may have time to read, but it’s starting to cause true emotional distress. So, to those of you that see me at my weekly appointments just know, if you see me crying in the waiting room, it was because I could not leave this book at home, and I should not be approached about it.

What I’m reading this week: I am simultaneously working on Ninth House, which was a Christmas gift from my sister to help me expand out of my nonfiction confines, and The Creative Act: A Way of Being. I usually have multiple books going at once, so I have something that provides a bit of escapism and something that helps me grow intellectually, creatively, or just prompts the exploration of a new topic, which is something I love to do.

What I’m watching… when I have time: I have started the show Fleabag. The reasons are twofold: One, Phoebe Waller-Bridge is incredibly talented. Two, I saw one too many clips/photos of Andrew Scott in character as the priest. I will not be elaborating.

Been thinking about: This NPR interview with Kyle Chayka on algorithms flatten our culture and take agency from us when it comes to how we experience media.

“What I worry about is the passivity of consumption that we've been pushed into, the ways that we're encouraged not to think about the culture we're consuming, to not go deeper and not follow our own inclinations.” -Kyle Chayka

Sometimes I hear Noam Chomsky in my head:

Ann Lowe: If you’ve never heard of this icon, welcome to the world of Ann Lowe, a trailblazing fashion maven whose exquisite designs have left an indelible mark on the world of couture. Born in 1898, Ann defied societal norms to pursue her passion for fashion, ultimately becoming the first African American designer to achieve international acclaim. Ann's creations graced the wardrobes of elite clientele, including high-profile figures like Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, whose wedding dress was designed and made by Lowe.

This New Yorker piece is a sit-down kind of read, but the story is worth it and the photos are stunning.

If you have 8 minutes, here is a short news spot on her legacy and the exhibit where some of her creations are showcased.

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Using Pantone’s Minion Yellow, a color that is supposedly happy. supposed to make you happy..? something happy. 

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xx C&C