Retrograde Recap - Issue #4
news bigger than Taylor Swift's engagement...
Hello friends,
Welcome back to the Retrograde Recap! This is a weekly newsletter where I’m writing down my reflections on the week’s headlines, along with some personal highlights and recommendations. This week, I write about Thailand’s move to allow Myanmar refugees legal work status, Taylor Swift’s engagement, and Cracker Barrel’s logo change.
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THE STATE of THE SPIRAL
A new moon was cresting last week in Virgo.
Virgo season, as I mentioned last week, meant renewal. The new moon, well, is also new. So, it was double new beginning, the best shot to start over. There was nothing else – as far as my tiny understanding of astrology goes – that was special about the planets.
But boi, did a lot happen last week on our planet. Taylor Swift was engaged, which almost broke the internet. There was another school shooting in Minnesota which took the lives of two children. The C.D.C is in shambles as many things are these days. Protests are surging in Indonesia against police brutality and have already claimed three lives. With the exception of Taylor Swift’s engagement, the news cycle was giving the usual spiral than a new energy. But wait…
At Long Last
The most surprising yet fortuitous news that overshadowed even Taylor Swift’s engagement to Travis Kelce has to be Thailand’s move to grant the legal right to work to thousands of Myanmar refugees living in the camps along the two countries’ border. Taylor has been writing songs about wanting to get proposed for about two decades, but Myanmar refugees have been living in these camps for twice that amount of time without being able to leave the camps, access public services, and work to sustain themselves. Refugee rights organizations have been pushing for this to happen for many years. But last week, at long last, there was a “turning point”, a dream come true, and a relief for thousands of refugees who fled the conflict and violence in Myanmar.
As much as we would like to believe the announcement was the fruit of years of advocacy, it’s not quite. Thailand was simply addressing its own problem of labor shortage, caused by a mass exodus of Cambodian migrant workers after a Thai-Cambodia border dispute turned into an open conflict in late July. Thai government numbers estimates that around 400,000 Cambodian workers have left, and the country is welcoming new sources of labor including the Sri Lankans, Nepalis, and Bangladeshis. Nonetheless, for at least 81,000 Myanmar refugees – about half of whom maybe granted the permit under the new scheme – who for decades have had to rely on humanitarian organizations for their basic needs, whose resources were being squeezed tight due to global funding cuts, this was news bigger than Taylor’s 8-10 carat ring. They are finally given a much-deserved chance to start over.
Double New Beginning = Going back to Old?
If anyone didn’t feel the double renewal energy of Virgo new moon, it has to be Cracker Barrel. The country-themed restaurant chain which serves Southern comfort food and has restaurants in 43 states (which I used to love in the four years that I was living in Kentucky) was trying to modernize itself by changing its logo, removing the picture of the man and the barrel and keeping only the text and color from their old logo. This caused a cultural backlash among the conservatives, and the brand was accused of supporting “woke DEI” initiatives. It eventually announced the return to the old logo. Not so much for a new beginning.
What’s special about this event is that something as seemingly insignificant as a restaurant logo change attracted commentary from the President of the United States. As this piece in the Times discussed, there’s a tangible and hands-on attempt to reshape the American society from the Trump administration by weighing in on issues from Cracker Barrel to Sydney Sweeny. Sure, none of us needed to read a commentary to understand that. But what’s striking to me is how much it is working. There’s a palpable shift in the way people are engaging with institutions, with ideas, and with each other. While Cracker Barrel didn’t get the new logo they wanted, it’s an indicator that we are far inside a new reality. And it’s a little crazy.
This week, I was tight on time because of my D.C. trip. There’re a number of threads that I’m currently working on, and I’m excited to write more in-depth pieces for this month. So, stay tuned!
COSMIC COMFORT
Last week, I was in Washington D.C. for a conference. My trip coincided with the annual restaurant week, and I was able to experience some of D.C.’s best restaurants on really good deals. I also went around Virginia where there are a lot of good Korean restaurants. Food-hopping was a major highlight of my trip.
I had a rare chance to experience the Smithsonian Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery at night since it was reserved for the conference’s networking social. I loved many paintings, but the one that drew me in was Martin Johnson Heade’s Jersy Meadows at Sunset. The ethereal evening light and openness of the meadows was just so perfect to me. It introduced a calmness in my body. It was hard to look away. I also liked An Eclogue by Kenyon Cox and Subsiding of the Waters of the Deluge by Thomas Cole.
Looking at some brilliant artworks while it’s blocked off to the public gave me a bit of a euphoric high. It didn’t stem from a relative lack of visitors. The conference crowd was fairly sizable. I believe it was that the context of a private event encourages a tinge of exclusivity and self-importance. At one point, I found myself wandering alone in a gallery room wondering, so this must be what it feels like to have a private collection. I didn’t like that thought. As much as I enjoyed seeing the exhibits, I much prefer public spaces. I would rather be invisible among families, tourists, lovers, and ordinary people connecting with the beauty of art than secluded behind a layer of privilege. But then again, what do I know?
I stumbled upon a coffee roastery that has been around for over 100 years since 1916 called Swing Coffee. It was heaven for my coffee addiction. I had perhaps one of the most delightful, fragrant coffee of my life there.
I was happy to come back home to my happy plants. My Monstera pushed out a new shiny leaf. My jasmine is now free of infections. Yayyy!
An astrology column is predicting “the end of the world” and that “the Pluto out of bounds will burn it all down” in the next decade. So, maybe, save yourself with these tips:
DOs:
visit a museum and stare at an artwork for a long time until you notice the finer details
call a friend whom you haven’t seen in a while and check in on how they are dealing with the state of the spiral
re-listen to Taylor Swift’s old albums (because we can now!)
DON’Ts:
be a loser and hate immigrants and refugees
be selfish and hoard art/wealth/anything just for yourself
have opinions on things that don’t concern you
Until next week – wishing everyone a slowness to appreciate the beauty around you, unanticipated good news, and a tinge of euphoric high …
Much love,
Me Me