Listening to
💥 DJ Premier vs RZA
Along with what seems like everybody who listens to hip hop, I caught up with this 3 hour Instagram live stream and was enthralled throughout. Some audio quality issues aside, this was so so great, and by far the best of the verzuz series so far. Plenty of decent [write-ups with the tracklist](https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip hop/9356624/rza-dj-premier-verzuz-recap) around if you give it a google, but honestly, it’s worth just making the time to sit and play this through as it was broadcast. Round by round, 20-odd times, they both showed why they’re considered in that upper echelon of producers (2 of the top 5 in my book) and practically every track brought a barrage of 🔥🔥🔥🔥 emojis.
Round 11 was the highlight for me – Verbal Intercourse vs Nas Is Like. Both godly.
Fwiw, this was billed as a 'battle’, but as plenty of people have said, the real winner was hip hop. Oh, and RZA. RZA was the winner. Wu-Tang Forever.
Watching
🗣 LeadDev Live
A free online conference from the good people at The Lead Developer. There are a few videos already available and the rest are coming. Lots of coronavirus lockdown inspired remote-working chat, things to help your team through awkward moments like this, and a range of other useful sessions.
The slack chat alongside the presentations was also a good place to be; plenty of gems dropped, including this particular link to Lara Hogan’s “Questions for our first 1:1”, which lists some things to chat about in catch-ups. Reminded me of this mega-list of conversation prompts that is well worth dipping into.
Reading
🔗 That Discomfort You’re Feeling Is Grief
A conversation with David Kessler, “the world’s foremost expert on grief”, about human reactions to living through a pandemic. I found it pretty helpful insofar as it at least confirmed to me that I’m probably not alone in thinking whatever I’m thinking. I mean, obviously that was bound to be true, but still… a lot of this resonated.
Unhealthy anticipatory grief is really anxiety, and that’s the feeling you’re talking about. Our mind begins to show us images. My parents getting sick. We see the worst scenarios. That’s our minds being protective. Our goal is not to ignore those images or to try to make them go away — your mind won’t let you do that and it can be painful to try and force it. The goal is to find balance in the things you’re thinking. If you feel the worst image taking shape, make yourself think of the best image. We all get a little sick and the world continues. Not everyone I love dies. Maybe no one does because we’re all taking the right steps. Neither scenario should be ignored but neither should dominate either.
If we can name it, perhaps we can manage it.
