Best Recs #1

A new monthly addition to this newsletter

Who needs another person on Substack offering recommendations about what to watch, listen to, or read?

No-one.

There are countless publications already doing this and doing it really well. But when I first started this newsletter in late 2023, I offered a light-hearted weekly summary of things that I had enjoyed in the form of Friday Treats.

Yet Friday Treats only lasted five weeks before I called time. Why?

That decision was made purely because of my own insecurities. I had succumbed to what I now loosely call the Substack gaze; where I became overly preoccupied with how my recommendations were perceived by others¹. Hence, I began to feel increasingly insecure about what I was doing. I was overthinking things, basically. And the arch-nemesis of creativity is overthinking.

Ridiculous really. This newsletter is a personal blog, it’s not as though I am providing think pieces about current events, or some critical analysis of the meaning behind a Taylor Swift song.

So, I have decided to bring Friday Treats back, albeit in a different format. Again, why?

Besides the fact that I liked the process of compiling the recommendations, I loved reading the comments where readers shared their own. And this brings me to a related point in that while I enjoy reading recommendations from writers with well-established audiences, the longer that I am here on Substack, the more I want to read a more diverse range of publications from around the world. Life is far more interesting that way.

So, welcome to Best Recommendations (or Best Recs). Here, I will be sharing a monthly post with similar Friday Treats vibes consisting of some music, TV/film/podcasts, and reading recs. There will probably be some other random stuff thrown in for good measure too.

If this interests you, wonderful! But if not, I will continue to share the type of posts that you will be familiar with here on TBOI.

And if there is something that you would like to share, please let me know in the comments!

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Reading/Watching/Listening

• As someone who is leaning into their own millennial hobby energy, I enjoyed this post about sketching.

• Following one of the most brilliant champions of hyping yourself here and beyond, Lucy Werner. Recently, Lucy lost her entire Substack publication after deleting her podcast page (Substack, seriously, how can that happen?) and she’s now rebuilding her newsletter from the ground up. But as Lucy states in this post about Hype Yourself 2.0: “But I’ll make it better. One day at a time. One post at a time.”

• This post on iron deficiency in women. A doctor once said to me that they thought I had an iron deficiency based on my skin pallor. I was skeptical. You can base this just on looking at me? Anyway, after a blood test to check amongst other things my levels of ferritin, my levels were considerably lower than average. Since then, I have been taking iron supplements (Spatone), and generally feel much less tired! Also, this case study highlights some of the links between drinking green tea and iron deficiencies for one woman. Less green tea and more Guinness perhaps?

• ❤️ David Attenborough. I still have my copy of the book The Trials of Life that accompanied the 1990 BBC TV series. I vividly remember watching the incredible footage where Orcas ‘played with their prey’. I hope that Attenborough’s recent film Ocean is released in cinemas in Hong Kong.

• And staying on an environmental theme. This piece on Substack about Bezos, Amazon and Cannes. Discovering posts like this reminds me that the Notes function on Substack can be great at reading more from unfamiliar voices.

• I find AI equally fascinating and terrifying. This post about how North Korea stole your job makes some interesting and uncomfortable reading.

• Lately, I have noticed an uptick in the amount of spam that I have been receiving. During the pandemic, it was mostly text messages and occasionally, I had a bit of fun by sending ridiculous responses until the sender blocked me. Jokes on you! Now, it’s annoying junk calls and emails. This article explores the ‘Hello Pervert Sextortion Scam’.

• And a happier story to end on. My husband and I went to see The Killers in 2018, right here in Hong Kong. It was, hands-down, my favourite gig with my husband saying something similar (and he has seen the Rolling Stones), so it was great to see Brandon Flowers honoured at this year’s Ivor Novello awards.

Alright, that’s probably enough for the first edition. See you next month for Best Recs #2!

Hi, I’m Sarah! The Best of Intentions is an independent publication about Hong Kong, travel, work, culture, health/fitness, along with a sprinkle of psychology. If you like this post, consider liking or sharing it. If you are a regular reader please consider subscribing to receive updates and support my writing.

1. Can also occur when using Notes, but not isolated to Substack.