Decided to write this one out much earlier than I usual do. As I'm writing this, I'm nearing three hours after my work shift ended. I have not done a session on the Switch yet, but decided to watch an Ashens video while drinking a mug of yerba mate. Sadly, I don't yet have a proper gourd nor bombilla. The yerba mate is also wrapped up in a tea bag instead of being properly loose leaf.
I blame MsMadLemon for getting me hooked on it, partly because she mentioned it during one of her Chillout streams but more so because of her walkthrough on how to properly brew it...
I've working through the other teas that I bought on impulse so that I can make room for the proper stuff in the family pantry. Thankfully, I also still have room for a gourd and bombilla in the kitchen cupboards. I feel like the only trouble I'll run into will be ensuring that the water doesn't boil. Right now, any time that I decide to brew my Americanized batch of yerba mate, I use my Keurig machine because the water's not as hot as it would be coming from the kettle.
I actually remember writing this letter to The Day while drinking a cup of yerba mate. It also helped that I was spurred by Lee Elci, who actually read a part of it on his show* the week after the newspaper published it. In fairness, I was not aware that Elci did have left-leaning guests. However, he took issue with the fact that I said that Bill Maher had conservative guests saying that it would be a three-on-one affair [sic]. I was pleasantly surprised that some regulars—who used to frequent the cafe at my workplace—recognized that I wrote it. One of them still talks politics with me when he sees me. (In retrospect, I do chat about politics with my close friend there so its more likely that he overheard it. Either way, I appreciated it.)
I wrote that letter a few months after the grievance studies affair, when I had a lot more respect for James Lindsay and Peter Bogohossian. I feel that now is not the time to have an in-depth discussion on what it hath wrought until after the US election. If you're in the states, make sure that you're registered to vote and then VOTE! Early? Absentee? On Election Day? Doesn't matter how you do it, what matters is that you do.
That digression aside, the other thing is that I actually stopped reading Quillette in November of 2018 because of the podcast they had with Meghan Murphy. Even if I linked it, what I'll tell you is this: it became a soapbox in which Murphy justified her stance against Trans people.
Also, both that publication, and even myself at the time, forgot that Twitter is a private corporation so the speech banned was not covered by 1st Amendment.
I felt that what I was trying to do in that letter was to reach Elci where he was. There were a few people at work that I also tried to do this with, but ultimately failed when I was the last to know about our breakfast hangouts. In fairness, they were not worth the trouble and I'm much better off for distancing myself from them.
It's past 4 o'clock now so I'll wrap it up before I get carried away. I feel like yerba mate is going to be a writing companion as I slowly move into my 30s.
*Initially leads to my tweet where I link the episode in question along with the time-stamps.
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