PMS, Boston Dynamics' new robot, Ripley's ridiculous wig, and what to check out this weekend <3
What to be culturally aware of this week..
Hi everyone! I want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has subscribed and to all of you who have been reading every week. It means a lot and makes me feel like I’m doing something right lol.
I have been aiming to publish a blog every Friday with the occasional one throughout the week although I would prefer to write one every day but that’s not possible at the moment. I have a full-time job and other commitments and this week has been busy so I’m afraid this blog isn’t to the standard that I’d hope it would be.
Regardless, I wanted to get something published today. Next week’s post will be better.
Thanks again + I hope you all have a great weekend!
A conversation about PMS
I am currently in the process of trying to find treatment for my PMS symptoms, which is proving to be harder than anticipated.
Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) is a term that is used to define the plethora of side effects that women experience in the weeks leading up to their period, also known as the luteal phase.
I’ve always had a difficult time with PMS but it has become more noticeable now I’m in the working world and no longer a student as I try to stay more consistent in my professional life. That applies to everything, including being able to write this blog consistently.
It can be scary because I know that when my estrogen levels drop every month, I’ll become essentially a different person for five days and my behaviour can be quite irrational. This can be hard to explain to people around me and I often make excuses to explain my low mood such as being sick.
I’m not alone in this, 3 in 4 women experience PMS symptoms to some degree. My symptoms tend to be more mental than physical but they’re all just a massive nuisance.
I love being a woman, but this is the one thing I wish was different - I wish I could be more like a man in this sense. A man’s cycle is 24 hours rather than monthly - meaning they are more consistent. I strongly believe this can impact a woman’s experience in the workplace as I see it happening to myself.
This is what has influenced me to find help. I want a great career and that comes with consistent hard work, which is proving to be difficult for me for reasons that are out of my control.
However, I’ve been disappointed with the options available to me.
I had a doctor’s appointment recently and I was offered either anti-depressants or the contraceptive pill. I’m happy and do not need anti-depressants so I immediately said no to this because it’s ridiculous. That leaves me with one option. One.
Records of women experiencing PMS date back to Ancient Greece where Hippocrates, often dubbed the father of medicine, documented symptoms such as mood swings, cramping, and irritability in women.
Yet, there is such a dire lack of research into how to treat women for PMS that I’m left with one option - something that I’m reluctant to take as I don’t like synthetic hormones.
Another reality is that if we lived in a matriarchy, our culture would be more open to working with the female cycle. I can work just as hard and be just as productive as my male counterparts, I just do most of this work over 3 weeks of the month, needing to take a more relaxed week because I’m experiencing a very real drop in hormones that makes me behave differently.
I have considered whether opening up about this is too much information and whether it’s something that I should keep to myself so as not to be seen differently by people in my professional sphere but I also see the value in talking about it. Like I said, 3 in 4 women experience this to some degree. We just can’t talk about it.
Don’t be scared!
Boston Dynamics unveils it’s new humanoid robot
Boston Dynamics is the world’s leading humanoid robot company and this week they unveiled the new generation of their Atlas model. I’ve been following their progress for over a year since discovering the video of their now-retired, Atlas robot. The previous model of Atlas worked using hydraulics and could jump, run, perform front flips, throw heavy items, carry them, and jump with them. The video that took the internet by storm in January 2023 showed the robot performing all of these actions with such success that many suspected it wasn’t real.
This is the video with 8.9million views on YouTube :
Now they’ve unveiled a new Atlas robot, just 15 months later, which is fully electric and far more aesthetically ‘human,’ putting the previous model into retirement. The company, as reflected in its name and logo, aims to create a dynamic robot that can walk with legs for ultimate mobility. Again, the unveiling video looks like an AI-generated clip because we have never seen anything like this before but they are commercially available to purchase and use. They aim to push the boundaries by creating humanoid robotics for workplace use. Hyundai is currently the first investor for the Atlas model, aiming to put the humanoid to work, allowing Boston Dynamics to test out the robot in various settings, saying they want to see it being used “in the lab, in the factory, and in our lives.”
I’m looking forward to seeing more video content of Atlas which I’m sure will be coming soon.
The new robot was announced on Wednesday and has already amassed over 2.5 million views on YouTube:
“‘Like a stray Bee Gee!’ Does Andrew Scott’s Ripley have the worst wig in TV history?” - Great headline, but that’s not the point
*Spoiler Alert*
For those of you who have finished watching Ripley, you will likely have also laughed out loud when shown Tom Ripley’s ridiculous disguise. In an article published this week, Stuart Heritage said it “threatened to undermine the entire series,” I disagree.
The whole point of the show is to paint Ripley as a chancer, to show how he shamelessly gets away with everything while everyone else asks all the wrong questions. There are countless moments when he is almost caught, where he takes a risk and somehow talks his way out of it or goes unnoticed.
The wig is insane and the filmmakers tease us by showing him buying the wig and cutting it but holding off on showing it to us, it’s a jumpscare. However, the fact that it’s ridiculous is what makes it realistic. He only has a couple of hours to find a disguise after finding out the inspector is coming to see him, it was never going to be good. If he managed to pull off a disguise so compelling that even the audience struggled to recognise him, it would not create the same frustration with the inspector. However, the show leaves the viewer in bewilderment every time he evades being caught, this moment included. But I think that is the whole point. We’re meant to think: “There’s no way that just worked.”
Something to watch, something to read, something to listen to:
Something to watch (look at):
My colleagues and I shared our Instagram archives over dinner this week, it was so funny. The stuff we choose to archive is so revealing - all those phases we’ve been through, what we were like at school and university. I’d recommend doing this over a drink. To take things a step further, you could look at each other’s old Instagram bios. You can find these by going to your Account History. Unbelievably cringe.
Something to read:
I saw someone share this on Instagram this week. It’s a bittersweet story about a man who has terminal cancer and the mentality he has that allows him to continue living a full and rewarding life. He makes many points that we can all learn from on how to live in the moment and be more grateful.
Click to read:
“I’m 46 and have months left to live. This is how I’ve learned to accept my death”
Something to listen to:
I told my manager to shut the fuck up over drinks this week, thankfully it was interpreted as sassy and funny rather than rude lol. Anyway, on that note, here is a playlist I made a few years ago: