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Or— Your Honour, I’m Tired

Sep 23, 2026

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Reader,

I’ve been struggling to sleep for the past few weeks and it’s spilling into everything so please send me your recommendations for sleep hygiene.

Maybe I should start with a confession: I have been watching more YouTube than I care to admit late into the night. On Monday, I locked my phone (using the Detox app) but I still managed to keep listening to one of my current audiobooks - The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy by Gil Durán (read by the author) - till 2230. I am the problem 😭

It’s been almost 5 months since I wrote a proper entry even though I’ve been reading and doing things. I’ve alluded to the fact that life has had me on a rollercoaster and I’ve made jokes about putting it all in a memoir (if you’re a writer and/or fan of the form, please send me recommendations) but I feel so overwhelmed that every time I face the page I don’t know what to say. Then I’m too tired the next day to even know when to start (on Monday my watch’s app told me I didn’t get to sleep till 0420 which is appalling whichever way you cut it).

I was going to write this (or something else, who even knows at this point) but Kenya Power took away our electricity just as I settled in on Monday so I loaded up one of the audiobooks I’d had in rotation - Jim Henson: The Biography by Brian Jay Jones (read by Kirby Heyborne) - and cleaned the entire house. Hasten the end of their monopoly, and may I soon have the funds for a solar solution (yes, I know that private solutions to systemic problems are an issue but I need to live in this society somehow).

All this to say, life has been moving, regardless. I’ve been reading (a lot of non-fiction, for some reason) and I’ve been looking for work (long-term, short term, part-time, full-time) and it’s exhausting. I’m trying to be kind to myself, to remember that I can always start again. Whether it’s going back to running (which I once enjoyed so much I would happily run half marathons), bird watching (I now live in one of the best places to do it) which I had started, or reading fiction. I’ve tried it with going back to blogging after breaks and apparently free will can be used like this? Amazing stuff.

Because one of my skills is getting myself in the dumps via the news, I have resolved to listen to the news 3 times a day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner on KBC, BBC, and a third option; usually cycling through Capital FM, Kiss FM and China Radio International) and podcasts that round up the news from elsewhere (even using it as a way to immerse myself in Spanish via Hoy en EL PAÍS). I also decided today to only watch YouTube videos (I’ll often listen at 3X so you can imagine how much I’m taking in when it’s in the background). If the podcast can’t be squeezed into my daily walk (cleaning and cooking time is for audiobooks), it can’t be listened to and I’ll listen to music if I want to listen to something as I work. This is not going to be easy for me (I love being up to date) but I was recently reminded that my ability to feel Big Feelings™ is both a strength and a source of angst. This post reminded me I have a choice and I intend to make it.

Hodgepodge post, I know, but this is an attempt to dip my toe in these waters (to be honest I’ve also been considering moving this newsletter) before becoming more regular.

I’d love to hear how you’ve been, what you’ve been reading/ watching/ seeing/ loving and especially what books have stood out for you in the recent past, or something you recommend.

Also, again, send your favourite sleep hygiene advice!!!

Quick news/ things that may be of interest:

This exhibition, which I worked on behind the scenes:

Go see this cool show!!!

poster featuring a wooden sculpture on a poster that reads: National Museums of Kenya presents Wahenga na Sanaa - Dec 2025 - Tracing Two Centuries of Artistic Legacy/ The Makers Who Shaped a Nation/ Iconic Museum Collections | Pioneers of Kenyan Art (1800-1980) | Creativity Gallery, Nairobi National Museum

Treat someone you like (me, for instance, I have a Switch) to the Tiny Bookshop Game (which is also on Discord)
Subscribe to my WhatsApp channel for texts I find while I spend time online
Film folks: Solidarity Cinema, for your consideration
If you’re in the Global North and would be open to engaging in the North-South solidarity that is sharing a library card, please email or message me so we can figure things out. Thank you!

The Queer Liberation Library 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️, which is free to join here
Digital Library of Korean Literature, which is free to join here
Film folks: Check out the Japan Foundation’s JFF Theater online streaming platform
How to Write Alt Text and Image Descriptions for the visually impaired
An interactive self care flow chart
Since Elon seems to want (some of) us gone, I’m trying to post more often on Bluesky. Follow me there if you’re on it!
You can send me books, postcards, letters, and assorted items via PO Box 102439, Jamia Posta 00101, Nairobi, Kenya (I write back!

I have finished several books since I last wrote to you. I’m primarily using Storygraph now (passively updating Goodreads as I read most e-books on Kindle via the library) and I hope to get back to making videos soon. I’m sharing the Storygraph May - September roundup images below so this entry doesn’t go on forever as the only other book I finished in April was Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa, translated from Japanese (original title: ハンチバック) by Polly Barton (audiobook narrated by Yuriri Naka). Regular list resumes next week :)