Began assembling this edition in the days before Christmas, but life intervened – as it does – with travel and gatherings, with champagne bubbles rising in crystal and candles burning low into the night. Now it’s Boxing Day, and the introduction I’d written has slipped out of time, no longer quite fitting the moment we’re in.
The clocks went back this past Sunday, and all anyone can talk about is how dark it’s become. It is dark, and it will take some adjusting. After all, it’s that season again – the one Hemingway said made you sad without knowing why.
It’s been three months since the last our last newsletter update, though it feels both longer and shorter than that – like most things lately. Since then, we’ve moved constantly: Scotland to England, city to city, trains and overnights and cafes that all blur together now. Glasgow, London, Stamford, Manchester. A collage of impressions.
WE SPENT the weekend watching the tennis, and whilst the women’s singles final was less than stellar, the men’s final was gripping. With white wine in cut crystal glasses and the last of the July sun streaming in, we couldn’t tear ourselves away from the three hours and four...
We have established ourselves at the seaside since last Saturday, where the rhythm of daily life has gradually aligned itself with something more fundamental—the steady pulse of tides beyond our window.
In their iconic song “Bohemian Rhapsody”, Queen asks a question that feels increasingly relevant in our digital age: “Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?” As we navigate a world where virtual reality and information overload increasingly influence our perception of reality, this question becomes more than just a catchy lyric—it’s a philosophical conundrum at the heart of our modern existence.
Many of you already know about Hyperreality, our weekly newsletter. Whether you’re new here or have been with us since the beginning, Hyperreality is a space that’s reminiscent of the early days of blogging.
WE ARE FINALLY back with the fifth instalment of our popular series, Talking Points, after a very long hiatus, and this week, we’re looking at the concepts of core values, false ideals, and hyperreality.
When we first launched our Substack, we used our current name but quickly abandoned it, focusing instead on TIG for over a year. In August of last year, we created a new Substack under a different name, only to realize we already had an existing one that readers were discovering.
I am standing on the sand at Scheveningen, The Hague’s most famous beach resort, in the act of niksen, the Dutch term for doing absolutely nothing. I try not to think about whether I am really doing nothing if I am standing on a beach. Maybe I should be sitting down? But then I would be sitting down.
Hello! Welcome to the new interactive feature at the TIG Substack. Every other month, we'll answer your burning questions with carefully thought out answers, and post them at Hyperreality.