boba | victorian flirting etiquete | stamp placement love language | hanky code | symbolic interactionism | gay semiotics | freak | it stings a little though | big disgrace

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Subscribe here for more 💌✨The Nexialist #0269 boba | victorian flirting etiquete | stamp placement love language | hanky code | symbolic interactionism | gay semiotics | freak | it stings a little though | big disgrace Rodrigo Turra Mar 19   READ IN APP   welcome to your weekly mini field trip from your screen, the nexialist hey,you! i hope this message finds you well. i’m writing this edition from the airport in the last moments of south america/brazil. it’s been two months of family, friends, nice weather, nice food, and reconnecting with myself. now it’s time to go back to another reality in amsterdam (i miss my bike!) today also marks 8 years together with juan, i couldn’t ask for a better life partner. love you! now, i’ll leave you all to it. enjoy! 🫀✨ —Rodrigo Turra 🙏🏻the nexialist is a free newsletter, but consider going paid (or a one-time contribution) if you find this content useful for your life, soul or work. or invite me for a collab. read more at the bottom of this e-mail ✨ Upgrade to paid ⏮️ time-machine: best brainsparks on this day over the past years: covid lessons, neural media, schizo-fication of the online world, anatomy of hype, dua lipa’s questions (tn#217), strategy in the era of ai, creative work, defend your mind against social media (tn#165), sad and pale paper, solipsism v nonduality, the stupidity of AI, the age of artificial creativity (tn#113), cultural concept, frameworks: immersive experiences, MOTOMAMI (tn#63), waters of march, lesbian gaze, dyke camp, campingdisco, chronosonder (tn#12) Buy Me a Coffee? ☕️ 🧋boba no, it’s not a song about boba tea. in portuguese/spanish boba means fool / silly, and this cute song is about how one becomes when falling in love. i dedicate this one to my handsome juan. this song reminds me of one of their first hits, drinkee, from 9 years ago (!). the surf guitar vibes, the cadence, and the urge to dance are all there. always happy to see non-brazilian artists like sofi tukker singing in full portuguese. brainsparks: bread (tn#188), cafuné (tn#3), hey homie (tn#183) 🎩 victorian flirting etiquete since i’m on a romantic vibe, i thought of sharing this, found in messynessychic: the mystery of love, courtship and marriage explained by henry j wehman (so cool to be able to see it at the internet archive). hat flirtations, parasol flirtations, handkerchief flirtations, and other secret languages of love from victorian era… it’s interesting to see how even under repressed societies, humans find their ways of communicating. also, it got me thinking if it created some sort of paranoia (is he sending me a signal? is that a yes or a maybe?) today we have emojis and several new love languages (tn#249) brainsparks: quantitative validation (tn#199), culture of proximity (tn#6), new rules of gathering (tn#37), social signals (tn#189), erotic decisions (tn#226), erotic intelligence (tn#1), the age of pleasure (tn#123), eroticism and self-care (tn#57) 💌 stamp placement love language another gem shared by messynessychic is the secret love language of stamps. apparently, “gen z and millenials are going analog with letter writing, typewriter clubs and calligraphy to take a break from screens.” so for those of you who are moving in that direction, make sure to follow these instructions. these were also used in the victorian era. brainsparks: surveillance as love language (tn#209), new love languages (tn#249), love languages (tn#57) 🤧 hanky code fast forward to the 1970s and we arrive at gay flagging, or hanky code, an iconic part of lgbtq+ history which i might have mentioned but not given the proper attention. turns out the side and the color of the bandana worn by parts of the community signaled their sexual preferences at a time when being gay was illegal (still is in many places, so sad to see senegal doubling the penalty for being gay to 10 years). you can still find the complete guides online to make sure you’re sending the right message. Flagging, also known as the “hanky code,” is a way to wordlessly tell other queer people your sexual preferences. In a nutshell, it involves wearing different colors of bandanas in your pockets — left or right, respectively, to signal top/dom or bottom/submissive roles — to indicate different kinks, fantasies, and other sexual interests to the world. The system originated in the ‘70s, a time when it was illegal in most places to have queer sex. Like leather bars and BDSM spaces, flagging is an iconic part of queer history that's alive and well to this day. brainsparks: the queer code (tn#92), pajubá (tn#240), queering the future (tn#24), queering the map (tn#143), queer health (tn#141), same gender lyrics (tn#27), queer the future (tn#5), queer history of the piers (tn#176) 🍑 symbolic interactionism while in my hanky code glory rabbit hole, i came across the term symbolic interactionism. “a sociological theory that develops from practical considerations and alludes to humans’ particular use of shared language to create common symbols and meanings, for use in both intra- and interpersonal communication.” from what i understand, all of those shared before are some manifestation of that. basically, part of our work in cultural intelligence is figuring out these symbolic interactions, even if they’re unconscious. brainsparks: memes, emojis & the rosetta stone (tn#9), new words for new worlds (tn#111), rebranding trend research? (tn#193), cool people (tn#245), is cool dead? (tn#235), scene cool x internet cool (tn#239), does coolness still exist? (tn#30), anatomy of hype (tn#217), how to study culture (tn#232), counterculture x counter futures (tn#10), life after lifestyle (tn#91), gen z subcultures (tn#91), countercultureless society (tn#73), shifting values (tn#2) 🏳️‍🌈 gay semiotics since i discovered hal fischer’s work, gay semiotics, i’ve been obsessed. it was used to illustrate the post about hanky code, so i thought i had to highlight it here. i admire hal’s effort to explain, through photo and text, like a manual, the codes of the san francisco gay/queer communities. Since 1977—when the first exhibition of this series took place in San Francisco—Gay Semiotics has been recognized as a unique and pioneering analysis of a gay historical vernacular and as an irreverent appropriation of structuralist theory. brainsparks: the yuppie handbook (tn#111), 🙊 putative putative (adjective) 1: commonly accepted or supposed 2: assumed to exist or to have existed There's no need to make assumptions about the root behind putative—we know it comes from a form of the Latin verb putare, which means "to consider" or "to think." Putative is a rather formal word that has been part of English since the 15th century. Like apparent, presumed, and ostensible, it leaves room for a smidgen of doubt: a putative ally will very probably be there for you, and a putative successor is very likely to be the next one in charge, but life offers no guarantees in either case. this word was not part of my vocabulary so when i saw it in my inbox i thought it was something else. well, now i know it’s not some kind of bad word. brainsparks: words&terms (tn#257) 👄 freak yseult keeps raising the bar with her sound and aeshtetics. this is so 90s, so colorful, the outfits and choreo are so good. i’m hypnotized. brainsparks: suic*de (tn#192), office aesthetics (tn#59), des mythos (tn#264), alibi (tn#180), f*ck me (tn#207) 🦂 it stings a little though also, the french know how to make the coolest spoken word bangers that makes you feel cool just by listening to it. the animation by émilie tronche brings it to another level, the way they move makes me want to move with them. so smooth and so good! brainsparks: chasing rejection (tn#261) 👄 big disgrace finally haute&freddy’s debut album big disgrace is out and i’m here for it. all of the releases so far have been right up my alley, so i’m promoting it here without even listening to it. it is downloaded on my phone and i’ll make sure to listen during the flight. brainsparks: scantily clad (tn#207), anti-superstar (tn#202) see you next week, bobas 🫠✨ 🫀✨thank you for reading The Nexialist. This post is public, so feel free to share these brainsparks 🧠✨ Share ❓Wait, what is a Nexialist? 🔎If you want to see what I’ve already posted, visit the archive and use the search engine. Even I do that a lot. 💌I want to know what you think/who you are! Your feedback is highly appreciated; you can e-mail me or fill in this short survey. Thank you! 🙏🏻 🔌Let’s Collab? I truly believe innovation comes from bringing improbable areas together, and that’s why I called this project The Nexialist. Some sectors are known to be self-referencing and hermetic. Sometimes, teams are on autopilot mode, focused on the daily grind, which hinders innovation. As a Nexialist, I like to burst these bubbles, bringing references from different areas, and maintaining teams inspired and connected to the Zeitgeist.  I offer inspiration sessions called Brainsparks, creative desk research (Zeitgeist Boost), Plug’n’Play deals for workshops and sprints, and other bespoke formats. 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