Friday Five: December 19, 2025
the darkest night of the year is upon us
Happy Friday, Consumers. We’ve made it through another wintry week, which included one day where my dog refused to walk anywhere in the midst of a torrential downpour. Let’s get into your Friday Five, with bits and bobs of joyful, cathartic content from across the corners of the digital universe (and my weary mind).
Impending Festivities: This Sunday marks Yalda, an ancient festival celebrated in South West Asia (decolonial term for ‘Middle East’ in case you don’t already know or haven’t read my cookbook!). It’s the longest night of the year, celebrated with pomegranates, wine if you’re into that, and poetry. One of the best traditions is getting your ‘fortune’ read by opening to a random page of Hafez’s poetry and interpreting what it means for your future. You can also do this online on this fun little website!
More Iranian Surprise & Delight: The coastline of Hormuz Island in Iran turned crimson after intense rainfall. The island’s land and soil are rich in iron oxide and hematite which turns rocks deeply red, and the torrential downpour dissolved the iron in the soil, carrying it to the coast. Hematite is also what’s responsible for Mars’s red surface.
Pep Talk: Did you know that if you call 707-873-7862, you can receive a free pep talk from elementary schoolers in California? I feel like I’ve seen this floating around online but haven’t seen anyone actually call them, and now I’m emotional. What a beautiful project! I need to see if my phone plan will let me call the number.
Remembering Rob Reiner: I don’t quite have the words to say here, so all I’ll share for the time being is one of my favorite bits of Sleepless in Seattle.
Joyful Internet Content: Starting with commentary on the Iranian videos above…
This is the only use of a drone camera I’ve genuinely enjoyed:
Iran is menstruating??
Roya