Substackaversary 2: A Reflection of Year 2!
Reflections of Year 2 and Musings About Year Three Happenings!

Hello, Hello, Fellow Musers, I hope everyone who is subscribed to this newsletter is having a great June month! Happy Pride Month🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ to any Fellow Muser of this Substack who are part of the LGBTQIA+community! June 1st was this Substack’s official second anniversary, so yay us! This past year was about finding my writing style and finding the direction that this Substack is going. I have a few ideas of the direction this Substack will go for Year 3 while still questioning my writing style, but before I talk about that, let’s dive in and reflect on Year 2! Towards the end of the post, I will do a mini-About Me to reintroduce myself to any new readers who have not read my Year 1 review post!
A Reflection of Year 2
During Year 2 of Musings of an Anthropology Student, we explored the topic of fear in three parts, we finally discussed the field of Archaeology, put out 12 Shout Out posts🎉 and showed some non-AI art, acquired two paid subscribers (y’all are awesomesauce! Thank you!) and this substack had its first collaboration with Fellow Muser and Substack writer Heidi Zawelevsky from Conversations with Critters🎉
Nalia: Hey! We kitties did some stuff too!
Salem: Yeah! What about our stuff?!?
Hooman: I was about to get to y’all-
Boss LadyCat & Queen: *Stare and cock their heads to the side*
Hooman: *Sigh* Do you want me to rewrite the last part of that sentence?
Boss LadyCat & Queen: Yas bitch please!
Hooman: …How about y’all rewrite it?
Salem: Even better!
Nalia: *Inserts tail in front of Hooman’s face and proceeds to type* We kitties initiated this Substack’s first collaboration (so far) with the pawsomesauce
Hooman, and Core Critters Jasper Kitten, Chris, and Jojo! We alsoSalem: Much better!
Nalia: Thank you sister!
Hooman: Splendid! And we definitely had fun doing that collab! Thank you so much to Heidi, Jasper, Chris, and Jojo for this pawsomesauce opportunity💞💜
Hmm, what else happened? I touched on some politics from a personal viewpoint, and thankfully, most of you chose to stick around! I also shared with y’all more of my drawings in Artist’s Corner, and attempted a Creative Writing post. For Musings #2, I even asked for volunteers to share their experiences with various types of social media-and some of you answered the call! Thank you to everyone who did participate in that💞I also attempted to put out at least one holiday special, and you will get Part 2 of that special this year!
Basically, I tried a lot of things! And for this new year of Musings of an Anthropology Student, I’m hoping to try more new things!
To Re-Cap, The Article-Essay-Posts That Were Produced This Year:
~12 Shout Out Posts! <3
~Opinionated Political Post
~A Special Note From Nalia and Salem #7 (featuring Heidi and the Core Critters!)
~Re-post: Artist’s Corner Special #2: Words
~Artist’s Corner 3 and 4
~Musings Holiday Special #1: Winter Holidays Part 1
~Musings #s 1, 2, 3: We Fear What We Do Not Know
~A Quick Note From Nalia and Salem #s 5 and 6
~Artist’s Corner: Creative Writing 1
~Archaeology!!!
~Substackaversary: A Reflection of Year 1 On This Platform
Before we go into Year 3 shenanigans, I would like to include the view counts for the Introduction Posts. Although it took me a while to write them, the article-essay are the Foundation for this substack after all! The view counts () are:
When You Say Anthropology…No, I Don’t Mean Dinosaurs! (167)
Cultural Anthropology (147)
Linguistic Anthropology (123)
Physical Anthropology (101)
Archaeology (148)
I admit, I’m not too great at re-sharing or re-stacking my own posts. But I’m still grateful for these View #’s for my Introduction article-essay posts, so thank you to everyone who has read them! Thank you, always, to everyone who has been with me on this learning curve of a newsletter. Thank you to my two paid subscribers for your support! Thank you to everyone who is a free subscriber for sticking around!
Aight, now that I’ve really stroked your egos, let’s read on for Year 3 shenanigans!
Year 3
For Year 3, I’m hoping to put out more Musings#s that are more single Musings rather than a series, even if they appear to build off of one another. And although I tend to lean towards the fields of Cultural Anthropology and Archaeology, I will do my best to write a few Linguistic and Physical Anthropology musings as well. This has always been mine and my overthinking mind’s goal for this substack, so we’ll see how it goes!
A Variety of Topics to Muse and Discuss
Occasionally, to break up the fact that I tend to write long-form article essays, I’m going to be sending out a different form of musings in the form of quotation screenshots from a meditation app I use. Every time I open the app, there is a daily quote that pops up. Sometimes the daily quotes don’t really impact me other than a “Oh, that’s nice.” or an “Hmm, Idk about that…” reaction, so I’ll sometimes read the comments that other fellow meditation participants write for further insight and screenshot those. These will be pointedly shorter musings posts that I also hope to use as an encouragement for interaction between members of this Substack community. Most Homo sapiens have thoughts on about meditation and its effects, and I hope to hear your thoughts on this subject and the quotations, Fellow Musers😉
In addition to these new meditation musings, I am also determined to release some Deep Dives. As I mentioned in the most recent Shout Out, I already have the first one started:
As I progress more on the Deep Dive, I will be sure to send a few more previews before its release.
Me to Me: Bold of you to assume you’re that bold.
Also Me to Me: Look what I made me do! (Oh!)😱
Lately, I’ve been feeling a bit bolder about exploring topics that are controversial. But then again, I have to remind myself that the field of anthropology itself can be very controversial so for me it makes sense to (as Michael Edwards might say) “get spicy” sometimes😉
Some spicy topics that have been on my mind since I started this substack have been the question of gender and sexuality norms, as well as the concepts of borders, amongst many other topics.
Gender and Sexuality
I recently listened to a wonderful Substack Live three-way discussion featuring
, , and about the spectrum of gender and sexuality. First, I would like to, again, say, “Thank you!” for the Shout Out, Troy! It was completely unexpected, especially as I was not an active commenter on this Live! Thank you for seeing myself as well as the other Substack writers that were following along with the conversation💜 I follow Mr. Troy in Notes and have occasionally perused his Substack (that’s quite a dapper-looking cat there, btw😉).Ironically, before I was fortunate to witness this lively Substack Live conversation, I had been thinking of writing an article-essay about gender and sexuality from an anthropological aspect. I’m sure that we’ve all had some conversations about gender and sexuality with someone or a group(s) of someones. Some people are firm believers that there is only a binary gender and sexuality system, while some people believe that both are a spectrum. I am of the personal belief that gender and sexuality are spectrums, and there is a lot of anthropology that back these ideas up.
So, fair warning, I will be talking about gender and sexuality this season. Here is a link to the post if you too would like to listen to the Live-and congratulations on the releases of all of the video participants’ most current achievements!
To give you an idea of one of the directions that I’m going for the gender and sexuality discussion, this Note-tice sums it up pretty well:
Stay tuned!
Borders
Two other topics that I’ve been increasingly interested in are the concepts and implementations of open borders and closed borders. These concepts are essential to studying movement and migration patterns of humans both in a cultural/societal sense as well as a genetic sense, no matter what the era is (political or cultural wise, historical, geological, etc.), or the reasons for it.
To clarify: When I say essential-in-studying-movements-of-people, I don’t mean in a “deep state surveillance” type of way, or in terms of tracking people who break laws (or have appeared to break laws but may actually be very innocent) and are moving to avoid being sent to jail. I will leave that up to sociologists to write about because those are way too narrow of scopes for me to focus on (and I would just hate to take that aspect of their job from them), and are a completely different conversation than the one I’m hoping to have with you Fellow Musers.
You might be thinking, “Oh great, she’s for open borders! Guess I’ll unsubscribe!” The reality is that I see both concepts as good when done correctly (along with some reservations), which I hope you’ll stick around for😉My truth is this: While I may favor one over the other, I’m not opposed to either for different reasons. Stay tuned!
More things For Year 3
Oh, y’all thought I was done? Silly Fellow Musers, this is me you’re reading-of course I’m not done filling y’all in yet! I’ve got a few more things to tell y’all about that I hope happens in Year 3 and then
…
we’ll be done, and you can rest your brains before perusing the other Substack pages that you’re obviously subscribed too and no doubt itching to read. I know that I can only hold your attention for so long😉
Other topics I’m hoping to get into this year
~Movies vs Books Debate: Is one truly better than the other? Or are they simply parallel stories that actually help enhance each other and the story as a whole?
~Star Wars: Original Expanded Universe vs Disney’s Expanded Universe (You think I get nerdy about Ancient Egypt and anthropology? As my loved ones can tell you: Y’all ain’t seen nothin’ yet!)
~Zora Neal Hurston, as well as some other early 20th century anthropologists taught by Franz Boas.
~Various field methods and general methodologies for the different anthropology subfields (at least one post)
~A few of my undergrad papers (mainly from my major, but also one from my minor)
~A few more Quick Notes From Nalia and Salem
~A few seasonal specials as well!
~Possibly take a look at things framed as “disorders” or “disabilities” in a different way. I’ve been wanting to do this with depression and anxiety, but then I came across this Note-tice post about autism and it’s given me ideas⬇️
Article-essay wise, I would love to add more topics, but not everything can be written about in one year. I am planning on using the summer to get some of these topics started so that I can give y’all the 2x main monthly postings that I always try to promise, but seem to fall short on1.
Oh, what’s that you ask? What about—
Artist’s Corner? Artist’s Corner!
Of course I’m still going to add to Artist’s Corner! I’m working up the courage to put out a Musings# about depression and anxiety (it’s also a topic I touched on for one of my class papers), and in concert with that, I’m hoping to gently introduce y’all to my Depression art series. Now, I’m not going to bombard you with depression-this or depression-that all year, but this topic, as well as anxiety, are topics that need to be continually discussed, and I hope to actually bring a more lighter view of these hard-to-talk-about-even-today topics.
But my Depression series is not the only Artist’s Corner art I’ll put out-I also happen to have cat art, as well as art inspired by Ancient Egypt. The latter is a whole other topic that I will eventually get into, and you can definitely expect to see links from the Ancient/Now podcast that I listen to, and other podcasts that mention Ancient Egypt. However, I am going to go ahead and put a disclaimer that my Ancient Egypt inspired art was made before I even hopped onto the podcast-listening train, but I will still include links to the myths that inspired me to draw the art. Because, as we all know, there are multiple sides to every story, and the truth is always somewhere in the muddy, grayish middle!
I’ll probably also indulge in another creative writing post or two that I may attempt to entice you, Fellow Muser, into helping me with. Where did I come up with such a silly, yet fantastical idea? Lemme tell ya-I was perusing CV templates for my grad school application and came across one of those “Fill in the blank” type templates. You know the ones-you gotta pick an adjective/verb/noun/past tense or present tense/etc. type fill in the blank, and usually they’re pretty silly as well as stupidly hilarious! Yeah, something like that! Not sure how I’ll do it, but somehow it’ll happen-if not this round, maybe another round?
So to conclude this section, topics that will be looked at before the year is over:
~Gender and Sexuality
~Borders
~Books vs Movies
~Explore a few topics I wrote about during my undergrad
~More Artist’s Corner posts (always)
~A few meditation musings
~And a few more things that can always spill over to the next year!
I have also updated this Musing’s schedule on the About page and will fill it in as I get the posts ready for release!
Aight, one last thang for anyone reading this post who definitely do not know me!
About Me: The Mini-Hero Post Section (Because I Refuse To Do A Separate “Hero” Post Every Year)

Oh! Hello there, my name is Kimber! It’s so nice to meet you! Welcome to Musings of an Anthropology Student! I’ve been writing on here since around May 2023, and released my very first post on June 1, 2023. It’s called When You Say Anthropology—>No I Don’t Mean Dinosaurs!
While reading my early writings, you may observe a pattern: I had absofuckinglutely no idea what I was doing and I’m pretty sure it shows! I had so many directions that I wanted to go explore-and I wanted to explore them all at once! Some of it is attributed to me finding my writers voice, and a lot of it is attributed to me being an actual university student going through some shit and needing to get it out before I could focus on topics that I really want to explore and write about.
Basically, Fellow Muser whom I hope clickety-clicks that Subscribe button and stays around, you have discovered me at a turning point of my Substack, where I will be more anthropology-article-essay-post focused and mostly less figuring-out-wtf-I’m-doing?!? focused, although there will always be some of that. My Deep Dives that I mentioned earlier will eventually go behind a paywall, but I am going to keep the first few free to read, and will ocassionally have other free-to-read Deep Dives as well. I have always intended to have a small part of this Substack behind a paywall, but my guarantee to you, Fellow Muser, is that long-term wise 95% of my posts will always remain free to read! I also have a Ko-Fi where you can toss some coins my way if you’re not able to do a monthly or yearly subscription, but would still like to support me in a Tip Jar kind of way. You can find the Ko-Fi link at the end of this post!
But who am I off of Substack?
I’m a recently graduated anthropology student🎉🎉🎉
I like to think that I’m a centrist-progressive who can also be politically independent, conservative or liberal at various points in my life-but you may not quite catch that in some of my future political-ess posts.
If you ever get the chance to meet me in real life, I tend to be chillaxed about most things, as long as you don’t move my stuff from their spots in the living room, I can get my damn laundry done, and no one lets my cats give into temptation to go outside. Also, that sentenced of things is something that I have recently learned about myself in the past few months thanks to having a roommate. It’s been a learning experience, y’all!
While I’m trying to find my inner ambiavert that was emerging pre-Covid, I can still be pretty introverted and shy. I do like my me-time, but I also enjoy socializing as long as you’re okay with me talking in occasional bursts followed by long periods of me just listening to you talk. Unless you’re a fellow introvert-then it’s mutually agreed upon that we will both give each other time and space to speak our Bursts of Thoughts and have delightful conversations with reasonable breaks in-between the conversations (that hopefully also involve a shared love of all animals, but specifically cats, dogs, lemurs, and lorises!).
I’m a big believer in the concept of Balance. I believe that some Chaos is good to have and can bring much needed change for the betterment of everyone, even when I find the current ongoing Chaos concerning enough to say, “Wtf?!? Why?!? No! Wrong! Bad! <insert expletives in whatever language you feel comfortable doing so in>”. I also believe that too much Chaos is not good for the soul, and can set back a species that considers itself intelligent by many years.
I’ve been known to play World of Warcraft, Dragon Age Origins, and a few other online games.
I am mom to a set of bonded kids that I’m 99% sure are twins from the same litter. My possible twins are the only grandkids that my parents will ever get from me, and the only kids I will probably ever share with my partner. And my possible twins, whose names are Nalia and Salem, are just fine with that, thank you very much! Oh, you thought I was talking about human twins? Muser, please! Kidding-I like human kids, but my reasons for not having them are a post for another day😊
As I mentioned earlier, I’m a recently graduated anthropology student. My official degree is a Bachelors of Arts Anthropology, and my Minor is in International Studies. I currently work as a student assistant in a research lab associated with my university’s museum, and I’m in the process of applying to the grad school program. For now, I’m keeping the names of my work and school as well as the city I’m currently in off of Substack. However, if my school makes it into the news again for a non-sports related reason, you might here about it from me in an occasional straight-to-all-subscribers-email!
I’m a bit of a purrfectionist which can sometimes hinder my posting schedule. It’s something that I will always be working on to curb.
I love to read actual books, something that I have lacked deeply in during the last few years.
I also enjoy watching TV series. I’m a big Star Wars nerd who also like Star Trek (specifically The Next Generation and Voyager eras, as well as the Picard series). I was one of the many Star Wars fans who had issues with Disney acquiring the Star Wars franchise from George Lucas, but after much reflection my position has greatly softened. No, I cannot speak Wookie or Klingon, but I have mad respect for my fellow nerds who can! If you want to know other random things about me, check out the first part of my Year 1 review!
Aight, we’re almost done, but
I do want to share some Substack posts and Lives that I’ve read and listened to recently!
Firstly, I want to say thank you to
for the Shout Out mention when you shared the Substack Live with ! I also listened to that while at work, trying to determine where to measure theI came across this Note-tice and felt it resonate deep within my soul:
The only Curious Platypus I know of,
, had an interview with that you should, without me even having to say it, take a listen/read to! has been writing pawsomesauce things over ! has been delivering a good variety of reads too!Heidi and CwC released the first chapter of their Third book!
introduces readers to Alice Dixon and does a deep dive into Maya archaeology! introduces us to Mags the Magpie and a death meditation that gives a peaceful introspection of dying and living. I personally liked the comparison of the “heavy body” to the “light soul” as well as the journey to a place of inner death and re-emerging as a living being, bringing perhaps a new perspective about being alive💞💜Chloe has also put out another post with an alternative death meditation that you can read/listen to here!
Aàáâäǎnñńņňdďð now the
Conclusion!
That’s all I have for now, Fellow Musers! Thanks for sticking with me and thank you for reading/viewing, liking, commenting, restacking, and/or doing any of these combos on my past posts, upcoming posts, and future posts! Thank you, again, to this Substack’s two paid subscribers for taking one extra step further and upgrading to a paid subscription. On Monday, we’ll have our first Shout Out for Year 3 and I’ll also have some updates on the Deep Dive as well as a few life things that have been happening!
As always, Carpe Diem, Huzzah, and Purrzah!
~Kimber, Nalia, and Salem
Life update coming up on the next Shout Out post
Happy second Substackversary, Kimber!
Thanks for the shout out! Appreciate you! :)
A very happy anniversary to you, my dear 🎈