Welcome (back) to Aanab News!
For a refresher, Aanab News is an independent, reader-funded publication about Lebanon, through the lens of wine and culture. It began as a print newspaper that ran for 2 years and then I shifted it online.
I’ve been writing on the internet since 2012 but my entry into Lebanese wine ironically happened when I began working with my dad at our American imports emporium.
My professional background is all over the place: I’ve got degrees in general biology and graphic design and I’ve worked in advertising, branding, retail, podcasting, and community building. Recently, almost as a combination of all those things, I started producing video essays that resemble a visual diary of sorts. Wine was never an interest for me and, even after getting certifications and working in wine sales, my work isn’t about wine alone. It’s about everything around it and it has increasingly moved beyond the beverage. You can read more about that here.
During the 2024 holiday break
I took about 10 days off after posting this. During that break, I was itching to come back to my drafts and start typing. I was taking notes of all my runaway thoughts and ideas but I was doing my best not to return to work too soon.
FARRAH, YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE RESTING, I’d keep thinking to myself.
But I missed it. I missed writing. I missed the outlet I had. And I was afraid that if I wasn’t doing it regularly, the muscle I’d strengthened for a year would turn into jelly.
What I found during this pause was that I really love doing this. It may seem obvious to you readers but I was happy that, for once, I wasn’t feeling fed up or burnt out.
Getting that confirmation was a great feeling to lean on and I needed something to lean on. After the ceasefire in late November 2024, Lebanon catapulted itself into the illusion of holiday cheer but I felt like I was still stuck in a cranberry bog. It was summer and then BOOM, we went through a war and now it’s 2025? But where did the last three months of 2024 go? Do we just reboot and start over?
By the end of December, I realized that although I wanted to fall into the down comforter that is holiday spice and carbs, I couldn’t shake that I was still a bundle of raw wires. My mood would shift at the mention of Dahiyeh, at the flippant remarks about resistance, at the snarky jokes made about the Resistance. Even when I agreed with the criticism, I was sitting in a well of gritty, conflicting emotions with no one to talk to about it. And because I’d decided to take a break from Aanab, I didn’t literally work through it either. But that was the point. To give myself the room to work through it privately. Thank you for still being here while I took the time for that.
I said, “that’s just my face” more that I expected to during this period just to dismiss my mood. I couldn’t handle gatherings and I couldn’t punch down all my irreconcilable feelings that were floating on the surface of my mind. I felt my cheeks turn hot when chatter shifted to war anecdotes and I can remember my eyes glossing over when people would ask me about the South. I knew the inquiries came from a place of care and I understand them not knowing what to say once I’d answer. I also didn’t (and still don’t) know what to say. To avoid performing normalcy, I only wanted to be around family or specific close friends, tete-a-tete. Most of the time though, I still preferred to hide at home with Penny and Harry Potter ambience music.
This “after” period reminded me a lot of the periods after COVID lockdown and the July 2006 war with a splash of reconnaissance drone buzzing. Exiting isolation to enter a different one while the world keeps turning has been jolting. My 30s have been like a sine wave (I turned 30 in 2018) and with this latest destabilization, I have been reassessing my relationships with where I invest my energy as far as people, consumption (food, things, media), and work.
As Lebanon sprints into this “cautiously optimistic” era, I’m still having coffee with my grief.
The below is what I’ve come up with for the next 11 months of Aanab News. As always, if you have thoughts, leave a comment below or shoot me an email but please read all the way to the end.
✨Aanab News framework for 2025✨
Some new things you may have noticed: the logo/header have been updated again. I won’t do this every year but I wasn’t sold on the 2024 version. This new look feels youthful yet strong and solid. I’ve also created some accompanying visual elements to go into the posts.
The navigation bar of the landing page aanab.news now features links to my media. I’ve also added an Ethics page which outlines my views and policies when it comes to how and what I write about. I will update this as needed. The different subsections of Aanab can be found grouped on the homepage as you scroll down.
I aim to publish on Tuesdays but let’s say Tuesdayish just in case. My sister, an English copywriter, will be my (underpaid) line editor and proofreader. She won’t have eyes on every single thing published here and her skills will most likely only be needed on the essays but whenever she imparts her wisdom, I’ll credit her at the bottom.
For All Subscribers.
Monthlies (1x/month): This is not new, it’s the same monthly dispatch I’ve been sending for a while. It’s a short read about what’s on my mind, what I’ve been up to or published elsewhere, and what I’m reading/watching/listening to. The 2024 paid newsletter, Unfiltered, that was like a notepad for my latest video work will be collapsed into this.
Essays (occasional): I have found it tough to stick to a monthly output when it comes to publishing in-depth essays that I’m proud of. Instead, I’m aiming for an conservative total for the year that I’m keeping to myself.
For Paid Subscribers.
Aanab News (1x/quarter): As you can tell by the name of this dispatch which is taken from the name of this publication, the idea for this has been on the back-burner for a while. Aanab News will be a quarterly listicle of news or articles related to wine and my hot take on how they’re relevant to Lebanon, if they’re not directly about it.
track+field (last day of every month): This is my attempt at incorporating movement and activity (hikes, walks, etc) into my work in an effort to be healthier. The 2024 paid newsletter, Grapevine, that was a bulleted list of offline things I was exploring will be collapsed into this monthly dispatch. The first edition will be in February.
14 Days of love, loss, & longing (a February series): Inspired by Anna Brones’ annual Advent during the first 24 days of December, this will be a daily newsletter leading up to Valentine’s Day. Paid subscribers will get an email from me every day from Feb 1st - 14th where I’ll be writing about the emotions and musings that emerge leading up to my 37th birthday.
The archive: All posts will be paywalled one month after being published and paid subscribers get access to the full archive.
Goals for 2025
Earn 1500 subscribers while maintaining my open rate (54%)
Gently prioritize my health as much as my work
Overall, the above framework means that as a free subscriber, you’ll be hearing from me about once or twice a month so if you don’t want to miss out on the extra goods, now is the time to upgrade to paid ESPECIALLY WITH THE SPECIAL JANUARY DISCOUNT!
I’m offering 30% off the annual subscription rate until the end of January (you have 10 days to get all the perks above!)
Love your goals, I've been brainstorming about goals as well! Looking forward to continuing to read and excited that you're still inspired to write.