Sunday Snippets: Ceasefire

Everyone is calling for one, including the WHO and the United Nations. This has got to stop.

Waiting for water: It's everywhere in this Colombian city — except in the pipes

Kids are losing the Chuck E. Cheese animatronics. They were for the parents, anyway

Why a mom turned to supervising illegal opioid use at her home

Scientists have found the mostly intact skull of a giant, deadly sea reptile

Boston police recommit to solving murder of Rita Hester, whose death inspired Transgender Day of Remembrance

'I dare not be quiet': What climate activist Ndelika Mandela learned from her granddad

FIRST PERSON OCT. 19, 2023 My Quest to Downsize Without Throwing Anything Away

People have been searching for this song from 'The X-Files' for 25 years. Until now

Sunday Snippets: Peace

I don't pretend to know the nuances of the conflict in the Middle East, but I do know that Palestinians and the Israelis deserve peace. I found this helpful.

5 Downsizers Show Us Their Smaller Homes

Making cities 'spongy' could help fight flooding — by steering the water underground

Construction waste clogs landfills, worsens climate change. Two women's solution: salvage it instead

Do we need to change our behavior?

We Need to Talk About Our Compulsive Busyness

I’m never paying my student loans back. Here’s why.

These Are the Best Panoramic Photos of 2023

The 17th-century Cotswold cottage of former Sotheby’s specialist James Mackie

Everyone in the park knew him. It was only after he died that his story came to light

'Irth' hospital review app aims to take the bias out of giving birth

An empty-nest mama bear just won Fat Bear Week

California creates nation's first 'Ebony Alert' to find missing Black children

Sunday Snippets: Humidity

We are in the thick of sweaty, syrupy summer days. And with climate change, it's only going to get more swamplike. I take environmental steps when/where I can, but honestly fuck Exxon and those bastards who knew this shit was a problem in the FUCKING 1970s!!

You can't eat or breathe money, assholes.

She Struggled To Reclaim Her Indigenous Name. She Hopes Others Have It Easier

PHOTOS: 15 Things Folks Can't Live Without In A Pandemic, From Ants To Holy Water

Iceland Finds 'Major Success' Moving To Shorter Workweek

You Really Need to Quit Twitter

Downsizing My Goals

The Night After You Lose Your Job

Virginia Hanusik’s shots of Louisiana challenge disaster-focused depictions of climate change

How to Live in a Climate ‘Permanent Emergency’

Miami’s Climate Dystopia Gets Real

Sunday Snippets: Texas

There are lots of ways to help folks. Especially since their fucking senator couldn't give a shit. Check out the work Beto and AOC are doing too.

Stories of Slavery, From Those Who Survived It

Tennessee Lawmakers Introduce Bill To Allow Fathers To Veto Abortions I think the fuck not

Fear Is a Virus

Gorgeous house

Less Is More: Why 4 Women Decided to Downsize Their Homes and Declutter Their Lives

'I get better sleep': the people who quit social media

Black troopers accuse Maryland State Police of racism and discrimination, state senator says

Searching for Gwendolyn Brooks

Roxane Gay on How to Write About Trauma

Trump Hotel Employees Reveal What It Was Really Like Catering to the Right Wing Elite

Almost A Year Into The Pandemic, Working Moms Feel 'Forgotten,' Journalist Says

There can be no more waiting

Allegations of shackled students and gang rape inside China's detention camps

GOP state lawmakers and election officials launch commission to examine voting laws

Sunday Snippets: Happy holidays!

Hope the end of the year is everything you need it to be.

School Boundary Analysis Plan Outlined

Groundbreaking South Carolina Bill: Compensate People for Forcing Them to Give Birth

There's A Gay Guy Dressing Up As Mike Pence Collecting Money For Planned Parenthood

'Anything you want, take it’: A downsizing party after 45 years in the same house

India builds detention camps for up to 1.9m people ‘stripped of citizenship’ in Assam

Riley Howell, Who Died Stopping UNC Charlotte Shooter, Honored As Star Wars Jedi

She Helped Inspire The Wire And Oversaw The Weinstein Investigation. Meet Rebecca Corbett.

Sunday Snippets: House Reno

Husband and I are doing some small renovations in order to put our house on the market. Every spare moment is spent painting, scrubbing, etc. I'm very tired.

Oh, that's not concerning or anything

Here Are Some Answers To Frequently Asked Questions About D.C.’s Missing Teens

Women are calling men out for their ridiculous birth control opinions

Trump regularly boasted that he would free the U.S. military from rules of engagement that he regarded as unduly hobbling them. He vowed to bring back torture and even to murder the family members of suspected terrorists

10 things every white teacher should know when talking about race

UPDATE: Chico Police Department Reveals Names of Officers Who Killed Desmond Phillips Yes, let's let cops continue to not be trained in mental illnesses. What could go wrong?

The Downsizing Uprising

Fascinating Photos from the Secret Trash Collection in a New York Sanitation Garage

#BlackWomenAtWork hashtag uncovers the everyday racism black women face at work

Svalbard Will Soon Have Another "Doomsday Vault" For Storing Precious Literature

This is stupid adorbs

The Ups and Downs of Dressing with Less

Project 333's blog offered a chance to write about your own personal experiences with the concept of capsule clothing projects.

I really enjoyed the challenge of downsizing. Always have. I was that person in college, who purged their paper pile before they went home for the holidays. And now, even with the fact that I live in a 1,500 sq foot house, I try to squelch any clutter as quickly as possible.

We bought an extra wardrobe when we first moved into our house because the closet in our bedroom is long and narrow. I also had a three drawer nightstand and a dresser to house clothes. Slowly, but surely, I began whittling down my clothes. (I really loathe doing laundry.)

I never sought to stick with 33 items for 3 months, so I only purchased two accessories, a pair of shoes and a shirt since July 1st. But I try to stick to the one in, one out method. For the aforementioned purchases, I am donating a pair of earrings to make room for the pair purchased and the pair of shoes were a pair of boots I'd been eyeing for awhile, from Modcloth, that went on super sale. I'm donating my old four year pair of boots that had become a bit faded in color.

Upsides of less:
-Laundry is so much easier. I do about two full loads a week (husband's and I clothing together).
-I don't have to paw through piles in the morning.
-Our closet usually looks like this (when there isn't stuff hanging to dry from laundry):

-I spend less overall, even though when I do buy, I may spend more per piece. Quality over quantity.

-I usually haunt thrift stores, so there are less new pieces (and waste from making of said new product) introduced overall.

Downsides:

-I still have the urge to splurge because ooh, shiny! when I'm out. But I've learned that very rarely do splurge purchases pay off. I usually end up hating them, honestly.

Book Review: The Big Tiny

The fact that I ended up checking out this book from my local library was a complete accident. Last year, I was looking up books on happiness and came across this book as a Recommended Read. I, on a whim, reserved it at the library. Loved it and she mentions frequently that Dee Williams was an inspiration for the changes she made in her life.

Clearly, I had to reserve The Big Tiny as soon as I could at the library.

Williams is living "the American Dream" like the rest of us; desk job, car and recently acquired homeownership status and all of the expenses/headaches that go along with it when she collapsed and discovered a very serious health issue.While at the doctor's office, she flipped open a magazine to read an article about a man who built his own house, but in miniature. After flying out to meet him, the author becomes inspired to do the same thing.

And does just that. Her house size? 84 square feet.

The Big Tiny traces Williams' journey from sketching plans for her eventual house, to buying a trailer from an interesting group of Russians, fighting with various pieces of wood, downsizing almost of all of her possessions, and then setting up shop in a dear friend's backyard.

A reader couldn't help but be slightly jealous of her daily routine, which involves waking up under a skylight and drinking coffee on the front porch to watch the sunrise. She doesn't have indoor plumbing and has a weak internet signal, which forces her to interact with her community and with nature, which begins about four feet from her head.

Williams' experiences aren't all pleasant, but she ends the book, asking, " Whose idea was it that we should all get jobs, work faster, work better, race from place to place with our brains stewing on tweets, blogs...when in the end, all any of us will have is our simple beating heart..."

A very good question to ask. This memoir was a lot of fun to read. Williams does not take herself seriously at all and when I finished this book, I realized the nearly 300 pages flew by because it felt like I was talking to a friend over drinks. A recommended read for anyone's bookshelf.

(Photo Credit: Amazon.com)