Enthusiastic Encouragement & Dubious Advice, Vol 4, Res 19: How to Stop Junk Mail & the Benefits of Play for Adults
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Hi friends! Tiny bit of housekeeping: while the resource issues of this newsletter have been and will continue to remain Free-99, there has been an update to the paid subscriptions. Up until this point on the current platform it has been a pay-what-you want structure with a suggested amount of $6 per month. This has been updated to a required minimum price so it better reflects the amount of time and labor that goes into creating these newsletters. As always, these every-other-week resources will remain free and I appreciate your support! You can access the full archives here: https://www.theinfophile.com/archive/.
While I am spooky 365, October is still when I am at the height of my power. The other day I got some artwork that I commissioned to surprise Nicole with and there was no way I could wait until December to give it to her so she got a Halloween gift this week. Watercolor painting of us as witches by Sarah of Willow & Roxas:
It’s a resource week so let’s get to it!
Resource #1: How to Stop Junk Mail via the FTC
According to this Sierra Club article from 2019, an American adult receives 41 pounds of junk mail every year. To produce this much paper requires cutting down 80 million to 100 million trees annually. While I fucking love sending and receiving snail mail, junk mail is a whole different beast and has such a huge environmental impact. Thankfully, the FTC offers clear instructions on how you can cut down on most of it.
Side note: I was reminded of these hot tips from this Washington Post article, which is behind a paywall. While I am certainly not a radical librarian and absolutely did not share how to circumvent paywalls to articles in a past issue of this newsletter, I have some Opinions™ about putting free information like the Sierra Club article and the FTC site behind a paywall.
Resource #2: The Benefits of Play for Adults via HelpGuide
Every year there is an article reminding us that it is as important for us to play as adults as it was for us when we were children. This is at the forefront of my mind as I plan my second LEGO-date with a friend. Yes, it means we are sitting on Zoom for 2-3 hours because we live over 3,000 miles from each other but I cannot tell you how good it has been for my brain to have this play date. No work. No staring at my phone. Just me, my friend, and LEGO. And last time Nicole brought me some fruit snacks and refilled my water so that was pretty great too, not gonna lie.
The great thing about LEGO and puzzles, too, is that we can do them by ourselves as well. No need for a special date or to wait for another person. I highly recommend it.
New Section: Recent & Current Reads
I have wanted to start consistently sharing what books I’m reading and have recently read with you but the idea of writing reviews or descriptions has been holding me back until I just decided that I’m going to share titles and links and leave it up to you to click through if you’re interested in learning more. If I ever read any books that I highly recommend that are relevant to this newsletter, of course I’ll continue to share those more in-depth in the resource issues.
Inclusion of a book in this section is not a recommendation and these books won’t necessarily be added to my Bookshop.
Recently Read:
The Gospel of Wellness: Gyms, Gurus, Goop, and the False Promise of Self-Care by Rina Raphael (Bookshop | Amazon | Libro)
Tiger, Tiger Vol. 1 by Petra Erika Nordlund (Bookshop | Amazon)
Iris Kelly Doesn't Date by Ashley Herring Blake (Bookshop | Amazon | Libro)
Currently Reading:
Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror edited by Jordan Peele & John Joseph Adams (Bookshop | Amazon | Libro)
Micro Activism: How You Can Make a Difference in the World without a Bullhorn by Omkari Williams with a forward by Layla F. Saad (Bookshop | Amazon)
Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things by Adam M. Grant (Bookshop | Amazon | Libro) (Note from The Infophile: reading this one with a heavy dose of skepticism)
Octavia E. Butler: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations with an introduction by Samuel R. Delaney (Bookshop | Amazon)
That’s it for this week! You can shop many books I’ve mentioned in this newsletter at my affiliate shop, The Infophile’s Bookshop, and support independent bookstores. In fact, any Bookshop, Amazon, or Etsy links in this newsletter are affiliate links so if you shop through those, it helps support my work. Or you can leave me a tip on Ko-fi, Paypal, or Venmo.
If you want to send me some snail mail, you can find me at P.O. Box 21481, Oakland, CA 94620-1481.
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