Volume 1, Resources 21: Zoom with Abandon & Mail with Braille
Hi friends! First of all: HOLY SHIT, A COUPLE OF YOU SENT ME MAIL TO MY P.O. BOX!!! I checked it the other day and I was expecting disappointment and a couple moths to fly out and I had actual mail! Both from Canada, no less! It was all I could do to keep myself from crying.
Look. Yes. It’s just mail. But also, sometimes we as people create things and put them out into the world and we don’t know what kind of response we’re going to get or if people will like the thing or even WANT the thing and I guess I just want to say thank you to all of you. All of you who read this, subscribe to this, who give me regular tips, who share this newsletter, or listen to me ramble about books on the podcast. Thank you. You have brought me such joy and I hope I can do the same for you.
Unrelated: Since last time I wrote, I gave gingerbread cookies and royal icing my first real try. On the plus side, the taste is amazing. Great bake. But I am not an artist when it comes to piping icing.
But I did my best and that’s what counts!
This week is for resources and I’ve got a mix for you.
Resource #1: Zoom is free without time limits on (U.S.) Thanksgiving
A couple things. First of all, Thanksgiving is a trash holiday. It’s a reminder of the genocide of millions of Indigenous people and we should all spend the day learning about it and honoring the Indigenous people in our country. Here are 8 ways to decolonize your Thanksgiving.
Second of all, if you have subscribed to Violet Blue’s Patreon and read her cybersecurity round-up as I have urged you to do, you would know the variety of ways in which Zoom is garbage. That being said, some of us are forced to use it for work and it’s a really easy way to be able to “see” my mom who is 2,400 miles away. I don’t know how to tell you that you shouldn’t be gathering for the holidays. There is still a pandemic.
A Zoom Thanksgiving is better than an ICU Christmas.
And Zoom is giving us the gift of free, unlimited use on (U.S.) Thanksgiving. Learn more on Lifehacker.
Resource #2: Braille Cards by Amber
We have a family member who is blind and we want to be more intentional about including her on our holiday card list. Nicole found this shop on Etsy that does tactile design cards as well as including braille on them. The super cool thing is that she will also braille onto a clear plastic overlay over your pre-printed holiday card or wedding announcement so that the picture can still be seen. Our relative has some tech to magnify mail so that she can read it and see images but she also reads braille so this is perfect. The person who owns the shop, Amber, is super responsive via email to our questions and sent along sample photos and seems really lovely so I wanted to share her shop in case any of you have a loved one you want to send some mail to!
Books finished since last newsletter:
What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat by Aubrey Gordon
Séance Tea Party by Reimena Yee
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
Books currently reading:
Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
This last thing isn’t a resource or book, I just wanted to give some of you a bit of nostalgia:
<image is instagram post of The Wuzzles, featuring the 6 characters: Bumblelion, Rhinokey, Moosel, Butterbear, Eleroo, and Hoppopotamus>
Your snail mail can find me at:
P.O. Box 21481, Oakland, CA 94620-1481
That’s it for this week! If you enjoy this newsletter, feel free to subscribe, share it with a friend, and/or give me a tip!
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.
You can find our podcast, Enthusiastic Encouragement & Dubious Advice on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, and wherever else you get your podcasts.