Aug. 26, 2022, 7:41 a.m.
Volume 3, Resources 17: Boundaries on Journey to Launch, the Micropedia, and a Fun Library Collection
Enthusiastic Encouragement & Dubious Advice
This is a public issue of Enthusiastic Encouragement & Dubious Advice. Feel free to share it!
Hi friends! I feel like I have 10,000 things going on but I wonder if my feeling scattered is also related to scrolling through the internet more than I’d like. I signed up to be a mentor at my day job so over the past two weeks I’ve had seven “informational interviews” with possible mentees. On All the Books! this week I talked about two historical romances, a sci-fi mystery thriller, and a book on Hoodoo. I’m currently reading a queer gothic fantasy based on Elizabeth Báthory titled House of Hunger. We went to the Freedom Farmers Market and bought a Black Tiger watermelon, the much less expensive $10 version of the up-to-$6,000 Densuke watermelons in Japan. Yes, $6K (but more commonly maybe around $250). And I continue to cook a large bean dish every Sunday that takes anywhere from 3-5 hours and you can follow along each week in my Instagram stories.
That’s about all the updates I have for this week so let’s get to the resources!
Resource #1: Journey to Launch: Episode 279 - How To Create Healthy Boundaries in Your Personal, Professional, and Financial Life with Nedra Glover Tawwab
Yes, I know. Major side-eye to financial advice because if you’re deciding between paying rent and eating like many folks are, usually these sorts of podcasts, books, etc. aren’t there to help you with those types of decisions. That being said, I want to recommend this episode in particular because it features my boundaries fave, Nedra Glover Tawwab, and the boundary advice in this episode is good advice for things beyond finances, like time commitments and emotional labor.
Resource #2: The Micropedia, a microaggression encyclopedia
From the About Page: "The Micropedia aims to collect everyday microaggressions and highlight their harmful impact through source-based definitions and real-world examples."
You can click around the site and find common microaggressions then dig deeper to see definitions, why this particular phrase is a problem, perhaps some resources, citations, or talking points. This is a Canada-based resource so in the search bar you should type “I don’t see colour,” that is, colour with a ‘u’ and not “I don’t see color.” There are also ways to contribute entries, further resources, and more examples to the micropedia in an effort to make it an ever-growing and ever-evolving tool.
Bonus fun thing: A librarian collects all the things left in books — from love letters to old photos via NPR
The title almost says it all. It’s a link to an NPR article about, yes, an Oakland librarian who collects all the things left in books. The excellent part is that the library posts the collection for viewing online and you can see it here. I’m mildly obsessed.
That’s it for this week! You can shop any books I’ve mentioned in this newsletter at my affiliate shop, The Infophile’s Bookshop, and support independent bookstores. If you want to send me some snail mail, you can find me at P.O. Box 21481, Oakland, CA 94620-1481. If you are a subscriber and would like for me to send you some happy mail, feel free to give me your address.
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