What I've Been Watching: December

Hi! Here's my last list of what I've been watching this year and I'm pretty happy with this month's list. It's quite varied in terms of content and it's not full of super heavy things nor is it full of YouTube channels. lol It's been a full year since I started WIBW, and I think I'm going to keep it going. Let's get started!

The Day I Met El Chapo 

Easy season 2

Cheapest Weddings

Carol Burnett 50th Anniversary Special

Find My First Love

Voyeur

Home Alone/Home Alone 2

JusReign

Anti-Gay Republicans Caught Being Gay

In case the story or main person involved are new to you, I'll give you a brief (for me lol) rundown: Kate Del Castillo is a Mexican film and tv actress; she has a very long and varied resume of different films and novelas she's been in and in Mexican media, she's big shit. I fully agree. lol If you've seen Queen of the South, it is based off of the novela Reina del Sur, which starred Kate Del Castillo as La Reina. I dabble in Spanglish at best so obviously when I watch her I'm all over the English subtitles but who gives a shit. I love her. lol Anyway, this series covers the mediastorm, both American and Mexican, of Kate Del Castillo and Sean Penn being able to meet with El Chapo while he was still on the run and the frenzy that followed. Kate herself as well as her family, friends, and various figures of both American and Mexican press walk the viewer through how everything went down and what it meant to different people, and I've been enjoying it. The word on the street is that Sean Penn and his team attempted to stop this film from being released on Netflix due to safety concerns, but Netflix went ahead with it anyway. I knew about the story but didn't know how everything originated, so the documentary was able to answer that for me.


I believe I featured season 1 of Easy in an earlier WIBW list, but season 2 came out earlier this month so I wanted to come back with an update. I felt like Season 1 was more about sexuality and building openness and intimacy in relationships, and the second season seems a bit more about life struggles, some of which just happen to include sexuality. The risque sexual bits seem to take a backseat in many of the episodes in lieu of different things, like ticking biological clocks, double standards in feminism and confronting old wounds. The same openness towards sexual situations is still there, but it's not as prominent as it was last season. Easy seems to have found its stride this season and the energy while letting these episodes unfold seems a bit more relaxed. I love the diversity, inclusivity of different elements (interracial relationships, main characters who don't fit the traditional physical mold, performance art with women of all sizes, queer relationships that aren't immediately defined as such, having dolls of color in a White household, etc) without needing to make any of them plot drivers, and the rollercoaster of acceptance that needs to happen at some level in each episode. It was nice to see returning characters sprinkled into storylines with new ones, allowing us to see them both in their own stories and how they connect to the others. I especially love that creatives, "off-brand" individuals, seem to have their place among those who have traditional jobs. The show accomplishes the increasingly difficult goal of saying something without actually having to say it. I appreciate that a lot.

For someone as bitter and cynical as I am, I love my wedding programs. lol I wouldn't go as far as to say I'm anti-wedding or anti-marriage. I love weddings and I love watching my happily married friends carry on with their lives. But I don't want a wedding for myself nor do I want the trouble of having to be married. lol Ideally, I could plan a wedding, obviously pretend to be in love so we can have the spotlight for a minute, have the planning process televised, but then not have to actually be married afterward. LOL My delusional desires aside, I've been missing my wedding programs. I found this Australia-based show called Cheapest Weddings on Netflix earlier in the month and it only has a few episodes so I've already finished it but I liked the concept. It's pretty self-explanatory but in short, three couples per episode share their attempts to plan their dream wedding on microscopic budgets. I was expecting it to be some extreme penny pinching efforts and still trying to have a luxury wedding but it isn't. If you're missing out on wedding programming like I am, this scratches the itch but I'll be waiting impatiently for next summer when Bridezillas comes back. lol


I was born 9 years after The Carol Burnett Show went off the air, but I remember watching clips and reruns growing up with my mom and it's just as hilarious to me now as it was when I was a kid. If you're unfamiliar with the show, it was an hour-long variety program that was on the air for 11 years, from 1967 to 1978 and they parodied everything. Soap operas, daily life, tv shows, movies, they all had their moment in the sun along with skits and sketches with original characters. It wasn't risque, wasn't overly campy and wasn't offensive. It was just funny. The 50th anniversary special was aired on CBS earlier this month with an ensemble cast of celebrity guests and former co-stars as various clips were re-aired and I loved it. It was a nice bit of nostalgia that I appreciated. My only complaint is that Betty White wasn't one of the celebrity guests. Where is she, anyway? Where is my Rose?


Find My First Love is a show on FYI that I found earlier in the month about people trying to reconnect with lost loves. I watched a few episodes and while the cynical part of me kinda thinks the concept of travelling across the country (or world) to find someone who has no idea they're being tracked is a little stalker-ish, I understand--especially in today's climate--the need for people to reconnect, to get closure, to potentially rekindle relationships. Now between you and I, I need my first love around like I need a high-impact bullet manually inserted into my rectum. I hope he has cold sores, just on the head of his junk, for the rest of his life. LOL Kidding. I don't wish any ill will on that goochsocket, he's a lovely man. He gets lovelier with each mile that separates us. But I understand the need for people to reconnect and it's interesting to see all of these different stories and the effort people put forth in order to close chapters in their lives or start new ones.


Voyeur is a documentary about the story that led to the release of the controversial non-fiction novel The Voyeur's Motel. A man named Gerald Foos, an admitted voyeur, bought a hotel back in 1969 and engineered it specifically to be able to spy on his guests. Obviously, being able to do that means he saw an array of private moments, which he meticulously (and creepily) recorded in detail in various journals throughout his years as the owner. Even when the hotel was briefly sold to a friend, he was given keys to continue his peeping. I think it was 1980 when he first contacted legendary journalist Gay Talese because he wanted to tell his story. Scandal followed the story leading up to the book's release, both for its content and the fact that Gerald had a documented history of being less than truthful, affecting the credibility of the book and Gay's reputation as a journalist. You start watching the doc thinking its just going to be this salacious recounting of sexual details, but it's so much deeper than that and I recommend you give it a watch.


A Christmas tradition for me is to watch Home Alone 1 & 2 (I don't acknowledge the other sequels lol) and if you still don't know what either of these movies are about, I need you to exit my blog and forget you ever saw me. The older I get, the more I see the movie from the parental point of view and by golly Kevin's parents were negligent. And why, in both movies, did nobody think to inform the parents Kevin was being hunted by criminals? A couple of years ago somebody, I think it was Funny or Die but I'm not sure, put out a very dark comedic follow-up to Home Alone and got Macauley Culkin to reprise his role as Kevin. Kevin has some...mental and emotional issues following his boy adventures, and he wastes no time taking those issues out on the poor guy who interacts with him. The fact Kevin's parents were completely unaware of the Wet Sticky Bandits in both films is astounding to me. I got caught stealing a $5 magazine when I was 17 and they were trying to arrest me, ban me from the store AND call my mom. Kevin is instrumental in getting these guys arrested in both movies, for felony crimes, and there's no follow-up to figure out the identity of the person who provided the anonymous evidence? C'mon son. Plot holes aside, I still love the films and make a point to watch them every year.


Moving on to YouTube, the JusReign channel isn't new to me but I was watching it a lot this month so I decided to include it. JusReign is a Punjabi comic who shares his stories about the Punjabi community and culture. He has this really lighthearted take on the culture, both the good and bad parts, while still being able to make it fun for outsiders like me to watch. He takes bits of everyday jobs or life events and shows what they're like for the Desi community and I think its hilarious. On a secondary note, it also shows the Sikh community, as he and many of his friends (who are big parts of his videos) have beards and wear turbans and I like that it quietly shows bigots that people can wear turbans and still live regular lives like the rest of us. I wouldn't think that needed to be explained or displayed as its fairly obvious, but I also didn't think our current president would ever be president so what the hell do I know. If you like culture-based parodies and comedy videos, just go check out the channel.


I realize the title "Anti-Gay Republicans Caught Being Gay" isn't the classiest line for a title, but its a YouTube video. It's also funny as hell and 100% true. This is basically a compilation of different Republican politicians who've made being anti-gay their mantle, only to later be caught in what I can only describe as a homosexual situation. LOL What I fail to understand about these politicians is their apparent confusion about their jobs. They are supposed to help improve our quality of life and fight for causes that are important to their constituents to ensure we thrive and have what we need. Those constituents are of all kinds of race, orientation, build and intelligence. Apart from using those four things for statistical purposes, what we look like and who we sleep with is really none of their business nor should it affect their ability to do their job in helping create a better environment for us to live in. Their job is not to tell us what lifestyles to live, especially if those lifestyles aren't hurting anyone. The level of vitriol and hypocrisy towards the LGBTQIA+ community when many Republicans are actually part of it astounds me. Just because YOU feel ashamed of who you are doesn't mean you should subject those who aren't to inhumane, disgusting, unfair and sometimes life-threatening standards. This video angered and amused me in equal amounts, but I think anger probably won out mainly because it would be so much easier to just be who you are and do your damn job. And instead of doing either of those things, these closeted idiots feel the best idea would be to pretend to be straight in public, assault people in private, lead double lives and actively lead life-threatening campaigns against the people who aren't ashamed to be themselves. Do you understand the visibility, the stereotypes that it would kill to have openly gay, lesbian, trans, pan, or bisexual members in our government on both sides? Conservatives can be LGBT+ too and the perception that they can't be because of their sexual orientation is there partially because of the public rejection of the lifestyle by bigots in the conservative community. Some of these people may even have good ideas for the public! Whodathunk, right? SMH Not approving flyers for the gay community to warn others about the AIDS epidemic in the '80s, not allowing for STD education in the gay community, hiring gay prostitutes while attempting to pass laws against that very thing, those were just some of the things the mentioned politicians did to others. Homophobia based off of repression is a real thing. It's a real thing, and it's dangerous. And many of those bastards are our politicians, our representatives. Just be who you are, do your job and mind your damn business. What others do with their genitals is not only nobody else's business, its their job to ensure people are responsible with what they do with their genitals and that there are relevant punishments for them if they aren't. Irresponsible genital slangin' in general leads to STDs and puts the greater public at risk, which they should be trying to avoid. Their job description should not include rallying for destruction in the community they'd rather die than admit they're actually a part of. If you're LGBTQIA+ then fine. Live your truth. But don't lie about it, don't make going after those who are your mantle, and don't rally for their downfall. OMG lemme stop before this turns into a (longer) rant. Point is, be who you are, stop trying to destroy others and just do your fucking job. The end.


Pick of the Month: Voyeur

Throwaway Pick: Home Alone 1 & 2 (because seriously--who hasn't seen these movies yet??)

Read More »

2017 Report Card

Hi! Following up on last year's report card on which my advice and comments were a simple, "Do better, stupid!" the bar was set rather low for this year, I'd say. LOL The advice I received was a little better this year, but its clear I still have some work to do. First, let's review the goals I made last January:

Try at least 3 new brands or companies ✅

There weren't a ton of reviews this year, but I did try out three new brands. I tried out Pantry and Alina Skincare back in January, and Hubble Contacts last month. 

Finish a challenge ✅

I finally finished a challenge! lol If you read yesterday's post you saw I finished my Reading Challenge for the year, I finished my summer series of posts and I finished Self-Love September (extremely late but I finished it lol). On a slightly unrelated note, I also finished all three month-long series over on ATV without missing entries. I usually have a hiccup in there somewhere but other than a couple of bumps with Octoberfest, everything went off without a hitch. That's probably a first for me, but I'm glad I finally finished something I started. 

Try newer games for both mobile and console ✅❌

I gave myself both answers for this one because I did try out new games for mobile but didn't try anything new for console. I still have a PS3 so the time for trying out anything new on it has long since passed. lmao I've been fighting it off for like 4 years but I finally accepted that I'm going to have to get a PS4. I was still in a smaller state of denial about it until last month when Warner Bros announced they were shutting down the PS3 multiverse of DCUO on January 31st (the day after my damn birthday too. Happy Birthday to me) and I don't appreciate that shit at all. At that moment I finally accepted it was time to figure out how to get my hands on one. How I'm going to do that, I don't know. But since Sony's already announced plans for a PS5, I should probably try to get a 4 at some point. lol 

Start Android series and try more current apps ❌

My Droid series was one of the things I had planned to start building up the Tech portion of the site, but I think I overwhelmed myself so I'll be starting it next year. I have tons of apps and websites to show you, but I'm trying to get them all organized before I start the series. Because I'm an idiot, I was also actively looking for new apps while trying to organize and check out the ones I already found so I put too much on my plate. It's finally coming together and I've (mostly) stopped adding new apps to the list so I should be able to roll it out soon. Another thing that stopped me here was that I don't own an iPhone or iPad so I can recommend things correctly. I don't want to recommend wrong alternatives to iPhone apps so I'd need to see them first. Either way, I'm trying to get that series up and running sometime within the next couple of months. 

Do more projects ✅❌

I gave myself both answers on this because I did do more projects, I just didn't post them because I didn't like the outcome, didn't think it would work so I didn't take pictures of the process, or didn't want to recommend something bad. I actually had the first post in my DIY For Cheaper series ready shortly before Halloween but I didn't have another shirt to use so I could post a tutorial, so it never went up. I need to rob a bank. Insta influencers are pulling five to six digits to promote shit tea, I just want a few bucks to get the right equipment, make some shirts and save people money. Where's the balance in the world? lol Anyway, I want to build up the DIY portion of this site. That's the short of it.

Restart SBS ❌

I did make an entry into SBS this year, the Pantry box I reviewed back in January or February, but as for officially restarting the series with a new box every month, it didn't work out. Because subscription boxes have already hit their peak in terms of public exposure, most companies aren't doing the free trial boxes anymore. I can understand that; even though I try the free trials for review purposes, it's important to remember that each free trial box is a loss that the company takes in an effort to get exposure with the intention of getting repeat business, aka memberships.

Continue growing audience ✅

I put a check on this because I did see an uptick in views this year. It wasn't a drastic improvement in audience, but I've been monitoring the views per post and when I post on time lol, I see quite a few more views than I did before. I also notice more views when I promote the post than when I just post it and don't say anything. I haven't yet gotten to a point where I see consistent engagement on posts, but that's on the goal list for next year. I'm not at all where I want to be in terms of views but considering I still post so many things late, maybe it's better that way. As for the goal of growing my audience in general though, I accomplished that. 

Get better at social media! ✅

I posted a lot on my social media, my Instagram in particular, this year while I was promoting posts. Well, a lot for me, anyway. lol I did a lot better than last year with promoting my posts on social media, although I didn't do as well as I would have liked. That's another one that is deeply affected by my inability to post shit on time, but I'll get back to that one in a bit. I also started posting to Google Plus this year when a post went live so even though I keep hearing that people don't often visit G+, I did see a bit of traffic from there so I'm going to keep doing it. Again, I'm not quite where I want to be in terms of being active and maintaining consistency on social media, but it's a lot easier for me to do now than it was last year.

Correct last year's report card failures ✅❌

While I did correct some failures from last year's report card, there were a couple of rollovers from last year that will be rolling over to next year as well. lol Most of those failures last year were due to financial or planning restrictions, and the same is true for them this past year. I can't wait until I'm able to develop an entirely new list of goals because I accomplished all of the others.  

Become more disciplined with schedule ❌

This is probably one of my biggest issues with my blog. I am often working on multiple things at once and for a lot of the year, I wasn't working smarter so I wasn't getting as much done. This obviously affects scheduled and upcoming posts, and many of the series I started this year had some late entries sprinkled in there that got no views because they went up so late. I have good ideas for posts but don't often figure out the direction of the post or how to go about it until I get in there, but I've already jumped in headfirst and given a post date so it ends up being late. I bite off more than I can chew and it's still biting me in the ass so I clearly haven't learned my lesson yet.

On that note, the last three entries in the Self-Love September series weren't posted until recently because of issues I was having editing the post, so even though the series looks complete to you now if you go look at it, for a couple of months it looked like I just dropped off mid-month. I hadn't; the post was actually ready to go up not long after the date but I was having so many issues with the post itself that it didn't go up for months. The same goes for the Back to School and Spring Break series, so I'll be rolling those over for next year. While a couple of them are finished or nearly finished, others don't even have a direction yet but I tried to force myself to do them anyway. As a result it just looks like I started something I didn't finish--which I guess in essence is true, huh? LOL  

Create a blog that better represents RRNT ❌

I gave myself a 'no' on this goal because the intention was to give the blog a more well-rounded look by the end of the year. If you look at the archives right now, the Beauty and Things categories are the fullest by far. The Books and TV categories are slowly coming up, but the DIY, Tech and Games categories are as dry as my pockets. lol The goal coming into this year was to give more attention to the neglected categories of the site but I wasn't able to do that. I want this to be a well-rounded blog and right now it's not. I think if there was anything I was embarrassed about concerning my blog, it would be that. 

Overall Grade: D

Don't let the checks fool you, I still take an L on this year's report card. lol I really want to do better next year so I'll just have to be more resourceful with how I approach accomplishing these goals. Either way, I'd like to move up to at least a C+ next year. I was an A/B student all through school and these constant L's I've been taking are messing up my shit. lol See you tomorrow!

Read More »

2017 Reading Challenge in Review

Hi! With the year at an end, I've been reviewing how I did over the past year, which brings me to this year's reading challenge. Last year's In Review post was abysmal in so many ways but I am happy to report that this one was better. Somewhere on the title of the book will be the entry it fulfilled, and then I'll share a bit of what the book is about or what I thought about it. There may be a bit of smut in this year's list. I'd apologize buuuuut I'm not sorry. Maybe a little really embarrassed 😓 but not particularly sorry. Part of the reason I read so much smut is because I'm a book reviewer and I'd like to review more than just mysteries, clean romances and non-fictions. Part of it is because I enjoy the actual plot of the book and the dirty parts are secondary for me. Part of the reason is because with me being a book reviewer, I've seen a bunch of smut books. It gets hard to change the formula and to do so successfully is something I like to read. The final part of the reason is because I'm disgusting. lol First, let's review the challenge entries and we'll get to the books. 

Entries 1-9

Entries 10-18

This book is set in late 1800s Illinois and is about a teenager whose stepfather sends her to a boarding house after she gets pregnant. As Nell gets used to a new life on her own she begins to plot how exactly to run away from the boarding house, but she finds a couple of welcoming faces and realizes it will be harder to leave than she initially anticipated. The warden is a cruel man who keeps a number of secrets about his boarding house--literally, as Nell finds the bodies of a young woman and a child boarded up inside the building. She tries to get to the bottom of things all while wondering if the same fate could happen to her. This was a solid mystery. I was expecting a romance to develop and that part of the plot was a bit confusing, but I liked that the meat of the story involved Nell and her finding her way.  

Oh this is absolutely smut. It's extremely dirty. lol It is also, however, partially about time travel. Basically, Gwynne finds herself transported through time, where not one but two men are waiting to call her theirs. No, it's not a love triangle per se. She doesn't have to choose between the two; they're a package deal. The three of them are together in every sense of the word. The men don't sexually interact with each other; they're both there for Gwynne. As a sexually liberated broad living in today's times (LOL), I mean......that's kinda hot. 😅 I'm not really a judgmental person when it comes to people's intimate tastes; my brother and sisters-in-law are polyamorous so triad relationships don't bother me. I actually find them really interesting if done correctly and with the attention that building a healthy relationship of this kind deserves. It doesn't fetishize a triad in the way I've seen other books do, nor was it a seamless or conflict-less transition. I appreciate that more books are being written with this setup, and this is a mythical/supernatural book so that's a bonus. It is heavy on the dirty and I'm fine with that too. lol All of that aside, I enjoyed the book. It wasn't the best I'd read all year but I liked the differences between the men, I enjoyed the supernatural bit, and I liked the world that the author created in order for these characters to exist. 

I can't clearly remember if this book has smut in it but if it does, I'm sorry for not warning you. lol This is the story of Shelly and Cal, a married couple whose happiness is shattered by a drunken night and one mistake. At a friend's bachelor party, Cal gets blackout drunk and has a one-night stand. When he remembers what he did, he comes clean to his wife Shelly, who leaves him. Desperate to keep his wife, he asks her to give him 8 weeks in which he will work his hardest to show her the depth of his love and his willingness to fight for their marriage. It's a sappy, emotional book but I enjoyed it. Shelly started to get on my nerves a little, but I find that common with romance heroines. lol Overall though, I liked it. For me, cheating has and will always be a dealbreaker. I don't eff with those who cheat, I won't cheat on mine, and once that's been broken there's no turning back. I don't do second chances with that, which I know is harsh, but I just can't do it. Because of my intolerance, it has always intrigued me to read the stories, even the fictional ones, of those who fight through those situations and come out better for them. Sometimes a mistake really is just a mistake, and it helps for people like me to read stories in which that's actually true. Again, because of my intolerance I found myself feeling conflicted and eventually going against my opinion as I made my way through the book and I love books that challenge my ideals and opinions. I've read a couple of other books in this series (8 Weeks is the intro and setup for some of the other couples who get a book in the series) and I enjoy this author's work. I almost added this to the anthology entry in the series, but I think I'm missing the last two books so I can't add it just yet.

I read this shortly after finishing Beyond Narcos, another novel by Shaun Attwood, which is a few entries down on this list. I can't remember which came first in the series; I want to say Beyond Narcos was the first book and this was the follow-up. I believe that's what it was because there were details in American Made that had been touched on briefly in Beyond Narcos. Anyway, American Made delves into a lot of heavy stuff but brings everything full circle to answer the question on the title. Barry Seal was a pilot for the Medellin cartel and at some point flipped sides but just before being able to give the government his side of the story, he was murdered. Most people pinned it on a vengeful Pablo Escobar wanting to shut Seal's mouth due to the amount of things he knew, but another theory--that holds a surprising amount of weight--is the theory that the American government had him killed with the idea of making the public think it was the Medellin cartel. It explores the relationship between the Colombian and US governments and reveals that things were a bit more chummy than initially thought, which you also see a bit of in Narcos. If you're into conspiracy theories that suggest our government does not have our best interests at heart, you'll like this one.

I don't often read books about improving the brain. Much like self-help books, I don't really put too much stock into what I read in books like these. It's become a solid argument that brain exercises and general exercises that are recommended for the brain aren't very effective and for some people, are more of a placebo effect than anything else. I agree and disagree with that theory, as I have found using different parts of my brain for the exercises does help strengthen my retention skills and get the rust off of the parts I don't use as often. But I also didn't notice an improvement in other targeted areas I was trying to improve so for me, I find myself somewhere in the middle of the argument. I wanted to see what this book had in the way of 'exercising' the brain--I also think I won this book in a giveaway and had to review it--so I gave it a look. I read it at the beginning of the year so I can't remember if I liked it or not. I tried to go back and look at it to jog my memory but Kindle deleted it from my library. lol I'm sorry I can't detail what it's about, but there is a free sample available for download in the Kindle store if you'd like to check it out for yourself.

I was starting to think that maybe this entry wouldn't get filled because most celebrity memoirs are either out of my price range or I'm simply not interested in the celebrity. I was out at my favorite thrift shop a couple of weeks ago when I randomly stumbled on this one and I had to get it. Lauren Bacall was one of my favorite classic film actresses and I was always more intrigued by her marriage to Humphrey Bogart than I have ever been by today's celebrity couples. I'm not finished with this book yet but I already love it. 

Gladly Beyond is another kinda sappy book that I read sometime in the fall but ended up enjoying. The book is set in Italy, fulfilling the requirement for this entry, and I think I underestimated what the book would be about. I was expecting a basic romance but it actually ended up being quite interesting. An ancient familial curse affects three brothers, who each grow up with some kind of powerful supernatural talent, but each have the curse of eventually being destroyed in part by said power. At least I think that's what the curse was, I'm sorry if I'm wrong. lol Anyway, one of the brothers meets a newly single art appraiser during a job and not only is she unaffected by his curse, she seems to have something supernatural going on in her own life. In each selfie she takes, a mysterious man is always somewhere in the background of the photo. The two team up and obviously fall in love, but they realize their love story is apparently centuries in the making. I appreciate a good mix of supernatural, romance and mystery but it's often basic and predictably executed and this book had a little of both things, but ultimately came together in a way that I liked. The heroine was a little irritating, as they often are to me lol, but I liked the plot. The elements came together in a way that felt true for this series, even if I did have my suspicions as to who the true villain was pretty early on. I didn't feel like I could have read this book somewhere else and slapped someone else's characters onto it, a typical issue with some supernatural books. Gladly Beyond was a good lead-in to other books in the series and left just enough unanswered questions to make you come back.

I read this book at the beginning of the year while I was waiting for season 3 of Narcos and its well worth the read. Every time I watch Narcos, I fall into this rabbit hole of sorts where I become totally absorbed in the show and the characters depicted in it. I start reading articles, books, finding other shows that were based on the events that took place, and that leads me to Beyond Narcos. This pulled me in because of the top caption, which I found intriguing as I now see how much of the story Netflix left out. They kept true to the general timeline of events, but there are a lot of other things they didn't include, probably so that they'd have more time to develop the other plotlines. The most disappointing thing Netflix left out was the supposed American involvement in the drug war in Colombia. They touched on it a little, alluded to it a couple of times, but never came out full stop and said that the American government got involved in this war and others for its own benefit. This book does and the follow-up, American Made, goes into more detail about it. If you know me then you know I love a good conspiracy theory. I've always thought the hands of the American government were dirtier than they let on, and this book makes you question just how dirty they may be. Of course, you have to take these types of stories with a grain of salt but the notion that they may be accurate is a pretty strong one.

I could have picked this book for the "In a genre you don't read" category because I usually don't bother with books like this too often anymore. I find many of them to be filled with vaguely motivating statements and the same repeated rhetoric or a get-rich-quick style approach to the topic at hand, whether it be cultivating happiness, becoming more emotionally aware or moving beyond your past. Topics like these aren't a one-and-done situation and I found that out the hard way after feeling like a failure for not always being able to maintain the things I read in these books. It's an ongoing thing that requires lifelong effort and work, which is something many self-help books don't tell you. They make it seem like once you 'unlock' or 'unleash' the secret, your life immediately transforms and nothing ever knocks you the way it once did and if it does, you did something wrong because it isn't supposed to do that. It's a false narrative that I only realized after I'd failed repeatedly and didn't understand why. Life doesn't work that way, that's why I kept failing. Once I discovered that secret, self-help books that promise to teach you something in a certain duration or promise to change your life didn't seem so appealing anymore. They seem more like greedy attempts to capitalize than they do genuine efforts to help. I'm probably wrong, but that's what it feels like. Anyway, enough bitching about self-help books. This particular book is a guide about how to become more mindful and emotionally aware by integrating a 7 step, 20-minute routine into your life. I don't mind a daily integration of mindfulness practices; I think we could all benefit from a small recess during the day just to recenter our brains because everything's so fast-paced. This book has a lot of helpful quotables about how to learn to listen to ourselves, the importance of emotional health, and helpful exercises to help you learn to take accountability of your feelings and thoughts. Despite all the bitching I just did, I actually liked this book. The exercises were helpful, not time consuming or overwhelming, and can actually help someone to become more emotionally conscious over time.

I could cook and read cookbooks all day long. To look at all of the different ways you can manipulate an ingredient and the different taste profiles you can create from one ingredient is so fun for me. I'm familiar with Mexican food because of where I live but this recipe covers the main countries in Central America and I was interested in the native foods of some of these places, so I checked it out. There are a few recipes that I'm familiar with the Mexican versions of (like chilaquiles, which are called chilaquilas in Central America or picadillo, which is a mixture of ground beef and potato but in Central America the potatoes are switched out for plantains), but there are tons that I've never heard of, like papaya milk and jibarito, which is a sandwich with buns made of fried plantains. I can't see myself cooking all of the dishes in the cookbook, but there were quite a few that I'm interested in making.

I reviewed this book back in August so I won't go into too much detail here, but it was probably the most exciting book I read this year. It's a government thriller that I recommend you read if you like thrillers, suspense films or conspiracy theory-type books. It can be read as a standalone, but it's actually the final in a trilogy of books based on CIA secrets, murder and corruption at all levels of the US government.

A few months ago, Smashwords had a massive sale and marked tons of books down to free, so obviously I was all over it. Something I've noticed about Smashwords is that it seems a bit easier for an indie author to make their debut there rather than Amazon or other well-known platforms, and I like that. I came across How to Defeat Procrastination through said sale and to be honest, I wasn't sure if I was going to like the book or not. I've made no secret of my issues with procrastination so if anyone had any helpful advice or things I could do to slowly whittle it out of my life, I was down. This is a very quick read and it did have some useful tips and quotables that I highlighted, but I found myself distracted by the grammatical errors and I noticed that a few of the tips to help one stop procrastinating were more motivational tips rather than procrastination assistance tips. You would assume there isn't a difference between motivating someone to be active and motivating someone to stop procrastinating, but listen. I'm a procrastination connoisseur. I know about most of the typical tricks, tips and strategies to combat a procrastinating spirit and trust me, there's a difference between the two. The book had the right idea and I enjoyed the motivational bits, but it wasn't quite what I needed.

And those were the challenge entries I had throughout the year. Obviously I wish I could have completely finished the challenge but I can deal with what I was able to finish. If I've learned anything from doing these reading challenges over the years, its that I do much better with challenges geared at one genre or number-based challenges. Targeted challenges where I have to read a specific kind of book don't really seem to be where it's at for me and I fail every single time I try them. So I won't be doing a targeted reading challenge next year. I'm just going to stick with the Goodreads challenge, which looks at the number of books you read rather than a specific genre.

If you want to try your hand at a reading challenge next year, Reading Challenge Addict already has a master list of different sites holding a 2018 reading challenge. You should be able to find something you like on there; the list has a lot of variety and options for you to check out. I had fun trying to create my own reading challenge for a couple of years; it was never something I expected to take off like the lists on RCA's page, it was just something I wanted to try doing. Maybe I'll revisit creating my own someday but until then, I'm going to follow the crowd. lol See you tomorrow!

Read More »

2017 In Review

Hi! At the beginning of the year, I did a end of/beginning of year series of posts to usher out 2016 and bring in 2017. In retrospect, I should have left that bitch where she was because she ain't bring me shit. lol Either way, I did a series reviewing how my 2016 went but I stretched it out through the month of January. I was going to do that again this year, but by the time the year starts I want to be finished discussing 2017 so I'm doing my year review in one post. You're going to be seeing a lot of me over the next few days so I can wrap up everything for this year, so if that's not your bag I'll see you in a few days. This, per usual with me, is a long post so get a snack or fix a sandwich and get comfortable. 

So, just how did my 2017 go?

1. What went well this year?

Not much went well this year, but I made progress professionally and did a lot of work on myself. I reconnected with some people, began new friendships with others, and I was able to pay all of my bills, so that's always going to be something I count among the things that went well throughout my year. 

2. What went wrong?

Just about everything else in my life. lol 

3. What lessons did you learn this year?

A lesson I learned a few years ago but didn't really understand until this year is that the way people handle conflict and issues with you often isn't personal. The way people treat you says more about them than it does about you and I finally saw that this year. People would say that to me a lot, but I always thought it was an excuse to not hold people accountable. I was wrong. That was an extremely important lesson to learn and it helped me to see a lot of things I needed to see. I used to--still do, actually--get really offended when people do me wrong, especially if I've done nothing to them or gone out of my way to help them. Attempting to confront them never solved the problem, so over time I'd keep changing how I handled conflict--how and when I approached the issue, how and what I'd say, how I'd explain it--but the results I was getting would never change, no matter who it was I tried it with. Nothing changed. It was a real mindf*ck for me for a majority of the year because I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong in my conflicts with everyone. I expected that by addressing the complaints and the 'reasons' that I caused for conflict not being resolved, it would be finally be resolved but this never happened and I didn't understand why. I finally--FINALLY--realized last week that I wasn't doing anything wrong. It didn't matter how I approached it; the other person's response, which I'd been conditioned to assume was immediately my fault for one reason or another, did not change and that was on them. It wasn't me that wouldn't change, it was them. I'd changed everything and was able to prove as much. This lesson here could probably be a post all on its own but in short, I learned that I can change everything about myself and not get the results I want from others because I can't change them. Their response is based off of who they are, and their response, provided that I did not provoke them in any way, says more about them than me. As you can see, conflict is kind of a dominant theme in my life. lol

When I explain how I came into the lesson of trusting the process, which is one of the other important lessons I learned this year, it's going to sound dumb as shit. lol Anyway, I was making my sister a hoodie for Christmas based off of a hoodie I saw in a merch store but couldn't afford to buy and when I was in the first stages of stenciling the design onto the hoodie, it looked terrible. I nearly abandoned the project, but my mom told me to do my best with it and if it still didn't look right after I finished it, we'd try something different. I had to draw off of patience I don't normally possess and try to shape what I was doing into the desired end result. It took me hours but by the end of the project, it looked great and my sister ended up loving it. I'm very hard on myself and when something I do doesn't go the way I meant for it to, I can get discouraged quickly. Some people are naturally good at things and when I feel like I have to work hard just to be mediocre it makes me doubt myself. I struggle to have the patience to trust the process and feel my way through things sometimes, but I was finally able to apply that lesson and it worked out. I learned a life lesson by stenciling a damn hoodie. LOL

I also learned that someone can love you and simultaneously not have your best interests at heart, but not because they actively want to see you fail. They actually don't want you to fail, but their interests are more important and if you happen to get caught up in their pursuit of them, that's a personal problem. For you, not them. This one was a difficult one for me to put together, because I felt if someone loved me, then wanting what was best for me and wanting to help me get there would come naturally. This isn't always true. It doesn't mean that the person doesn't love you or even that they are bad. Selfish maybe, but not bad. It just means that the two things aren't exclusive. I had to learn this lesson the hard way but it was a good one to learn. It helps me to not expect too much from people and I think I expect a lot from people I love, which isn't always fair.

I learned many of the ways that I sabotage myself thanks to my Self-Love September post on self sabotage. While I was going through the common reasons people sabotage themselves and having to give examples of each reason, many of them were from personal experience. Nobody wants to think they're sabotaging themselves, that they're standing in their own way. People will blame themselves for not getting where they'd like to be but also won't admit that they're sabotaging themselves. It's a difficult admission to make and I get it, but now that I'm aware, I'm going to fix it moving forward.

I've learned that concepts like karma and paying it forward are good because they encourage you to be a good person and they further the theory that those who do badly get it returned to them tenfold, which is encouraging to those who get done wrong, but they're not true. If they were, the people in the film industry (who, only now after decades of limitless power, are getting theirs for their various assaults on actors and actresses) never would have had the opportunity to rise to prominence and if they had, it wouldn't have taken so long for the mountain to crumble. If it were, the events of the last year would have been so much different because our presidential administration would have been different. Karma makes a lot of us accountable and that's fine. Paying it forward reminds us to be better people and that's never a bad thing. But the actual execution of these actions, especially together, doesn't guarantee a return and in many cases, the bad guys do get ahead, don't get what they deserve for wronging others, and you'll be wronged again. Underneath the light of karma and good deeds lie the seedy underbelly of power, dominance and freedom from consequence. The good half doesn't always win and while it's ugly to think about, it's also the truth. It's a good lesson to know and for me, it helped me adjust my expectations. 

4. What habits or behaviors need to be left behind going into the new year?

I need to stop worrying about things and people to the point that I'm sick over them. I can no more control people in my life than I can the fact that the sun rises every morning. Whether I worry or not won't help anything, so why worry myself to death? Something else I'd like to stop doing over the next year is constantly thinking the issue in everything I do is me. I already overanalyze everything and immediately assuming that I'm always or will always be at fault just makes everything worse. 

5. Did you have a mantra, word or phrase to guide you through 2017? What was it?

I believe the mantra was "Let go," and I believe the word was "grind." When I was 18, that word meant something else entirely LOL, but as much as I despise the word, that's the vibe I was on at the beginning of the year. I needed to be on my grind, needed to be out there making things happen for myself. Obviously, didn't quite work out that way. lol

6. What am I most proud of accomplishing this year?

Everything in question #10. 

7. Where did I feel stuck or hit roadblocks?

Everydamnwhere. I need to get a tattoo of a roadblock somewhere on my body because it seems to represent another ongoing theme in my life. lol 

8. How well did I take care of myself emotionally, physically and mentally?

If I'm being honest, I did a shit job taking care of myself this year. 2017 was an emotional rollercoaster from hell for me and it was very draining to get through. I had a lot of difficulty with my anger this year and my blood pressure felt like it skyrocketed every time I was angry or stressed--so basically, most of the year lol--and I spent a lot of the year trying to recover from something so my body never really had the time to recoup. I know better than to be angry and tense for days because my body always makes me pay for it but I couldn't help it. I didn't know how to relax, didn't often attempt to when I needed to and sometimes didn't eat for days. When I did eat, I often didn't put the right kind of food in my body. I did a horrible, terrible, no-good job at maintaining my temple this year.

My anxiety was the hardest it's been to manage in years, and part of that was because I wasn't taking care of myself emotionally or mentally either. Like I said and have been alluding to, some things happened in my family over the past six months that left me either being or feeling betrayed. Logically speaking, I don't think it was easy or even possible for awhile for me to be in a good headspace emotionally or mentally. I never got a chance to get away from the problem, from the people who caused the problem, so it would repeat over and over in my mind. It sent me to a really dark place and because I was having so many issues emotionally and mentally, I had enough energy to cope, escape to somewhere in my mind and regroup, nothing else. In retrospect, it was a little ironic writing about depression during Self-Love September when I was in and out of my own. I didn't think about it then, but thinking about it now I don't know how I didn't see I was going through the very thing I was writing about. I did a lot of work on myself over the year and spent some time doing things I enjoyed, but I think I did a lot of it to comfort myself rather than because it was a necessary part of my self-care. 

9. When did I feel the most creatively inspired?

I always felt the most motivated and inspired just before and just after seeing my mentor. I want to show him that his work with me isn't in vain, that I am working, and he holds me accountable so I enjoy having actual progress to show him. I tend to get off track shortly before a meeting if I've already done what I was supposed to do but our meetings replenish me and give me new motivation so I also feel the most inspired afterward. 

10. What important projects did I successfully complete?

--my 2nd Black History Spotlight in February
--my 5th SUTS in August
--the rebrand and relaunch of my godmom's business this fall
--Self-Love September
--my 3rd Octoberfest in October
--visual and branding for the first business I'm launching
--3 of my 4 seasonal boards
--the development of a course I'm building

11. Overall, was the year a success personally? Professionally? 

Yes and no, but mainly no on both counts. Personally it was a success because I was able to learn so much about myself, the way I operate and why I am the way I am, and professionally it was a success because I was able to finally get some real direction with my business ideas and concepts. I finally made important headway in getting to opening day with my company, which I needed because I was starting to get extremely discouraged with the lack of movement. After so long of having a concept but no real direction, no process, not even a name, it was awesome to finally have something concrete that I can build on.

The reason why I said no on both counts is purely due to my dissatisfaction. Yes, I made strides in my professional life but I didn't make any on my blogs, which bugs the hell out of me. Yes, I learned more about myself but I wasn't able to do much with what I learned or change the things I didn't like about my personal environment. The lessons I learned were far from meaningless, but there haven't been any opportunities to apply them in a lasting way. 

12. Is there anywhere I allowed myself to be held back, anywhere I voluntarily stifled myself?

Hmm. I think I stifled myself when I made certain decisions to benefit others that came at my expense. I know why I stifled myself and while I don't regret having done so I wasn't able to advance anywhere because of those decisions. This was very much a damned if you do, damned if you don't kind of situation, so while there was an ideal outcome it wasn't a realistic one, so I chose the one that made more sense. 

13. Were there any notable changes I made to my life this year?

Not really. I started drinking more water, does that count? lol I'm trying to be a little more open with acquaintances and friends, which I'm finding to be a pain in my ass because its every bit as difficult as I expected it to be, but I'm trying.

14. Did I cultivate any new or meaningful relationships this year?

Yes, I did. Go get a snack (or get another one, I know you've already been here awhile) so I can explain. One of my relatives and I have never been super close, but after my nieces were born we had something to bond over. We still weren't very close and we didn't talk very much until late this summer. I'm not going to go into detail out of respect for that person and the severity of the situation, but there was an incident that caused a massive rift in the family. Everyone was running high on hurt feelings and anger, but I felt there was a deeper reason for why the person did and said certain things, and it was because I understood that the person was finally able to open up to me. That event and how it was handled broke a large barrier in our relationship. I still have my reservations mainly because I just don't want to be misled or played for a fool, but I feel our relationship has improved so much since that event and it's been nice.

Recently, one of my godmothers (I have 3 lol) and I were able to reconnect and that was something I didn't realize was important to me until it happened. She's my first godmother and she'd been in my life since I was born, but because she was in a dark place in her life she did some really foul things and we fell out with her for well over a decade. Coincidentally, my second godmother (who's also been in my life since I was born; she was one of my mom's best friends in high school) is now related to the first by marriage, so we ran in some of the same circles but never interacted with each other excluding random meetings in the wild or at funerals. The last funeral was my 1st godmom's brother last month, and she expressed wanting to reconnect. I'd never given it a ton of thought over the years but to have this bit of my childhood back, one of the only good bits of my childhood, won out over things I'd long since forgiven. She has a granddaughter now who for some insane reason has really taken to me and it's been important to me to be there for her in some way. I see a lot of younger me in her and I don't want her to feel as alone as I was. I don't know why she likes me so much and it unnerves me LOL, but I don't want to abandon her.

As I said a few minutes ago, I'm trying to be more open with other people in my life. It's opened a few doors for more honest communication with those people, but I still have the contradictory issue of simultaneously wanting people to see who I am and remaining reserved. LOL It's been challenging in the best way to see the results starting to pay off in terms of creating open, honest friendships with people. The relationships I've made an effort to work on and the reconnecting I've done has only widened my family and I love that.

15. How well did I manage my time, both on and off the clock?

I managed my time this year much better on the clock. I managed it on the clock so well that I didn't really give myself any 'off' time, so in a way I didn't manage it well at all. LOL From the time I wake up until the time I go to bed, I'm working on something. This week its the end of year series I usually do. Next week it'll be back to small business and company stuff because I have a meeting with my mentor after the holidays. I have so much I'd like to do and I'm riding this wave of motivation, so I don't want to halt my momentum by slacking off. When I'm feeling motivated and inspired, I have to ride that wave for as long as I can before something comes along that kills my drive. As long as I feel like my work is progressing toward something, I can keep going. The minute I start getting overwhelmed or feel as though I'm doing the headless chicken dance, I get discouraged and shut down. So sometimes I'll be working on things for days, sometimes weeks straight. It's fun, but not a healthy or sustainable habit. I get a lot more done this way so in that respect it was managed well, but I didn't give myself any 'off' time. I felt bad when I couldn't finish something, didn't feel well enough to do anything or simply didn't want to, which also isn't a healthy or sustainable thought. In that respect I didn't do so well. 

So that wraps up my 2017 in a nutshell. I'm sorry it went on as long as it did but if you were here for last year's end-of-year series, you already know I'm incapable of answering most questions quickly. lol Were there any questions on this list that challenged you to take a look back at your year? How would you answer these? See you tomorrow!

Read More »

Helping Hands

Hello and Merry Christmas! I originally didn't have anything planned as far as holiday posts go other than Winter Chill, which I hope you enjoyed, but I've been wanting to do a post like this for months. I figured what better time to ask people to do something nice than Christmas? This year has arguably been a terrible year for most people, but what always emerged from the terrible situations I saw was a sense of humanity and unity in the face of uncertainty and devastation. The holidays aren't fun for everyone and some people have a really tough time with this final part of the year and I wanted to do my part in trying to contribute to something worthwhile, so I made this post.

I didn't want to focus on the traditional holiday stuff with gift guides and the like this year and other than a couple of DIY For Cheaper posts based off of gifts I made, there isn't going to be much talk about the holidays. I wanted to post something a bit more meaningful than the usual holiday fluff. So I put together a small list of fundraisers for some of the tragedies that happened this year and include some helpful resources to a few causes that I support. I know I left a lot of things off the list so if there are any you feel I should have included, please link them to me in the comments. If you can help monetarily, that'd be great. If you'd prefer to sign a few petitions, that's awesome too. If you can only share this post in hopes that someone else will be able to help, I'd love that as well. I'd also like to keep this up so that if you're unable to help now but would like to at a later date, you can refer back to this post.

Before I get to the charities though, let me first advise that you do your homework before giving your money or resources to a charity. The big ones I've heard that rob people or don't distribute their funds properly aren't on this list nor will they be if I can help it, but there are tons of smaller charity funds that end up stealing from people. Unfortunately, unless the charity makes a big mistake or wrongs enough people to go viral, they'll likely slip through the cracks and people won't find out until its too late. I don't want to recommend somewhere to you that ends up taking everyone for a ride. I got most of these lists from known organizations and websites that do thorough investigations before recommending charities so as of now, the ones on this list have the green light. I still recommend checking before making a donation just to make sure everything's still legit. ProPublica has a pretty good list of guidelines to follow if you'd like to donate to a charity and I recommend reading it if this is your first time donating.


1. Hurricane Irma recovery efforts in Puerto Rico

I got this list from AJC and there are a few charities on the list that I didn't include here, but here are a few:

-United for Puerto Rico
-Save the Children
-ConPRmetidos


If you'd like to find other YouCaring or GoFundMe accounts to help individual families or regions, you can start by searching the tags #PuertoRico, #MariaPR, or #PrayforPuertoRico on Twitter and see what you find. Again, don't forget to do your due diligence before donating anything.

2. Hurricane Harvey recovery efforts in Houston

GHCF Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund
Feeding Texas Hurricane Harvey Relief Effort
Houston Humane Society

3. Hurricane Maria/Irma recovery efforts in the islands

I know I didn't include all of the islands that were hit, but these seemed to be the ones hit the hardest and/or mentioned the least now that the immediate firestorm has died down.

Anguilla--Anguilla Relief Fund--Hurricane Irma, Anguilla Hurricane Relief Fund

Barbuda--Barbuda Recovery Conservation Trust Fund, Official Barbuda Relief Fund, Barbudan Relief, Cleaning and Rebuilding Effort Mass Post

British Virgin Islands--Hurricane Irma BVI Relief, Virgin BVI Community Support Donation Appeal

Dominica--Dominica Hurricane Maria Relief Fund, Dominica Relief, official list from Dominica on all supplies needed

US Virgin Islands--21 US Virgin Island Relief Fund

4. Mexico earthquake survivors

Vox put up a list of many of the places you can go donate to those affected by this year's hurricanes and earthquakes and I didn't include all of them so that you'd check out the source I got them from, but here are a few:

International Disaster Relief Fund
GlobalGiving Mexico Earthquake Relief Fund
UNICEF Mexico
Oxfam Relief Fund for Earthquake in Mexico

5. California wildfire survivors

Fundly has an awesome post on all the ways you can help the survivors of the wildfires in California. Many options are for California residents who want to help others, but I'm going to include some donation links for different fundraisers I found. The ABC7 affiliate in California has a bunch of links as well on how you can take action and help out. Many of these are also for other Californians, but there are quite a few things that those who live outside of the state can do.

Fundly California Fire Relief Fund
Napa Valley Community Disaster Relief Fund
Sonoma County Resilience Fund
Help 40 Families Get Back on Their Feet


6. Suicide prevention + hotline volunteering

The holidays can be a rough time for those who've lost others to suicide, those who are going through something or those who don't have anyone around. If you have your own experience dealing with or overcoming suicidal thoughts, you'd be a great person to help those still fighting.  HealthyPlace has an article up on how to go about becoming a suicide hotline volunteer, and another on how to help a suicidal person. I've battled suicidal thoughts a number of times throughout my life, almost constantly during extreme depressive episodes, and attempted it twice. That's not a badge of honor or a list of accolades, that's just me saying I understand. If you're in need of help, here are a few hotlines and websites you can contact. Please don't be ashamed to ask for help. I've had to call a suicide hotline myself and the volunteer I got was patient, kind and more than generous with her time. She was there for me when I desperately needed it and gave me enough strength to keep pushing. If you see someone struggling, reach out.

PRS CrisisLink
IMAlive
National Suicide Prevention Hotline
Network for Good Suicide Prevention
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention


7. LGBTQIA+ teens and hotline volunteering

Much like the holidays are rough for those going through something, having a bad time with family or don't have others around, they can also be tough for LGBT teens, especially those who don't have a supportive family or aren't yet out. I wanted to include some resources on the off chance someone needing an ear stumbles across this blog and wants to find someone who understands them and won't judge. For allies, this would be a good time to do a little volunteering; a young adult in the process of coming to terms with themselves and learning to live in their truth can be extremely difficult and they shouldn't have to go through all of that alone.

The Trevor Project
Helpful Resources for LGBT+ Youth and Supporters
LGBT National Youth Talkline
HealthyPlace LGBT Help and Support Groups


8. Planned Parenthood

I wanted to include this organization because it's been a large target of the defunding efforts introduced by the current presidential administration. It's a gateway into the larger issues, healthcare and women's health as a whole, but this is a post for help, not to get overly political. Planned Parenthood has helped so many women over the years, myself included, with family planning and birth control, pregnancy tests, safe options for abortions (which I know is a sticky subject) and helped prevent a larger amount of STDs by openly advocating for safe sex. As a teen, the fact that Planned Parenthood had a jar of condoms at their front desk for anyone was funny, but I took advantage of being able to get condoms, no questions asked, a number of times. As an adult, however, I can fully appreciate the lack of judgment I received, the options I was given at both PP and the local teen health clinic--which was kind of like the younger sibling to PP--and the employees' dedication to my health. The organization does a lot of good, and I'd love to do what I can, even if it's just sharing a link on a site barely anyone reads LOL, to keep the word out about Planned Parenthood.

Donation Landing Page


9. Las Vegas terrorist attack fundraisers

There are only two links here, but one of them is to the landing page of the GoFundMe accounts started by families of the victims, both those who were injured and the burial costs of those who died, so you can donate to whichever you'd like. Some have completed their fundraisers while others are still ongoing. I'm going to link to the main fundraiser as well as the landing page.

Las Vegas Victims' Fund
Las Vegas Terrorist Attack Fundraisers


10. Helping the homeless

The need for better/more shelters to accommodate the homeless is never more apparent to me than during the winter. The temperatures are low enough to be life-threatening, many don't have blankets or even cardboard to protect them from inclement weather, and many cities have ruled it illegal for the homeless to take shelter in different parts of cities so they don't have many places to go. Unfortunately, hard times don't discriminate and homelessness can happen to anyone. The elderly, sick, retired veterans, mentally ill and even children often end up homeless. It's something that deserves so much more attention than it receives. Contacting local organizations to find out how you can assist local shelters would be a good start, but educating ourselves on how to help prevent it would also be a good start so here are some resources:

SAMHSA Homeless Programs and Resources
9 Ways to Help the Homeless
VOA Assisting Homeless People


11. Ending childhood hunger/supporting food banks

This one is extremely important to me as more than a few times, I was a hungry child. I didn't starve or go days without eating--ironically, that didn't come until I was an adult lol--but I went without more times than I should have. It's a commonly repeated fact at this point, but the waste restaurants alone throw away could significantly dampen, if not end, childhood hunger in America entirely. Starting out in foodservice and building my career at least partially in that industry confirms this for me, which is something I'd like to contribute to decreasing in the future. I'm including a few links and resources here for different organizations specifically geared to helping with food banks and ending childhood hunger around the world. The Spruce has an article that mentions a few other organizations I didn't include here, including Meals on Wheels,

Dancember @ Convoy of Hope
No Kid Hungry
Global FoodBanking Network
Feeding America
Action Against Hunger

12. Sexual assault resources

I'm not going to include all of the resources here because there are a lot of similarities between the lists, but check out RAINN, The Daily Dot and Stop It Now for a much more thorough look into the resources available for survivors of sexual assault. There's a link to support those in the LGBT community who've suffered a sexual assault as well as a link for male survivors of sexual assault.

RAINN Chat and Hotline
Safe Horizon
Anti-Violence Project
Men Can Stop Rape


13. Current petitions that could use your signature

-Petition to Waive the Jones Act for Cargo to Provide Hurricane Relief to Puerto Rico

-Petition for Congress to stop blocking gun violence research

-Petition for Congress to pass the CARERS Act, which protects medical marijuana patients and removes CBD from the Controlled Substances Act

-Petition for Congress to vote No on cuts to Medicaid for the elderly in nursing homes

-Petition for Congress to reauthorize and restore the Children's Healthcare Insurance Program (CHIP), which provides healthcare funding to over nine million children

-Petition for Congress to pass Kari's Law, which would remove the need to dial "9" when attempting to call 911 from hotels or motels

-Petition for Congress to maintain affordable prices for cancer medications

-Petition for Congress to stop morcellation in minimally invasive hysterectomies, which have been known to spread cancer

Now if you've already done your part this year and have charity fatigue, which is completely fine, then just keep this post in mind for when you can donate again. I don't want this to come off as pressuring because it isn't. If you've already donated, can't donate anymore or simply don't want to, that's totally okay. I just wanted to make a post that isn't about the commercialism of the holidays and encourages the Good Samaritan in all of us. It's impossible for any one of us to help everyone going through a rough time so charity fatigue these days is quite easy to get, but the possibility that just one of us can help just one other person makes it a lot better. The kindness and generosity of others is something so desperately needed--and so often misused--in today's times but I'd love to do my part in showing others that we're still out there and we still want to help.


If any of these charities shuts down or is later deemed to be fraudulent in any way, let me know and I'll remove it. If you'd prefer to help your local community instead, search for your city on different donation sites to see if there's anything there, check the hashtags for your city on social media and see if there are any donation funds or individual families needing assistance, or ask organizations in your area if they're aware of any charities you can donate to. You can also volunteer at local food banks or shelters; they're usually in need of extra hands and I'd rather you spend your day with others than being depressed at home. If you need any help getting through the holiday season and don't have anyone, don't be afraid to use the hotline and websites I mentioned here.


Thank you for reading all of this and spending a little time with me today. Whether you decide to give your time, money, belongings or a little space on your newsfeed/social media page from anything I mentioned in this post, thank you. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas if you celebrate it and I'll see you soon. 

Read More »