OMG peeps, I don't know if it's the same in all countries (I'm in Oz) but there's an old '99 adaptation of The Haunting of Hill House on the free movie section of YouTube right now! It only follows the story loosely & they've totally gone for shock value, so it's actually pretty bad lol! But it's one of those 'so bad it's good' horror movies. On the upside though, you get to see Liam Neeson get pulled into a fountain by a giant hand so it's not all bad lol! 🤣🤣🤣

This is a reading-adjacent question for folks who still write cards/letters to people by mail. I'd like to stay in touch with friends from out of state by snail mail and I'm looking for ideas/advice to keep this fun, engaging, and simple enough that I could sustain this throughout the year (e.g., I don't want to commit to writing a 5-page letter every month, but sending a postcard every 1-2 months sounds doable?). I don't have any expectation of folks writing back, I just want them to feel good about getting something fun in the mail! Have any of you done this before?

Edit: thank you all for these great ideas and advice!! I'm determined to start this month with a couple of notecards to some friends who are out of state. Will incorporate your recommendations and tips!

Do you do it? Does it help you remember details? Do you go for paper or record thoughts digitally?

I'm thinking it might help me with reading series (I have an awful memory) but my issue is that I'm not sure what would be important to me to note down in the moment. Do you have any advice for this?

TIA!

My main goal for the year is staying off social media apps like tiktok, insta, Twitter, blue sky, and anything else that you can doomscroll on. Instead I'm just gonna do my best to either read, or come on here and yap with some people. Yes being on this app means I'll still be on my phone but it's not mindless like the other apps. It honestly annoys me how much time I wasted doomscrolling when I could have been reading, hanging out with friends, catching up on shows, and picking up new hobbies. I also FINALLY got a job a few months ago and I'll be damned if I continue wasting my time staring at my phone. I'm only really posting this to hold myself accountable lol.

The only exception is to stalk my favorite author for updates ofcourse :)

edit: sorry for doing this on new years day of all days. as i stated in the comments below, i wrote this while my adrenaline was high due to past experiences being verbally attacked irl and online for my preferences and ignorance many times. i clearly still have a lot of issues with attaching my self worth to numbers. but that doesn't excuse the fact i still chose to hit the post button, so that one's on me. it is entirely unfair of me to tell others to do the emotional labor of educating people about topics (like JKR) just because i am someone who is willing to do so. we all have different backgrounds and different circumstances in our lives, and in the moment became someone who forgot that. that one's also on me. at the end of the day there is no perfect solution and there is no perfect social media platform, but pagebound is still a hundred times better than the others out there. i still hope people can be more mindful and kind to each other online, but nobody is perfect as i have demonstrated via this very public crash out.

i just know this is going to be controversial, but i need to get this off my chest, because i've been attacked online for my views on smut of all things and it's driven me away from engaging in online communities for a period of time. JKR sucks and is actively a horrible person, and i think a majority of us are all on the same page about that. but can we at least be cordial to the people that aren't on the same page yet? someone made a (now deleted) post asking about whether there was a harry potter quest and immediately got downvoted and replies saying why there isn't an HP quest, but i think only one of those touched on why JKR sucks. my understanding of downvotes is that it's a moderation tool, where the community can moderate posts that don't belong in club and should be in a specific forum, or people using lists wrong, etc. i tried to be objective and just answer the question, and i also got downvoted. i guess i'm sorry for mentioning harry potter in my reply and not immediately disparaging JKR in the same sentence? i don't think that's how productive discussion occurs. this behavior isn't exactly going to explain to or educate people on why she sucks. like yeah she's sucked for a while but people might not know that. ignorance by itself isn't a sin and we shouldn't assume that everyone knows everything, and we shouldn't be attacking people for it (willful ignorance is another story imo). i'm not saying we should tolerate people that don't tolerate us (meaning minorities and marginalized communities), but can we at least be cordial? like don't be jumping down people's throats just for mentioning HP and/or JKR? anyway sorry if this doesn't make any sense i'm just kind of stunned by the community and this behavior. it just makes me feel less safe in the community. i know my freak pervert tendencies aren't the same as JKR and the terrible shit she's done, but it's the safety bit yknow? like how am i supposed to feel safe talking about what smut i like to read when i can't mention the HP words in a comment without having to make it clear that i hate JKR?

To see so many new folks online (especially here) joining genuine bookish culture. Books are so important to quality of life and increasing empathy. It also helps with critical thinking, which we all need more of! 🎆😍