My friends and family being so close of course! My niece is a 20 minute drive away. And bookstores. I can read in French and Spanish, better in Spanish, but both are options for me. So when I'm abroad it's not like I'm completely limited, but I can't just go grab any book off the shelf, I have too look at the translator to see if it's one I know. I have to consider the amount of colloquialisms potentially used and how dense the prose might be. Have I read much from that author? Do I know the genre well? Blah blah blah, but here in the states I can just grab a book and go.
Lol! I grew up in northern MI farm country. Not an urban poor or trailer park poor, the kinda poor where you don't really know it because it's just the way it is. It took me years to get to a middle class income where I am right now. It helps that I don't have dependents or much debt other than a very small amount in student loans, but respectable amount considering most ppl my age have @ least 3x's what I have. So here I am in this middle class salary but I can't get past living like I'm poor because it's what I know. So 30% of my salary goes into savings so I can get off the grid someday soon ish, but the rest of my disposable income is new to me and I've never been a big shopper so I'm pretty generous with it. I'm taken care of, I have some in savings, I do alright.
Every year I give 10% of my meager income to charity. I choose 2 and each 5%. Then I do one day a week where I do some volunteer work. That has varied from soup kitchens, to women's shelters, to rape crisis centers, to education programs....I also make it a point to support independent creators such as musicians throughout the year.
Thank you! I'm going to just go ahead and start back at the age of 18 if no one minds....
Just moved back to the states after two years of living and traveling abroad. Right before I left I had met a guy and we really hit it off. Came back, went on a date with him last night, standard dinner and movie, Indian food, movie was a doc on youtube, he even watched one with commentary with me. Seemed to go well, trouble is I'll only be in the states for 9 months so getting too committed seems kinda pointless. But he did laugh at my jokes and laughed at one of my favorite comedians with me so that was cool.
A National Park. Maybe Yosemite, I haven't been there yet. Or Yellowstone.
I already mostly speak at just above whisper level and my life has worked out so I'll keep whispering
I let my cellphone die and leave it off for days at a time sometimes which makes it hard for people to get a hold of me. I ignore my email if it gets too chaotic in there. I break into song and or laughter sporadically. I'm sure there are others as well.
Living in a little house with a couple acres in the mountains somewhere where I can garden, and read, and bake cookies for my closest neighbors (who will be miles away) with a dog and a cat and my solitude. Where I can pretend the rest of the world isn't on fire.
Antique book appraiser and restorer. Broadway Actress. Flapper Girl. Trophy Wife. Stay At Home Mom. Translator of only the best of the best literary texts. Egyptology Person. I'll happily settle for librarian though.
