A lot has been going on these past few weeks, so I've been too busy to even think about blogging... Corrupt Illinois politics have been at the forefront of the national media, I missed a final and spent 7+ hours in my car on the Eisenhour because of an ugly snowstorm (made the dean mad but of course took the exam at a later time!), and we moved to an itsy-bitsy apartment.
Moving to a smaller place has caused us to rethink how many possessions we have and how we spend our money. We donated three giant trashbags of clothes before we moved, and one bag afterward. I pared down my shoe collection and gave away over half of my books. We just have too much stuff. It was almost embarrasing, because I try to live simply. In our new place, hubs and I both share a non-walk-in closet, and the only other storage space is a pantry. So we've had to confront our accumulation of stuff. I can totally understand how the growth of suburbia/new housing development and increasing square-footage of living spaces is linked to consumerism, debt, and environmental issues. The more space you have, the more you're inclined to fill it with things--things that cost money and will eventually end up in a landfill somewhere. Do we really need all this stuff?
Being on break from school these past few weeks means reading what I want! Not that I don't love burying myself in 1,000-page casebooks, but it's been great being able to read things more in line with my interests. I'm about to finish The Accidental American, which deserves a post of its own. Although not a very well organized book, it does a great job of pointing out the double standard in U.S. immigration policy. It also includes the most succint description of why people in Mexico have to move to the U.S. Reagonomics.
I also started The Shock Doctrine, because I enjoyed author Naomi Klein's previous book, No Logo. I'm not a head-over-heels Obama admirer, but I am seriously ready for Bush to leave. I can't believe some of the things his administration got away with...I think we were asleep the past eight years!
Here's to a corruption-free 2009, with less snow, less STUFF, and more enjoyable reading that challenges the status-quo!
Recent Comments