Unsubscribing from All the Things

I reside in the home of consumerism and have been swept up in the ease at which everything comes to me in this country and specifically in Seattle, the home of delivery.

In my ongoing quest to consume less, I looked at where I am exposed to advertising which has so much say in what I buy. If you say it doesn't then I call bullshit on that.

The answer was in email and on Facebook.

I proceeded to unsubscribe from every email sent to me by a business. This has had me realise that they lie and keep sending stuff to you over and over until Google mail helps you unsubscribe. Yes, they mark those jerks as spam.

The second avenue is Facebook. I've stopped liking my friend's statuses that mention a brand of any kind. I'm also leaving all groups that are selling me something.

This has changed what I read in a day. Lets see what happens in a week.

A week of not buying everything I want

Wow, is it difficult to not shop online constantly when you live in the US and work for Amazon?!

It's what the company I work for does best. Not just them but every online company in the US.

I can order everything online and have it delivered to my home with the only human inconvenience being dealing with my delivery guy (I joke):

• Instant groceries via Prime Now and Instacart, if I'm unwilling to wait a day for Amazon Fresh, Safeway and QFC;
• Christmas trees and people to pick up those Christmas trees when done;
• Petrol/Gas for your car;
• A massage at home;
• Organic tampons;
• Furniture. Yes, every single piece of furniture you can imagine; and
• Anything else you can imagine.

We live in the future and I want my flying car!

You think I joke, but I have pre-ordered two Star Trek: TOS Bluetooth® Communicators. One for my sister and one for myself.

We live in a time when you can get anything you want. My smartphone is more powerful than the computer that landed man on the moon. My speakers hear my commands and turn my house lights on and off , read me the news and tell me the weather or time if I'm too lazy to lift up my so smartphone.

It is so easy to buy. It takes a level of mindfulness to wake up after a goodnight's sleep and cancel that order of plastic garden flamingos. Yes, that happened last week.

People joke that we once had arguments about facts and now google (with a small 'g') everything and Snopes it on the spot. I extend on that and say that we have a conversation and can act on every whim and buy any damn thing we want.

But do we need those things?

This week, I have decided to not by anything that I do not NEED. When I say need, it must be essential to my survival or maintaining my basic standard of living.

In the spirit of a good Amazonian, I decided to keep a Wish List of A Week of Wants and refuse to buy anything that didn't go under the banner of essential.

I'm not saying I will buy them in a week but I am keeping a list of everything I would have purchased given the chance.

This will be both informative and confronting.

Would you face your inner consumer and not be disgusted?

Night Circus

Book 13 of 2016 is The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.

"The circus arrives without warning."

This book was recommended to me a couple of years ago when I was still in Australia. Pretty much every book story employee that I asked to recommend me their favourite phantasmagorical book recommended this one.

I was looking for Gaimenesque fantastical drama and this was the book to answer it, over and over again.

It is hard to describe this book as more than magical without ruining the story. Do what I did and don't read anything about it before you devour this book.

Four illusions out of five.

Should I read this? Absolutely, yes. It is a book for everyone.
What did I learn? Be good at what you do and always believe in the best of all outcomes.

The Master Magician

Book 12 of 2016 is The Master Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg.

This is the third book in The Paper Magician series.

If I had stopped at the first book, I would have missed the quality of books two and three. This series improved exponentially in time.

There are much better feminist protagonists but placing this in a historical setting helps justify her behaviour. Thing is, Jane Austin would have slapped her silly.

The second book is the peak of this series and I'm not stoked with how this went but it was ok.

Three teenage girls in love with their teachers out of five.

Should I read this? Only if like me, you have Kindle Unlimited. I'd not have read this series if it wasn't free to me, thanks to a Prime subscription.
What did I learn? Women can undermine themselves far too easily by dating colleagues. In all eloquence, I stick with the idea that you shouldn't shit where you eat.

The Glass Magician

Book 11 of 2016 is The Glass Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg. This is the second book in The Paper Magician series which I read last September.

The first book annoyed at how teenager whiney the first book was that I didn't want to finish the series. It was the reviews from Good Reads users who made me want to read the second book.

The second book is much better than the first and I went straight in to the third. This is mainly due to the female lead becoming less teenage infatuated girl and more grown up. Instead of courting her teacher, she goes out on missions to slay great magicians. This makes me happy.

Three broke mirrors and 14 years bad luck out of five.

Should I read this? Probably not. The first book is not easy to get through.
What did I learn? Competent woman are amazing.

Seveneves

Book 10 of 2016 is Seveneves by Neil Stephenson.

This book has been a reading project for the last 4 months. At Christmas time, I bought four copes and distributed to my reading friends. One took it up and demolished it in no time while the others, I must chase to complete this 880 page tome.

What I can tell you is that this book is worth every second I got the pleasure to spend on it. There were no slow moments. Every part lead to the next. Every challenge felt uncomfortable but absolutely necessary. Each word and page and chapter and plot and play was well played and entirely satisfying.

I won't ruin anything for you except to say that if there were seven Eves then this is the way the nine should end.

In the words of the recently departed Prince of purple...
All seven and we'll watch them fall
They stand in the way of love
And we will smoke them all
With an intellect and a savior-faire
No one in the whole universe
Will ever compare

5 evolutions out of 5.

Should I read this? This is a sci-fi must. A must. Like, read it NOW.
What did I learn? Who runs the world? Girls.

I'm coming home, coming home. Tell the world I'm coming home.

Every day starts with a coffee. I stopped drinking non-fat milk so the 16oz full cream latte with no added anything else is my drug of choice.

Breakfast is becoming more of a habit now. Usually it consists of eggs or fruit but it isn't consistent and may never be. Someone once told me it is better to eat anything at all to start your day over eating nothing much. That sticks in my head each morning and is appreciated when my metabolism kicks in to high gear after a breakfast sandwich or bowl of porridge.