a peek inside the fishbowl

Some of my Twitter and Facebook friends are probably already aware that I’m in the middle of a Dry January. No beer, no cider, no wine, no alcohol whatsoever, for the entire month.

So far so good! :)

I’ve been doing a lot of reading about what alcohol does to our brain and body. If you’re interested, you can start with these:

• There’s a ‘range of benefits’ to participating in a dry January, says researcher, cbc.ca
• America’s Favorite Poison, theatlantic.com
• What happens when you drink?, alcoholchange.org.
• Researcher says only 25% of Canadian drinkers know alcohol causes cancer, cbc.ca
• Did Drinking Give Me Breast Cancer?, motherjones.com
• Alcohol Deaths Have Risen Sharply, Particularly Among Women, nytimes.com

Have you ever done a Dry January? Why or why not?

This is A+ >> Could I go a year without buying any new clothes? https://t.co/pbSAUTsToD

— andrea tomkins (@missfish) January 11, 2020

• How you attach to people may explain a lot about your inner life, theguardian.com
• Who killed the Knapp family, nytimes.com
• Here’s what 20 years of work can do to your body, fastcompany.com
• Snøhetta Designs An Extraordinary Underwater Restaurant In Norway, ignant.com

“They could be the only 48 words of health advice that you’ll ever need,” writes @YoniFreedhoff https://t.co/4Rusa2ZbBE

— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) January 3, 2020

• A Quirky Collection of Cat Whiskers Diligently Cataloged in a Handbound Book from the 1940s, thisiscolossal.com
• Bizarrely decorated home owned by Dr. Phil trust hits the market, latimes.com
• Can You Talk Your Way Out of a Life Sentence?, nytimes.com
• Traveling the world for a year showed me real life doesn’t always live up to the hype, businessinsider.com
• ‘No tricks. No mantras. I just want to learn how to do nothing’: my quest to stay still, theguardian.com

On the nightstand: The Hate U Give

Happy New Year Fishies! I hope 2020 brings you much joy, health, and happiness.

What did this past year look like for you?

Last year at this time I decided to try keeping a video diary. My goal was to take a one second video (or photo, but mostly video) every day for 365 days. (!!) And I did it!

You can watch it below, if you like. It may not be that interesting to you, but I kinda love it. Life, eh? It’s a series of mundane events stitched together with moments of love, excitement, and wonder. We had some great times and a few not-so-great ones, but overall, I would say it was a very good year.

(If you can’t view the video, you can see it on YouTube right here.)

… and all the best for 2020!
I hope you find your happy place, no matter where you roam.