1. The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks: back in October I bought the second book in the original Shannara trilogy, thinking it was the first due to the confusing “Book One” text on the redesigned MTV edition. Turns out The Sword of Shannara is actually the author’s debut novel and the first in the trilogy, so I bought a copy and have been reading it for the past couple weeks. It was a little slow going at first and man, I would copy edit the shit out of the overused passive voice, but the story has picked up. MTV’s show just premiered this week and I’m curious to watch it (hello, Manu Bennett!), especially now that I’ve begun reading the series.

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2. Bullet Journal: I think I read about this journaling/getting-your-shit-together method on Lifehacker quite a long time ago, but I recently came across it again on Brit + Co and it piqued my interest. On Wednesday I read a few blog posts, watched the intro video on the creator’s website, and promptly decided to begin my own bullet journal. So I started one yesterday in my freshly cracked open Rifle Paper Co. botanical journal (I knew it would come in handy someday!). I haven’t kept a proper pen-and-paper journal in a long time, but I’m going to give bullet journaling a go for a while and see if I like it. Check out the intro video below:

3. Dunkin Donuts’ Fudge Croissant Donut: the coffee-and-donut chain’s second faux cronut that I’ve tried. I can’t compare it to the OG cronut because I’ve never had one, but this thing is delicious.

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4. Writing letters to Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey: the chatter and outrage raised by Making A Murderer continues. Yes, there are articles floating around the interwebs about evidence presented at trial that was left out of the series. I’ve read the Pajiba article and I still believe both men were framed and that they deserve new trials. I hand wrote a letter to each of them to let them know I support them and said not to give up hope. I mailed the letters in care of their parents, as recommended by this video; you can do it too.

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5. 1 Second Everyday: I’m sort of amazed that I haven’t thought to post about this app before. It’s a free app that you can download on an Apple or Android device and it allows you to film and edit a one second video each day. Then after any amount of time you’d like, you can use the app to edit the one second clips into a chronological video for you. So after one year, you’ll have about six minutes of video to watch. It’s a really fun way to catalog your life, and one second actually lasts longer than you’d think. Apparently a lot of my last couple of weeks has been spent watching tv shows. (And yes, I chose to film a pizza for one second on December 26th. Apparently the pizza was the highlight of my day.)

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