soundcloud share
Hello readers. Just signed up for SoundCloud. I am now recording and posting audio of me reading my blog posts. I have already embedded about six recordings here on Bear. Not all of my posts will have audio. Here’s my profile!
Small Sustainable Notes
Hey, I'm Isabella. I write field notes on my self-directed learning toward sustainable mobility, life experiments, & learning projects. I pride mysel...
Latest posts
green tonic
Cupping the powdery, pretty flower, the trichomes sparkling on the stick, I can’t believe that, in the modern era, cannabis is seen as toxic, destructive, unwholesome. This glittery, sticky substance on the bud, purely existing to protect the plant from animals and insects, packed with cannabinoids and terpenes, is seen as precarious. Before, it was seen as a curative, a tonic. At least, this is…
mental metropolis
Standing on the sidewalk in downtown Knoxville, I had just partaken of a cappuccino from Frothy Monkey after a lengthy online session. I took a breath. This feeling was all too familiar, but I couldn’t put a name to it. I felt honed in by different ‘presences’ online, after unexpected bombardments from ads, opinions, images, and potential rabbit holes. Looking around, there were bodies on curbs of…
cannacurious
Started in 2022, but revved up in 2025. My captivation with cannabis. When people were signing up for YouTube and Facebook, I was reading health and nutrition textbooks. In 2017, I taught myself basic pilates and breathwork techniques, making it a habit to do them every morning. Skincare advice and beauty culture, in particular french skincare and beauty tips, have been a continuous interest for a…
punkt in the city
The first experiment started out with my friend and I driving downtown. As usual, we went to the coffee shop in order to ease into the day alongside mochas and cappuccinos. My Punkt phone sat on the table as I looked at my hard copy notes. I couldn’t look up anything else on the World Wide Web which forced me to be present. I was drafting a future post. I actually ended up gazing at strangers…
learning project: mobility
Just started a new learning project today. For 90 days, I will be learning about mobility solely using audiobooks. Topics include mobility alternatives, the history of cars and life after it, and walking as an embodied experience. As usual, I will employ active recall and flow-based note taking. Below, you can see that I will have a particular focus for each month. Fortunately, I have a job right…
car light experiment, continued
(This is a continuation of my October 2024 post). Tire hit the asphalt. Was on my way to the gym to test out my two night lights. Better get it over with no matter how tired I feel. “I don’t normally do this. Go to the sauna after work,” I thought to myself. Another test for my low carbon transport experiment. It’s currently month three. What does it feel like not to depend on a metal box? Biking…
blogroll
Hello readers. Finally created a blogroll! I’ve been getting better at reading other bloggers here on Bear as well as other platforms. When I first started this blog back in 2022, I was focused on my own creation and unique voice. Now, I’m making a conscious choice to inch more towards community building. Here is my blogroll featuring my personal favorites.
pod education: war on cars
Persuasion is useless, it is the cities' responsibility to reduce car dependency and promote mobility alternatives. That is one takeaway among many others I learned from the podcast “The War on Cars.” I've been binge listening to this show since early February starting from the archives in 2018 to the present day, adding up to 87 played episodes. Topics spanned various micro mobility options, how…
punkt
I bought a dumbphone last year. After reading “You Don’t Need a Smartphone,” written by August Lamm, I've decided to take the plunge. I came across the pro-privacy, humanistic consumer technology company, Punkt, after reading about it in the pamphlet. Two years ago, I purchased Jomo, the best screen time blocker app. Then quickly subscribed to the premium version. But after using Jomo+ for months,…