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How to Make the Perfect Mood Board for 2026

With the new year already in motion, it's the perfect time to set goals in a low pressure, creative way.

A mood board is a visual depiction of feelings, goals, and the vibe you want to set. ~ A mood board focuses on feelings and aesthetics, like how you want life to feel, while a vision board focuses more on goals and outcomes, the things you want to achieve. Most people end up making a hybrid without realising, which is exactly what I did too. ~ A lot of people like to print out pictures and make messy overlapped boards with textured materials like seashells, lace, dried flowers/leaves, stickers, washi tape, buttons, beads, etc. ~ You can purchase things from art stores or anywhere cheap really.

Tip: Always collect more than you need, whether it be digital or physical; Trust me, you'll need it if you don't have it. ~ It signifies what goals you accomplish and the improvements you make to your life, are all because of your hard work. ~ Essentially, I decorated it with things that were "me" and printed out my mood board to put it in the frame.

One misconception I absolutely abhor is that vision/mood board goals have to be completed in a year.

I've made boards every year since I was a kid and one thing I've learned is that it doesn't need to be "perfect," it needs to be you. ~ Choose images that make you feel, and words that sound like your thoughts, not just trends and aesthetics. But most importantly, keep your board in a place where you can view it daily.

Dhritti is a writer based in Mumbai who focuses on poetry and personal essays.

Your Next Chapter: A Vision Board Workshop

🎨 Purpose: A creative 3-hour Vision Board Workshop to reflect and design your future intentionally.

🧠 Facilitator: Led by Lanea Miller, a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist with 20+ years of experience.

📋 Activities: Guided reflection + hands-on vision board creation to gain clarity and reconnect with personal goals.

🧰 Materials: All supplies provided — magazines, paper, scissors, glue.

☕ Extras: Light refreshments included + raffle prize for one lucky participant.

🎟️ No Experience Needed: Open to everyone — no artistic background required.

📅 Date & Time: Saturday, January 24, 2026, 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM.

📍 Location: Midtown Arthouse, 2016 E Broad St., Savannah.

💲 Cost: $30 (includes all materials).

🪑 Limited Spots: Advance registration encouraged. 💸 Payment: Venmo @Lanea-Alexandra.

📞 RSVP: Your Next Chapter: A Vision Board Workshop.

A Ford worker called out Trump. The president flipped him off. Now, he’s been suspended.

Updated on 1/14/26 at 7:25 a.m. ~ A message seeking comment from Ford to confirm if the worker was fired or suspended was not immediately returned on Tuesday evening. ~ To the Advance, White House communications director Steven Cheung called the worker "a lunatic" who was "wildly screaming expletives in a complete fit of rage." ~ "Ford said they

can't talk about it because it's a human resources issue".

Debbie Dingell also said that the union confirmed that the confrontation meant the man was facing disciplinary action.

Dingell also said she was inquiring with Ford about the status of the man's employment, and if he was being suspended and investigated in violation of his free speech rights. "When you're on a factory floor with union members that have strong feelings, you need to be prepared for whatever they're gonna say, and I hope they're not firing him because I believe in free speech". "The UAW worker was expressing his right to free speech, and I'm asking questions as to what has happened." ~ I feel very strongly that Ford Motor Company is

sending a message that people can't stand up for sexual abuse survivors".

better home decor inspo Trending for the year

better home decor inspo Trending for the year

Today's NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Sunday, July 6

- 🧩 Today's Mini Crossword took longer than usual; 6-Across and 5-Down had similar clues, but one was a joke.

- 📰 Need help with today's Mini Crossword? Check out our tips for solving it.

- 🎮 The Mini Crossword is part of the NYT games collection, including Wordle and Connections.

- 🗞 Looking for answers to Wordle, Connections, and Strands? Visit CNET's puzzle hints page.

- 🌟 Mini across answers: CHASM, HELLO, AEIOU, PLATT, SHH

- 🌟 Mini down answers: CHAP, HEEL, ALIAS,

Former Chicago White Sox pitcher Bobby Jenks dies at 44

- ⚾ Bobby Jenks, a former Chicago White Sox pitcher and two-time All-Star, passed away at 44 in Sintra, Portugal.

- 🏆 He played a pivotal role in the White Sox's 2005 World Series victory, earning saves in crucial games.

- 🩺 Diagnosed with adenocarcinoma this year, Jenks battled health issues, including deep vein thrombosis and subsequent lung complications.

- 📅 Jenks spent six seasons with the White Sox and later played for the Boston Red Sox in 2011.

- 🌟 Remembered for his impressive pitching career, Jenks retired with 173 saves and a notable 3.53 ERA.

- 💬 White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and former manager Ozzie Guillen paid tribute to Jenks, highlighting his impact on the team and the sport.

- 🕊️ Jenks leaves behind his wife, Eleni Tzitzivacos, six children, and a legacy cherished by the baseball community.

Local-first software

Local-first software is a design philosophy that emphasizes data ownership, privacy, and offline-first functionality. The idea is that you (the user) retain full control of your data, even if cloud functionality is involved. Here's a breakdown of the phrase:

"Local-first software"

This refers to applications that:

Store data locally by default, on your device (laptop, phone, etc.).
Work offline and seamlessly sync when the internet is available.
Ensure that the local version is authoritative, not the cloud copy.
Often use peer-to-peer sync or encrypted cloud storage that you control.

"You own your data, in spite of the cloud"

This emphasizes:

User autonomy: The cloud exists to support you, not control your data.
Cloud as optional: The cloud may assist with backup or sync, but:
- You can access and use your data without it.
- You don’t lose access if the cloud service shuts down.
End-to-end encryption, so only you can access your data — even if it’s stored in the cloud.
No vendor lock-in or forced subscriptions to access your own files.

🛠 Examples of local-first software:

Obsidian (notes stored as local Markdown files)
Logseq or Tana (local graph-based note-taking)
Figma’s local mode (though partially cloud-reliant)
Muse or Capacities with local storage emphasis

✅ Benefits:

Privacy and control
Offline access
Resilience to service shutdowns
Better performance for some tasks

⚠️ Trade-offs:

Complexity in syncing and conflict resolution
Higher responsibility on users to back up data (if not syncing)

Actor Michael Madsen, known for 'Kill Bill' and 'Reservoir Dogs,' dead at 67

Michael Madsen, the actor known for his collaborations with director Quentin Tarantino, has died. He was found unresponsive in his Malibu home Thursday morning after a cardiac arrest. He was 67 years old.

The news was confirmed by his managers, Susan Ferris and Rob Smith, and publicist Liz Rodriguez, who sent a statement stating, "Michael Madsen was one of Hollywood's most iconic actors, who will be missed by many."

Madsen had more than 300 credits to his name – across film, television and video games. But he was maybe best known for his role in Quentin Tarantino's 1992 directorial debut, Reservoir Dogs. As Mr. Blonde, he was soft-spoken yet terrifying

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Here’s how Character.AI’s new CEO plans to address fears around kids’ use of chatbots

Here’s how Character.AI’s new CEO plans to address fears around kids’ use of chatbots

When Karandeep Anand's 5-year-old daughter gets home from school, they fire up the artificial intelligence chatbot platform Character.AI so she can chat about her day with her favorite characters." ~ He spent 15 years at Microsoft and six years at Meta, including as vice president and head of business products at the social media giant. ~ Rather than people consuming "brain rot" on social media for entertainment, Anand wants them co-creating stories and conversations with Character.AI for fun. "AI can power a very, very powerful personal entertainment experience unlike anything we've seen in the last 10 years in social media, and definitely nothing like what TV used to be". ~ The personas of AI characters on the app vary widely, from romantic partners to language tutors or Disney characters. ~ "a lot of the work we want to do is enable an entirely new creator ecosystem around AI entertainment." ~ It updated its AI model for users under the age of 18 to reduce the likelihood that they encounter sensitive or suggestive content, and gives parents the option to receive a weekly email about their teen's activity on the platform.

Anand".AI has made since last year, but that work to keep the platform safe continues. ~ "The tech and the industry and the user base is constantly evolving that we can never let the guard off. We have to constantly stay ahead of the curve". ~ Encouraging more creators to join the platform to make new chatbot characters and upgrading the social feed where users can share content they've created with Character.AI chatbots. The latter feature is similar to an app Meta launched this year that allows people to publicly share their prompts and AI-generated creations. ~ The social element could help further differentiate Character.AI from bigger competitors like ChatGPT, which users are also increasingly forming personal connections with. ~ In a sign of the competition for top talent, Meta has reportedly offered pay packages and bonuses worth hundreds of millions of dollars to grow its new superintelligence team. ~ "The good news for me as CEO is all the people we have here are very, very passionate and mission driven."

Character.AI named Karandeep Anand its new CEO last month.

Kelly Communications

How Trump arrived at his stunning idea to ‘take over’ the Gaza Strip

At its root, this suggestion was intended in part to spur action on an issue Trump viewed as moribund, with no other nations offering reasonable solutions for how to rebuild an area that has been obliterated by Israeli bombardment following Hamas' October 7, 2023, terrorist attacks. However it came about, his unveiling of the idea came as a shock.

Trump's close Middle East advisers, like national security adviser Mike Waltz and Witkoff, knew Trump was planning to lay out the proposal on Tuesday". Waltz and Witkoff discussed the idea with Netanyahu Monday night while meeting with the Israeli leader at the". ~ Trump personally maintains he will be able to work out a long-term agreement with Jordan and Egypt to ultimately accept Gazans displaced by his proposed effort, despite those countries rejecting any plan to accept new Palestinian refugees". ~ The Jordanian king is now unexpectedly contending with a new dynamic to the deeply complex matter of what to do with Gaza.

The proposal for Gaza has not come up in private meetings Trump has held with GOP members of the Armed Services Committees, even though the ceasefire and broader challenges across the Middle East were key points of discussion as late as last week. "No". "Not a word of this was ever mentioned by the president." ~ The Middle East has been dramatically reduced from his portfolio, with Witkoff, the president's longtime friend, serving as the US envoy to the region. ~ "The United States stands ready to lead and Make Gaza Beautiful Again.

He read from a prepared text the sentence that caused a global double-take: "The US will take over the Gaza Strip."

A day after Trump made his comments, Waltz suggested it had been in the works for some time. ~ In public and private conversations over the last year, Trump has repeatedly highlighted the value of Gaza's seaside location, suggesting it was prime real estate for development. His son-in-law Jared Kushner made a similar argument last year, calling Gaza's waterfront "very valuable." ~ That openness to help clearly evolved over the ensuing two weeks to the plan he unveiled Tuesday to take control of the strip and rebuild it into an "international, unbelievable place." ~ "In its place is a renewed, clear-eyed focus on defending America's vital interests".