#because yes that's what i do with photo vocab posts

[colourfullanguages]

So I’ve been having trouble remembering the days of the week in Turkish. And I wanted to do a photo vocab kinda post (cause I learn better with visuals) but it felt like a weird kinda thing to do for days of the week. So I decided to make a calendar for September! Feel free to use it if you want to

[nordic-language-love]

Language Learning Log 2022 Week 11 (14/03 - 20/03)

Banner photo: One of my favourite photos I took for the 100 Happy Days challenge this week - my baby girl is so gorgeous!

2x italki lessons

1x Ekko Podcast

1x article

1x Bergenstest mock paper (all parts)

1x Bergenstest essay

100 happy days posts

Anki

??? Other things (I completely forgot to keep track tbh oops)

Posting late because I completely forgot to post this #fail

One thing I've noticed about my writing recently is that I don't make as many of the dumb mistakes I usually make. Yes, I still add -r to infinitive verbs occasionally, and there are occasions when I don't decline adjectives properly, but when I proofread my essays or my writing generally I notice those little mistakes are a lot less frequent.

I did a Bergenstest mock paper in full on Wednesday. It went okay - I think I'd have got C1 on the reading section and maybe the writing section, but the other sections weren't great. The audio quality of the interview report was terrible, and my tutor said it's unlikely it would be so bad and I did well all things considered (apart from misgendering the speaker, whoops). I didn't do as well on the grammar/vocab/phrases section as I'd hoped, but part of that was down to just not understanding what I needed to do. I still got 22/30, which is a comfortable pass (but I need like 28/30 to get C1, ugh). The listening section was the worst, and I'm genuinely worried I might not even pass it. The problem's not so much the comprehension as it is the sustained attention it requires. I only need C1 in 3 of the 5 parts to get C1 overall, but if I fail even one of the sections I fail the whole test, even if I get C1 in all 4 of the other parts. At the moment I think it's achievable but will depend on luck.

[lang-learner]

Korean Resource Masterpost

Hello language learners of the internet, more specifically, Korean learners. Some time ago I made a Korean resource masterpost, which you can find here, and I decided to make a bigger one with more things I recommend. 

Grammar

HowtostudyKorean.com - Honestly the best in my opinion. I appreciate the explanations and all the examples. A lot of Korean learners don’t like this website because it has a lot of information but if you focus on the main point, and write down the examples and try to understand why a certain grammar point is used instead of another, you will make a lot of progress.

GoBillyKorean - I still recommend this. You can click here for some of the pdfs from his lessons or go to his youtube channel where he has full lessons on grammar points. His website also has the free PDF’s. He is still doing free lessons on youtube and you can vote on what lesson you would like him to do next. 

My Korean 1 / My Korean 2 - These textbooks focus a lot on conversational Korean and vocabulary. I like the drawings and how they explain the vocabulary used in the dialogue. I don’t appreciate the romanization since I don’t think it’s necessary besides for writing Korean names in English but you can just ignore the romanization. You can also find the audios that go with the textbook.

Korean Grammar for Speaking 2 - So this is series of audio lessons that focus on spoken Korean grammar. You may find them in an app called AudioClip which is Korean and has podcasts. It is available in the app store and playstore. I believe these lessons are based on the book, which is very popular. If you can’t afford the book, I recommend checking these audio lessons out.

Talk To Me In Korean - Personally I am not a big fan but this is a good resource as well. A lot of people like it. It depends on your learning style.

Korean Grammar in Use - Beginner / Intermediate / Advanced - Personally I don’t recommend these unless you are an upper intermediate learner, then I recommend using the Intermediate and Advanced textbooks to review and see if you learn new things, new vocab and do the exercises. I feel like it is very easy to get confused about the proper usages as a beginner. 

Berkeley Online Intermediate Korean - I don’t know what to make of this website but it’s pretty neat. It has texts with audio and the grammar explanations below.  There are only 27 lessons but it’s worth checking out.

Vocabulary 

Quizlet - I love quizlet. I like making small sets of words I learned from my grammar lessons, examples I wrote down and things I heard natives use. It’s the best app in my opinion. It is both a website and an app. 

HowtostudyKorean.com - The first units have explanations and examples to the vocabulary lists which is useful and the lessons themselves use some of the vocabulary. Also some lessons are focused on difficult Korean words which is nice.

TTMIK: Word Showdown - This small pdf explains the differences between commonly used words. I recommend really it.

TTMIK: Korean Slang Expressions Volume 1 - Like the name states, Talk to me in Korean teaches you here useful slang expression

TTMIK: Korean Slang Expressions Volume 2  - Volume 2 of the previous one.

TTMIK: Everyday Korean Idiomatic Expressions  

Translator

Papago - You can find the app or just go to the website.

Listening practice 

Netlix - Since I last made my last masterpost, Netflix added a lot of Korean dramas and a lot of them are good in my opinion. 

Youtube - I won’t recommend any specific channels but you can find just about anything. Look up keywords in Korean and find youtubers that upload content that you like.

KissTVShow - You can find variety shows and dramas subbed here.

Reading 

I don’t recommend reading books until you are at a very advanced level since it requires a lot of grammar and vocabulary knowledge to understand most of it, but there are fun stuff you can read that’s easier.

HumansofSeoul - They have a tumblr and facebook page full of articles of people and their stories. They have the English translation which is super useful. I recommend this for intermediate learners.

pillon_toon - Cute mini comics in Korean on Instagram. 

illistrator_grace_j - I love their art and the story going on with the characters. which are animals.

Webtoons - This is the Naver website for webtoons. 

Conjugation

Dongsa - I can’t even express how useful this website is. You can look up a verb to see its conjugations or look up a conjugated verb to see its “dictionary” form.

★ Tengugo - I learned hangul mainly from here and really recommend it. They have mini lessons, audios of how to pronounce each character and quizzes. It works without wifi so you can practice anywhere.

Blogs / Instagram 

Yes. Instagram because you can find a lot of really useful pages that teach Korean.

mystudykorean - This blog is really nice and it has a lot of different information. The blog isn’t active as of the moment but there is useful information.

BitesizedKorean - Another tumblr blog that I like.

K2nlearner - They post Korean sentences that are used daily in conversation every 2-3 days.

Learning Korean with Bam - A native Korean speaker that uploads clips of useful sentences with audio.

Daily Korean phrase -  Like the name of the page says, they upload photos with useful phrases.

RedKim Korean - Really cute Instagram page with useful phrases.

[student-by-day]

back-to-school tools

‘tis the season again, so here are some handy websites and browser extensions i’ve discovered over the past few years that’ll hopefully make this year a bit easier for you. i’m taking high-school-level classes, but a lot of these should help with college/uni work, too!

feel free to reblog and add your own recommendations :)

the only ones you have to install and/or sign up for have an asterisk, but note that they’re all free either way.

L A N G U A G E   A R T S

planet ebook

this is my go-to for digital (and legal!) classic literature. i download the pdf files and upload them to places like one note to annotate, but epub and mobi versions are also available if you prefer those. no need to break your back over hauling textbooks and your required readings!

audible stories

this doesn’t have the widest selection of audio books, but it definitely has its uses! there are a lot of classics on there, which could come in handy for a literature or english class.

easybib

this is the best citation tool ever. i love that i can choose which style i want to use and what kind of media i’m researching with (books, journals, websites, etc.). if i need to, i can go in and edit any (citation) category i want, but that isn’t usually necessary because it can find stats that even i can’t while looking at the source. enter some info, copy ‘n paste the works cited list to your paper, and you’re done!

i recommend the web version and not the google docs add-on because the add-on doesn’t let you customize your citations

gradeproof* or grammarly*

these are both grammar/spelling checkers that provide plenty of stats, which are most useful for speeches. you can use these to see your character count, word count, number of sentences, syllables per word, words per sentence, readability, grade level, reading time, speaking time, etc.

wordcounter

this is a great alternative if you can’t/don’t want to install gradeproof or grammarly.

powerthesaurus

this is my go-to thesaurus... it has a ton of features if you go on the website (it’s not just for synonyms, though those are seemingly endless!). plus, if i don’t want to open a new tab, i can use the extension in my toolbar to see a brief list!

just a word of caution: look up any words you don’t know (because if you go far enough down the list, they’re not completely relevant anymore).

onelook

i use this reverse dictionary to find the word that’s on the tip of my tongue but i just can’t name (though it has a lot more features than that!).

cueprompter

this is the perfect teleprompter for any speeches you need to record (maybe for an online graduation? a virtual debate?).

xodo*

this is a great digital annotation tool (right in your browser) for those of you who don’t have an app like goodnotes on your ipad. you can upload files from your google drive, your device, or dropbox and draw on them, type notes, add comments, highlight, choose different underline patterns, add shapes/arrows, etc. all while customizing opacity, thickness, and colors. you’re also able to zoom in/out, change page width, rotate the page, change your layout (pdf, book, magazine), and choose a transition style.

A R T

canva*

i love this site to death---if you haven’t heard of it yet, what are you doing?? i can design everything from a resume to a powerpoint to a school dance flyer on this thing! there are beautiful templates to choose from, but if that’s not your thing (it isn’t mine either), then there are millions of photos, doodles, graphics, fonts, borders, backgrounds, etc. to choose from. plus, you can even upload your own content. (i designed the header for this post on there!)

F O R E I G N   L A N G U A G E S

typeit

i hate having to remember all the keyboard shortcuts for special characters, so i just copy and paste from this international keyboard. choose a language, and you’re good to go. :)

audible stories

did i put this in two different categories? yes. audible stories has free audio books in english, spanish, french, german, portuguese, italian, dutch, and japanese! i recommend finding a children’s audiobook on there in your target language and pulling up an ebook online so you can improve your listening and comprehension skills. there’s no need to download any content, and it still saves your spot (even once you close the tab), which is a lifesaver!

duolingo*

i think we all know by now that this site is good for practicing your sentence-writing skills and gaining a little extra vocab. keep in mind that this only helps if you take notes on your mistakes and type answers out yourself as opposed to mindlessly clicking through multiple choice questions! duolingo stories are also great for working on your listening comprehension skills and some immersion.

linguno*

i use this site for conjugations because that’s its main asset, but there are other things you can look into if you like. i love that i can choose a section and a level (ex: a1 level one, a1 level two, a1 level three, etc.) or add my own list of words. the rest is super customizable too! you can also choose which tenses you want to work on and what set of pronouns you want to focus on (for example, european spanish uses “vosotros” while latin american spanish does not).

S C I E N C E

molview

build your own molecules or search ones that already exist to explore what they’re used for, their structure, their composition, 2-d/3-d models, formulas, molecular weight, etc.

ptable

this dynamic periodic table has a million features for each element, which makes it perfect for researching and figuring out why the table is laid out the way it is.

phet

this is basically a virtual stem lab---atom-builders, circuit-builders, wave simulations, and interactive tools galore! it covers physics, chemistry, biology, math, and html5, though i’ve only used first three categories, so i can’t exactly recommend the others.

M A T H

geogebra or desmos

these babies are graphing tools perfect for checking functions and all that jazz (they’re basically the exact same except geogebra has a couple more bells and whistles).

symbolab

use this to check your answers and review the steps if you’re stuck! when it gets into some nitty-gritty stuff, you have to have the paid plan to see some of the steps, but i think it’s helpful enough that you can stick with the free version. it covers pre-alg, alg, pre-calc, calc, functions, matrices & vectors, geometry, trig, stats, physics, chem, finance, conversions, etc. (i use this to avoid silly mistakes and the ixl rage that follows haha).

mathway*

this is very similar to symbolab except that it doesn’t show any steps at all unless you pay for a plan. you can use this for basic math, pre-alg, alg, trig, pre-calc, calc, stats, finite math, etc. as a cross-checker in case symbolab is being funky.

[gerbiloftriumph]

So you wanna be a king (pt6)

Or, at the least, you want very much to cosplay one, and you have put too much time and energy into this to stop now. Let’s finish this costume.

Part 6: The Adventuring Cap (and also hair and some makeup)

The rest of the tutorials are here: cloak, tunic, pants/boots, bracers/pouch, accessories, and as always, I’m a novice cosplayer making all this up as I go along, so feel free to ignore me or steal my ideas and run.

There’s one last piece to this costume. Something important. Something that unifies Graham across the years from 1983 to 2015: his adventuring cap.

Even when he has his crown on, that old hat isn’t far away. So let’s get into it. 

But before we can actually start sewing a hat, we need to talk...hair. Because that will probably alter the hat size.

Hair (and also make-up):

Should you be blessed with the slightly curly black hair Graham has, then that’s fantastic! 

I do not have such hair.

You remember how hot this costume is? At least three shirts, one and a half pants, a cloak, a cowl, bracers, and knee high boots? Let’s make it worse by adding a wig.

I buy all my wigs from Arda Wigs--I love that quality and those nice prices. I’m the sort of person who pulls the wig out of the bag, fluffs it up with hairspray (got2b glued is a miracle in a can), and runs, but should you want to try heat sculpting, they’re great wigs for that too.

Since I’m revealing all my secrets, this particular wig is a Benny in Deep Brown (when I bought it it was called Natural Black, but I think it’s the same color). It’s warmer than their pure black, which I wanted for this sunshine boy. https://arda-wigs.com/products/benny-classic?variant=27836199174

Incidentally, while we’re here, some quick make-up things:

If you can’t grow your own beard, spray some hairspray on your chin and sideburn patches, take an old tube of mascara (the older and weaker the more control you have--gosh that sounds mean), and build up your own with downward brush strokes. A little goes a shockingly long way--I tend to overdo it myself. Use an eyebrow wand brush to shape the beard and make it look more natural. Seal with more hairspray, maybe a touch of setting powder. 

For the freckles, I smear a thin layer of eyeshadow primer across nose and cheekbones, and then go ham with a marker eyeliner in dark brown. Seal it with a touch of setting powder. I promise, it will go absolutely nowhere, even in the hot RenFest July sun, unless you yourself rub it. (I carry both beard and freckles makeup tubes in my pouch, just in case.)

Okay, fine, we’re done stalling. You want the hat, so let’s do it.

Hat time!

First, vocab lesson! Repeat after me: bycocket. That’s the name of your hat. It’s a medieval cap popular among men, women, nobility, and business classes. And also, yes, with Robin Hood too. 

http://honorbeforevictory.com/14th-c-embriodered-bycocket-cap-of-maintenance-with-a-split-loop-seam-tutorial/ - I found my template from this page and scaled it up. Other Robin Hood hat tutorials will also likely suit, but this is my semi-tutorial, so this is what I used.

I bought what looks like less than a yard of some light blue denim and some dark blue denim. I wanted the stiffness of the fabric to help hold the triangular shape, thus, the denim. I also happened to have a large quantity of semi-stiff orange felt for some reason, which I used as a core strengthener, but this core is almost certainly unnecessary. The hat keeps its shape really well once it’s on your head--no wonder it was so popular. Feel free to skip the core if you want.

Grab your measuring tape, plonk your wig on your head, and measure where the hat will sit. I got 24″ around. Feel free to make tests with that boundless scrap from the rest of this cosplay to get the size you want. My shape is 14.5″ long, and 11″ from its highest tip to its brim. Don’t forget to add half an inch of hemming space to your pattern (which in my case is made of scraps of paper taped together because I Am Cheap). 

Test your samples, adjust the pattern as necessary to make sure you’re happy with the brim length and how it sits. 

At this point, I made another one of those choices. For some reason, I intentionally transposed the colors, putting the darker color for the main body and the lighter color for the brim. I don’t know why. 

The following tutorial will get confusing if you look only at the colors. I didn’t have a lot of images of the process, and I felt like redoing the hat with the correct color order this week. Because I could. So, ignore the colors as some pictures are old and some are new, and look at the text instead. For reference, all things will be referred to via this image terminology: 

Your top color will be cut exactly to the pattern size you like (with that .5″ hem margin, as usual). Your brim color, however, gets an additional half inch on the bottom, where you wear it. For a visual, like this:

This way, you can fold the brim over the rest of your hat sandwich (...I’ll explain that, hang on), to sew a video-game-clean line. 

Cut two identical shapes from each color, not forgetting that extra half inch on the brim bottom pieces. Sew them along the half inch hemline, so that you have two (three if you’re making a core) separate triangles, open at the bottom since that’s, y’know, where your head goes. They’re kinda like little tents.

Take your scissors and cut out tiny triangles close to, but not into, the hem stitch at the top curve, so that you can poke a smooth arc into the top (see visual below). Iron all hems flat. Take your top piece and turn it inside out, with the hem sitting inside. The core (if you’re making one) and your brim will remain inside-out looking, because that’s how you’ll build your hat sandwich.

It’ll look like this. I stuffed the core piece inside the top piece, then shoved the brim piece into the core piece. All three pieces are tightly, cleanly, stacked together. It’s a hat sandwich! Stitch the hats together in key places so they don’t shift--like at the top of the arc, and in a few places along the hemlines.

Starting at the hemline in the back, fold the extra half inch from the brim piece up, curl it over itself just a smidge so your line stays nice and clean, pin, and hand stitch the top and brim together.

It’s a bit tricky to get a photo of what it looks like, but once it’s all done and you fold up the brim, the stitches will be hidden, giving you that nice clean edge.

Should you be so inclined, at this point you could get fancy with embroidery (that split loop stitch from the bycocket tutorial is one I eventually want to add), or determine a nice way to add the trim to the brim. Which I haven’t yet so...you’re on your own.

(Incidentally, if you’re in a hurry and you have one fabric choice like a sturdy felt, or maybe you’re doing Ch1Graham and don’t want to deal with this double-color nonsense, you can always go with a single sheet method. Cut the usual two triangles of your single sheet, sew them together like normal, but stop sewing when you get to the fold of the brim. That’s about 4.5″ along the back for me. Turn the whole hat inside out, so the nice hem is along the top, pin and sew the back flap that you had left unstitched, and when you fold up the brim, the ugly hem is hidden inside. A visual example is here:

For the feather, I chose an ostrich feather because A: It’s huge and flouncy and bouncy and I like that, and B: ....it’s what the craft store had at the time. Because I figured I’d need to eventually replace it over time and wear, I did loose ugly stitchwork just under the brim, so I can unpick it and replace it as needed. 

And with that, my friend, you are A Whole Entire King. 

Go memorize some addenda, go act with bravery and compassion and wisdom, go make friends with some squirrels, and please watch out for fairy tale obsessed goblins. 

Always seek adventure~!

(And that’s all for the cosplay how to semi-tutorial series! I hope it was helpful! If you have questions, feel free to DM me. I’m happy to help you look your best! At this point, that’s my last post on this topic unless someone asks for how I made the crown. 👑 Let me know if you want that too~)

[languaholic]

Hi everyone!

So here is my proposal to make the most out of the last 100 days of the year. First of all, you don’t have to review lessons/pages every day if you don’t want to, I am doing it because it helps me learn things better.

The point of this challenge is that you dedicate at least 10 minutes every day in getting better at expressing yourself in another language and little by little increase your exposure so you are also more fluent. 

To start this challenge, check the options below and decide if you either want to follow the order, skip some or change them for others. Just find what fits your rhythm better and register it so you can look at your progress ;)

Don’t forget to tag your posts with any of these:

100 Days Express Yourself Language Challenge

100 Days Language Learning Challenge

100 Days Language Studies Challenge

And let’s start!

1. Sing a song or read a poem in your target language

2. Translate into your native language the chorus of a target language song

3. Find some interesting idioms used in your target language and write them down illustrating with examples

4. Translate a quote from your native language into the target language

5. Get a list of some irregular verbs that are difficult to you and create sentences with each

6. Describe in your target language something you like or something you find fascinating

7. Watch a short video with the subs of your target language

8. Make a theme vocab list in the target language of the episode you watched and place examples under each word

9. Read an interesting article in the target language and try summarizing it in a few lines

10. Play an audiobook in the target language for ten minutes and write down the words you deem interesting and/or important to review later

11. Make a bucket list in the target language

12. Describe an item you need in the target language

13. Translate a few quotes into the target language

14. Describe your plans for winter vacations

15. Watch a TED talk with the target language audio and/or subs

16. Print a picture you like and write about it

17. Make a vocab list of things you love and add examples

18. Read a short fairy tale

19. Write about food you like

20. Summarize a movie, tv show, book, fanfic, etc. that you enjoyed

21. Find some jokes in the target language

22. Talk about someone you admire

23. Write about a place you would like to return to

24. Write about a dream you recently had

25. Make a vocab list of things you hate and add examples

26. Listen to some songs you like and record yourself singing along

27. Translate a comic or book or fanfic page from your target language into your native language (it can be a panel or a paragraph, etc.)

28. Listen to a podcast in the target language (duolingo has some options)

29. Watch a short in the target language or with the T.L. subs

30. Translate a song from the target language into your language

31. Read the news in your target language

32. Select some topics that you feel are difficult in your target language and use them making sentences or re-explaining them in the target language

33. Find some verbs with different meanings and illustrate the meanings with more examples

34. Write about a place you want to visit

35. Make a vocab list of things you fear

36. Read some riddles and try to find the answer

37. Select some words that sound the same but are different things (homophonous) and illustrate them with examples

38. Write a few sentences of what makes you anxious

39. Take a photo of the weather and describe it

40. Write a letter in the target language to a loved one who is no longer with you

41. Read a poem in your target language and record it

42. Find some proverbs and/or sayings in the target language and write them down

43. Make a list of yes/no questions in the target language

44. Find instructions for something in the target language and try following them

45. Make a vocab list of common swear words

46. Write in the target language an idea you disagree with

47. Write an argument about why you disagree with the idea above

48. Read some pages of your favorite book in the target language and write down the words you don’t understand

49. Read something light and make a list of WH questions in the target language about the reading

50. Make a review of a book, song, tv show, or movie

51. Write in the target language an idea you whole heartedly agree with

52. Write why you agree with the idea above

53. Make a top ten of things you like and write why in the target language

54. Print some pics of food you want to try and describe it in your target language

55. Make a vocab list with examples of things that bring you joy

56. Get your hands on some favorite quotes and translate them in the target language

57. Watch a documentary in the target language (or with the subs in the T.L.)

58. Write in your target language about something that obsess you

59. Translate into your target language a paragraph of something happy

60. Recite a dialogue of a movie, tv show, book, fanfic, etc. you like and record it

61. Talk in your target language about something that troubles you

62. Listen to a playlist in your target language and sing along (follow the lyrics if you need them)

63. Write some reflections in your target language about love

64. Select a constellation which story you like and write about it in your target language

65. Make a vocab list of slang in the target language

66. Check out a site in your target language and write down the words you find difficult

67. Find an actor/actress/singer/artist whose native language is your target language and write down some phrases they’ve said you liked

68. Check out videos of grammar topics you would like to delve into

69. Read out loud a fanfic or short story in your target language (250 words is recommended)

70. Write down a topic you would like to debate about and some main points about it

71. Develop the points of the topic you want to discuss

72. Create a speech with the points from the task before and read it out loud

73. Watch an episode of a TV show (I recommend it lasts 25 minutes or less) with the audio and subs of your target language

74. Check some funny videos in your target language (find some youtubers whose spin is comedy)

75. Select a song you like in another language different to the target language and translate it into your target language

76. Write in your target language about something you hate

77. Write about the music you like

78. Make a schedule you can follow next week

79. Play an agility game that includes a simultaneous physical and mental exercises in your target language (like jumping the rope for five minutes while reciting the irregular verbs or prepositions, etc.)

80. Check out a video in your target language that explains something you find interesting or exciting (can be a tutorial, a tour around somewhere, etc.)

81. Create a set of instructions in your target language to cook something

82. Make a vocab list of words that only exist in your target language

83. Translate into your target language a paragraph of something sad

84. Reflect in your target language about something that makes you super proud

85. Describe in your target language a scent you like

86. Watch an animated movie in your target language with subs in your native language

87. Tell or write something nice to your loved one(s)

88. Explain a grammatical law you find fascinating to someone

89. Write in your target language about something you miss

90. Lay down in the grass or somewhere where you can look up at the sky and come up with shapes and write them in your target language

91. Go to your favorite fanfic site, select the stats you want, and read a fic of 1,000 words written in your target language 

92. Write in your target language a reflection about time

93. Make a short story with your pet(s) (or favorite animal) as your main character

94. Talk in your target language about a memory that marked you

95. Create your own language learning master post

96. Write a language overview in your target language 

97. Write down in your target language what you feel when you think about longing

98. Get a book in your target language (short is recommended) and start reading it

99. Explain something you find fascinating in your target language to someone

100. Write down your purposes for next year and why they are important to you in your target language

And that’s it folks! 

Good luck to the community who will try this, and please feel free to modify any of the points given. The point of this is to have fun while being constant in learning a language and get to create the habit of studying while learning how to express better in another language ;)

See you all at the end of the year!

[amaris-noir]

All the asks!

It took me a few days but I finally did it! Thanks for asking~

🐰- do you believe in soul mates?

- yea.. I guess

💌- diary or journal?

- In my imagnation diary is nicer (describing experiences, feels and all) but in real life and currently - definitely a journal. I’m trying to keep all important stuff noted, especially little plans for each day so that I can mark them as done (it’s kinda useful and motivational)

✨- which fictional character (book, show, or movie) do you relate to most?

- Bridget Jones lmaooo not but seriously I don’t know

💕- are you crushing on someone?

- nah

💋- kissing in the dark or kissing in the rain?

- I think..kissing in the dark

🐝- describe your aesthetic in emojis

- 😏😈👌🌱🌿🥀🌙🌃🖤💮

🍼- what is your favorite memory?

- discovering Paris.. some days there were really memorable

🌸- what is your favorite flower?

- carnations/cloves? rose

💖- have you ever been in love?

- yes

🍰- strawberry or vanilla?

- vanilla?

🍯- describe your favorite smell

- flowery, jasmine, wood smell for perfume I guess? but I like a lot and can never decive, fresh book smell and Japanese green tea smell?

🎂- if you had 3 wishes, what would they be?

have a well-paid job that I like (and that would allow me to travel because that’s one of my dreams~)

stay healthy

find someone I’d have mutual feelings with, could share stuffs and travel. I’ve had someone I really wanted to do this with but it wasn’t mutual and it’s impossible now anyway.

🍪- cookie dough or cookies?

- ahh coookies or ice-cream with cookie dough flavor

☕- coffee or tea?

- definitely tea, green tea like sencha or black tea. I rarely drink coffee.. if I do then it’s cappuccino lol

🍃- would you rather live in a sea with mermaids or a forest with fairies?

- forest

🍂- what’s your middle name?

-  I have none

💫- what is your sun, moon, and rising sign?

Apparently: Sun - Gemini, Moon and rising: Scorpio. Also midheaven in Leo. (I hadn’t really read what it all means… but I just did some reading on Sun and midheaven and well, it’s accurate lol)

🌧️- favorite thing to do on rainy days?

- watching some TV series/movie, going somewhere like a restaurant to eat and spend time with someone

🍭- how tall are you?

- 173 cm

🎄- what is your favorite holiday?

The ones when we have days off but don’t have to do much

🍦- what scented candle is your favorite?

- flower scents, vanilla, lavender? idk

💘- 3 ways to win your heart?

- be kind, passionate, have some things in common with me? and we could probably be friends~

🍩- current mood?

- I was tired but feeling kinda okay now, sentimental about the past

❄️- what is your favorite season?

- spring/autumn when it doesn’t rain / blow too strongly

💍- your current relationship status?

- single but emotionally complicated

📷- a photo of yourself

- will post it later

💅🏻- do you like being spoiled?

- I doubt I have ever been so I’m not sure. It’d be hard for me to let anyone spoil me without thinking I own them.. I’d have to be really close with someone and also want to spoil them in return hah

🕊️- 3 habits you have?

drinking green tea every morning & early evening

listening to popular music while working out lol

not leaving home without earphones? I guess it’s normal

🦄- how do you perceive yourself?

Most of all I find myself lazy but still I’m not punishing myself or being too hard on myself. I see myself as a lonely a bit alienated person with not many friends but dreams and ambitious goals even tho I’m a bit lost and don’t know what I wanna do in life.

🦋- how do you think others perceive you?

I think people don’t notice me and if they do.. they might think I’m talkative, indecisive, can’t decide on a consistent style hah

🌈- things I find attractive in girls/guys

kindness, loyalty, sincerity, ambition/determination

🍓- one secret about yourself

- I don’t think I keep any secrets concerning me.. I’m rather honest and if my friends asked me something about me, I’d tell them so idk if there’s anything I could state here that would be somehow exceptionally revealing lol

🍒- how do you act when you have a crush?

- in real life I’d avoid them and probably admire them from a distance.

💔- the reason behind your last breakup?

💬- what your last text message says?

Danke, gleichfalls! 

🎥- what show are you currently binging on?

- mhm.. I have a few going on but the most recent one has been a Chinese drama by Netflix.. the garden of meteors? Kinda silly but I need something light

⛅- what is your morning routine?

- drinking green tea as I mentioned earlier.. obviously skin clean up & treatment before doing makeup. Not so long ago I started to listen to foreign language podcasts in the morning while getting ready~ I don’t have much time to study languages besides refreshing stuffs on language apps so I listen to natives talking so that my brain doesn’t forget or so that it refreshes the vocab a bit.

💗- who do you miss?

- someone I shouldn’t

🥀- last time you cried?

- a few nights ago

🎁- when is your birthday?

- it’s in June. 20th.

🔪- scariest/creepiest experience?

- the last scariest and most intense experience was Hollywood tower in Disneyland haha; also fainting or almost fainting scares me

💤- date someone younger, older, or same age as you?

- I guess rather someone around my age +5/-3 would be best for relational / life experience reasons but tbh it all depends on a person so I wouldn’t look at someone’s age

[bieups]

60th TOPIK!

I took TOPIK II last weekend, and what an experience.

Because I was late signing up (@9:20 on the second day, after the website crashed on the first day), I ended up having to go to Daejeon~

The only things you need to bring are a photo id (passport, ARC) and your test registration paper, which you’re able to print out starting like a week before the test day.

My boyfriend and I went down to Daejeon on Saturday afternoon, but I forgot to print my paper beforehand and all the printing places nearby were going to be closed on Sunday...so I ended up printing it out at the love motel we stayed at hahaha (it’s called Inca Hotel, if you’re looking for a place near the KTX station)

On Sunday, TOPIK II people had to come to the test site by 12:20pm. The exact location is listed on your registration paper, so make sure to double check a map before just heading to whatever location. The building we needed to go to was like a 10min walk uphill from the main university gate. It was easy to find, though, because we just followed the groups of foreigners! Everyone had to wait outside the building until just before 12:20pm, and you had to have your id & paper out to be allowed in.

Classroom~

Based on your registration number, you’re assigned a test room. Your registration paper has your number & says what room number, but there was also a giant poster on the front doors that listed which numbers were in each room. Inside the classroom, there was a seating chart that showed us where to sit, and each desk had a little post-it sized paper listing seat number, test number, name, and is you had the even or odd test. (My seat was great and it greatly improved my test experience haha I was in the column farthest from the door, but there was another column of seats between mine and the windows, so we all had two desks and could put our stuff in the other chair instead of on the ground. Also the person in front of and to the right of me didn’t show up.)

Everyone found their seats, went to the bathroom, ate some snacks, and waited for the test proctors to arrive. Once they arrived, they gave some basic instructions. You have to turn off your phone and put it in this binder for the whole test. You cannot use your phone during the break time! Bring a book or something if you don’t want to just sit and stare at the wall for 20min.

They collected all the phones, we put everything away, then they passed out the answer sheets for 듣기 & 쓰기 and the special TOPIK pens. Yes, there is a specific pen for the test. It’s basically a regular computer test marking pen (if you’ve ever done a scantron in Korea) but it has two sides. One is thicker, for marking the multiple choice bubbles. The other end is thin, for writing. The proctor guy went over proper pen usage for a couple minutes. The thin end (it's gray!) is for writing. The thick end is for bubbles. Okay, we get it.

Then we were told what to fill out on the answer sheets. Korean name (whatever you put down when you registered), English name, test number, and if you have the 홀수 or 짝수 test (it alternates by desk to make cheating harder). They really emphasize not writing/bubbling anything you aren’t told to do because there are some things on the paper that you are supposed to leave blank.

During some of this time, the can you hear this? make sure the sound is good. recording came on. It’s nice because it gives you time to get used to what the listening test is going to sound like volume-wise. It was just through the classroom speakers and was good quality. The proctors also repeated that you should mark your answers during the test because there is no time at the end to do that! Once the listening test is finished, you immediately start the writing section. So it’s important that you are marking your answers on the answer sheet as you go.

Everyone was handed their test booklet and told to make sure you had all the pages (like just look at the page numbers and make sure it goes 1-15 or whatever). A couple people got yelled at for pausing way too long on pages, because obviously they were reading questions and that is not allowed because the test hasn’t started yet. One girl also was very obviously trying to read questions through the back of the test booklet....like come on, you’re either prepared for the test or not. Don’t destroy your chances by cheating before it even starts.

Listening~

There’s a signal that the test is officially starting, and the proctors will say to start, and then it’s listening time~! When I did a listening practice test, I used this recording. The real test was slower (for the easier questions, at least) than I expected! The easy questions are said once, the harder ones are said twice. Try to read ahead during the repeat/break between questions, if you can. It’s easier to answer the questions if you already read the answers and know what to listen for.

Writing~

As soon as listening is done, you can switch to your writing answer sheet and start. The proctors come around and take your listening answer sheet, which is actually really annoying because they will take up your precious time checking that you filled it out correctly and stamping it.

The writing section has 2 questions where you read a little paragraph and complete/write two sentences, one short essay where you look at a chart/graph, and one long essay where you write about whatever topic they give you.

I was really worried about writing because I haven’t done advanced writing since I graduated language school last year...but the fill-in-the-blank questions were easier than my practice tests and even though I made some dumb mistakes with my graph explanation (don’t know about using #배...I learned a very specific script and was thrown off haha) and my long essay was too short, at least I answered everything and some points are better than no points! (Our long essay topic was about the good & bad points of 조기 교육, and our personal opinion.)

When writing ends, you have to put your pen down and take your hands off the desk. If you keep writing, that’s considered cheating and you’ll get a zero. The proctors will come around and take the test booklets and answer sheets, then there is break time.

At whatever time they said, everyone is back in the classroom and it’s preparation round 2. They pass out reading answer sheets, we filled them out properly. The proctors once again emphasized to only fill out the parts they told us to. We got test booklets, checked the pages, and waited to start.

Reading~

Reading has a bunch of different types of questions, so it’s definitely a good idea to do some practice tests to get used to the timing and format. I am especially bad at the news headline questions, so I don’t give myself much time for those, just kinda guess and move on. Near the end I started skimming more, partly because it’s so boring (seriously, the topics are all over the place and there are a whole bunch of words I don’t know) and I wanted to make sure I attempted every question. The proctor said there was 10min left, I finished answering everything, then used my remaining time to really double check the last few questions.

When reading is over, they collect the tests, give everyone back their phones, and you’re dismissed!

Results come out next month and I’m hoping I at least got a 4...it’d be nice to get a 5, but my writing wasn’t that good and I did a lot of educated guessing during the reading section. I’ll have to take it again either next year or the year after (will be needing those visa points!), so I have time to study vocab and writing and bring up my score a lot~

It was a good experience taking it, and now I’m way less nervous about the process! And I’d be happy to answer any questions about it :)

[jayflrt]

akka LMFAO 🤣 a lot has happened when i slept, you posted three chapters of reparations and i dead ass was shocked thinking i was in the wrong account 😭 please jungwon: a kpop smut fanfic writer?? but those timestamps looked like pyscho.

jungwon literally said "i'm an anti-romantic" 😭😭😭 1) the 12:00 pm timstamp — "when you play the wrong chord, he places his hands over yours and breaks your fingers." 😭😭😭🤧🥲

2) the 4:00 pm timestamp — "he asks you if you can put the star up at the top. when you tell him you're not able to reach it, taehyun grabs another ornament and rocks your shit." naur 🤧🤧🤧

this is just pure ✨shit✨

and jay turning into a fucking human at last, made me feel grateful that he doesn't have to chase over those squirrels(is this spelling right, because i can't spell 🐿️'s right just like you — you 🤝🏻 me)

LMFAO i still can't believe the fact that sunoo committed a robbery along with riki 😭😭😭 akka, you made my day 🤧🤧 sunoo said "i'm riki's partner in crime!" and riki literally said "if i do it, you have to do it too </3"

my english exam went well but i am dissapointed because i wish i could've studied more :( but next time i'm not gonna do like that for my 12th boards 😼😾 and yes i hope to score at least 90% and i'll be grateful with that but my mom expects high and i can't do anything 😔

yes, i took photos with my friends but those friends were not rlly close and they were just you know like with me at the end of the semester 🤧 so i think i have no friends to be honest but i really enjoyed my farewell. coming to the band, they were like those anime boy bands, dreamy and pretty. they sand a rock song actually… btw what are your fav music genres akka??

lmfao, you mentioned a lot of times that you stopped playing piano because your fingers were short 🤣 i think even i'd prefer the acoustic guitar becuase it suits well with the summer and it's pretty calm but the strings might be pretty hard. am i right akka??

idk whether i'll have a break after 11th but most of the colleges start right after the exams are done, so it's basically in mid-june ig?? akka, phy and chem are dead easy when you understand the concept 😼

yes yes we should get our lives together this month and it must be very hard for you to multitask, but i hope you take good rest akka 🥰🥰 also svt is having their comeback and how do you feel??

i hope you get good internship offers, and praying to god for you to get a good salary too 😭🥰 i see psychology is really broad, i thought it only meant for yk human personalities and therapist side, LMFAO i didn't knew it could be this big 😲

i have limited my friendship with the prople and i'm hoping it will change my mindset because i felt like i lost myself making friends online and irl and it's basically sad and happy making these desicions :)

i never had my covid test and i was pretty scared to get my first vaccine and it hurt the whole time 😓

the title track came and it's the fucking "good boys gone bad" that title looks so good and each one them took part in the album and i hope they will find huge success on their way 🤧🤧🤧

also you answering my ask right after your midterm, i'm honoured 🤧 and thank you for saving the tiktok akka </3 yes math will be hard but it's easy since i'm solving more questions and i believe i can do it and you can be more proud of me 😭 literally thank you akka <3

i think that was for the best, moving on from him and i think i feel happy than the rest of the days when i always thought of him and i feel like not suffering anymore and i don't feel lovesick and i'm proud of myself for getting over 😾

someone chasing after me 🔪 we'll see akka, who's gonna enter my little world and i'm definitely gonna tell you about them 😊😳

thank youf or your good works akka, i hope even you get the good things in your life you wish for and i hope i can get into writing once i'm done and get my grammar and vocab done too…😔

i love how you take all your time to answer our asks and i appreciate you so much for doing the work you have done for us and for other people in your life 🥰 you have done great work 😽

— 🦔 (now i'm all good, hehe and one more thing, i find you cute akka 🥺)

HAHAH omg a lot did happen yesterday !! 🤧 i was determined to just finish it all so i posted the last three chapters sorta spaced out ?? :’)) BUT NOOO HE WASNT A SMUT WRITER IT WAS JUST SUNGHOON CLOWNING BC OF THE USERNAME see i had to clarify in the next chapter in the tags 😵‍💫

LMFAOO the second one (4 pm) was actually one i wrote for renjun before 😭 too good i had to allude to it here HAHAH

tbh at one point i forgot ab turning jay back into a human and i forgot jay was even supposed to turn back into one BUT it’s okay bc he’s back now 🫶 LOL u mean sqwirls 😁 (jkjk u got it right 😎) HAHAH POOR SUNOO DIDNT THINK HE’D GET INTO THIS MUCH TROUBLE BECAUSE OF IT THO imagine stealing one (1) book and you end up being cursed to live out your days as a chicken 🤧 tbh maybe this is a Good Message for the fellow kleptos

i’m sure your mom’s proud of you !!! 💖 but good luck and i’m proud whatever the result is :’)) and i’m sure you did great on english! 🥰 and for math as well i’m sure you’ll do great !

oooo i see so they’re more so like acquaintances or just classmates :o i’m glad you enjoyed your farewell tho and that’s so cool that you got to see a band perform 💕 i rlly like chill music like lofi and r&b and pop !! tbh there’s a lot of songs i like so it’s hard to choose but hbu?? 💗💗

HAHAH that’s my go-to sob story with the piano 🤧 also yesyes i found that the strings were harder for the acoustic than the electric !! however i played the violin for four years before that so i was already used to the calloused hands 🤩

omg you start mid june ?? :o that’s when i end school HAHAH but i look forward to hearing about how your new school is !! 🫶 and omfg i always slacked at chem and physics and hardly understood much 😭😭 the easiest for me in chem was balancing equations <//3

and yesyes!!! we WILL get our shit together 🥰 AHHHH IM SO EXCITED FOR SVT i saw jeonghans teaser today and words cannot describe how hyped i am ☹️💖

thank you!!! im praying i get a position somewhere 😭 and omg yeah a lot of ppl have the misconception that psychology is strictly therapy/counseling work but it’s very broad :’))

honestly i think sometimes it takes people different amounts of time to find their real friends so you’ll stumble upon them unexpectedly !! i happened to meet my life long irl and online friends around the same time and i wasn’t expecting either, and it’s great because we all are still close after all these years 🤧

omg you got the vaccine!!! HAHAH tbh i’m pretty good with needles but the vaccine did make my arm pretty sore the second time around i believe :’) did you get a fever or anything? :o

also right !!! i’m so excited for it 🤧💗 i just listened to tamed-dashed japanese ver and it was so good 🥰🫶 i bought the albums too HAHAH when i saw the photocards i knew i had to </3 plus the pobs were too good omg

i’m glad you’re over him if you believe that was the best for you!! it’s nice that you feel happier and lighter now so i’m glad you’re moving on 🥰🥰 and yesyes i’m excited to hear if you find anyone in the future HAHAH

THANK YOU 🥺💗 i hope i get the few things i ask for too HAHAH (just one internship this summer pls god) and omg i hope you can write after your exams are over 🤧💖 do you have any plots in mind?

AND OH MY GOSHH THANK YOU SO MUCH THATS SO SWEET 😭😭💖 I APPRECIATE YALL AND LOVE SEEING WHAT YALL HAVE TO SAY SO ITS RLLY AN HONOR TO RECEIVE THESE ASKS SO THANK YOUU and omg thank you for finding me cute 🥰🥰💕 hope ur day/night is going well love !!

[saltierthanpearl]

I just found this from forever ago and I think @roseguarden asked me to do all of them so here they finally are!

📱 Show your phone lock screen and/or home screen

💕 Your two top fave fictional characters

Lapis Lazuli from Steven Universe and Fitz from Agents of SHIELD

🕹 Video game you are currently playing

I don’t play video games

🌡 Fave season

Fall because I’ve got some cute clothes

🏫 Are you in school, what grade

Yes, Junior in College

🎒 Are you in college, major area of study

Yes, Journalism & Screen Studies and Art History Double Major

🏢 Your job (You don’t have to be specific) or dream job if you don’t work

uh trying to find a job, but I got an internship to work at a city tv station!

📷 Post the 12th photo from your phone’s gallery

📅 Your birthday

January 9th

🎂 How old are you

20

📏 How tall are you

5′4″

🔑 Key to your heart

Be a nice, kind person who listens to me, understands what I’m saying and genuinely care about me lol

📖 Fave book

I will always love the Life As We Knew It series as well as the Percy Jackson series

📝 Fave quote

“The only thing I know is that I know nothing at all” ~ Socrates

🌐 Languages you can speak and/or are learning. Which are you fluent in

Fluent in English, I took Spanish in high school so limited vocab with that

💻 Desktop/Laptop/iPad/other

uh I use a mac laptop? (if this is asking about tumblr, i use desktop)

📔 Do you keep a traditional diary

No

☠ Something that angers you

ugh what doesn’t. I’d say one thing is when people are purposely mean and bullies.

🐷 Junk food you can never get enough of

tortilla chips

🌼 Fave flower

heather ;)

📺 Fave anime

I have actually never watched an anime before

🎥 Fave film

uh that’s hard but I guess The Avengers (first one)

📻 Fave song currently

uhhhhh like from this time New Rules by Dua Lipa but like in general I’ve had an interest in Green Day

🎙 Can you sing

I took choir for 9 years but can only sing semi-decently imo

🎁 Best gift you ever received and why

@roseguarden made me a lapis lazuli necklace because I love Lapis from SU  and I love the necklace because it’s the actual stone and it has a wing like the character and it’s so creative and cute

👾 Do you believe in aliens

It is quite possible with the vast size of space and the conditions of different stars and planets that there is life out there

👻 Do you believe in ghosts

No

⛪ What is your religion

None

🌎 What country do you live in

United States

📸 Post a selfie

look at my icon

Questions from here

[thoughtfulpaperback]

Skin and beauty standards.

Yall I want to discuss this because I feel like have been seeing this discussion a lot lately and actually had a pretty sad and eye opening discussion with my sister and friend.

So I want to start off saying that I am a light skinned Latina. My sister and friend are morena. Dark, very dark. Not black. But deep tan and caramel colored. And I have always told them I thought they were beautiful and that it sucks that cultural and broader societal beauty standards make them feel uncomfortable about thier color.

But my friend when I said this recently, sort of called me out (she has been having a hard time) and said that while it's nice that I say that it seems sort of hypocritical when I, who am already light skinned, do what I can to make my self lighter.

At first I was like super confused like ...."I dont try to make myself look lighter."

But then as we discussed it I realized "whole crap I didnt realize I was doing these things"

Examples

I use foundation one two two shades lighter than what either I have been matched or people say I match to (within reason I am not trying to look like a ghost) And say things like "do I look orange, or like too dark?" And in my mind I think I do look orange or unnaturally dark (not "attractive" latina tan but like obviously not this skin tone) even when people say it seems like a perfect match.

I have really dark brown hair, pretty much black, but when I can i prefer to dye my hair pitch black. I always liked it But everyone said it paled me out, but I liked it and have been wanting to do it again.

Now I argued with my friend and later sister as I discussed this discussion, that I mean I just like the way I look when I do these things and it didnt have anything to do with disliking darker skin tones.

But they pointed out, and I get it now, that the point isnt that it is a preference, but why it is and the fact I have the skin tone to get away with it.

As my sister said, "if I tried a foundation that was slightly lighter it would be obvious and most of the time I dont really have options. I have to really work for a shade that matches and you get to pick from all these shades and they more or less dont look bad or obvious unless we see you all the time."

My friend said "like I know you dont think dark skin is bad looking and you are supportive but like when you worry about looking too dark when you are like a light tan it kinda makes me feel a bit crappy"

Obviously. I mean I dont think there is anything wrong with my skin tone. But I didnt ever think about why I prefer some things or how my preference may be interpreted. I dont see my make up preferences or hair color preferences changing but I am definitely gonna pay more attention to what I say.

Not a gran epiphany I mean I recognize I have certain privileges like the variety of foundation shades and the relative ease of shade finding, and not having to hear people say things relatively negative about my color. But am for sure gonna be more aware of my own actions and words too.

EDIT:

Just want to elaborate because someone messaged me about this (probably a troll and personally I dont know how trolls find things that arent tagged or why a troll would follow me. I assume that must be the reason they say it).

I dont white face. That's not a thing.I am not saying that I do not like the color of my skin. Or that I am a dark skinned person. I would call myself white if my white friends and family didnt get uppity about it. I would never call myself dark because my very dark indigenous looking friends and family are dark and I wouldnt dare compare.

Just to further explain. I was born very white

This is baby me. No I am not a boy. They made me the devil because they thought it would be funny to make the dog the angel. But the dog destroyed its wings and they werent gonna buy either of us new costumes so the dog got a wraped in left over material

Anyways that white baby gradually turned into a very orangey looking kid. I was really self conscious about that. Not the looking less white part, but the orange part. My siblings and darker looking side of the family arent orangy. Although they say I am not, I look at the photos and see orange.

Eventually because of puberty I went from an oompa lompa kid to a just lightly orange tinted high school kid (I am not wearing foundation in the photo below also this wasnt a high school pick but college but my skin has stayed the same since then)

The next photos are of me when I wear foundation. Yes I drag foundation down to my chest...dont judge.

There isnt that much of a difference. The point of this post isnt that I dont like dark skin or I prefer lighter skin or that I pale myself out completely to look lighter. The point is about vocabulary. the terms lighter and dark white and dark arent accurate here but I use them. When I am matched to foundations I am matched to peachy undertones for medium skin. What I usually end up preferring are shades in the light to mediums with neutral undertones.

In the first picture (I was in college) the shade is tarte amazonian clay 29H for light to medium skin with peachy undertones. When I was in high school I was matched with 35N for medium/neutral skin, but I thought it was too dark for me (like actually dark not orangey). Just so you know this was a little before matching with the computer machine thingy was around, when I first was matched that meant the ladies sat me down and just slatheredy face with different swatches the foundation until they saw one that they thought looked good. Freshman or sophomore year of college I was matched to that shade (35n) with the new fangled match technology but told the ladies I didnt like that shade and found it too dark so they told me to go a step down that foundation ladder- which makes me wonder if the sephora people actually knew what they were doing- which is how I ended up wearing the 29H. I didnt like the 29H so I went with the 27n i believe which is the second photo. The third is fenty beauty shade 260 for medium skin/neutral undertones and the fourth (my favorite and most recent foundation) is fenty beauty 230 for light to medium skin/neutral undertones.

But again the point being that when comparing the difference isnt extremely different. I havent changed race or been attempting to. The issue is that my vocab and the way I can easily just explore and play with shades and undertones are things that trigger my darker friends and family. I don't complain about my skin tone (although I did so in this post), but when I use the term dark instead of orange it makes them uncomfortable and I never noticed. I never thought about how they must feel when we go into sephora and ulta and I spend a while trying to decide which shade I PREFER while they struggle to find a shade that actually matches. I knew that they struggled but not how my experience may actually add to that anxiety.

This isnt a #whitepeople problems this is a #holy crap I didnt realize that the things I do might be hurting someone

When I og wrote above the edit that I dont plan on changing my foundation or hair preferences that wasnt me saying, "I dont care if it makes you uncomfortable I'm gonna do what i want!" I do plan on watching and changing the words I use. I will try to avoid saying things like "is this too dark?" Or "I don't like that foundation shade because it makes me look dark or too dark." I'll try to be accurate, " I think the shade undertone is off with this one." Or "I prefer neutral undertones rather than peachy or warm undertones.

Also if this doesnt make you realize the privilege of being light complexed WTF is wrong with you? I am able to wear numerous shades in one brand and there are people who cant even find one that matches well when looking at multiple brands.

Also as mentioned in a different post, I am light and rarely see people who look like me in novelas (as non help or poor characters ) so if that doesnt scream something to you about the extreme colorism or preference for more european looking features in latin america ya must be not hearing well.

[thebestplltheories]

I love this blog and all the interesting theories but can I gently ask people to use more sensitive language in regards to cece/charlotte? I've seen a lot of male pronouns being used or people calling her Charles exclusively (even outside of the separate people theories) and I think we can all step up and be respectful and commit to making this a safe space.

I can only speak for myself here because I don’t know what others do - but I only use the name Charles when I’m referring to that specific time period of pre-transition. As a theorist it can be confusing to get a point across when there are 3 names this person, at some point, used to go by. I use Charles for pre-transition, Charlotte for post transition, and CeCe for when she was deceiving us and hiding her identity as Charlotte. You’re right that we really should exclusively be using Charlotte, but I find it easier to explain my theories by using the name that Charlotte used in the time period I’m talking about.

BUT! I totally agree about the pronouns. I always use the female pronoun ‘her’ because that’s who she is at heart even when she went by the name Charles. I’ll use ‘Charles’ and ‘she’ interchangeably - never ‘he’ when using the name Charles. And I like that the writers are even doing this too, because in 714 Hanna was using the name Charles, but never used the pronoun he. Hanna said she. So that’s good. They’ve stepped it up from calling Charlotte and ‘it’… wow.

But I agree with the writers here that the name Charles doesn’t need to be cut from our vocab completely. There will be times when we are referring to the person who on the outside appeared a boy, and we’re not talking about the person who was biologically changing to a female. (All the same person, yes, just different time period and in PLL theories, time is massively important haha) Just like when Hanna and Ted were talking about the photo with Lucas at that camp, they said Charles. So, I think it’s okay to use the name Charles, but of course, Charles should never be paired with male pronouns. Also later, they go digging a grave that has the name Charles written on the tombstone. So there will come times where, as theorists, using the name Charles will just naturally happen. But of course needless to say, the name Charles should never be used when referring to the current story revolving around Charlotte. Like “who killed Charles” is not on - again, the name has to match the time period (but no matter the time period, always female pronouns). I hope none of this sounds insensitive in any way :) Through all this I agree with everything you’re saying.

Major edit: THIS IS JUST FOR PLL! In real life, oh gosh, Charlotte 24/7 no matter what!!! Drop Charles, drop CeCe. That’s not who this person is. She is Charlotte. But this is all in respect to PLL THEORIES and how I use the names to establish the time period we’re talking about - but still use she no matter what.

[sammysstudyjournal]

How I study vocab (mainly for exams)

Annyeong, friends!

As I said yesterday I wanted to make a post about studying vocab today. Personally, I had tried every single method of studying vocab that I’ve ever heard of. Writing them down on flashcards by hand, writing online flashcards, not writing them at all and just questioning myself, having other people questioning me and more. Seriously everything. And yes, flashcards, especially online ones are really easy to carry around because you basically always have your phone with you. But actually, it makes more sense to write them down by hand if you’re going to write your vocab exam by hand, because you’ll be able to remember it more easily because your body also remembers the hand motions and not only the words on their own. Anyway, writing flashcards always seemed rather unnecessary to me since it took me a lot of time and after writing them I still didn’t feel like I studied anything at all, I could barely remember any words afterwards. 

So this is the study method I figured out for myself:

I usually start studying vocab a couple of days before the exam (mostly 3/4 days before).

Day 1: I start by just looking at the vocabulary, looking at the words in my mother tongue (German) and then looking at the translation. I often try to not look at the translation immediately but try to remember if I could’ve heard the word in a context before or imagine if it could sound similar to a word in another language with the same meaning. Then I look at the word and try to find a way to remember it, maybe I’ve heard it before and just needed a reminder of what it actually meant or as I said, it sounds really similar to another language, that makes it a lot easier. 

Anyway, I go through it like that 1-3 times on the first day, depending on how much words I have to learn and how hard they are.

Day 2: This is where I try to question myself, I cover up one side of my vocabulary book and try to go through it. With a pencil I draw small dots behind the words I couldn’t remember. If you have to translate the vocabulary both ways (e.g German -> Spanish AND Spanish-> German) you’ll have to probably do this at least once for each side because I personally know from my times as a latin student that sometimes not both sides go as smoothly. After going through all the pages I have to study, I’ll go through it again but only look at the words with the dots behind them. Sometimes saying the words out loud can help you remember them as well, so keep that in mind if you’re really struggling with some words!

Day 3: (as seen in the photo): This is where things get serious and kinda time consuming. Depending on how well you know the words already and how much words you have to learn this can take quite some time but I figured it’s one of the methods that helps me the most. I cover one side of my vocabulary book again and I start writing down the words, one after the other. And right after writing one word down, I’ll slide the paper I covered the page with down a bit so I can immediately check if the word was right or not. That way you don’t have to spend a whole bunch of time correcting afterwards (I used to find that rather annoying so I ended up “accidentally” overlooking mistakes I’ve made). If I get the word right, I can be pretty sure that I’ll know it on the test. If I made a mistake or didn’t know the word, I’ll just make a dot behind it again (this time preferably with another color so you don’t get the dots confused or you just erase the old dots). After finishing writing down all the vocabulary, I’ll go through the pages again and write down the words I didn’t know or got wrong on a separate list with the translations as well. That way I write the words again (and this time correctly) and mostly this helps me already. Before I head to bed I’ll only look at the list of difficult words again, trying to remember some of them but not studying them actively.

Day 4: On the last day before the exam I’ll go through the whole vocab again but without writing any words down. When I’m done with that I usually grab another piece of paper and cover the translations for the difficult words again, only writing down those.

Exam day: On that day I usually just take another look at my list of difficult words, by now there are normally only a handful of words left I still don’t know. I know this isn’t the best method to effectively learn vocabulary you’ll actually wanna use in everyday life afterwards but for exams I try to get them into my short-term-memory. After all, I need to get a good grade, that’s what those tests are mostly designed for. To test your memory.

Anyway, sorry for that really long post but I hope some of you can do something with this information and study method and maybe it’ll help you too! 

See you soon and lots of love, Sammy!! xx

[gsmatthews95]

War tourism: dutyful or distasteful?

So its been a while since I was active on this social media forum. Read "a while" as almost a week ago. It has been a productive week, one that has seen us discover Bosnia, learn about recent travesties and eat copious amounts if grease, yum. Bosnia it is safe to say has blown our expectations and left us suitably whelmed (yes the word whelmed is a thing in our vocab. It is when you are not over nor under whelmed so you are merely whelmed.) Having dithered about actually coming to Bosnia having bit heard much about it, our decision to come has proved very right and we're very glad we've come. Coincidentally, we're still actually in Bosnia and Herzegovina (currently in Herzegovina) at the seaside yaaaayy the sea. Its mid thirty degrees, finally we can see what everyone is england and Germany has been complaining about, and were camping for €5 euros each a night, perfect. The Bosnian coast is pretty funny cause its sandwiched in between two parts of Croatia, split and Dubrovnik and is only 12km long, luckily for us though it is 10 times cheaper than Croatia, which is why were here obvs, same coast but way cheaper. We are heading to Croatia next tho woooo but only to Dubrovnik to see some game of thrones, yeah baybey. But that is for a later post at a later time. Back to the present I am writing this currently sat on the stone beach overlooking the beaut sea under a palm tree. So let's recap the last week xoxoxo. The title should give a nice indication for the flow of this piece I believe. Bosnia has been tormented in living memory by the plight of war, siege and ethnic cleansing. The two cities we visited: Sarajevo and mostar are two of the main examples of these with the town of serbrencia (or something like that) being the third most eminent example of this. We went to a photo gallery/museum on sebrencia to gain an idea of the horror that occurred there. It was striking in Sarajevo how central war tourism was to the city and its culture. Unsurprising when the city has undergone a 44 month siege under 25 years ago. But every shop is selling bullets, guns, used helmets and some of the hostels are even called the Franz Ferdinand hostel (as ww1 started there) and the war hostel (a bit morbid eh?). The wars have dictated the tourism and a lot of the city. So, we decided to do a walking tour (free obvs. Who do you think we are?! Rich. Uh no.) It was good, we were the obly two on it, the guide was nice, it was chilled and we had fun although it didn't mention the siege much at all, you had to do a 20 euro tour to hear about that, no thanks. So we took history into our own hands and visited two museums, cultured AF I know. One as mentioned on the serbrecnia genocide and one on the siege of Sarajevo. They both helped impress the horror and death and destruction of the two events into our brains. It was all quite morbid and depressing really but also eye opening how such awful things could have happened in Europe in the age of the un during (just) our lifetimes. Mad. And we've barely heard anything of it. My degree was international relations and I'd only even heard of Bosnia because of a single case study I'd done in lower sixth, madness. Anyhow we feel a duty to preach the terrors we now know to be true. Expect a much more serious George when I return. The city of Sarajevo tho even after these atrocities was beautiful in the old town centre. Very ottoman Turkish styles with small stores, nice restaurants and cool bars with a lot of shisha. Everywhere had shisha. We wandered around d the outer parts of town too which bore much more of the remnants of the war. Bullet holes were a standard in most building and whole, empty and abandoned buildings were a norm, really sad but very striking. Im glad we saw it all. Oo last thing on Sarajevo. We wandered to a fort. The fort wasn't that exciting but the view was immense over the town and across a graveyard of identical white tombstones, another foreboding reminder of the past. It was jokes tho because there was a wedding photoshoot going on and twice we we in their shots and asked to move with the second time us actually having them taking our spit that we were in first, obvs we just know the best spots and they were jealous he he he. The last part of our time in Sarajevo was catching the bus to mostar, should be easy its just a train after all. Firstly we got there 1.5 hours early having got the wrong time for the train. Secondly we had no idea what platform to use as there were no signs and they were so unfriendly. It was deceptively stressful but we got our train. The reason we took the train by the way, not the bus, was cause it was cheaper, shock, and it was meant yo be very picturesque. Spoiler alert: it was. Mostar. We'd been recommended a documentary on the war in mostar as some homework so we'd understand the situation there fully. We did. It was grim. Mostar was massacred and when we saw the resultant city, we got it. Our hostel there was nice. It was small, cheap and had nice owners. The old town if mostar is beautiful. It was completely destroyed in 1995 but was removed with 11 million euros donated by sine eurozone countries. Its very small, cobbled streets and cramped shops. It had an old style beauty to it. Very touristy, thats a given and it was this very busy on these tiny winding roads but that didn't take away from its boutiquey prettiness. What is the main mostar attraction? The old bridge. Built by the Ottomans it was the only bridge, and had the longest arch, 30m, for a long time. It was nice. It was also the spit where locals jump off it Into the river 22m below. Thats very high. I get scared jumping off like 10. Some tourists also do it after a little intro course. It was funny, people give them money, its all good sport. A nice little watch. It was also well hot there, mid thirties. The water was freezing, maybe 10 degrees or lower, very refreshing but bloody freezing. We went for a few swims. We did another walking tour here, shock. It was good but not overly exciting. It was a nice few days capped off by me buying some new trainers. Fake adidas all stars. They look nice let's just hope they dont die on me. Bosnia has recovered a bit from its horrible recent history but is still baring a lot of the brunt of it. They have used the war to promote tourism which, while distasteful in that it caused so much damage and was so recent, has brought in money and promoted awareness of what happened here, or at least in our case. Its been good and I'll write another post after we've left Dubrovnik. What is dead may ever die. G.

[endlessarchite]

Getting My Kitchen In Shape for 2018

It’s time for the kitchen to be whipped into shape and fully finished! Below, I’ve jotted down some overall design and organization plans in 2018  to make my kitchen perform at its best.

Throughout most of January, I’ve been setting goals for the year and thinking about what else I’d like to accomplish (personally, professionally, friends & family, etc.). In case you missed those general thoughts, they are right here.

But when it comes to the house — or more specifically, when it comes to certain rooms in this house — I realized I have a little more going on in my life these days. And once that happened, there was a little more going on with how I wanted to use certain spaces in my home. I know this isn’t exactly a eureka moment and comes as no surprise, but it was also almost… a comfort? A pleasant realization that it was no longer about making things pretty, but really just using everything in the house?

So, I’ve been writing those thoughts down, room by room, starting with the kitchen. What could I add, or remove, or touch up, to make the most out of the room I use most? (If you’d like to see the full kitchen transformation up until now, check that out in my house tour here.)

Note: this post is sponsored by Sears Parts Direct and also contains affiliate links. For more info, see my disclosure page. Words are 100% my own.

Goals for Re-Organizing and Finishing the Kitchen

Purge, purge, purge

I’ve been meaning to do it for a while, and I suppose I have gone through this phase before, but I need to do another clean-out of items I don’t use. I love the idea of a minimalist kitchen with clean counters and no saving of items for a rainy day. There is at least one upper cabinet that is FULL of crap I simply don’t need! With the heaviness of entertaining over Christmas and New Year’s Eve, the list of “what I actually use” versus “what I will probably never use, even if I use every plate” is pretty clear in my mind. So, it’s perfect timing to get rid of it before I talk myself out.

Organize the fridge for better cooking

Do you keep your refrigerator organized with a clean, efficient system? I have been cooking more and more over the last few months (I have a delicious winter soup recipe I can’t wait to share!), and I noticed how lacking I am in this department. So, it’s time to implement a few changes, such as these tips for the right way to store food in the refrigerator. Sears Parts Direct gave me a whole list of kitchen tips about a month ago, so I’ve been reading through them and picked up a thing or two. For example, I never really thought about how the lowest spot in the fridge is the coldest and the door is the warmest, so you should plan for food storage based on that (and that’s why the crisper drawers and such are where they are, etc.)… nerdy and neat!

refrigerator organizer bins

Get all of my appliances to match

I will have a reveal for you guys in the coming weeks of my brand new appliances. The best part about them is that they finally all MATCH! I’ve always been a little embarrassed to take a picture of my whole kitchen as a whole because some of it was stainless steel and some of it was black (I am ok with either, but having both was a little eye-twitchy to live in the space). I bought what I could afford about 7 years ago as one of my first house purchases, and the opportunity came up to finally switch things out. Full reveal coming soon!

Related: Stainless Steel Appliance Cleaning Tips

Get the copper pots out in the open

I have a bunch of beautiful copper pots and pans that are taking up WAY too much room in one of my lower cabinets. And once I saw this photo of Ellen Pompeo’s L.A. home, I knew my answer was a beautiful, functional pot rack that would turn them into art. I have the perfect space for them above the kitchen bar area. I’m also going to be getting a handful of new torches to learn how to weld this year (braze? solder? the vocab is new so I’ll have that info for you as I publish those projects). Maybe a beautiful wood and black metal combo, inspired by something like this?

wall pot rack

Create a bar area

I haven’t quite figured out if I want a bar spot in the kitchen or the dining room just yet, but I know I’d like a space for putting cocktail glasses out in the open when friends stop by.

Related: DIY wood and glass light fixture

Touch up paint and figure out if I want to treat the countertops the same

I get asked about the cabinet paint and the countertops a LOT. Has the paint held up? Do you still like your butcher block?

The answer to both is yes. There are a few touch-ups needed on the lower gray cabinets where the paint has been nicked. The place that’s most affected is right above the silverware drawer, where it’s pretty obvious that I’m a little clumsy with putting forks and knives away (or just obviously my least favorite kitchen activity). I’ve still been pretty impressed that the rest of the paint has held up so well, and you can’t see a single scratch on the white uppers. In fact, I think that if I had tinted the primer for the lower cabinets to the same color as the paint,  wouldn’t even know they’re nicked (because the white primer peeks through but I still don’t see the old wood cabinet color underneath). I didn’t think of it at the time of posting this, but I’ll take a new picture in the morning of it so you can see what I mean and update.

As for the butcher block, I continue to treat it with a mineral oil and wax mixture like I always have. It gives the wood a richness and beautiful color without yellowing, and the occasional treatment doesn’t really bother me (I just let it soak in overnight after the wood gets a good cleaning). However, I’ve been thinking more and more about covering it in a more permanent type of finish — not for my own needs, but because I don’t think I would trust a new homeowner to take such good care of it once I sell. I never actually use the counter as a cooking surface, so a food-safe treatment isn’t necessarily my biggest priority. It’s also not something I’m planning on doing soon, but it is on my mind and I’m in research mode. Perhaps coating it with something think like a poly would be better for a new homeowner to care for. The downside is that a poly wouldn’t really let the wood expand and contract as easily as the oil treatment does, so unless the bottom side is also sealed the same way, it could be a risk for cracking. Still thinking it over and open to your suggestions, too (if you’re knowledgeable about sealing countertops or long wood surfaces).

Do some composting

More cooking at home has led to two big changes: more recycling, and more opportunities for composting. And dishes… but I’m choosing denial for the sake of the point I’m trying to make. K has been talking about us building our own garden next to the pub shed once we finish that this spring, so that means mulching and learning to grow a little of our own food. And with the cute little composting cans that have been on the market, it seems easier than ever. Can someone tell me if they have had success with the little ones from World Market? They’re cute but I don’t want the stink, so having a tight seal is important!

self-watering herb garden

Alrighty, I assumed this would be a shorter post because I was solely focusing on kitchen changes, but as usual I got carried away and it’s nearly 1500 words later. Are you planning on changing up your kitchen this year? I’d love to hear your ideas.

What I’m Loving for Kitchens Lately:

[show_shopthepost_widget id=”3012089″]

The post Getting My Kitchen In Shape for 2018 appeared first on Ugly Duckling House.

Getting My Kitchen In Shape for 2018 published first on https://bakerskitchenslimited.tumblr.com/

[sherlocklexa]

Getting My Kitchen In Shape for 2018

It’s time for the kitchen to be whipped into shape and fully finished! Below, I’ve jotted down some overall design and organization plans in 2018  to make my kitchen perform at its best.

Throughout most of January, I’ve been setting goals for the year and thinking about what else I’d like to accomplish (personally, professionally, friends & family, etc.). In case you missed those general thoughts, they are right here.

But when it comes to the house — or more specifically, when it comes to certain rooms in this house — I realized I have a little more going on in my life these days. And once that happened, there was a little more going on with how I wanted to use certain spaces in my home. I know this isn’t exactly a eureka moment and comes as no surprise, but it was also almost… a comfort? A pleasant realization that it was no longer about making things pretty, but really just using everything in the house?

So, I’ve been writing those thoughts down, room by room, starting with the kitchen. What could I add, or remove, or touch up, to make the most out of the room I use most? (If you’d like to see the full kitchen transformation up until now, check that out in my house tour here.)

Note: this post is sponsored by Sears Parts Direct and also contains affiliate links. For more info, see my disclosure page. Words are 100% my own.

Goals for Re-Organizing and Finishing the Kitchen

Purge, purge, purge

I’ve been meaning to do it for a while, and I suppose I have gone through this phase before, but I need to do another clean-out of items I don’t use. I love the idea of a minimalist kitchen with clean counters and no saving of items for a rainy day. There is at least one upper cabinet that is FULL of crap I simply don’t need! With the heaviness of entertaining over Christmas and New Year’s Eve, the list of “what I actually use” versus “what I will probably never use, even if I use every plate” is pretty clear in my mind. So, it’s perfect timing to get rid of it before I talk myself out.

Organize the fridge for better cooking

Do you keep your refrigerator organized with a clean, efficient system? I have been cooking more and more over the last few months (I have a delicious winter soup recipe I can’t wait to share!), and I noticed how lacking I am in this department. So, it’s time to implement a few changes, such as these tips for the right way to store food in the refrigerator. Sears Parts Direct gave me a whole list of kitchen tips about a month ago, so I’ve been reading through them and picked up a thing or two. For example, I never really thought about how the lowest spot in the fridge is the coldest and the door is the warmest, so you should plan for food storage based on that (and that’s why the crisper drawers and such are where they are, etc.)… nerdy and neat!

refrigerator organizer bins

Get all of my appliances to match

I will have a reveal for you guys in the coming weeks of my brand new appliances. The best part about them is that they finally all MATCH! I’ve always been a little embarrassed to take a picture of my whole kitchen as a whole because some of it was stainless steel and some of it was black (I am ok with either, but having both was a little eye-twitchy to live in the space). I bought what I could afford about 7 years ago as one of my first house purchases, and the opportunity came up to finally switch things out. Full reveal coming soon!

Related: Stainless Steel Appliance Cleaning Tips

Get the copper pots out in the open

I have a bunch of beautiful copper pots and pans that are taking up WAY too much room in one of my lower cabinets. And once I saw this photo of Ellen Pompeo’s L.A. home, I knew my answer was a beautiful, functional pot rack that would turn them into art. I have the perfect space for them above the kitchen bar area. I’m also going to be getting a handful of new torches to learn how to weld this year (braze? solder? the vocab is new so I’ll have that info for you as I publish those projects). Maybe a beautiful wood and black metal combo, inspired by something like this?

wall pot rack

Create a bar area

I haven’t quite figured out if I want a bar spot in the kitchen or the dining room just yet, but I know I’d like a space for putting cocktail glasses out in the open when friends stop by.

Related: DIY wood and glass light fixture

Touch up paint and figure out if I want to treat the countertops the same

I get asked about the cabinet paint and the countertops a LOT. Has the paint held up? Do you still like your butcher block?

The answer to both is yes. There are a few touch-ups needed on the lower gray cabinets where the paint has been nicked. The place that’s most affected is right above the silverware drawer, where it’s pretty obvious that I’m a little clumsy with putting forks and knives away (or just obviously my least favorite kitchen activity). I’ve still been pretty impressed that the rest of the paint has held up so well, and you can’t see a single scratch on the white uppers. In fact, I think that if I had tinted the primer for the lower cabinets to the same color as the paint,  wouldn’t even know they’re nicked (because the white primer peeks through but I still don’t see the old wood cabinet color underneath). I didn’t think of it at the time of posting this, but I’ll take a new picture in the morning of it so you can see what I mean and update.

As for the butcher block, I continue to treat it with a mineral oil and wax mixture like I always have. It gives the wood a richness and beautiful color without yellowing, and the occasional treatment doesn’t really bother me (I just let it soak in overnight after the wood gets a good cleaning). However, I’ve been thinking more and more about covering it in a more permanent type of finish — not for my own needs, but because I don’t think I would trust a new homeowner to take such good care of it once I sell. I never actually use the counter as a cooking surface, so a food-safe treatment isn’t necessarily my biggest priority. It’s also not something I’m planning on doing soon, but it is on my mind and I’m in research mode. Perhaps coating it with something think like a poly would be better for a new homeowner to care for. The downside is that a poly wouldn’t really let the wood expand and contract as easily as the oil treatment does, so unless the bottom side is also sealed the same way, it could be a risk for cracking. Still thinking it over and open to your suggestions, too (if you’re knowledgeable about sealing countertops or long wood surfaces).

Do some composting

More cooking at home has led to two big changes: more recycling, and more opportunities for composting. And dishes… but I’m choosing denial for the sake of the point I’m trying to make. K has been talking about us building our own garden next to the pub shed once we finish that this spring, so that means mulching and learning to grow a little of our own food. And with the cute little composting cans that have been on the market, it seems easier than ever. Can someone tell me if they have had success with the little ones from World Market? They’re cute but I don’t want the stink, so having a tight seal is important!

self-watering herb garden

Alrighty, I assumed this would be a shorter post because I was solely focusing on kitchen changes, but as usual I got carried away and it’s nearly 1500 words later. Are you planning on changing up your kitchen this year? I’d love to hear your ideas.

What I’m Loving for Kitchens Lately:

[show_shopthepost_widget id=”3012089″]

The post Getting My Kitchen In Shape for 2018 appeared first on Ugly Duckling House.

from car2 http://ift.tt/2E7H9PF via as shown a lot