#lizzystudies

[studiesinpomegranate]

One of the most satisfactory moments： FINALLY used up ur pen lollll

[mymymylovelife]

14. April 2019

New semester started this week

[words-and-ideas]

25/07/2019

how I like to start my mornings // writing time on my (slightly dusty) desk.

[words-and-ideas]

[another really lately posted post]

- - - -

[22.05.2017]

the week before the last. can you guess whose birthday it was?

[words-and-ideas]

[27.06.2017]

evening study session (sorry for the bad lightening. in reality it actually looked a lot nicer)

I am trying to really start my term paper so I’m reading through A LOT of papers right now. It’s exhausting but I also feel like I eventually get an idea of what I want to write about.

Anyone here that has experiences in comparative politics and especially in parliamentary systems and coalition theories?

[words-and-ideas]

[22.05.2017]

doing some readings for my comparative politics seminar on coalitions.

[words-and-ideas]

[13.09.2017]

Lovely autumn colours while reading Shakespeare’s history plays. 

(also, I’m sick which is why I’m drinking loads and loads of tea.)

[words-and-ideas]

[05.05.2017]

Comparative politics // this week: electoral systems.

[words-and-ideas]

Commuting to Uni - TIPS

THE PROBLEM

Commuting typically means you do not live in the city where your university/school/campus is. This means, when others are on campus for 2 hours because they have a 1 1/2 h lecture, you’re there for 3 hours. 

Commuting generally means you are much longer away from home than other people. This also means that you can’t just go home if you need a nap or if you forgot something. You need to be prepared. That means: Organisation is the key. Things other people rarely take with them are your essentials: phone charger/extra battery, hygiene products, things to fill up your (free~) waiting time. Etc.

For me personally, it takes about 50-60 minutes to go from outside my home door to be in the lecture hall. Sometimes less. It might not seem super long but there are also only two trains / hour so I can’t just go spontaneously. It also means I’m usually much earlier for my lectures and have a lot of time left after them. 

Since I am in my forth semester already, I feel like I have gathered a lot of experience so I thought I’d share it with you.

Things to do in the train/bus/tram

Read a book // I personally like to read two books “simultaneously”: One at home (usually a very thick and heavy book) and a “train book” which is usually a smaller one or just one I can’t bring myself to read when I’m at home. In the train, I am typically quite good at ignoring other people’s talking and can read quite concentrated for the 20 minutes.

Listen to an audiobook // this is especially helpful for when you usually are on very noisy and crowed vehicles or just usually have to take the rush hour train. You can relax, don’t have to hear other people and still “read” a book.

Listen to music // quite obvious, probably. Note: I have come to install Spotify Premium eventually because that just made easy access to music a lot more easy for me.

Enjoy the view // This is something I had to learn. But it can be nice sometimes.

Listen to people // It can be quite amusing sometimes.

Do something productive // I personally tend to get very exhausted on the way back from uni but on my way there, I sometimes get productive. However, it depends on whether there is a small “table” on the train, whether there are a lot of people and what have to do. Laptop work always works, reading articles and annotating also works most of the time, but actually writing stuff can obviously get a bit .. shaky:

THINGS TO ALWAYS TAKE WITH YOU

headphones

a book

enough money to pay for an extra coffee or an extra train ticket (I am always afraid of losing mine!)

your keys if you have some with you

some extra work for uni that you can do on the train/in a café

a phone charger or a spare battery for your phone (!!!)

a big bottle of water

an extra snack

a “hyiene/bathroom-bag” with: 

tampons/pads/menstrual cup/panty liners (at least for the female ones here)

concealer

tissues

hand moisturizer

a small hairbrush

chewing gum or something else to fresh your mouth

deodorant (there are also deodorant tissues - very handy!)

band-aids (also there are certain one to cover up blisters (for when you’re wearing new shoes etc.))

disinfection gel (!!)

a small extra bag for when you can leave your backpack in uni in a locker and just make a short trip to a café.

THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE A LONG DAY OF UNI

where do you get your food? Take some with you? Cafeteria? Just make sure you think about it for a minute the evening before so you could prepare something to take with you.

Using a backpack or a handbag? Depends on your personal preference but I find a backpack much more easy and comfortable

Will you have longer breaks? If so, when? And where will you be? Think about it and then plan your break time, so either plan a lunch date with your friends in uni, plan in a library session, or a walk in a park to calm you down before the next lecture(s).

When will you leave? Which train at which time can you take? Plan this out the night before (also for your way back). I have come to always know when my trains leave and when the connection is really bad but I used to rely greatly on apps of public transportation.

How long will you be away and what will the weather be like? It might seem like a minor consideration topic but for commuters I guess it’s best to always have an extra cardigan with them.

OTHER USEFUL COMMUTING TIPS!

https://apenchantforfantasy.tumblr.com/post/147133929844/today-when-i-was-traveling-by-train-this-idea

https://hometownbar.tumblr.com/post/127110242826/backpack-tips

[mymymylovelife]

it’s the end of this semester, i just had an exam

why am i here?

[words-and-ideas]

[13.01.2017]

Spent all wednesday and thursday studying in the library with my best friend/ best study buddy - so productive! 

[mymymylovelife]

too much to read

[mymymylovelife]

late night study session

11:44

[mymymylovelife]

16. Februar 2019

last week of exams

[mymymylovelife]

exams are near

[words-and-ideas]

Book Review: “Moranifesto”

Book: Moranifesto Author: Caitlin Moran Published: Harper Perennial, 2016

“So, welcome to my second collection of writing. Hello! I embrace you. I am sorry about the smell. I get very sweaty when I write. I don’t know why. One day, I will learn how to varnish my armpits, and it will be easier to be my friend again. Until then - I apologize.”

You might not recognise it from the start on, but Caitlin Moran’s fourth and most recent book calls out for change. With the so-typical-for her kind of humour, she onnects a lot of her published articles with short introductory passages;  topics ranging from Climate Change to Benetict Cumberbatch‘s face. A lot of Benedict Cumberbatch. A lot. A combination of endless life lists, sex and make-up advice, comments on pop and gay culture, and the Queen.

The books is split into four main sections: “The 21st century, where we live”, “Feminisms”, and “The Future”. 

Whilst in the first part, Moran highlights a lot of topic of the past 16 years like new technological innovations, cultural diversity and the Queen’s jubilee, she introduces this section with a pure kind of critique of this century: she stresses how she loves capitalism but at the same time, she really thinks it needs an update. Like computers or smartphones. 

That is what is so typical for Caitlin Moran: she doesn’t make things more complicated than they are; she calls it by its name. And let’s be honest, that’s what we all love about her.

The second section is “The Feminisms”-part where she gives a lot of life advice for young girls and aging ladies. And she calls for equality. Similar to things you can read in her debut novel “How to Be a Woman”, she raises attention to the unncessesary time and effort women “have” to put in clothes, make-up, fitness and body hair issues. And the section includes serious topics like Female Genital Mutilation to everyday sexist experiences probably every woman can relate to.

Notably, Moran includes a lot of lists. For me as a passionate list-writer, this is fantastic. But I assume a lot of people feel this way: a lot of sex and a lot of lists and a lot of inspiration in one book - who could ask for more?

Moran then takes a look into the future and talks about the things she would like to see in it: more of Benedict Cumberbatch, more understanding for the working class, less homework. This part is where Moran really shows what she said in the introduction: you don’t have to be a writer to say what you want. Everyone’s little part is what will make the difference.

And so, Moran concludes with her “Moranifesto”. It’s a hillarious and at the same time very thought-through list of things she’s like to see imporoved. Because they don’t work the way they are now. Again. Ranging from “1. Electoral Reform” to “ 3. Andy Burnham to sing Dr. Hook’s “Sexy Eyes” at the next Labour Party Conference” and “13. Complete protection of abortion rights [..]”.

“We must not dare waste a second of our only, exploding existence, thinking that “It will be better . . .later” is ever a thing to say. If we say these things cannot be cone, we are in denial of humanity. We are perversely proud to be small. And we are not. Trying. Hard. Enough.” 

Caitlin Moran’s “Moranifesto” again proofs how much this woman has to say - and how many of those things really should be heard. Not only the included Posthumous letter to her daughter is so touching, no, what is emotional, what is so inspiring about Moran’s writing is how much honesty she offers the reader. Even though a lot of her views aren’t particularily suprising to readers like me who have basically binge-read her other books, with “Moranifesto”, Caitlin Moran takes it a step further to talk not “only” about feminism but about other  serious topics: realistic and important.

You shouldn’t miss this inspiring, hillarious and serious book. Just read it.