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richincolor · 5 years

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2020 Reads

Sure, it’s 2019 still, but I figure it’s never too early to add some must-reads to your TBR pile. There are so many books I’m excitd for next year. It wasn’t easy to narrow down the list to just 6, let me tell you. But I did it! And here you go, my top 6 books I’m look forward to reading in 2020:

Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim [January 7, 2020]

When Amaya rescues a mysterious stranger from drowning, she fears her rash actions have earned her a longer sentence on the debtor ship where she’s been held captive for years. Instead, the man she saved offers her unimaginable riches and a new identity, setting Amaya on a perilous course through the coastal city-state of Moray, where old-world opulence and desperate gamblers collide. Amaya wants one thing: revenge against the man who ruined her family and stole the life she once had. But the more entangled she becomes in this game of deception—and as her path intertwines with the son of the man she’s plotting to bring down—the more she uncovers about the truth of her past. And the more she realizes she must trust no one…

Packed with high-stakes adventure, romance, and dueling identities, this gender-swapped retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo is the first novel in an epic YA fantasy duology, perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Sabaa Tahir, and Leigh Bardugo. [Image and summary via Goodreads]

The Iron Will of Genie Lo by F.C. Yee [January 21, 2020]

The fate of the heavens is at stake in this hilarious and highly-anticipated sequel to the The Epic Crush of Genie Lo

Genie Lo thought she was busy protecting the Bay Area from demons. But now, as a Heaven- appointed Guardian, even the well-being of demons is her responsibility—and their numbers are multiplying. Guanyin and Quentin are doing their best to help; but what they really need is for the Jade Emperor to get off his butt and deal with the crisis. While he’s AWOL, Genie nominates Guanyin to fill in his shoes, unaware that the role will go to the god who can defeat a mysterious threat to the supernatural order. Along with a few other contenders for the throne, including a former enemy, Genie and her friends embark on a Heavenly quest to an in-between world. But when faced with true danger, the group realizes that what will save the universe this time is sacrifice, not strength. [Image and summary via Goodreads]

Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen [Feburary 4, 2020]

For fans of Crazy Rich Asians or Jane Austen Comedy of Manners, with a hint of La La Land

When eighteen-year-old Ever Wong’s parents send her from Ohio to Taiwan to study Mandarin for the summer, she finds herself thrust among the very over-achieving kids her parents have always wanted her to be, including Rick Woo, the Yale-bound prodigy profiled in the Chinese newspapers since they were nine—and her parents’ yardstick for her never-measuring-up life. Unbeknownst to her parents, however, the program is actually an infamous teen meet-market nicknamed Loveboat, where the kids are more into clubbing than calligraphy and drinking snake-blood sake than touring sacred shrines. Free for the first time, Ever sets out to break all her parents’ uber-strict rules—but how far can she go before she breaks her own heart? [Image and summary via Goodreads]

When You Were Everything by Ashley Woodfolk [March 10, 2020]

You can’t rewrite the past, but you can always choose to start again. It’s been twenty-seven days since Cleo and Layla’s friendship imploded. Nearly a month since Cleo realized they’ll never be besties again. Now, Cleo wants to erase every memory, good or bad, that tethers her to her ex–best friend. But pretending Layla doesn’t exist isn’t as easy as Cleo hoped, especially after she’s assigned to be Layla’s tutor. Despite budding new friendships with other classmates—and a raging crush on a gorgeous boy named Dom—Cleo’s turbulent past with Layla comes back to haunt them both.

Alternating between time lines of Then and Now, When You Were Everything blends past and present into an emotional story about the beauty of self-forgiveness, the promise of new beginnings, and the courage it takes to remain open to love. [Image and summary via Goodreads]

Running by Natalia Sylvester [May 5, 2020]

When fifteen-year-old Cuban American Mariana Ruiz’s father runs for president, Mari starts to see him with new eyes. A novel about waking up and standing up, and what happens when you stop seeing your dad as your hero—while the whole country is watching.

In this thoughtful, authentic, humorous, and gorgeously written novel about privacy, waking up, and speaking up, Senator Anthony Ruiz is running for president. Throughout his successful political career he has always had his daughter’s vote, but a presidential campaign brings a whole new level of scrutiny to sheltered fifteen-year-old Mariana and the rest of her Cuban American family, from a 60 Minutes–style tour of their house to tabloids doctoring photos and inventing scandals. As tensions rise within the Ruiz family, Mari begins to learn about the details of her father’s political positions, and she realizes that her father is not the man she thought he was.

But how do you find your voice when everyone’s watching? When it means disagreeing with your father—publicly? What do you do when your dad stops being your hero? Will Mari get a chance to confront her father? If she does, will she have the courage to seize it? [Image and summary via Goodreads]

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson [June 2, 2020]

Liz Lighty has always believed she’s too black, too poor, too awkward to shine in her small, rich, prom-obsessed midwestern town. But it’s okay — Liz has a plan that will get her out of Campbell, Indiana, forever: attend the uber-elite Pennington College, play in their world-famous orchestra, and become a doctor.

But when the financial aid she was counting on unexpectedly falls through, Liz’s plans come crashing down . . . until she’s reminded of her school’s scholarship for prom king and queen. There’s nothing Liz wants to do less than endure a gauntlet of social media trolls, catty competitors, and humiliating public events, but despite her devastating fear of the spotlight she’s willing to do whatever it takes to get to Pennington. The only thing that makes it halfway bearable is the new girl in school, Mack. She’s smart, funny, and just as much of an outsider as Liz. But Mack is also in the running for queen. Will falling for the competition keep Liz from her dreams . . . or make them come true? [Image and summary via Goodreads]

#scavenge the stars #tara sim #you should see me in a crown #loveboat taipei #the epic crush of genie lo #the iron will of genie lo #leah johnson #f.c. yee #natalia sylvester #when you were everything #ashley woodfolk

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amlovelies · 3 years

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milk and honey?

thank you for the ask 💜 I already answered both of these😬 milk, honey

so I’m if it’s alright with you I’ll answer two I haven’t been asked yet ☺

🌱 Seedling: What is something you want to begin learning?

I would really like to learn how to do calligraphy! I have okay hand writing, but I’m very jealous of people who can do beautiful lettering. I don’t know I just think I’d be cooler if I could do calligraphy

🐝 Bee: What is a video game that you find comforting?

Stardew valley! I love it so much and it like sooths my anxiety so well. Everything about it is so cute and soothing and I love the npcs so much (Leah 😍). If I’m feeling stressed or anxious I can really lose myself in it and it leaves me feeling a lot calmer

Gentle Cottagecore Emoji Asks

#💜 thank you!#ask #tuomniia #gentle cottagecore emoji asks

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jikookequalsoxygen-blog · 6 years

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🎨 📚🌍🐧💭 🌺🍀 🎁 💗

🎨 what do you always doodle when you’re bored?

I usually doodle these kinda swooping designs, or I’ll do pencil calligraphy of whatever song’s stuck in my head.

📚 share 3 books that you love and your favourite quote from them.

Oof, I don’t have the quotes, because legit all of my copies of these books are lent out to people at present.

But the books: Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda, by Becky Albertalli, Two Boys Kissing by David Levithah, and Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin.

🌍 which country do you live in?

USA

🐧 describe yourself in 3 words

Queer asshole, (implied “an”) intellectual

💭 do you keep a diary?

No, but I couple notebooks that I write my songs in, so does that count? Cause if anyone got hold of them, I would probably live out the rest of my days under a rock.

🌺 which languages do you know? which do you want to learn?

I speak English as a first language, and I’m starting Korean this summer. I know, I know “some white asshole’s saying he’s going to learn Korean, he’s not going to commit”, but I’m going to a language camp, and because my school allows it I’m taking a college course for my language credits.

🍀 if you could be any fictional character’s best friend/lover, which fictional character would you be?

I would add myself to the Simon/Leah/Abby/Nick/Bram/Garrett gang, and I would be some underclassman they adopted.

🎁 what never fails to make you happy?

Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda. (I would say my friends, but that’s falling apart, so whoopdeedoo).

💗 if you could hug anyone, who would it be?

I answered this in the last one, but it was all of you in a massive group hug.

From these emoji themed asks

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fanatic-writers · 7 years

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Ink and Grease

A/n: So this is a play on the soulmate AU where you write on your skin, and it shows up on your soulmate’s skin too. Basically any little mark or dirt or whatever can appear on your soulmate’s skin. I had another way I wanted this to go it kinda deviated from my original idea, so I hope you still like it. Requests are open, and we don’t have any atm so don’t be afraid to send some in! -G

Warnings: I still can’t fluff

Pairing: Tony x reader

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You were a child when it started, you’d notice grease on your skin and dirt under your nails. You were too young to know what was going on but when you asked your parents, they told you not to worry about it. You were always asked by your teachers what you had gotten into and to wash your hands. When you turned 13, you and your friends decided to research what exactly was wrong with you when you found a book on soulmates. Your friend explained to you that some people had special connections and that due to said connection marks on your skin would show up on your soulmate’s and vice versa.

“Damn you’re lucky” one of your friends, Jane, commented as you looked at the small burn that had appeared on your skin the other day

“Are you kidding that is, like, the worst thing ever,” Leah exclaimed, “now she has to get married and like, have kids!”

“I’m sure he’s great,” Mads commented

“Whoever he is he needs to learn what soap is,” you joked.

“Maybe it’s time for a little revenge,” Jane smirked pulling out a sharpie

“Oh you’re evil,” you giggled as the girls drew all over your body. Some doodles were good, like the amazing portrait of Yoda that took over your shoulder. Others were crudely drawn dicks in various places or innuendos.

Little did you know that the poor boy that was fortunate enough to be your soulmate had a very important meeting at MIT the next day to see if he could get into the school early. Tony walked into the living room in search of his mother, there was no way that Howard would take this well. Unfortunately for him both of his parents were sat at the table eating breakfast.

“What the hell is all over your skin!’ he father yelled “Do you know how important this meeting is? Are you trying to ruin your life?”

“I swear I have no idea how this happened,” the boy tried to explain “I went to bed and when I woke up they were just there.”

Howard looked at his son in disbelief as his wife looked at him “Maybe he has a soulmate?”

“You know how rare that is,” Howard said looking down at her

“Well it happened to us,” she shrugged

“Wash up as best you can and put on a nice suit or something to cover that up,” The boy’s father sighed “we’ll figure out something for whatever is on your hands.”

Tony walked down the stairs in his best suit hoping that it would compensate for the doodles covering his hands.

His mother held out a bottle of concealer “This should do the trick” she smiled as she blotted it to his skin. Tony just hoped it would hold up long enough.

He must’ve done something right because here he was a few weeks later at MIT a new sleeve of doodles covering his forearms. His parents had explained to him that he had a soulmate which meant somewhere in the world some girl was lucky enough to call him hers. It wasn’t long before he was trying to flirt with you, writing little messages on his arm and waiting for a response. It was a few weeks before you responded with a simple “Fuck off” scrolled in beautiful calligraphy.

---

It had been a few years since you discovered your soulmate and even though at first he seemed like an ass he grew on you. You had been writing notes to each other almost every day. You would try to find out as much about each other as you could without breaking whatever rules there were. For some reason, the universe had decided that you weren’t able to tell each other your names or whereabouts so you’d drop as many hints as you could. It wasn’t long before you were getting questions from your fellow classmates as to why there were notes written all over your arms. At first, you would tell them that you had a soulmate and while some would call you crazy or tell you that you were lucky most grew jealous. And that made high school a living hell for you. Somewhere along the way instead of you thinking that you had something special you became to think of yourself as a burden.

“You only have a soulmate because you’d never attract a guy on your own,” one of the boys told you

“Poor guy is stuck with you now,” his friend called as they waited for the bell to ring

“Dude, kick his ass,” the third boy in the group muttered to you noticing how on edge you were

“I would,” you paused “but someone as pathetic as him isn’t really worth my time.”

“Oh yeah,” the second boy said, “Well, I don’t even know you!”

You had to hold in your laughter till the bell rang and you exited your class with Leah. After that, you figured it’d be best to keep your predicament a secret.

---

Years had gone by, and for some reason, your soulmate had stopped writing you little notes, you hadn’t really thought anything of it. At first, it worried you, but you noticed the grease marks that appeared on your hands still and knew that he was ok, maybe he wanted to keep it a secret too. You had managed to get yourself a degree and further your education at an academy for an agency called SHIELD. You hadn’t heard of them before they approached you for their academy. Apparently, your research had caught their eye. You had gone through years of your life and thousands of milestones and not one moment had you thought of your soulmate. It’s not like they had seemed to think of you with the lack of letters written on your arm.

It wasn’t until you had been recruited to work in the lab for the Avengers that you began to think of the mystery man again. You noticed that as you’d jot down notes on your hands, you’d see little doodles around them that you hadn’t drawn.

“What are you doing?” Bruce had asked you as he watched you doodle on your forearm

“Nothing’ you replied continuing to scroll out a “hey” on your arm in the fanciest font you could think of

“Doesn’t look like nothing,” your friend said watching you “you have a soulmate don’t you?”

“Maybe,” you smirked, “don’t tell anyone though, I don’t need people to hate me.”

“And you trust me with this information why?” he asked

“Because you’re too nice to hate me,” you responded, “besides you’d have to deal with Tony on your own if you did.”

“Speak of the devil,” Bruce muttered as Tony waltzed through the door in a long sleeved tee.

“You look happy,” you commented, “how much alcohol have you consumed this fine morning?”

“None thank you very much,” the man shot back “I just got a very important letter from a very important person regarding some very important things.”

“Care to share with the rest of the class?” you asked raising your brows

“Nope,” Tony said turning to Bruce “we’re going to lunch I need to talk to you.”

“But science?” Bruce attempted to argue

“Your work can wait this is important.” and with that Tony was dragging the man out of the lab.

---

“See,” Tony said pulling up his sleeve excitedly

“I see,” Bruce said hiding a smile the word 'hey' was written out beautifully on his friend's forearm, just like the one you were drawing back at the lab.

“She hasn’t written to me in ages,” Tony said smiling at his arm “what do I say back?”

“Why not a simple hi?” his friend replied

“Hi?’ Tony questioned “Hi. This is why you don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Then why did you come to me?” Bruce asked

“Because you’re my bro” Tony smiled

Bruce sighed “Just talk to her. Say anything if she’s your soulmate does it really matter?”

“Of course it matters” Tony rolled his eyes

“She was pretty much born to love you, Tony. She’s dealt with you this long I’m sure you could say anything to her, and she’d be happy to write back.” Bruce assured him

“Fine,” Tony said taking out a pen and writing out a measly ‘hi.’

‘What are you up to’ she wrote back

‘Lunch with a friend’ he replied

‘I could use some food lol’ her handwriting seemed familiar, but he dismissed his thoughts, he had been writing to her since she was a teen so of course, he recognized the writing

‘I’d bring you some, but I still have no idea who you are’ he wrote down

“Really,” Bruce commented

“I thought you said it didn't matter what I wrote,” Tony exclaimed as his friend rolled his eyes

‘I’d tell you if I could’ she replied ‘these rules are stupid how are we ever supposed to meet if we can’t even set up a date.’

Tony chuckled ‘the world is cruel.’

‘You can say that again.’

---

You were clutching your hand when Tony walked back into the lab after lunch.

“What’d you do this time?” Bruce asked going over to examine your hand

“It’s just a small burn,” you said

“Huh, Tony come here,” Bruce commented “look at this,”

“Looks like a burn,” Tony said casually

“Looks like your burn,” Bruce said

“I don’t-” Tony paused noticing a small burn forming on his finger “you’re-we’re.”

“Soulmates?” you looked up at Tony pulling up your sleeve as he did the same. The conversation from earlier was still present on both of your arms

Tony looked at Bruce “how in the hell did you know before I did?”

“I saw her writing on her arm,” Bruce shrugged “good thing Y/n already likes you.”

You’re face flushed “I do not,” you said “I mean- I- I hate you” you scowled at Bruce

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A/n: I hope you guys liked it, sorry I haven’t been posting as much lately. School is starting soon, and work has been hell. Love you all -G

#Tony stark x reader #Tony x reader #soulmate au #Tony satrk soulmate au #Tony stark #Tony #iron man #iron man x reader #bruce #bruce banner #sciencebros

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lisagintexas · 5 years

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September 3, 2019

The last few days have been full of great opportunities to serve our brothers here in the holy land. Sunday morning was harvesting on the mountain around us. The afternoon was free and in the evening Avraham Hermon, a rabbi from Har Bracha came and spoke about the Torah portion we read yesterday.

Monday morning we harvested again and in the afternoon we went to our host community on the next hilltop of Har Bracha, and the lead rabbi spoke to us in the synagogue about the branches of authority in Judaism- the king, the high priests and priests and the judges. Neither have authority over the other, they all have their own purposes. Then he opened the discussion to questions of which we had many. It was informational and inspirational.

In the evening we had another Jewish couple, the husband, Eleazar, spoke to us about the history of the Jews, the current day happenings, the prophesies that are being fulfilled and the prophesies we are waiting to see.

One of the prophesies that has many intrigued is that God says he will gather not only the house of Judah (the Jews) from all corners of the earth and bring them back to His land (which has been occurring for 100 years now), but He also says He will gather the house of Israel and return them to the land from where they have been scattered all over the earth. So, we’ve all known who the Jews are for the last 2000 years, and it’s a miracle they have survived as a people and continued to keep their faith and continued to pray for 2000 years to return to Jerusalem, and God has been gathering them back. Never in the history of mankind has this happened. Many peoples and nations have become extinct, never before has a people and nation been exiled from their home and returned. The other ten tribes of Israel, the house of Israel has been scattered since 722 BC when the Assyrians invaded Samaria and took them all captive. They have been scattered and no one knows who they are. But obviously God does since he says he will regather them. How exciting it will be to see how He fulfills his promise. May it come soon and in our days!!

Eleazar’s wife, Ellen, spoke to us about her gift and artwork. She makes pictures from micro calligraphy. She uses the Hebrew letters to make incredible works of biblical art.

Tuesday we had a tour to Hebron, where the cave of Machpelah is the biggest attraction. It is the tomb of the “fathers and mothers”...Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob and Leah. King Herod built a castle like structure around it in 30 BC or so. But this was the cave that Abraham bought to bury Sarah (Gen. 23), and all the other patriarchs and matriarchs were bury there. The tour also included a very old synagogue and viewing the city from one of the high points in Hebron, the top of an apartment complex where Jews live. Hebron is 97% Arab and 3% Jews. Today is the 90th anniversary of when 69 Jews were massacred by Arabs. It was part of the 1929 Palestinian riots in which 133 Jews were killed, and the Jews were no long allowed to live in Hebron until the Six Day War in 1967 when they started to return.

I, however, did not go on this tour as I have been on it five times already. We were given the opportunity to go work in the chocolate factory nearby called Holy Cacao. This was my third visit there and I was thrilled with the opportunity to go and help. Of course, God’s timing is always perfect as we were really needed. They were backed up on getting the chocolate packaged and ready to go out. Thirteen of us packaged 8000 bars of chocolate...everything that was needing to be done. We also helped with running machines that crush the cacao, make the chocolate into bars, and put the wrapping on. It was so much fun to work together with others, organizing ourselves into assembly lines and just getting so much done in a couple of hours. They gave our group a tour of the factory when the others joined us and taught all about the process of making chocolate and gave us lots to taste and sold us as much as we wanted. Yum!! I ate my fair share!

After lunch, we went to Aragon Farms, Ari and Jeremy’s farm, where my sheep reside, and we made a rock pathway from one of the roads to one of the buildings through the rocky hillside thorns. There were about 25 of us working together and we made a beautiful path in about 45 minutes using picks and shovels and carrying lots of rocks to make the border. This is the third path HaYovel volunteers have made for them. Ari says they call our paths the Paths of the Righteous Gentiles. I like it! So much fun to work on the farm and help some of our favorite Jewish families. What God is doing in this southern most part of the Judean mountains is truly miraculous!!

These families sold their homes and put all that they have into this place and because it is government land it no longer belongs to them. They have already had law suits against them from organizations like “Peace Now”, a secular Jewish group backed by the EU (European Union) who are anti-Semitic and want to give the land to the Palestinians. But so far, the Israeli courts have supported them and nothing has been taken away or destroyed. Jeremy asked Mike Huckabee when he was visiting the farm recently to give a message to President Trump that he has a suggestion for a peace plan. You see, all the Arabs that surround Israel, and the ones in the land, fight each other, have a very poor quality of life, and do not have peace. Jeremy suggested “land for peace”. All the Arabs give Israel their land, at least up to the Euphrates River (which is where God said the borders of Israel were to be) and Israel would give them peace in the land. With Israel’s sovereignty there would be peace, because the Jewish way is one of blessing others, serving others, making life better for others and living a life led by the Torah which is instructions for a way of life that brings peace. Brilliant!!

After finishing our path we sat in the shade and listened to Rabbi Jeremy speak to us. Here are some of the things he talked about. He said the Bible is a story that is not finished. We are part of the story in a very exciting time! The world is full of lies and the truth weaves it’s way through it. He quoted Deuteronomy 11:12 which says this is a “land which God cares for; the eyes of YHVH your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year.” It’s not that God doesn’t know what is going on in other parts of the world, but He is always focused on this land, his holy land. In other parts of the world the desert is growing, and forests are being destroyed, yet in Israel the forests are growing and the desert is beginning to blossom like a rose. Jeremy spoke of his grandfather who walked for a year and a half from Russia to come live in this land. The Hebrew language was miraculously revived in one generation! We all have our differences whether we are Jews or Christians but we all want to walk in the light. We are meant to come together and be one beautiful tree. (Although Jeremy is not familiar with the writings of Paul in Romans 11, Paul says we, the Gentiles, are grafted into the root (Israel) as wild olive branches. This was what his comment reminded me of.) Jeremy said the Jews are meant to be priests and to teach and to bless the nations. We are to learn Torah together. He continued, the Bible is three dimensional and we are inside the wonders of God in this place. A house of prayer for all nations is built here on the farm. It is prophesied to be in Jerusalem but is not there yet. He also introduced us to a young man named Elad who’s mother recently died of cancer. The Jews believe they should care for the orphan and widow, and even though he is not completely orphaned as he has his father, they want to help care for him as he lives in the settlement adjoining the farm. So they have taken him on as a helper on the farm in a few ways, one being the shepherd of the sheep. So he takes them out to graze in the morning and the evening. I loved meeting the shepherd of my sheep!

We then walked up to the house of prayer and Jeremy played and we all sang together the song Hallelujah. He said David, who wrote the Psalms, was so brilliant in using “Hallelujah” which most people know means “praise God”. This word is universal in meaning. It doesn’t matter what part of the world people live in, they all sing “Hallelujah”. Below is the house of prayer.

Wednesday morning we harvested here on the mountain. The grapevines are very full this year. Sometimes they have us thin the vines by just taking 6-10 clusters off per vine so that the rest will develop better. Vineyards that normally produce 7 tons are producing 10 tons this year!

Blessings from the heartland of Israel!

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leahcubston-blog · 7 years

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My Handwriting

Frequently I sit and just watch people. It sounds creepy but we all do it, right?

Ok, no I’m not writing a blog about being creepy and observing peoples behaviours, not today anyway. This is about my handwriting and- Oh, wait you read the title. Yeah, anyway I hear people complain about their handwriting a lot. This kind of makes me annoyed, even jealous if it’s a bad day.

This is because I like their handwriting, I think it’s nice. I admire one of my best friends handwriting, it’s dainty and neat and smart, it matches her. personality. Normally my mum’s handwriting is big and clear, soft but not looped. Do I get brownie points for implying my mum isn't crazy? Anyway both are fairly readable. But do you know what they do. Yup, they complain about their handwriting. Apparently it bothered my mum so much she is now surfing all of the calligraphy tutorials, and yeah she’s picking it up well.

“Wow Leah, got to be so judgey? Why does this bother you so much?”

Bob, how did you get here?!

It bothers me for a simple reason actually, my handwriting is terrible..

ok, yeah I know I said that it annoyed me coming from other people but I am not being a complete hypocrite, see because it isn't my opinion. I don’t think its neat but I don't hate it, and I like the artsy way it looks sometimes.

But see I am constantly being told that my handwriting is the worst: it’s unreadable and letters get confused, an examiner would simply fail me because they can’t read it. And I am a student so writing is a big percentage of my life.

I don’t know it annoys me, and I really do try to change it but the scrawly mess is consistent.

I’m learning anyway. I know I shouldn’t write with a pencil because as soon as I've wrote a sentence the lead will go smooth and make the lines thicker, and as it stays the same ‘font size’ it makes it very hard to read.

I know that even though they look cool and flow smoothly, gel pens are a no-go. I’m left handed so it smudges along as I write, my hand drags the gel ink everywhere..

Oh and this is my gcse year so definitely going to carry on trying.

And I realise that this blog is slowly dying, I stopped to draw the shook pic for a few seconds and the writing urge subsided.

Yeah, you can reblog this if nearly all of your teachers complain about the way you write and even some of you friends struggle to read it.. in English it has gotten to the point that the teacher has given up telling me and only highlights words she definitely can’t read, or to point out that I shouldn’t write in pencil.

#Writing #handwriting #my handwriting #life struggles #help #lefty #left handed #gel pens #bane of my existence #relatable #life

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aliatastic · 7 years

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Well, here we are. This is my first non-Close Reading blog post (not counting quotes and albums) in a really long time. Life has been a bit of a winding road. That started at the end of 2015 and continued straight through the beginning of this year; but perhaps my circumstances have actually settled into a place where romantic relationships (coming and going) aren’t a misery-inducing distraction from me taking care of me, health isn’t an issue, and all those groups and individuals who were slowly sucking the marrow from my bones have themselves melted into my past. My energy is restoring itself. It seems dramatic to say, but I sincerely believe that sometimes we can’t recognize how miserable we’ve become when it happens slowly, bit by bit. The last few months have been a healing process from a lot that will remain unsaid in this medium. Feel free to ask me about it over a cup of coffee if we have that kind of relationship. If you’re only wondering about my next novel, well, I’m about 70,000 words into that and hope to have a final first draft by the end of the summer. Apparently, soul-sucking misery stunts my creative process. Who knew?

Yesterday, I watched the documentary Yarn, directed by Una Lorenzen. It follows a few fiber artists doing some really interesting things around the world, tackling issues like feminism, political speech, and metaphor. In addition to featuring the stories of the artists, there is a short piece written and narrated by the novelist Barbara Kingsolver, who clearly must love to knit. I recently finished The Poisonwood Bible, and I also learned to knit just last year (over 4th of July weekend). Collectively, this makes me contemplative. I am finishing up my MFA (the last remaining bit being a finished draft of my craft paper – thesis is done), and I’ve been thinking long and hard about pursuing a PhD with a focus on how women write science fiction and how they tackle ideas through science fiction that would otherwise be minimized or dismissed if outright addressed.

Kingsolver does something similar in her novel The Poisonwood Bible. She weaves feminism subtly into a recounting of a white missionary family’s view of the African Congo during its bid for independence – a story that on its surface focuses heavily on race and religion. Both race an religious issues are eloquently woven into this novel, but that’s not what I’m focused on here.

The entire story is told through diary-style flashbacks of the reverend’s wife and his four daughters, first as children and then eventually as adults. So, it’s not so much that the book champions feminism specifically, as that every social, racial, and religious piece of commentary addressed by the characters is shone through the lens of womanhood and the need to be seen and heard in different ways. Orleanna needs to be released from the strictures of the a slave-like marriage. She needs to reclaim herself. Rachel, never in control of her life, needs to carve out a place that is entirely hers, to be the master of her own domain. Leah, constantly failing to live up to her father’s expectations, needs prove she’s as strong and capable as a man. Adah, constantly left behind an forgotten, needs to accept herself as is, and once she does, she can’t accept anyone else who doesn’t. All of these women are colored by the man in their life – whether he’s a representation of religious zealotry, misogyny, racial intolerance, or all of those things is a separate discussion.

Each woman’s underlying theme is a different take on the female struggle. I recognize pieces of myself in all of the women (even Rachel, the shallow thinker), and that seems intentional on Kingsolver’s part. So, what does this have to do with yarn or Yarn?

I guess it’s that women are taking yarn and fiber arts out of the home and away from the practical arts of garments and into public spaces. They are proclaiming that these soft, colorful objects take up space in our world. Whether that’s wrapped around a traffic light in Iceland, nailed to a wall in Cuba, in the ocean in Hawaii, on a stage in Denmark, or in parks and museums for children to play on. They are imposing their point of view on their surroundings.

One of the circus performers Mikail posed the idea that yarn was a metaphor for life. It starts as a simple strand and grows. It can grow into a tangle or into an organized pattern. Using nothing more than the yarn itself, it can be tied into any number of designs. I don’t know if yarn fully encompasses the complexity of life, but knitting certainly does impose order on the mind, even if only temporarily.

My mom taught me to knit in July, after two years of me coveting her knits. I was put off by it originally, because I’m left-handed, and I assumed it would be just as obnoxious as every other hand-related activity… like calligraphy or playing a guitar. We got around it by her teaching me to knit right-handed. Problem solved! Now I do it all the time. I love that I start with a string and end up with a cowl, a shawl, or a hat. It’s also a form of meditation. Repetitive, counting, and concentrated hand movements. It’s been a little less than a year, but I’m already thinking of designing my own cowls and shawls.

So, there you have it… not sure if I said everything I meant to say or what if I said makes sense, but I guess I’m getting back into the swing of this blogging thing, so we will leave it at that!

As an aside, below (and as the featured image), are photographs of one of the art pieces discussed in Yarn. When I interacted with it, it was at the Hakone Open Air Museum in Japan in 2008, but the documentary had it installed in Rome, Italy. The artist is Toshiko, and her sculptures are also really beautiful!

Confluence: Yarn, Knitting, and Barbara Kingsolver Well, here we are. This is my first non-Close Reading blog post (not counting quotes and albums) in a really long time.

#barbara kingsolver #Book review #knitting #life #Personal #the poisonwood bible #writing #yarn documentary

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sikoko · 7 years

Text

Welcome to Studyblr: a beautiful, stressful wonderland

The pros and cons of learning how to study from your friends on Tumblr

A matcha latte, a pink MacBook Air, the word “tuberculosis” scrolled in gel pen cursive. This is what studying looks like if you’re part of an ever-growing group of young women who run “studyblrs” — a portmanteau of study and Tumblr.

The study blogging community has been bubbling up since 2014, drawing attention from a handful of educators but few others. Now it’s at least as easy to stumble upon on Tumblr as any traditional fandom or genre of lifestyle blogging, with easily hundreds of blogs specifically dedicated to the #studyblr tag. Its community is just as dedicated and active, but it’s curiously set apart by the mundanity of its participants’ goals: getting through the semester, keeping a 3.5.

The aesthetic of study blogs is nothing new. It’s popular in other huge Tumblr communities, originally stolen more or less wholesale from lifestyle blogs and beauty sites familiar to anyone following the post-Hills career of Lauren Conrad or the side hustles of Reese Witherspoon. The basic vibe is coffee and porcelain, a washed-out Instagram filter, clean lines, clean surfaces, pastels, mainly in the pink to peach range.

http://ift.tt/2q2hC12

Lee Humphreys, an associate professor specializing in new media at Cornell, notes that this Tumblr community is remarkably analog. “The materiality, the non-digital traces that are being communicated… it’s all notebooks and pens and paper, but of course it’s all then mediated through digital and network devices.” They’re highly aestheticized projects that serve as a means to an end. The community is emphatically dedicated to students — mostly women — teaching each other how to learn better.

Bloggers make downloadable study schedules and essay templates and printable inspirational quotes to decorate study spaces with. They suggest note-taking formats, and share study behaviors. The Hawaiian high school student who runs the popular blog gatostudies told The Verge, “At first glance it just looks like colorful notes and pretty calligraphy, but if you look harder, you can see that it's so much more than that. There's so many tools that students all over the world [can] benefit from, and study blogging makes all of that available at the click of your mouse.”

“at first glance, it just looks like colorful notes and pretty calligraphy.”

It’s nice that these far-flung teens want to teach each other how to make Cornell-style notes and anti-procrastination playlists, but students swapping study tips is nothing new. Why does this weird, untested idea that — specifically — beautifying studying makes it easier keep spreading like wildfire?

According to data provided by Tumblr’s communication manager Leah Linder and content insights manager Amanda Brennan, the studyblr community was born from a view text posts and motivational quote posts that went viral via the creative writing community in 2014. It took off in 2015, with the addition of photos — mostly of study spaces and beds. Around the same time, the #studyblr hashtag saw a spike of 3,600 percent in total engagements, in tandem with a 1,950 percent spike in engagements on #studyspo (“spo” is a common suffix taken from “inspo,” short for “inspiration”). The community has grown at a steady pace ever since. So far this year #studyblr has 2.2 million likes and reblogs.

Photo: emmastudies / Tumblr

To get a sense of the community, I reached out to the operators of 40 study blogs with varying levels of engagement and post frequency. Of the 18 who agreed to be interviewed, all were women. They vary in age from a 16-year-old high school student to a 28-year-old med school student, and they live in the US, England, Australia, Japan, France, and Ireland. Many note that the studyblr community is almost exclusively women, and that they maintain friendships with other study-bloggers outside Tumblr’s platform — in group chats on WhatsApp or Facebook, and on more personal social media pages like Instagram and YouTube. Several of them say that they came to the studyblr community from other Tumblr communities that had become more fraught and unpleasant.

This includes Texas high school student Taylor. “I actually owned a pretty popular Attack on Titan blog a while back,” Taylor says. “But fandoms tend to get really toxic once they get super popular. I distanced myself from that, which is how I found out about the studyblr community.”

The bloggers who make up the studyblr community have different goals, and therefore participate differently. But they all have mostly positive things to say about the other people they had interacted with in this corner of Tumblr.

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Multiple bloggers spoke about study blogging as an invaluable reassurance that their education was both as challenging and important as they themselves imagined. “Weirdly enough I find it very calming,” said Rianna, a London student getting a master’s degree in philosophy. “I think it has something to do with knowing that I’m not alone, I’m not the only one studying my ass off.” Alicia, a 14-year-old high school student from Australia, said the best thing about study blogging is being “part of a welcoming community where everyone is working hard towards their goals.”

In 2015, Dr. Jacqueline Ryan Vickery, an assistant professor of media arts at the University of North Texas, wrote some first impressions of the nascent community on a faculty blog, observing, “the publicness helps students teach each other to study – something students need help with. It is often taken for granted that students know how to learn, when in fact, it is a skill (art, craft?) that must be practiced and honed continually.”

Vickery added that the structure of Tumblr itself is key to how the community has grown and how it functions. “It facilitates different levels of participation – from posting original creative photos to joining the conversation to simply reading and saving tips for personal use. While some people may be intimidated by the creativity and organizational effort, the community provides multiple opportunities to learn how to participate and offers different levels of engagement for those interested in joining the community.”

That observation was echoed by Chloe, a history student in her senior year at an English university: “Through reblogging posts, even if you don’t make your own that often, it still shows that you’re active within the community. Whilst, if you don’t make an entry on other blogging platforms it can appear that you’re inactive. As a result, I find that it is also more supportive for more people.” Another college student said the main draw of the community is just getting “in the mood to work,” and taking inspiration from the dedication of others so she doesn’t spend “the whole day watching Netflix.”

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On the surface, study blogging looks like any teacher or parent’s dream — teenagers spending their time online talking about homework! But it takes hours and hours of work to make homework look pretty enough for the internet, particularly for this visually picky crew. Scrolling through the #studyblr tag, it’s beautiful, but the enviable precision and organization can stress you out.

Looking at study blogs and reading about study tips doesn’t necessarily mean you ever get around to logging off and studying.

Humphreys added that there’s a word for that problem: narcotizing dysfunction. “There are lots of different parallels to this, one of course being exercise. Reading lots of articles about exercise does not mean that you are physically fit… People mistake knowing about something or reading about something or watching about something for doing and engaging in the activity itself.” Whether knowing a lot about studying and developing positive feelings towards studying actually causes bloggers to study more, she says, is “empirically questionable.”

The imposition of time inherent in a self-made studying regimen involving pristine handwriting, perfect lighting, and a consistent aesthetic is the most glaring issue. “The most challenging thing is definitely trying to find a balance between your actual studying, running a blog, and taking time out from social media, said 20-year-old Australian college student Emma. Alexandra, a French high school student who runs a blog mostly about her science homework, says “the biggest challenge I find is keeping a constant schedule and finding new things to post, because people might get bored by the same colours, the same handwriting, the same scenery.”

Catelin, a US student who also blogs about bullet journaling and fashion, mentioned structuring her study schedule and blogging habits around sunlight: “I find that photos turn out the best by using natural sunlight rather than light from a lamp. So I have to take it at a certain time of day when the sun is shining on my desk. When lighting is not best, I try to edit the brightness using an app called Snapseed or the whitening feature on Facetune.”

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As you might expect, many bloggers mention issues with procrastination or distraction stemming from Tumblr. But Vickery doesn’t view that as a problem with the studyblr community specifically. “From what I can see, the color-coordinated notes are organized in thematic ways that require an understanding of the material that likely benefits studying… there’s the potential for this level of creative and meticulous organization to become a distraction or mode of procrastination, but that’s not unique to the blogs — students will always have to learn how to manage distractions.”

In any case, the most frequent concern that study bloggers mentioned wasn’t time management. More of them reluctantly acknowledge the pressure to have nice things, to maintain a certain aesthetic with stuff that costs money, and to keep everything they owned clean and presentable.

To be one of the top-followed blogs, you need to make content that looks nice, and getting ahold of a DSLR camera and a Photoshop license (like many of the students say they use), as well as a beautiful bedroom and plenty of fancy analog study materials you might not need otherwise, costs money.

That pressure is further complicated by the fact that, though study blogging takes aesthetic inspiration from fitness and fashion blogging, most of the disagreement within the community happens when someone strays toward behavior associated with those other types of lifestyle blogs — sponsored content, paid partnerships, follower giveaways, app promotion. There’s a tension between the gravity and near-sacredness of what these young people are working for and what many see as an inappropriate temptation to monetize it.

having a top-followed study blog is expensive

Many (not all) of #studyblrs posts feature expensive pens, leather-bound notebooks, high-end laptops, and perfectly swirled lattes. Money has been invited into the basic fiber of this community and it’s probably too late to get it out. One blogger addressed this in an aside, writing in Tumblr chat “Sometimes I wish I had more of a ‘white bed sheets, houseplants and bujo pictures’ aesthetic.” Another wrote “I’m a teenager and I care more about likes and followers than I’d care to admit, and sometimes I get really stressed out as I feel pressured to maintain a certain aesthetic and a certain facade.”

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For all its problems and open questions, the fact that the study blogging community has succeeded in adopting the aesthetics of cool and developing a huge network of enthusiastic participants is pretty inspiring. In the crowded world of lifestyle blogging and fandoms on Tumblr, study blogging sets itself apart by setting an endpoint. These students enjoy what they’re doing, but they’ll enjoy the rewards more, and when they leave school they won’t have reason to continue in this community.

More importantly, lifestyle blogging — around food, exercise, fashion, travel, etc. — is often heavily focused on the body. It’s rare to see a popular “adventurer” Instagram or #fitspo inspiration board that doesn’t feature photos of the curator. That’s not inherently bad, but fitness and weight-loss inspiration communities on Tumblr are notoriously competitive, and plenty of research indicates that social media can have a profound body image-warping effect.

As author Kaite Welsh pointed out on the education blog Bright Reads in 2015, “studyblrs are one of the few places online [where] teenage girls and young women aren’t being judged on their appearance. Spend enough time scrolling through the tag and you’ll find a community that cares less about grades and more about working hard for an uncertain future.”

Even for empathetic outsiders, it’s often a challenge to figure out the value in habitually contributing to a fandom or a high-effort internet hobby like this one. The dedication can seem weird. So, as with Tumblr fandoms, which spring up most often around pop culture artifacts, study bloggers have to buy into a common understanding that the thing they spend their days talking about and creating artwork around is important — that it’s worth spending time on and that people who believe the same are their natural allies.

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One explanation for studyblr’s popularity is that the feeling that “education is important” is pretty easy to agree with. Onlookers of other fandoms often criticize the extremity of devotion, but for better or worse, society doesn’t really see a problem with unlimited hours of studying.

Humphreys speculates that participation in the study blog community also requires buying into “[the] understanding that what they are doing is hard.” The note-taking style, while beautiful, and the study spaces, while curated to appear serene, are supplemented by notes and instructions about how to get over rough patches in an academic career, and apprehension about upcoming assignments or tests.

Together, these things imply that the beautification of studying is one way to make it easier, or at least more pleasant. The study blogging community coalesced around a trendy aesthetic, but the tactile, analog fascination itself may have real benefits: recent research suggests that hand-writing notes helps people process information differently than typing them, and that illustrating difficult concepts with visual representations can be far more effective for certain learners. It’s possible that study bloggers really are teaching each other how to learn better.

Even if they’re not, they’re giving a lot of young women a community they might not have otherwise, and making reading look cool.

Source: http://ift.tt/2qXT60T

#tech

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