Miscellaneous

context: grew up in an abusive, controlling home, escaped to uni, had a prolonged mental breakdown, became a teacher and worked in a dysfunctional school with amazing kids and nightmare management for years. I did not realise I have adhd and autism for a long time. (You might even be able to scroll back through this blog to find the time around which I did realise lol.)

ANYWAY, things that have helped me because my body can no longer handle any kind of stress without flaring up:

If you’re doing anything that requires you to do a lot of prep before you begin the actual thing (e.g. cooking, deep cleaning a room, moving house), mise en place. That’s a fancy french way of saying get everything ready before you begin. So if I’m cooking idk spaghetti carbonara, that means fry and chop the bacon, separate the egg yolks from the whites, put water in the kettle, put dry spaghetti into a pan. Once everything’s ready, it reduces the mental load and means I can focus on the actual cooking and any clean up that I can do along the way. H/t to @ms-demeanor for this, you changed my life!

the Might As Well rule. This one works really well for me but you gotta be careful otherwise you’ll get sucked into the Vortex. Basically, let’s imagine you’re in the bathroom, brushing your teeth. You notice that the extra roll of toilet paper has been used. instead of thinking, “I’ll get to that later”, and then forgetting about it until you sit down on the bog (no judgement, we’ve all been there), you think “Might As Well put an extra roll while I’m here!” This tends to help with the little tasks that build up over time. This Does Not Work for big tasks.

Leading on from no.2, Do It Immediately/ASAP really helps me too. My current boss will email me on a Friday and say, ‘don’t reply to this now! Leave it til monday!’ But she and i both know that if i leave it til monday, I will forget and get stressed and this will make me Very Ill. So, instead, the moment i receive the email, I’ll either schedule in replying to it as soon as I’m done with my current thing, OR I’ll reply to it immediately.

Anything that can’t be actioned immediately, i mark as Unread. Anything Unread in my inbox is a future action, and i check those Unread emails/texts/whatevers Every. Day. To make sure whether today is the day i have the info to action it. (This also means i have to stay on top of my inbox. I read all my emails and then mark them accordingly. I’m also brutal with unsubscribing)

The House Always Wins. Both in a literal sense, because i am in a constant battle with keeping my house clean, and i know now that I’ll never get it as clean as i want it. It’s impossible, i no longer have the energy or stamina to vacuum and scrub everything. But also just in a life sense. I’m never going to achieve things to perfection, and perfect is the opposite of done. And getting things done is that much more important when you have limited energy and strength. Accept that you often have to half-arse life in order to Full-Arse the few things that really matter to you.

Have multiples of everything, everywhere. I wear support gloves, so i need to have handcream at every sink and everywhere i sit down in the house. I try to keep it unobtrusive, but it means i don’t have to trek upstairs just to moisturise my hands. Gum, phone chargers, pens and pencils, water bottles, hand sanitizer, whatever you need.

Work with people, even if it’s online. Body doubling actually works. Also I’ve found that if I’m working on assignments, taking myself to a library or study area that isn’t my bedroom helps so much.

Show off! Tell people on here or elsewhere in your life about the fact that you’ve just written 100 words! Or that you’ve cleaned the fridge and that’s a really big deal for you. Celebrate your wins, no matter how small.

Basically, you’re aiming to reduce the mental load as much as possible. Wear the same types of clothes all the time to minimise the amount of laundry. Eat the same three lunches so decision fatigue doesn’t take over.

For anybody looking for resources from someone dealing with actual ADHD, I have an incomplete but ever growing list of ADHD tips, tools, and suggestions on my website.

A lot of the pages on that site are adapted from my tumblr posts, for instance I'm adapting this post about car repair projects with ADHD into a guide on project management and completion with ADHD.

and whenever he says gay in english rather than tongxing or whatever the pinyin is, the brush just awkwardly scribbles "gay" in english rather than run the phonetics

i have the link to this but the account has no other calligraphy content so it's probably a douyin repost and i can't find the original for the life of me

I use OneNote for my studies & I created a dedicated section where I can keep track of all the things I am reading. It was important to me to give this page a pleasant design - I want to feel cozy the moment I jump to my Reading Corner ; u ; )

Since I am reading a lot of Graded Readers on Tadoku I am dividing them into their Levels as well.

LV 1 and LV 2 are very easy for me and I could jump to Lv 3 right away, however all these graded readers still teach me plenty of new words, so I don't want to miss out on any of them. Thus, I am making my way through Lv 1 & Lv 2 first - the more I read, the better! ( . u . )

Aside from Tadoku, I also read on EbookJapan - they have a very big selection of free Light Novels & Manga across all Genre. Access is time-restricted though, as after a while, the selection changes and new titles replace the current ones. Thus, if I find something interesting I have to keep in mind to finish reading it before it vanishes.

However, there is of course still the option to buy the ebook version for usually very cheap prices ( . u . )

If you are looking for websites where you can practice reading in japanese I definitely recommend these two sites.

Tadoku's graded readers should offer something interesting across many Levels - and so does EbookJapan~! ( . u . )

now, instead of maintaining a comprehensive, nuanced, and human-maintained encyclopedia by which to check your document, they have switched to an AI that just compares what you’ve written to what other people write in, say, Google Docs, and use the most commonly used iteration.

ever have it change something like “all intents and purposes” to “all intensive purposes” or “should’ve” to “should of”? that’s why!

(The best of this post and its reblogs, but with links that work)

Here is a website where you can scroll down to all the different levels of the ocean 

Here is a website where you can see the future of the universe

Here is a website where you can press a ‘make everything okay’ button, over and over, until things really are okay

Here is a website that you can read if you feel like a burden

Here is a website where you can look at strobe illusions (TW strobe/flashing)

Here is a website where you can cut stuff up (TW blood/sh)

Here and here are websites where you can play with sand

Here is a website where you can draw with macaroni and other fun foods

Here is a website where you can paint someone’s nails

Here is a website where you can grow a garden with emojis

Here is a website with hundreds of videos of people hugging you (rightfully dubbed ‘the nicest place on the internet’ because it really is, y’all, it made me cry)

Here is a website that will take you to other useless websites

Here is a website where you can make a tiny cat play bongo drums (and other instruments!)

Here is a website to help give you gentle reminders <3

Here is a website where you can grow a tiny farm

Here is a website where you can take a bunch of scientific personality tests

Here is a website of calm rain noise

My scholar year is nearly finished. I have a 2 week holidays then one last week of exams and it's done ! I have pretty good grades and having fun (though it's a LOT of work dammit) :) After that I'll have around one month to relax and I'm working this summer... I hope I'll be able to post some stuff here from what I've learnt this year !

Please donate if you can.

Do not hesitate to reblog and share! 🙏🏽

(Click here for Part 2).

IMPORTANT: Bear in mind that I do NOT verify fundraisers. I am not Palestinian, and I do not speak Arabic! They have been vetted by Palestinian users!

1) Mohammed Al-Habil (@mohammedfamily123) and his family (€4,519 / €50,000). Verified and vetted by @/el-shab-hussein.

2) Mahmoud Helles (@mahmoud92hells) and his family (€757 / €50,000). Verified and vetted by @/90-ghost.

3) Asmaa Sheikh Youssef (@asmaalshaikh-blog) and reunion with her fiancé (€3,001 / €30,000). Verified and vetted by @/90-ghost and @/ibtisams.

4) Muhanned Shaheen (@mohanedshaheen) and his family (€2,658 / €35,000). Verified and vetted by @/90-ghost.

5) Momen Al Ostaz (@mo98h) and his family (€11, 213 / €70,000). Verified and vetted by @/el-shab-hussein

6) Tawfik Satoom (@tawfiksatooom) and his family ($14,089 / $40,000). Verified and vetted by @/ibtisams.

(Make sure to donate to his PayPal, as well! It will end in three days!)

It will help every one of them to reach their goal and to evacuate safely.

Thank you!

(06/19/2024)

I have posted this almost four weeks ago, but donations are stagnant for all of them! Please donate if you can! Do not hesitate to reblog and share.

Hello,

In no particular order:

Read, read, read (France Info, Slate, Geo, le Huffington Post, Google News, etc.) about topics you enjoy and about the news (culture, society, tech - my DELF debate topic was tobacco usage on campus)

Read a paragraph out loud to your computer and see if it picks up what you're saying (speech-to-text)

Look up lists of ice-breaking questions and answer them (one orally, one in writing), with the help of Deepl and WordReference

Review the conjugations of être, avoir and aller (especially the perfect, present conditional, simple future and subjunctive - those last two are very similar)

Make sure to remember when to use the imperfect and the perfect and that French doesn't typically like the passive voice (I had my bag stolen: they stole my bag - on m'a volé mon sac)

Book me if you can - slight pronunciation corrections and pointers about grammar or syntax can change everything

Test yourself with a mock exam and make sure to read about the expectations so you know what to prioritise

Record voice notes on your phone talking about your day and listen to them the next day to see if you understand yourself

être - to be

avoir - to have

faire - to do, make 

dire - to say, tell

pouvoir - can, to be able to

vouloir - to want

savoir - to know

voir - to see

devoir - to have, must

venir - to come, occur

suivre - to follow

parler - to speak, talk

prendre - to take, get

croire - to believe, think

aimer - to love, like, be fond of

falloir - it is necessary, must, have to

passer - to pass, go by, cross

penser - to think

attendre - to wait for, except

trouver - to find

laisser - to leave

arriver - to arrive

donner - to give, give away

regarder - to look at, watch

appeler - to call

partir - to go, leave, go away

mettre - to put on, wear

rester - to stay, remain

arrêter - to stop

connaitre - to know, experience

demander - to ask

comprendre - to understand

sortir - to go out, take out

entendre - to hear, listen to, understand

chercher - to look for

aider - to help

essayer - to try, test

revenir - to come back, return

jouer - to play

finir - to finish, end

perdre - to lose, miss

sentir - to smell, sniff, feel

rentrer - to bring in, take in, get in, go in, come home

vivre - to live, be alive, go through 

rendre - to return, give back, repay

tenir - to hold, run, keep, last

oublier - to forget, miss

travailler - to work, work on, practice

manger - to eat

entrer - to go in, enter, come in

devenir - to become

commencer - to start, begin

payer - to pay

tirer - to pull, draw

ouvrir - to open

changer - to change, exchange 

excuser - to forgive, pardon, excuse

dormir - to sleep

occuper - to occupy, live in, take up

marcher - to walk, march, go

envoyer - to send, throw, dispatch, refer

apprendre - to learn, to hear

boire - to drink (alcohol)

garder - to keep, to look after, to guard

montrer - to show, point out

s’assesoir - to sit down, sit up

porter - to carry, wear

prier - to pray

servir - to serve

ecrire - to write

retrouver - to find, to meet

gagner - to win, earn

acheter - to buy

rappeler - to remind, remember, call back, be reminiscent of

lire - to read

monter - to go up, rise, come up

quitter - to leave, depart

emmener - to take (somebody), take along 

toucher - to touch

continuer - to continue, go on

raconter - to tell

repondre - to answer, reply

sauver - to save

rencontrer - to meet, encounter

fermer - to close, shut

valoir - to hold, apply, be worth

compter - to count

bouger - to move

apporter - to bring, supply

decider - to decide

vendre - to sell

expliquer - to explain

agir - to act, behave, work, take effect

adorer - to adore, love

recevoir - to receive

utiliser - to use

coucher - to put to bed, lay down, to sleep

preferer - to prefer

offrir - to offer, give

aka how to have your own vogue beauty secrets moment en français 🧼

(doing this mainly for myself and a very niche audience)

face - le visage, la figure

skin - la peau

skin care - soin visage

eyes - les yeux

lips - les lèvres

cheeks - les joues

eyebrows - les sourcils

eyelashes - les cils

water - l’eau

cleanser - le nettoyant

makeup remover - le démaquillant

toner - le tonique, la lotion tonique

serum - le sérum

face oil - l’huile

lip balm - le baume à lèvres

moisturizer - la crème, la crème hydratante

exfoliant - l’exfoliante

massage - le massage

face mask - le masque

foundation - fond de teint

concealer - l’anti-cerne, l’anti-tache

powder - la poudre

bronzer - la poudre de soleil

highlighter - l’highlighter, l’illuminateur

lipstick - le rouge à lèvres

lipgloss - le brillant à lèvres, le gloss (à lèvres)

eye shadow - le fard à paupière

mascara - le mascara

eyebrow pencil - le crayon à sourcil

eyebrow gel - le gel à sourcil

makeup brush - le pinceau de maquillage

eye liner - l’eye-liner, l’eye-liner liquide

blush - le blush, le fard à joues

to put on makeup - se maquiller

to wash - se laver

to take off makeup - se démaquiller

to do skincare routine - faire des soins de la peau

to massage- masser