snail

cannot stop thinking abt the paris review’s essay series on the history of significance of certain colours, hue’s hue:

Periwinkle, the Color of Poison, Modernism, and Dusk

Eau de Nil, the Light-Green Color of Egypt-Obsessed Europe

Marian Blue, the Color of Angels, Virgins, and Other Untouchable Things

Incarnadine, the Bloody Red of Fashionable Cosmetics and Shakespearean Poetics

Jonquil, the Light Yellow of Early Flowers, Mad Painters, and Dust Bowl–Era Pottery

Scheele’s Green, the Color of Fake Foliage and Death

Lilac, the Color of Half Mourning, Doomed Hotels, and Fashionable Feelings

Hooker’s Green: The Color of Apple Trees and Envy

Blaze Orange, the Color of Fear, Warnings, and the Artificial

Chartreuse, the Color of Elixirs, Flappers, and Alternate Realities

Living Coral, the Brutal Hue of Climate Change and Brand New iPhones

Mustard, the Color of Millennial Candidates, Problematic Lattes, and Aboriginal Paintings

Russet, the Color of Peasants, Fox Fur, and Penance

Making websites easier to digest:

Dark Reader - Changes any webpage to dark mode.

Mercury Reader - Simplifies the layout of any webpage to eliminate distractions and irritating formatting.

Podcastle AI - Turns any article into a podcast. This is a lifesaver for being able to process what I’m reading, to be honest.

Spelling/grammar:

LanguageTool - Spelling and grammar check for those of us who regularly type in more than one language.

Grammarly - Spelling and grammar check for those of us who only type in English. Can be used with LanguageTool installed, which is what I do.

Google Dictionary - Define any word on the webpage with a double-click.

Google Translate - Translate an entire webpage or even just a short segment.

Misc:

AdGuard Adblocker - After trying quite a few adblocker options, this is the one I find the best.

The Great Suspender - Automatically suspend inactive tabs to help with performance. 

Honey - Try coupon codes automatically to save money on online purchases.

- sunrises and sunsets (new beginnings. new endings.)

- the night sky (even in the darkest of times, see beauty in things)

AND SO in my years studying linguistics, there was one word that was nearly identical across so many regionally different languages (though there are outliers of course), from europe to most of asia to subsaharan africa to indigenous languages. across nearly all languages this is the first word people learn how to say and maybe the first word humans in general officially named and defined:

mamãe - portuguese 

妈妈 (māmā) - chinese

ਮੰਮੀ (mamī) - punjabi

mamah - mayan (yucatec)

мама - bulgarian, russian, ukrainian

ماں (mäm) - urdu

মা (mā) - bengali

mẹ (may) - vietnamese

ママ (mama) - japanese

అమ్మ (am'ma) - telugu

mama - quechua

મમ્મી (mam'mī) - gujarati

അമ്മ (am'ma) - malayalam

amá - navajo

엄마 (omma) - korean

eme - native hawaiian

onam - uzbek

aana - yupik

mema - tagish

μαμά (mamá) - greek

mama - swahili

أمي (umi) - arabic

mayi - chichewa

माँ (ma) - hindi

mam - dutch

ម៉ាក់ (ma) - khmer

แม่ (mæ̀) - thai

அம்மா (am'mā) - tamil

අම්මා (ammā) - sinhala

amai - zulu

ama - basque

आमा (āmā) - nepali

အမေ (amay) - myanmar (burmese)

mamá - spanish

mom/mum- english

this isn’t actually the first word because we teach babies this word (most likely), but because the “mama” or “ama” sounds are the easiest things for babies to say, and it’s nearly always the only thing they can say at first, and adults across all languages defined their language around that.

• drinking enough water

• eating healthier

• getting enough exercise (even just doing a bit of yoga/stretching everyday or going for a walk)

• adopting a more positive mindset (not pretending everything’s fine, just not being overly negative and trying to see the brighter side of things and have hope for the future)

• taking a shower everyday and washing your hair enough, taking care of your skin, doing nice things for yourself every now and then (it doesn’t have to be costly, it could just be something small), and other forms of self care

• meditation (its actually proven to improve your mental health significantly and really helps with things like stress and anxiety)

• being more mindful about the media you consume and how its affecting you (e.g “hey i feel more anxious when im on social media because of this reason, I should decrease how much time i spend doing that”)

• practicing self love (although it’s hard, it’s absolutely necessary)

• writing in a diary, it can be a physical diary or just on your phone (really important for people who can’t get therapists or don’t have anyone to talk to)

1. what have you been procrastinating on? afraid to do? make a list. put it on your google calendar. be very honest with yourself. put every single task you have to do, schedule it, block out your calendar if you have to. it’ll help you in the long run even if it’s scary at first.  2. sort the loose papers settled at the bottom of your backpack. don’t risk losing precious class notes or syllabi or readings. use folders to classify them by subject. label them clearly. sort them by chronological order and label what class and what part of the syllabus they’re from. you’ll thank me during exam season. 3. evaluate your finances. have a way of keeping track of them. personally, i tend to spend a lot on food and coffee when i’m stressed. make a budget and stick to it.  4. if you’re struggling in a certain subject, make some time for it. i know it’s painful and easier to procrastinate, but make time. set a certain quota of pages to read. email your professor for help and consult if you have to.