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litte-miss-not-perfect · 4 years ago

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diamine inkvent 2021 "red edition" (structural) review

this review is not sponsored in any way by any stationery company.

above: inkvent "red edition" for 2021

the diamine inkvent 2021 calendar is an advent calendar comprised of 25 different, brand new xmas themed fountain pen inks from the internationally famous fountain pen ink producer diamine. ink+advent=inkvent. cute, right? the inks are made up of fun properties like shading, shimmer, and sheen, making them perfect for art, calligraphy, letter writing, and general use. 24 of the bottles contain 12ml of ink, and the 25th ink is a normal 30ml bottle. that means 318ml of ink, in a giftable, advent calendar style package. for 25 days of december, you are supposed to open up one ink per day. all of them have festive names. if you want, you can already find some pictures of the inks online, plus their names.

above: inkvent "blue edition" from 2019.

the inkvent was first released in 2019, with huge success. after the popularity of the inkvent, the individual inks were released in fancy glass 50ml bottles the following year. due to the pandemic, 2020 was not able to have an inkvent. the 2019 edition was later called "blue edition" and the 2021 version is called the "red edition". despite the name, there is a nice spread of different colors.

above: pictures of the 2019 blue edition inkvent re-release bottles, which came out many months later. the bottles are glass with metal caps, and contain 50ml of ink. look at those weird feet. these are not the bottles in the calendar, just the re-release.

now there is a major difference between the 2019 version and the new 2021 version, which is that not only is there more ink, but the bottles are of a different material. while most of the 2019 bottles were smaller, contained less ink, and made from glass, the 2021 version has larger bottles made from plastic. 2019 bottles were tall and thin, making them very difficult to use to fill larger pens and more likely to fall over, but the new bottles have a wider rim and fatter base, allowing pens to fit in there easily.

the new bottles are tiny, plastic cubes, short versions of the common 30ml diamine bottle size, and about half of the bottle size is just the cap. given that the bottle is now plastic, this makes the bottles pretty fucking difficult to open safely, and very difficult to open quickly. there is not a lot of area to grip the base compared to the cap. the speed at which a bottle can be safely opened is critical when it comes to shimmer inks, as "shimmer" is actual, real glitter. that glitter needs to be shaken to be evenly distributed when filling a pen, or the ink will have too much or too little glitter than intended. too little shimmer and the ink looks much less impressive than intended, but too much glitter may clog the pen feed, making any pen unable to write, and probably contaminating the next ink fill or few. a fun aspect of these bottles however is how difficult it is to see the color of the ink, making every ink a fun surprise.

my wrists are pretty bad. gripping these tiny bottles makes me nervous every time. the sides of the bottle have a noticable give to them, a somewhat squishy consistency which makes it difficult to open and even close the bottles the whole way without splattering ink everywhere. with 10/25 inks containing glitter, this can become a mess very quickly. the 25th bottle is a popular diamine 30ml plastic bottle, so I have no worries about its structural integrity -- I have plenty of them and they work great. but the threads on my tiny inkvent bottles are much less refined in comparison, and the caps are really hard to open and close.

fountain pen inks are largely water. that means that they freeze very easily. and when fountain pen inks freeze, they leak from the bottle. the plastic allows the bottles to be a bit more forgiving than say a glass bottle. glass bottles do not expand, while plastic bottles do, and when a fountain pen ink turns into a fountain pen inksicle inside, it gets everywhere, and disrupts the balance of the water:dye ratio. the diamine inkvent calendar is meant to be used in december, when its home country of england is often frozen. if inks encounter freezing temperatures at any point during shipping, you may have a problem.

which is why I am trying to review this thing as quickly as possible, because if you want it, you need to order it soon to beat the holiday shipping rush, and also the holiday temperatures. and why the inkvent is out now in october.

at this point in time, I have only opened 5 of the inks. they look pretty great. but this review is less about specific inks themselves are and more about the inkvent's capacity as a gift to yourself or another fountain pen lover. the introduced has introduced a rush of new fountain pen enthusiasts itching to experience the full range of ink types as working and schooling from home has become both widespread and necessary.

the diamine 2021 inkvent calendar is a red cardboard box housing with a somewhat flimsy plastic interior housing containing 24 tiny and the one standard bottle in the center. the whole deal ships on a perfectly sized yet plain flip lid cardboard box, which I think is great for a present. opens on a hinge. as an advent calendar, the doors are made entirely of cardboard, but they work. with the inkvent flat on the table, the ink bottles are on their side, with the ink name facing up. be extra careful when putting the inks back, considering how difficult it can be to get the caps fitting solidly back on.

upon being removed from the calendar, the ink bottles can stand on their own, and though somewhat wobbly in this state, upside down. turning the bottle upside down is a technique to help evenly distribute the glitter while filling. the inkvent calendar also has flaps on either side to remove the open-faced interior plastic tray if you are more in it for the inks than the advent. the plastic tray is somewhat flimsy, and a lot of its structural integrity relies on being on a flat surface with the ink bottles in their little nooks. while it is fairly stable inside of its housing, the tray seems easily damaged when exposed. not too big of an issue, I think, since any induced deformities can be just as easily corrected.

thanks to the box the inkvent 2021 ships in, the calendar itself will likely maintain its own structural integrity throughout shipping, and can probably be stood up vertically. not that I particularly recommend it, especially if you plan on using the advent doors. knocking the calendar over from a vertical position may allow the bottles to come tumbling out.

the bottles have a somewhat tight fit, so in addition to the struggles in opening it, it can take a moment or two to writhe them from their plastic surroundings. every bottle has a plastic wrap on it, preventing the caps from coming off. this must be removed to open the bottles, and holy shit are they hard to peel off. hold off on cutting your nails all the way until you unwrap these.

the calendar is in no way a space efficient method of storage. it is large. with the shipping box included, my measuring tape clocks it at about 14 length x 11.5 width x 2 height inches (about 35.56x,29.21x5.08 cm) with 24 of the bottles measuring about 1x1x1.75 inches (2.54x2.54x4.45cm), and the final bottle being 1x1x2.75 inches (2.54x2.54x6.99 cm (nice)) meaning the bottles themselves take up 25 square inches (63.5 square cm) of flat space on a desk outside of the casing.

but it makes for a gorgeous addition to a desk, and is a gorgeous present.

a bit of background regarding the inks themselves, both in terms of getting this for someone else and for yourself.

shimmer: ink that contains glitter particulate. these inks are hard to clean out of pens, especially vintage ones. shimmer inks can very easily lodge glitter inside the nooks and crannies of pens despite multiple cleanings through even an ultrasonic bath. meaning, if you put shimmer in an ink, the next inks you put in there will also contain shimmer. generally, you want to avoid putting shimmer inks in vintage pens. shimmer inks are best used in medium and above sized nibs, in pens that have removable feeds and a wet flow. glitter can be rubbed off the page. you will find at least some glitter on your hands.

sheen: ink that looks different depending on the lighting conditions, even appearing to be an entirely different color. a metallic effect caused by the chemistry of the ink rather than physical particulate. sheen inks can be more likely to dry out in a pen and smear on paper after being dried. paper that gives ink extra time to dry is more likely to show off sheen, since sheen happens when tiny ink particles dry on top of the paper.

shading: a property of ink describing how the shade of the ink varies based on where the ink pools or where the pen was held

flow: the relative amount of ink that comes out when writing with a pen, usually described in terms of dry, average, and wet. in addition to the amount of ink a pen writes with, an ink itself can have a flow. a dry ink in a dry pen may not write, while a wet ink in a wet pen may drip from the nib. a wetter flow means there will be more of the ink color on the page, and the easiest way to increase ink flow is to get a larger sized nib.

standard ink: an ink that is generally acceptable for general writing. a standard ink may contain shading, but it will not contain sheen or shimmer.

water resistance: the amount of water a fountain pen ink can resist. fountain pen inks are generally not waterproof, because waterproof inks can damage fountain pens. waterproof inks are usually made of pigment, while nearly every other pen is made out of dye, which varies in water resistance. waterproof inks are bad for vintage and dry pens. higher water resistance generally correlates to how likely an ink is to permanently stain a pen or anything it gets on.

fountain pen ink: an ink that is designed to be safe in fountain pens. most calligraphy and dip inks are not safe for fountain pens, and can permanently damage the interior of a pen, even melting them. while all fountain pen inks can be used with dip pens, almost all dip inks will damage fountain pens. fountain pen inks are more water-based than gel, ballpoint, rollerball, and felt pen inks. fountain pen ink is more water-based than other types of ink, meaning it will spread out and bleed through a paper that is not "fountain pen friendly". fountain pen friendly paper refers to good paper that allows fountain pen inks to have crisp lines without feathering or bleeding, and better fountain pen paper can show off sheen, shimmer, and shading. most papers in north america are not fountain pen friendly.

the influence of paper: sheen and shading will only show up on papers that permit fountain pen inks to display their fantastic properties. if you live in europe or asia for example, a lot of your paper does this naturally. if you are like me in north america, you will almost definitely have to go hunting for some decent paper, since nearly all widely available paper is garbage for fountain pens, compared to places in the world where fountain pens are much more widely used. if your fountain pen ink goes everywhere when you write, if your lines are blurry, try upgrading your paper. there are many paper reviewers who explicitly look for fountain pen ink friendliness, so check stationery sites or search "fountain pen friendly paper" to get an idea of what to look for. even if a notebook is expensive, it is very likely made of paper that is total shit in handling fountain pen ink. moleskine is garbage for fountain pens, for example, and so are many of those expensive notebooks journals advertised on tiktok and instagram.

the calendar is, again, a diamine fountain pen calendar. diamine has made hundreds of colors, most of them are gentle on pens, and diamine inks are generally low to medium in water resistance, with an average to wet flow. all of these inks are safe in most modern fountain pens, even if they can leave a glittery residue. remember, shimmer inks should go into pens that have a wet flow and are easily cleaned.

out of the 25 inks, 10 contain shimmer of various colors (several of these also have sheen), 2 exclusively contain sheen, and 13 are standard. while the 2019 calendar had more sheen-only inks, the 2021 calendar seems to have a lot of shimmer and shading inks. many of the standard inks contain a reasonable amount of shading. on the side of every ink bottle is a label reading "shimmer", "sheen", "shimmer & sheen", or "standard". this gives you an idea of what kind of pen you should put the ink in, and what kind of paper you should use it on. some paper is better at shading, some is better at sheen. every ink is individually named to fit the theme.

while I do have concerns about the structure of the ink bottles, it is very easily remedied by purchasing a bunch of 13ml+ glass bottles online or from hobby stores. if you do this, make sure they are designed for liquids, can handle the width of a fountain pen at the top, and then test them by filling with water and shaking them before putting in any ink. a bottle's ability to be shaken is a bottle's ability to dispense shimmer ink well, since shimmer ink needst to be evenly distributed for fountain pens to use them well. also before putting in any ink, clean out every bottle thoroughly with soap and water. any remainder of soap will compromise the chemical integrity of the ink, damaging any properties it has, and potentially causing it to leak right out of the pen. soap affects the surface tension of liquids, making them less able to hold onto a nib instead of just dripping right out of the feed. however, oil residue from cheap bottles will also harm inks, and so will any remaining water. ideally, wash with unscented gentle dawn dish soap (blue kind that sometimes has pictures of animals on it) then rinse completely with distilled water. distilled water cleans infinitely better than tap or filtered or purified water, and any contaminants in the water can affect inks negatively. plus, with 12ml bottles, even a drop of remaining water can dilute an ink. wash, rinse, and dry those bottles.

depending on the popularity of this calendar, the inks may later be released in larger glass bottles later next year, but it will probably be in the spring. since, once again, frozen temperatures make fountain pen inks explode. with the expectation that these inks will come in larger sizes, the 2021 inkvent calendar is an even better deal, allowing you to sample a ton of great inks for relatively cheap.

if your wrists, joints, grip, hand stability are a concern: you will have to be careful here. this calendar is not as accessible as I would like, the caps have some resistance without a lot of grip area, but I have thus far managed to handle the inks without them going everywhere. also, the plastic wrapping on each ink is a huge pain in the ass to peel off. you may need some help. or a tiny knife.

if you like shading and shimmer, this is absolutely a great bundle. if you prefer sheen exclusive from shimmer, this may not be as appealing. none of these inks are waterproof. several of the standard inks will probably contain some sheen.

318ml of 25 different, fancy inks. the diamine 2021 inkvent calendar ranges in price from $90 to $130 USD depending on where you buy online. inkvent or not, this is a great value even exclusively as an ink sampler. it makes a great gift and a great introduction to whacky fountain pen inks. all of these inks would be right at home in pilot parallels, refillable brushes, glass pens, etc. and it will not destroy your fountain pens like most of those "calligraphy ink" bundles you can find cheaply online.

there are not a lot of other products out there for fountain pen fans like the inkvent, and certainly not as an advent calendar. diamine's 2021 inkvent red edition is a limited edition item, so if you want to end your year on a shining note, be sure to grab them soon. especially before the temperatures drop in the northern hemisphere, since diamine is in england!

I do wish that there were more sheen-only inks, but in an era filled with so much death and despair, glitter is a bright, uplifting, and welcome change. we have been through so much these past few years, but the bright and shimmering inks serve as a reminder that no matter how gloomy life can be, there is still beauty left to discover.

if you find this review helpful, you can always support me on ko-fi.

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litte-miss-not-perfect · 4 years ago

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okay, so here’s a thing i do that i never see talked about in writing circles: prewriting.

prewriting, for me, serves two functions: one, to stave off writer’s block and get me hyped up to write, and two, to make sure the tone of my writing stays consistent. i know we’ve all encountered that problem where we’re writing glorious purple prose, take a five minute break, and come back unable to write sentences more complex than those in a picture book. prewriting is, in essence, any refresher of your wip that you look at before you start writing. my prewriting agenda takes about 15 minutes, and it goes like this:

For ~10 min i read a published book that has the prose i want to emulate (in this case, Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo) For ~5 min I look at the WIP: moodboards or graphics i’ve made, my outlines, and most importantly, the chapter (or several chapters) that precede what i’m about to write. this is the most important step for me, as it reminds me of what’s going on and the flow of the story. cons of prewriting: it’s very, very easy to get distracted by all the cool inspiration you have and not actually write. to prevent this, i set a timer. a loud one. even though this might seem like obvious advice, consciously establishing a writing routine, including a proper setup, boosted my word count like mad, and i hope it benefits some of you as well. peace.

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litte-miss-not-perfect · 4 years ago

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litte-miss-not-perfect · 4 years ago

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This Is How You Actually Take Notes In College, Bitches

it’s occurred to me that nobody fuckin knows how to take notes in classes and most advice about it is bad. What the fuck are “key words?”

So anyway here’s how I’ve gotten a’s in all my classes in college so far

I’m not gonna bother too much with telling you to take notes in class. Everyone knows that shit. But most people’s note taking skills suck ass and there are two main types of sucking ass I have observed

The first is the one where your notes look like a list of key terms and words. Sometimes they are underlined or there are dashes that connect them to other words. So if your prof was talking about Henry VIII you’d write down something like

Henry VIII

Church of England—divorce

DON’T DO THAT. Those words are gonna show up on the test, sure, but writing them down isn’t gonna help you with the test. What the fuck does any of that mean? High school is shit and your “key words” can’t help you now.

Here’s the other type of bad note taking:

It was necessary for Henry VIII to have a male heir who could succeed him, but his wife was unable to conceive a son. The Catholic Church

I stopped writing there because your professor moved on to something else. But, tbh, even if you can write fast enough to keep up with the content of the lectures (and you can’t for the entire lecture) it’s not helpful to have a solid wall of Everything That Was Covered In The Lecture, in grammatically correct complete sentences. Are you gonna read that shit again? No!

And honestly most people have like, sentences here and there that look important instead of the whole lecture. Which is also bad.

So what’s the not shitty way to take notes? It comes down to these principles:

Shorthand

Show Relationships of Things

These kind of go together

I cannot emphasize enough that you don’t need to write sentences like a normal person. Shorthand everything, and I don’t mean some fucked up studying shorthand you just came up with like “AmR” for American Revolution, I mean like...fuckin text/memespeak. Don’t write complete sentences, completely abandon formality. Abbreviate anything you would in a text message, you know what it means.

HOWEVER: You Must Show How Things Are Related To Things

To understand broad concepts you gotta understand how the things in them are related to other things.

That’s why writing down “Henry VIII” and “Church of England” isn’t gonna help you, because you’re not learning that there is a Church of England.

Did Henry VIII burn the Church of England? Cheat on his wife with it? Who knows? Definitely not you.

This is why you have to connect stuff like

Catholic Church says no divorce

Henry VIII—starts Church of England

But ya know you can make that more memorable AND more clearly show how one thing caused the other

Henry VIII: divorce >:)

Catholic Church: no

Henry VIII: fuk u *church of england*

I’m completely dead serious about this, this kind of slang is very good at indicating exactly how things relate to things in zero time and you know exactly what it means and you’ll remember it

But furthermore

You have to come up with shorthand to quickly indicate how things are related. Say you write down the definitions of two terms for like, opposing theories on government in class. That’s great but you’re leaving it to yourself to work out the opposing part later from what you write, and your brain’s a flaky bitch.

Like part of what you’re doing it giving yourself help with HOW to study your notes later.

So like. Do something like write a jagged line in between the definitions, indicating conflict. Write “OTOH” or “HOWEVER” in between in big fuckin letters. Writing down “Catholic Church” and what that is and “Church of England” and what that is, is fine. But like, if the main theme is the contrast between the two, “Catholic Church HOWEVER Church of England” immediately tells you the basicest basics. It’s like a tiny outline, telling you what to expect. Sure, you can figure it out reading your notes but I’m telling you how to write skimmable notes that you can glean stuff from even when you’re half spaced out and shit, okay?

Same thing for like, dates and sequences and cause-and-effect and stuff. Even if you’ve got the dates down...be sure to put arrows or something so even at a glance you’ve got basically what’s going on.

Also i know it feels like wasting paper but DONT scrunch all your notes together into small space on the paper. That lil dialogue between Henry and the Church of England is spread out over 3 lines which means if you have ADHD like me you can actually fuckin read it. Turn things into bullet lists. Indent things with little arrows to show things leading to things. If there’s a clear move to a new topic, new page. If you’re actually filling up the paper all the way that shits hard to read and it’s even harder to pick out the Big Important Stuff.

Last word of advice: If you end up like writing down two things and can’t tell what they’re for or how they’re related to each other...ASK QUESTIONS. Like “I’m sorry can you explain how the Church of England is related to the Catholic Church? I didn’t quite catch that.” If talking in class makes you feel like you might be percieved badly, you can frame it like a Nerd Question “So, what kind of relationship would you say the Church of England and the Catholic Church had?” or just play it off like you didn’t hear it like “I’m sorry, what was that last thing you said about the Church of England and the Catholic Church?”

Or just make a mark on your notes to remind yourself that you need more info and to go to your prof’s office to ask questions. I would really not be nervous about that, professors normally really like it when students show that they really want to succeed in the class and that they care. Unless they’re like, a complete dickhead, in which case, fuck what they think, right? You’re gonna ask questions and it’s their problem because you’re essentially paying them for your presence in the class.

So...yeah.

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litte-miss-not-perfect · 4 years ago

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More facts

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litte-miss-not-perfect · 4 years ago

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I used to get so overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information i had to remember for exams in school!!! Endless dates and names in history, formulas in maths, essay points for psychology, the list goes on! Here are the tips i use myself to help you retain all those facts and figures you need to remember - that have all been scientifically proven to help! ❤️

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litte-miss-not-perfect · 4 years ago

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studyblrs let's boost the idea of self-studying

not all of us can afford uni

some of us have finished uni

some of us have interests in topics not within our degree program

and it's always important to expand our minds and be well-rounded people!!

post ur self-studying tips in the comments/reblogs!!

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litte-miss-not-perfect · 4 years ago

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balancing self care and studies

make sure to get enough sleep - all nighters are NOT good for maximum brainpower, trust me. try to make a routine of what time to sleep and wake, as it helps you to feel refreshed during the mornings.

water! at first i hated drinking so much water because it felt like a chore. so, instead i used one of those big two litre diet coke bottles. it means that i can fill it once and then use it all day, without having to keep getting up. remember, your body can only absorb so much at a time, so small sips!

if it gets to the point where your brain is shutting down and you simply cannot think anymore - then don't. pushing yourself overworks you and ultimately means you're not learning/studying as effectively. try taking a small break, fifteen minutes without your phone, just move your legs, give your brain a rest. if you return and still cannot work, take a longer break or even stop for the rest of the night. you need breaks!

allow yourself some pampering. it doesn't have to be much, but washing your face can make the world of difference. cold showers are refreshing, warm ones are more relaxing. to each their own.

make sure you're living life outside of your studies. sure, for now it may seem like it's everything, but neglecting your mental health is even worse. please take care of yourself.

do some exercise! yes, yes, i know. but even ten minutes of some stretches can do you the world of good. make sure you give your body some work, especially after longer study periods. try not to over do it though - sometimes people do longer workouts, which although aren't inherently bad, it can make exercising feel like a chore.

hobbies! find something fun that you like to do, watch a movie, read a book, do some artwork! (and if you do some - tag me please #snippetsofsherlock )

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litte-miss-not-perfect · 4 years ago

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Cellular exclusion of mitochondria protects cells from damage

Mitochondria are cellular organelles that generate most of the energy cells need to function, and thus play an important role in maintaining cell health. In a new study, researchers from Osaka University discovered a novel mechanism by which cells turn over mitochondria and contribute to cellular maintenance. They further showed how this novel pathway is involved in the development of Parkinson’s disease (PD).

Most cells in the body require mitochondria to function and survive. Various disease processes and toxic agents can harm cells by damaging mitochondria, and failure to eliminate damaged mitochondria can cause neurodegenerative diseases such as PD. Unsurprisingly, cells have a quality control system that ensures the health and function of mitochondria within cells. For a long time, it was thought that this control system would consist of mitophagy only, a process by which cells degrade damaged mitochondria and recycle their individual components to then build new mitochondria. While recent studies have shown that cells in addition have the ability to transfer mitochondria out, this process remains incompletely understood.

“The release of mitochondria into the extracellular space is a fascinating topic, but we know very little about it,” says co-author Tatsusada Okuno. “The goal of our study was to investigate to which extent cells transfer mitochondria out in response to mitochondrial stress.”

To achieve their goal, the researchers generated a cell line in which mitochondria are fluorescently labeled and thus can be investigated under a fluorescence microscope. By performing time-lapse imaging over a prolonged period of time, the researchers were able to watch the release of mitochondria in real-time. Intriguingly, they were able to show by correlative light-electron microscopy, a technique that allows cellular structures to be examined at ultra-high magnification, that mitochondria were mostly released in free form and were rarely enclosed in vesicles. The researchers then asked what the role of mitochondrial release might be in PD. By studying cells deficient in parkin, the protein responsible for the hereditary form of PD, they were able to show markedly increased mitochondrial release in the absence of the protein. Likewise, the blood of parkin-deficient mice contained higher levels of mitochondrial proteins, further demonstrating how the absence of parkin facilitates extracellular mitochondrial release. Most importantly, however, the researchers were able to show that cerebrospinal fluids of PD patients with a mutation in parkin that renders the protein dysfunctional contained higher levels of mitochondria, demonstrating the significance of this novel mitochondrial quality control system in the development of PD in humans. “These are striking results that demonstrate a novel mechanism for clearing defective mitochondria and an important role for mitochondrial homeostasis in the onset of Parkinson's disease,” says corresponding author Hideki Mochizuki. “These findings may lead to the development of new biomarkers and therapeutics.”

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litte-miss-not-perfect · 4 years ago

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Classical Pieces You've Probably Heard but Might Not Remember the Name

William Tell Overture- Rossini (Most famous part at 8:45, but why not listen to the whole thing?) I’m adding hints, at least to the ones I recognized culturally. This one is “go, horsey, go!”

Also Sprach Zarathustra- Strauss Slow, dramatic entry scene, IN SPAAACE.

Eine Kleine Nachtmusik- Mozart People running out of a fancy wedding or something. Also known as DUN, dun DUN, dun DUN dun DUN dun DUUUUN.

Symphony 94, Mvt. 2 “Surprise Symphony”- Haydn ?

Toccata and Fugue in d Minor-Bach Halloween organ!

Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2- Chopin Picture a tiny old woman playing piano in a sunlit room with lots of flower vases, about the spill the tragic secrets of her past to some timid young visitor.

Rondo alla Turca- Mozart the babysitter from The Incredibles: “Time for some COGNITIVE ENRICHMENT!”

Sinfonie de Fanfares: Rondeau- Jean-Joseph Mouret Royalty is coming. Or someone is getting married. Or royalty is getting married. Also the PBS Masterpieces theme.

The Four Seasons: Spring- Vivaldi (I just linked to the whole thing because it’s great) Again, someone is getting married, but this one is strings instead and a lot less frumpy.

Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring- Bach That one that amateur guitarists love where the notes are all up and down but all the same length. Also used in movie weddings.

O Fortuna (from Carmina Burana)- Carl Orff SONG OF DOOM. Also song of “baby on fire!” in The Incredibles.

Funeral March- Chopin ?

Orpheus in the Underworld: Infernal Galop (A.K.A. Can Can)- Offenbach Well, “aka can-can” says it all.

Pomp and Circumstance (You probably graduated to this)- Elgar Oh yes, Baaaa dun dun dun duun duuuuun… Also if you were a bandie you had to play it for 3 years before graduating to it.

Gayane: Sabre Dance- Aram Khachaturian Comically hectic productivity, a circus clown juggling while standing on a ball, or perhaps a rapidly-approaching termite infestation. Could go any way, really.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Wedding March- Mendelssohn The song movies play right AFTER they both say “I do.”

Carmen: Les Toreadors- Bizet I can’t be the only one who remembers when ‘Hey Arnold’ did this. “Bullfights and swordfights, rolling in manuuure!”

The Ride of the Valkyries- Wagner Good song for a naval battle I guess? I can only think of the mini golf course I went to as a kid with the creepy castle on Hole 18 that played this.

Für Elise- Beethoven That one every amateur piano player loves to play because the beginning is just E and E-flat over and over. Also ballet and piano recital scenes in movies.

Dance of the Hours- Ponchielli Hello mudda, hello fadda, here I am at, Camp Granada…

Rigotello: La Donna e Mobile- Verdi More than a few sophisticated movie villains (or snobby good guys) have this playing on a Victrola. Also, tell me you don’t picture Pavaroti no matter who’s actually singing.

Night on Bald Mountain- Mussorgsky ?

Romeo and Juliet: Love Theme- Tchaikovsky More movie-love, usually building up to admitting they live each other.

Entry of the Gladiators- Julius Fucik I have one word for you: CIRCUS.

Lakmé: Flower Duet- Delibes OMG ALIAS. Nadia’s spy backstory in Film Noir!

Peer Gynt: In the Hall of the Mountain King- Greig Mischievous Tiptoeing in Movies song. Also something growing out of control, slowly at first and then quickly, and (comically) exploding.

Rodeo: Hoedown- Copland The title says it all tbh.

Peer Gynt: Morning Mood- Greig Sunrise/waking up Movie Song du jour.

New World Symphony Mov. [2][4]- Dvorak Well now I’m thinking of “An American Tail” and I’m crying…

Ave Maria (You knew this, but did you know that it was by Schubert?) Nothing to add. I’m not a music snob, really, but if you didn’t know this, YOU SHOULD.

Canon in D- Pachelbel This is the one that the pretty Trans-Siberian Orchestra Christmas song comes from. :-)

Add others if you want! Have fun!

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litte-miss-not-perfect · 4 years ago

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Ig: pascalfrancesca_

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litte-miss-not-perfect · 4 years ago

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yooo how do u email a prof for a recommendation letter?

Hi Professor!

I am in the process of applying to ____ and they require letters of rec. I sincerely enjoyed your classes, and felt that they gave me a particularly good chance to display my strengths, such as ____ [class participation, writing, etc.] and would love for you to write me a letter, if you’d be willing. The due date is ____, and I can send you further instructions for submission later if you accept.

Attached to this email is ____, the piece of work I did in your class which best showcases my abilities, as well as my current CV [or resume]. If you agree to write me a letter, soon I will also send you drafts of my ____ [statement of purpose, personal statement, application essays, other relevant material] for my application to aid in your writing. I am also happy to meet in person to discuss this with you.

I want to stress that this application is quite competitive, so if you feel you will not be able to write me a strong letter then I completely understand - but please let me know. Thank you so much for your time!

Sincerely, ____

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a few notes:

- you should have all your relevant materials (app essays, etc.) sent to them *at least* a month in advance to give them ample time to write the letter

- thus, your initial email asking them if they’d be willing to write a letter for you should be sent *over* a month in advance. professors are busy

- if you are applying for a really prestigious position/scholarship/fellowship, or grad school, it’s best to have at least a majority of your letter writers be professors (rather than adjuncts or post docs). ideally you’d want them to be full/tenured professors. in lots of cases, especially academic ones, *who* writes your letter matters - not just *what’s in* your letter

- the reason you send them the piece of work you did in their class that you are most proud of is to remind them of your abilities as a student and the quality of the work you produced for them. they have lots of students. sometimes they need a bit of help jogging their memory of exactly what you did in their class.

- the reason you send them your other application materials (personal statement, statement of purpose, CV) is so that they have information to draw from when writing your letter. they know what you’re passionate about, what you hope to do in the future, other experience you have, and can use this information when writing your letter

- on a similar note, this is also why you’d want to list the strengths you displayed in their class

- basically, you want to give them as much information as you can about your strengths, goals, and intentions - give them prompts they can use to write your letter

- the bit at the end about asking for a “strong letter” is important because some professors can only write you mediocre letters (e.g. “this student was always on time to class and gave their undivided attention during lecture” - what does this tell admission committees? well, it tells them that the professor has nothing positive to say about your *academic* abilities and so they’re resorting to other strengths. it’s a polite way of saying “this student was okay, but not spectacular in any notable way”. big red flag for admissions committees.) if all you’re going to get is a mediocre letter, you might as well not get a letter at all

- if the professor you ask accepts, then be sure to send them polite reminders as the date approaches. (i usually send a reminder at the 1-month-till-due-date mark when i send the other application materials, and then again at the 2 week and 1 week marks, and, if necessary, every day after the final 3 days leading up to the due date

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i know this was a lot, but i remember being in your shoes and being completely lost when it came to applying for stuff so i know how daunting it can be. i figured i’d just throw all this information at you to be of as much help as possible.

for reference, i’ve applied to graduate programs, fellowships, and scholarships. i have been accepted into several of the top 10 graduate programs in my area, as well as received multiple scholarships and a fellowship, and received honorable mentions for some of the most competitive fellowships in the US. i have also worked with the admissions committee at my graduate program to organize multiple informational events for those interested in applying to graduate school and, in the process, have learned a lot about what makes a strong application.

so while you should absolutely take my advice with a grain of salt (different circumstances call for different standards), i do have quite a bit of experience with applications and what makes a strong letter of rec.

i hope this helped! best of luck with whatever you’re applying for :)

#references

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