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22.06.2025

Another photo from my camping trip and some more notes about neurogenesis.

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anyway you should always remember that all those foreigners you see dying on the news are just as real people as you are who have just as much interiority as you do. there is nothing about you that makes you more important and it is by pure chance that you are not in their position. in fact, this holds for all of history. every person, no matter the horror of the fate that befell them, had just as much interiority as you do. i feel like some people haven't fully internalized this.

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a two cappuccinos kind of morning while i blast through final revisions for a co-authored chapter due sunday

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Trying to make it through. Didn't go to my CompSec exam, I'll go on the second date, but in the back of my mind I'm thinking I made a huge mistake in prioritizing this project over everything.

Oh well, too late now

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How to start again ✨

delete apps and social media that lowers your mood 

wear a new scent, throw away things you don’t need, delete contacts of people who make you feel unworthy, unfollow social media that makes you feel bad in any way

make a new playlist that makes you feel confident and happy 

in a journal, write down why you want to change, the traits of the person you truly want to be, the places you want to go and people that make you feel inspired

write down the things that stop you and bad habits you have, and replace those with new mindsets and habits 

before you sleep, make a detailed, achievable routine for the next day, that includes everything you want to do, including activities that genuinely make you happy

try new hobbies, like baking/cooking, playing a musical instrument, making art, learning a new skill, a sport, or a new language. you can easily get free resources online 

think about the ideal version of yourself. you can be like that, if you try your best and work hard. 

do not overwork yourself or set overly lofty daily goals and forget to do things like drink water. make your sleep and health your number one priority.

spend less time on your phone scrolling through social media. have a method of focusing on other things, like Pomodoro method or using the Forest app. 

if you can’t concentrate, commit yourself to doing it for 5 minutes. once you get into the flow it’s much easier to concentrate.

be patient and kind with yourself. it’s hard to change overnight. you’re the only one who can help change you, so be a friend to yourself.

once you start something, promise yourself you will finish it. 

have new weekly routines, like going to a cafe every Wednesday afternoon or indulging in your favourite tv show every Friday night.

do not deny yourself of good things; there needs to be a balance. similarly, do not be too generous and overdo it too much. 

dedicate a day to clean your room and organize your things if you feel stressed out. 

it may feel scary to change, as you may feel like it’s not the real you. but you’re still you, just the best version of yourself.

have a relaxing morning routine to look forward to, like making a nice breakfast, having a skin care routine, stretches, journalling, or thinking about nothing for a few minutes

have a mental image that makes you excited to do something. visualize yourself completing the goal and concentrate on it every morning.

however, learn not to rely on motivation because your brain will often turn off motivation, especially when you first begin something. have a routine, a specific time to do something, and do it. 

notice the places and people that drain your energy, and try to avoid them. find people who make you feel energized and places that calm you.

think about an enjoyable part of something. for example, when studying you can look forward to learning new things and when exercising, listening to calming music or using nice stationery. it’s actually more fun than you think. 

even though it’s hard, don’t compare yourself. you’re on your own path, and it doesn’t matter if people are better than you, because there will always be someone better than everyone. don’t be afraid to suck. so draw badly, write bad poems, run slowly, make embarrassing mistakes and fail everything. you can’t be good at something unless you’re terrible at something first. and doing anything badly is so much better than doing nothing.

don’t tell anyone about your new beginning, just start and let the results speak for themselves.

you can change and be your ideal self. but it will be hard to do that if you don’t believe in yourself. so make sure you challenge negative thoughts telling you can’t do something. tell yourself firmly that you can do it and then prove your negative thoughts wrong.

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one of the most boring lessons I’ve learned is that when a task feels overwhelming, you just have to start doing it. Even if you’re not sure how to do 90% of it, look for one small component that seems close and start there. Sometimes it’s reading one article on the topic, or searching one related term, or literally just googling how to do the task. Do anything other than thinking about it. The process of working on a thing inherently makes it less scary.

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greta was time's person of the year a few years ago. she was adored by all liberal world leaders and parties. and when she learnt about people's struggle under occupation and colonialism, she stood in solidarity with them . she now stands with palestine and armenia and kashmir and every oppressed person in the world. she could have been rich as fuck by simply remaining as a climate activist. yet she chose to do the right thing. i love her for her integrity.

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“trans people in sports is such a complex issue” it really isn’t. make the sports skills-based instead of segregated by gender. “ohhh but so many people’s lives depend on their sports for scholarships” okay then let’s make university universally funded so people don’t have to worry about paying for it based on how well they can throw a ball. how are you not keeping up

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i found a very interesting book today - it's an interdisciplinary study on importance of dogs through history. it talks about many different cultures and looks very promising, i def have to find time for it this summer

and there's an open access for the pdf <3

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hi. fuck ice. here is how you can help families affected by unlawful deportation

edit: and FUCK LAPD. here is how you can help bail out protestors who are in the trenches, facing mass arrests and putting their bodies on the line.

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Little reminders for the struggling self By Ariadne Arambulo | 2 min. read

Hi, friends! I know most of us are going back to school this week *cries*, and we might need that extra push to get through this, so here are a few things we could keep in mind:

Forgive yourself Failed a couple of tests? Watched a whole season of your favorite TV show over the weekend instead of getting started on your research paper? (yes) Found your grades drifting into uncharted waters? No matter what happened last semester, forgive yourself. Make it your armor and remember that you have a clean slate in front of you. You get to start over. Take that chance and do things right this time. 💪

Set realistic goals And every time you accomplish them, treat 👏 yo 👏 self 👏. Go ahead. You deserve it.

Show up I know it’s inevitable to have those “meh” days when you’re physically present but mentally absent in class. Drink coffee, go on a short walk, or listen to your favorite music before coming to class to boost your energy. It also feels good to learn something new every day, so make the effort to get even just a little something out of those long class hours. It’s worth it.

Work hard Do things that are meaningful to you and remind yourself of your dreams and aspirations. You got this!

Take care of yourself During finals week last semester, my mantra was “pain is temporary, GPA is forever”. This pushed me to go through three full days without sleep, studying endlessly and not giving my mind and body the rest they deserved. It took me a fever, colds, a sore throat and recurring anxiety attacks to realize that that was pretty much their many ways of saying, “Giiirl you take care of your grades more than yourself.” Shake off those bad habits and make sure you invest time in yourself. Don’t wait for your body to send you spiraling into a dark abyss before you take action!

Updated: 22 November 2019

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ray bradbury

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thursday | june 5

classes are over! just two more papers to write and then i'll be able to officially wrap up the term.

the paper i'm analyzing for my nanochem final project is taking me on a wild detour into lanthanide chemistry, so i'll be spending the morning going down that rabbit hole until i understand the basics. it's a bit out of my biochem/orgo comfort zone and the tequila hangover isn't helping but i'm always excited to learn some new science.

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"Can AI be my best friend?"

I say this empathically, with the same crazy-eyed lucidity of a prophet from any of the great science fiction stories in recent memory: AI is not your friend. We humans cannot feel with (makiramdam) or truly empathize with AI because it has no feelings of its own. It does not have any obligations (that is, pananagutan) to you. You cannot have utang na loob for an AI, because AI does not have loob at all. It does not feel or make meaning. It does not owe anyone anything, and so it cannot ever know morality. The only guardrails that exist with regard to its ethical use are highly dependent on the personality of those who program and promote it. AI does not have feelings, and if it seems like it is sad or angry or happy or passive-aggressive, that is only us, interpreting what it says. It is similar to when you look at the clouds and say, "Look, there is a dog!" Or when we look at electric sockets or the "face" of cars, and think that they are expressing emotions. We have developed a strange kind of cyber-animism for AI, engaging with it as though it were alive in the same way we are. All because it speaks the same language as we do. READ FURTHER: "AI is proof of how incredibly lonely we really are" by Filipino psychologist Carl Lorenz Cervantes

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Neurology let’s do thiss!!!! ☕️

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greta thunberg, liam cunningham, rima hassan, and everyone else on that ship, thank you, and i hope you succeed. i really hope you succeed. you know what you are risking, and i wish for you to come back safely, having done what you set out to do.

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I feel like chatgpt came around and everyone immediately forgot what they were doing to get stuff done before. like writing centers, extensions, extra help, templates, office hours, beta readers, random generators, and art and writing prompts have all existed for ages. even if you were cheating there's always been sparknotes, photomath, copying, paying someone else to do it, faking that your grandma died, and whatever. all of that stuff is more reliable and doesn't fuck over the planet. and you might actually learn something