english-ness

[english-ness]

banana bread!

[english-ness]

[english-ness]

"You think you're informed just because you read a bunch of grainy PDFs?"

Yeah man. Reading scholarly works on a topic informs you on that topic. That's how this works.

[english-ness]

[english-ness]

rainy november mornings spent reading and working on the thesis ☁️☕️

[english-ness]

stop doom scrolling

doomscrolling, the habit of endlessly scrolling through negative news on your phone or computer, will not only destroy your personality and character but it is detrimental to your mental health. many people are trapped in the habit but do not release the insane effect that even half an hour has on their psyche.

you literally have a whole life to live! why are you wasting it!

and so, here are some tips to help you break this negative compulsion:

1. set time limits

use apps or built-in phone features to set time limits on social media and news apps. this can help you become more aware of how much time you’re spending and encourage you to take breaks.

2. schedule specific times for news

designate specific times of the day to check the news, rather than constantly throughout the day. this can help you stay informed without feeling overwhelmed.

3. practice mindfulness

engage in mindfulness practices like meditation or deep breathing exercises. this can help you stay present and reduce the urge to doomscroll.

4. seek out positive content

balance negative news with positive stories or uplifting content. follow accounts that share good news or inspiring stories.

5. engage in other (offline) activities

find alternative activities to replace doomscrolling, such as reading a book, exercising, or spending time with friends and family. keeping busy with other interests can reduce the temptation to scroll.

6. use thought-stopping techniques

when you catch yourself doomscrolling, use a thought-stopping technique like saying “stop” out loud or visualizing a stop sign. this can help interrupt the behavior and redirect your focus.

7. limit notifications

turn off non-essential notifications on your phone to reduce the constant influx of news alerts. this can help you control when and how you consume information.

8. reflect on your feelings

take a moment to reflect on how doomscrolling makes you feel. recognizing the negative impact it has on your mood can motivate you to change the habit.

9. set goals for screen-free time

establish goals for spending time away from screens, such as having screen-free meals or dedicating certain hours of the day to offline activities.

10. seek support

talk to friends or family about your efforts to reduce doomscrolling. having support can make it easier to stick to your goals and find healthier ways to stay informed.

bonus. change your mindset

instead of apathy and not caring about your mental health and character, try to grow and build yourself as a person; learn to love yourself. one trick that i use to stop myself if i ever start to rot is reminding myself that i am a creator and not a consumer. this identity reinforcement allows me to simply ignore the doom scrolling urge.

implementing these strategies can help you break the habit of doomscrolling and improve your overall well-being. i wish you luck on your development journey!

❤️nene

[english-ness]

[english-ness]

Double Standard Dictionary: A Guide to Things That Are Only "Problems" When Women Do Them

Let's have an honest conversation about something that drives me absolutely crazy. You know those little comments and judgments that somehow only seem to apply to women? Yeah, we need to talk about that.

The Professional Edition

When men vs. when women do the exact same thing:

He's assertive → She's aggressive

He's focused → She's cold

He's passionate → She's emotional

He's dedicated → She's obsessed

He's confident → She's arrogant

He's strategic → She's manipulative

He's busy → She's neglecting her life

The Dating Double Standards

The classics that never seem to die:

He's dated around → She has "a past"

He's a bachelor → She's "left on the shelf"

He's selective → She's picky

He's career-focused → She's married to her job

He's a social butterfly → She's attention-seeking

He's "finding himself" → She needs to settle down

He's direct → She's desperate

The Appearance Police

The endless contradictions:

Look professional, but not too try-hard

Be attractive, but not attention-seeking

Wear makeup, but keep it "natural"

Be fit, but not too muscular

Dress well, but not too sexy

Look youthful, but not immature

Age gracefully, but never look old

The Emotion Edition

How it's perceived:

His anger is justified → Her anger is hysteria

His sadness is deep → Her sadness is dramatic

His stress is from hard work → Her stress is from "not coping"

His excitement is enthusiasm → Her excitement is over-the-top

His concerns are valid → Her concerns are paranoid

His anxiety is pressure → Her anxiety is weakness

The Family Chronicles

The never-ending judgment:

He's babysitting → She's just parenting

He's helping around the house → She's doing her job

He's focused on work → She's neglecting family

He needs time to himself → She's selfish

He's weighing his options → She's wasting time

He's figuring out what he wants → Her clock is ticking

The Office Politics

Things I'm tired of seeing:

Men get mentored → Women get hit on

Men network → Women "sleep their way up"

Men are busy → Women "can't handle it"

Men are thorough → Women are perfectionists

Men delegate → Women are lazy

Men need work-life balance → Women are uncommitted

The Social Scene

The ridiculous expectations:

Be fun but not too wild

Be social but not too friendly

Be smart but not intimidating

Be successful but not threatening

Be independent but not difficult

Be strong but still need help

Be confident but still humble

The Success Paradox

What we're dealing with:

Be ambitious but not threatening

Lead but don't be bossy

Achieve but don't outshine

Negotiate but don't be demanding

Succeed but stay likeable

Excel but remain modest

Win but make it look effortless

The Reality Check

What this actually means for us:

Constant second-guessing

Walking on eggshells

Energy drain from overthinking

Imposter syndrome

Reduced authenticity

Limited self-expression

Unnecessary stress

The Way Forward

What we can do about it:

Call it out

Name the double standard

Question the logic

Point out the inconsistency

Support other women

2. Break the patterns

Reject unfair labels

Define success personally

Set our own standards

Celebrate authenticity

3. Change the narrative

Share success stories

Highlight achievements

Create new networks

Mentor others

To Every Woman Dealing With This

Remember:

You're not "too much"

Your achievements are earned

Your feelings are valid

Your ambitions are worthy

Your standards are important

Your voice matters

Your path is yours

[english-ness]

Seriously debating going back to uni for a PhD, currently only being saved by my inability to pick a research topic...

[english-ness]

nothing has made me feel like an ancient grumpy crone more than the “using chatgpt for school is fine actually” sentiment among youths

[english-ness]

https://archive.org/details/future-primitive-the-new-ecotopias-1994-by-kim-stanley-robinson-ed./mode/2up

[english-ness]

so, as of about 3 days ago I graduated college! this also means that I’m moving out of my house, and while I was packing today I found a notebook with notes in it from when I was looking at schools five years ago

among them were some notes I took while sitting in on an astrophysics lecture while visiting MIT. I don’t know why I was insisting on taking notes— all I remember of that lecture was that it was utterly incomprehensible to me at the time— but I’m glad I did because it’s very gratifying to be able to look at them now after getting my degree and have them make sense!

almost like you learn things in college. what a concept

[english-ness]

just saw a man on Goodreads calling Mary Shelley "a privileged rich girl" – and yeah, no fucking shit? are you braindead?

most of the authors who wrote classic pieces were rich, from good families – but for some clouded, mysterious reason I have never seen a man using this as a single reason to dislike old male authors. and of course, there's nothing of the sort about anyone else on his profile. so this stupid, pathetic, illiterate little man felt terribly compelled to deem a novel which basically FOUNDED science fiction as irrelevant because Mary Shelley – born at the time where women were considered intellectually inferior – received a formal education from her father & mother. die.

[english-ness]

La Belle Iseult, William Morris (1858) | The Day Dream, Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1880)

[english-ness]

two fun facts abt the language building at my school:

the slavic studies dept breakroom has a keycode lock on it because (or so I am told) the french dept grad students kept drinking all their coffee. it's not our fault that our seminar room is on that floor and our coffee machine is four stories up, now is it.

the ONLY place in the building that there are 'no smoking' signs hung in the stairwell is right outside the french department. make of that what you will.

[english-ness]

| 3 may 2024 |

I was at the library, I'm working on a paper for my internship. its going very slowly, I wish that "the hardest part is getting started" applied to me because it doesn't when I'm writing most times 🥲 maybe it's an adhd thing. proud of myself for making it this far into the year and still using my bujo (even if it's inconsistent).

anyway it's been a bit hard for me to be consistent on here because I don't have a desk where I live and I'm not allowed to take pictures at my internship (national lab rules). I will be moving and starting my Ph.D. program so soon I'll have a study space!

[english-ness]

In 1931, a scholar named Bernhard Bischoff decoded a cypher placed between two saints’ lives in an early ninth-century manuscript from Eichstätt, Germany. The lives were written about Saints Willibald and Winnebald, two English brothers who in the eighth century became, respectively, the Bishop of Eichstätt and Abbott of Heidenheim, both in the modern day region of Bavaria. The cypher reads:

Secundumgquartum quintumnprimum sprimumxquartumntertium cprimum nquartummtertiumnsecundum hquintumgsecundum bquintumrc quartumrdinando hsecundumc scrtertium bsecundumbprimumm

Bischoff worked out that all vowels had been replaced by ordinal numbers - ‘second, g, fourth, fifth, n, first, s…’ and so on. Each of these numbers could be replaced with the corresponding vowel, to make the Latin sentence: Ego una Saxonica nomine Hugeburc ordinando hec scribebam I, a Saxon nun called Hugeburc, have written this ... Hugeburc is the earliest known English woman author of a full-text literary work.