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merritidings · 5 years

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Character Questionnaire: Merrinyn Delorsath

BASICS -

1. Height?

5′5″. (She is of average height. At least in her former settlement.)

2. Eye colour?

Black. (It’s actually dark blue.)

3. Do they need glasses?

No. (That doesn’t stop her from wearing one whenever she feels like it.)

4. Scars and birthmark?

None. (It’s hard to get scars when you’re always far from the action, drowning in books. She did get a paper cut a few days after leaving her old settlement, settling for the surface to learn more about this part of the world, though that amounted to nothing more than a few minutes of annoyance.)

5. Tattoos and piercings?

None.

6. Right or left handed?

Right-handed. (For a time in her youth, she instead she was ambidextrous. That was until she figured out the word she was looking for was “amphibious”.)

7. Any disabilities? Physical or mental.

None. (She can’t pronounce the letter “R” if it’s in the last syllable of a word, as in “wafer” or “paper”, ending up either mispronouncing it as the letter “W” instead, as in “wafew” or “papew”, or accidentally speaking in a British accent. Don’t tell her I told you this. She’s very sensitive about her rhotacism.)

8. Do they have any allergies?

None. (...though she once almost died after eating crab. That was most likely due to improper cleaning of the food. It never happened again. Strange.)

9. Favourite colour?

Seafoam Green. Or blue. (She also likes pink.)

10. Typical outfits?

Whichever works, really. I prefer clothing that would not impede my mobility over clothing that’s all for show. (She used to wear simple sleeveless, collarless, pants-less garments made of coral, see below, until she moved to the surface-world where a kind old lady gave her common clothes for free because she looked “cold” and “very naked”. Still, she tends to rip out the sleeves and collars and even pant-legs of her clothes whenever she feels like it, usually when she’s near the water and there’s no tedious socializing to be had.)

11. Do they wear any makeup?

No. (She does, but only rarely and mostly during “special” occasions.)

12. What weapon do they use, if any?

Between my magic and my staff, I can be quite the formidable fighter. (She isn’t. She has also been thinking of acquiring a trident recently. Three pointed tips are better than one blunt head.)

PERSONALITY -

13. Are they more optimistic or pessimistic?

Neither. I dwell in between optimism and pessimism. Nothing is ever absolutely positive or negative. There is also the middle, and there I thrive. (Technically, she’s more optimistic, considering she’s always optimistic that each day holds new things for her to learn. She does get pretty pessimistic when things don’t go her way, though, especially if she becomes obsessed with learning about something and her progress somehow gets impeded.)

14. Are they introverted or extroverted?

Neither. I am an ambivert. (Mostly true, though she leans more towards being an introvert, as she spends more time being an introvert, with all her research and reading; however, she doesn’t get drained as much when she has to be an extrovert, though she tends to avoid opportunities where she has to be one.)

15. What are their pet peeves?

When someone interrupts my research on anatomy by slaying the creature I am to observe. *very audible sigh* Brutes... (She also can’t stand people who can’t wait in line, even though she herself hates lines.)

16. What bad habits do they have?

Someone once said I’m terrible with making friends, though to be fair, I’m here to study and learn, not to make friends. (She spends way too much time with her books and research and not enough time connecting with real people. It’s uncertain whether this is because she’s such an obsessive sage or it’s just a triton thing.)

17. Do they have any phobias?

I fear nothing. Fear only exists when one does not understand something. I seek to understand everything. I do not fear. (Insects, especially flying insects, specifically cockroaches. She thinks they’re gross and they always have the high ground when it comes to the element of surprise. She’d probably like them if they were larger, though, since she’d at least be able to keep them from entering her orifices without permission. Oh, and falling from great heights. She hates that.)

18. How do they display affection?

I don’t. Affection is unnecessary. As long as you are useful and efficient, you are. (She really doesn’t. At least, she doesn’t know how to. Even her compliments are awkward and strange.)

19. How competitive are they?

Competition is good as motivation for personal growth, but only when it motivates a competitor towards personal growth. (She isn’t as competitive as others are, though it’s mostly because she’s a triton and tritons don’t really consider surface dwellers as competition. At least, that’s what she believes.)

20. If they could change one thing about themselves, what would it be?

No response. (It differs on a daily basis, more like it adds up, but she doesn’t take to it like changing herself because she doesn’t like herself. It’s actually more of changing something here and then something there to unleash the full potential of her existence. Like having eyes that see better in the deepest dark or gills that can allow her to safely breathe in any environment. It’s alteration in the spirit of evolution, not alteration because of emotions.)

21. Do they have any obscure hobbies or routines?

Is collecting forks an obscure hobby? (It is.)

BACKSTORY -

22. What are the names and ages of their close family members? Parents, siblings, etc.

My father’s name is Mernes and my mother’s name is Erryn. I have one older brother, Jharvas, and no other siblings.

23. Is their family alive and are they still in contact with them?

Yes, they are all alive and well. My father and my mother live together back home while my brother has also set out to, according to him, find himself. I’m certain he’s simply pursuing the vampire woman again. Men have never been quite as smart as us. (Her brother is indeed with a female vampire but he’s not pursuing her. They’re working together, trying to make a life with each other.)

24. Where are they from? City, nation?

I’m from the sea, the depths of which no surface dweller may survive. (Her settlement is within the oceans east of Hegaehend, far east. They call it the City of Sh'lafijn, though others simply refer to as Marai.)

25. Did they have a childhood best friend?

I had childhood friends, though I don’t think it wise to select from them a singular best. (She does. Her name was Dhorimyn. They’ve lost contact over the years. The last she’s heard of her, Dhorimyn had left their settlement for parts unknown.)

26. Have they had any pets?

I had a pet shark named Kadita. (They’re dead now.)

27. Did they grow up rich or poor? What were their living conditions like?

We used to move a lot when I was but a young girl. It took my parents a while to settle down in a place of our own. We were neither rich nor poor. We were in the middle.

28. What is their educational background?

I went through formal schooling, learned from the greatest mentors of my settlement, and grew into a fine sage. I learned more on my own than I did with anyone. (She’s not kidding. Her curiosity actually led to her amassing more knowledge about things outside of their settlement than the “greatest mentors” of their settlement, which were the only 10 triton scholars of their settlement.)

29. As a child, what did they want to be when they grew up?

I always wanted to be a scholar, and now, here I am. (At one point, she also wanted to be a kraken. She thought having more limbs would be efficient. She was three.)

30. What advice would they give to their younger self?

If I ever, for some strange reason, meet my younger self, I would simply tell her to continue swimming towards her current path. She will become me, and I am the best she can ever be. (We’ll agree to disagree.)

31. Growing up, were they ever bullied or were they the bully?

I was never bullied. I never bullied anyone. I just didn’t have the time. All my focus were on my studies and my research. (She was bullied. For being too absorbed in her studies. She was often referred to as the “teacher’s suckerfish” by the other children. To this day, she still thinks it was a compliment because “a suckerfish assists its host by feeding off of its parasites.” She wasn’t wrong.)

32. Who do they look up to/who is their role model?

No response. (She currently doesn’t look up to anyone, especially since she’s out of the sea and she takes to surface dwellers as subjects to study, not mentors to put on a pedestal. She used to look up to an older mentor from her settlement but he died after trying to “befriend” a female shark as a male shark, so that was that. It’s a long story, and it’s not what you think.)

PRESENT -

33. Do they currently have a place of residence?

I rented a small place for me and my...friends in Arx, at the Whale Water Port. It’s close to the water, plenty of fish, and has access to several libraries and universities. It’s the best place for me here on the surface. (Remember the kind old lady who gave her free clothes because she looked “very naked”? That became her landlady. It’s a good place for someone living “alone”.)

34. What is their most treasured possession?

My most treasured possession? I suppose the letter from my late colleague could fill this role. For now. At least until I find the answer to his question, and I will. Eventually. (She’s not as into possessions as most people are, so having a treasured...item isn’t on her radar. That should change once she gets a particular trident, though, and maybe a particular cloak and a particular decanter to boot. Maybe.)

35. What is their drink of choice?

I don’t drink that much, but I seemed to have developed a taste for the drink called Bilgewater. It reminds me so much of home. (Bilgewater is of course the bluish-brown, sometimes jet black, concoction that's made by soaking the inner organs of various sea creatures soaking in a fermented brine and then running them through a sieve to remove the bones and viscera. It's usually on most tavern's menu for at least 5 copper pieces, or you can ask your friendly neighborhood fisher to brew you one for the same price. The only real side effect of this drink it that the lingering taste of rotten, brackish seafood remains on the palette for a few hours.)

36. Which king/queen are they loyal to, if any?

None have sought me out yet, so I’m loyal to none. That should change if any reach out and we find ourselves agreeing in our principles. (So long as she get to do her research, she’s not very picky on a monarch to side with, but only if completely necessary. She’d rather not get drawn to unnecessary conflict if they can avoid them.)

37. Have they ever killed anyone?

No response. (In every attempt at progress, there will always be a casualty or two. Maybe even three. It is rarely intentional, however.)

38. What was their last promise and did they keep it?

I promised my brother I’d stay with our parents, keep them safe... (She could not keep that promise.)

LOVE -

39. What was their first kiss like, if they’ve had one?

It was...wet. And pretty sloppy. The things we do to satiate our curiosity, right? (Of course it was wet. She was underwater. It was mostly sloppy because it was their first kiss, and her “research” partner was understandably nervous, especially since she secretly liked Merrinyn. They never spoke of it again, mostly because Merrinyn concluded that it was not a fruitful experiment and Dhorimyn decided to keep her secret her own.)

40. Are they in a relationship/have a love interest?

Love is an unnecessary distraction that I cannot currently afford. (She is too busy with her research to consider a relationship, any kind of relationship, at the moment.)

41. Have they ever been in love?

Like I said, an unnecessary distraction. (She has not, though she believes she has.)

42. Have they ever had their heart broken?

No response. (Numerous times: When her pet shark Kadita passed away, when her older brother Jharvas left them in pursuit of a vampire, when she slowly lost contact with Dhorimyn, and when her favorite mentor died to sharks while in the form of a shark.)

SPIRITUALITY - 43. Do they follow a god, if so who?

I don’t follow gods. I don’t have faith in them as much as others do. I only have faith in myself, in what I can see, and in what I can prove. (That said, she does appear to admire both Habbakuk and Melora, especially the latter whose stories and lore she views as quite inspiring.)

44. What do they think happens to them after death?

I cease to exist and my body decays to join nature and the sea. That’s it. That’s all there is to it.

45. What is their spirit animal?

A kraken. Definitely a kraken. (She’s more like a dolphin, but okay.)

#romtask #character development

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thepatchworkcrow · 5 years

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Witchcraft Asks #1-105

So, just for @dearpenumbra and because I’m wide awake and bored and want to answer them: Here is the list of the 105 witchcraft questions I just finished answering. I answered one each day but feel free to answer them all at once or however you want to do it. Tag your it!

1. Are you solitary or in a coven? I am technically a solitary, though I have friends with whom I occasionally celebrate the sabbats and do other witchy things with.

2. Do you consider yourself Wiccan, Pagan, witch, or other? I use ‘Pagan’, ‘witch’, and ‘Druid’ to describe myself. My path of Druidry is inherently pagan because of its reverence of the earth and all life, and it contains practices that are part of witchcraft.

3. What is your zodiac sign? I am a Cancer!

4. Do you have a Patron God/dess? I do, for sake of Tumblr, I call them The Hunter and The Lady of the Lantern. They’re deities I’ve not found in any mythology- sort of my own unique perspective / interaction with the divine forces of the universe, and so I keep the names I call to them in ritual private.

5. Do you work with a Pantheon? I do work with other deities beyond my patron god and goddess. A lot of them are from the various Celtic pantheons and include: Brighid, Gofannon the Smith, Cerridwen, Mannanan Mac Lir, and Gwyn ap Nudd.

6. Do you use tarot, palmistry, or any other kind of divination? I read tarot, runes, and ogham. I own an agate scrying mirror, but it’s very finnicky and I’d love to learn palmistry some day.

7. What are some of your favorite herbs to use in your practice? (if any) I use sage for cleansing, mugwort for a couple of blends of incense for divination, and lavender to cleansing, peace, intuition, etc.

8. How would you define your craft? It’s a path of Druidry dedicated to the Wylde Hunt.

9. Do you curse? If not, do you accept others who do? I have cursed- only in extreme situations, and the curse I used was aimed more at making the target realize how negative and toxic the bullshit they’ve been spewing/causing is. Sort of a “You’re going to realize the full horror of your actions” kind of a thing.

10. How long have you been practicing? The summer solstice will mark my 13th year.

11. Do you currently or have you ever had any familiars? I have familiar spirits: a black dog that goes by the name Yew, and a raven with a gold stripe on its beak named Gildenbeck. I’ve never had a familiar in the sense of a pet who does witchy stuff with me though.

12. Do you believe in Karma or Reincarnation? I believe in reincarnation and that our cations in one life affect the next. I’ve done a past life regression before, but that’s a story for a post that isn’t QUITE this long.

13. Do you have a magical name? I used to. I’ve got through a number of them over the years, changing them out as I see fit. My most recent one was actually the name I started this blog under: Brenna Adaira, but I’ve since outgrown it, and don’t really feel the need for one.

14. Are you “out of the broom closet”? Yes. I have been from the very beginning.

15. What was the last spell you performed? Shit. I don’t even remember. I’m not super big on spells. Anything more complex than carving a candle and charging it with intention to leave burn on my altar is usually not something I bother with.

16. Would you consider yourself knowledgeable? This is a silly question. As I’ve been practicing 13 years, and as someone with a bachelor’s degree, I’d say yes. I am knowledgeable about a number of things. However, I recognize there are many things I’m not knowledgeable about and there is always room for growth and learning.

17. Do you write your own spells? Since they’re very slapdash? Yes. They get written as I’m throwing spell components together to just DO THE THING.

18. Do you have a book of shadows? If so, how is it written and/or set up? I have recently started compiling a more formal grimoire of my path and all of its integral components. My working book of shadows however is always a sketchbook that gets carried around with me literally everywhere. It’s got drawings, scribbled poetry, journal entries, cut and pasted pictures, ritual outlines, musings, research notes, etc. and it’s all pretty out of order and chaotic. But I love the freedom of not having to be too careful with how I structure things and just let everything happen organically.

19. Do you worship nature? I do not worship nature. I honor the forces of nature; I treat them with respect and work to do my best to live in harmony with them. We are part of nature, not separate beings.

20. What is your favorite gemstone? Oof. This is a tough one. Moss Agate or Moonstone... but also Citrine and Opal. xD

21. Do you use feathers, claws, fur, pelt, skeletons/bones, or any other animal body part for magical work? I have a pheasant wing fan I use for smoke cleansing. I also have a small set of antlers that I’m still meaning to make into a proper headdress for ritual wear. Right now, they sit with my statute of The Hunter and the rest of my Wylde Hunt stuff.

22. Do you have an altar? Usually, yes. At the moment I don’t because I’ve been sort of in-transit for months. I’m moving back home at the end of the week though, and setting up an altar is the FIRST thing I intend to do.

23. What is your preferred element? Air. I love wind, stars, storms, gentle breezes through the forest, music, singing, the power of words.

24. Do you consider yourself an Alchemist? Not even in the slightest. XD

25. Are you any other type of magical practitioner besides a witch? Already answered above, but I’m a Druid! ^_^

26. What got you interested in witchcraft? I answered this in my previous post.

27. Have you ever performed a spell or ritual with the company of anyone who was not a witch? Yes! We used to frequently invite non-pagan friends to celebrate sabbats with us. One year, we actually erected a Maypole in my backyard and did a maypole dance.

28. Have you ever used ouija? Nope, and I would never. I don’t need it to speak with my guides, I don’t wanna poke at the dead, and I don’t trust them as reliable tools.

29. Do you consider yourself a psychic? I have strong intuition, but I wouldn’t call myself a psychic.

30. Do you have a spirit guide? If so, what is it? I have a couple, but the main one appears to me as a sort of elven / druidic entity (kinda Tolkien elf-ish with the blonde hair and all that). He goes by the name of Brannan and has been sort of my Druid guide both before and during my OBOD studies.

31. What is something you wish someone had told you when you first started? I wish someone had taught me really basic grounding and centering exercises and energy work first. Instead, I jumped right into gods and spells and rituals and all sorts of silliness early on in my path.

32. Do you celebrate the Sabbats? If so which one is your favorite? I haven’t this past year or so because I’ve been trying to get my bearings post-college again. But my favorite is Midsummer. It’s closest to my birthday, marks the anniversary of my dedication to studying witchcraft, and is just always a super heightened time for me spiritually speaking.

33. Would you ever teach witchcraft to your children? Yes. There’s another, longer blog post coming about my thoughts on this, but the short version of it is that I would rather give them some manner of religious context and collection of traditions and heritage than leave them completely on their own to consider the big universal questions religion is supposed to answer.

34. Do you meditate? Not nearly as often as I would like, but at least a couple of times a month.

35. What is your favorite season? Autumn. I love the gloom and the smell of the leaves, and the rain and how windy it gets, and the colors, and of course all of the things like pumpkin spice and Halloween. It’s another time of deep spiritual work for me. This is when the Wylde Hunt rides, and I mark my progress on my path in devotion to them.

36. What is your favorite type of magick to preform? I don’t actually like doing magick other than charging and burning candles. I’m sort of a lazy witch and usually find it more necessary to do inner work to get through a problem than to try and effect change in the world around me.

37. How do you incorporate your spirituality into your daily life? I take actions that align with my spiritual goals: living in harmony with the natural world, creating beautiful things, never stopping my own growth and learning, and compassion for others. I recycle where I can, try to reduce waste and reuse things. I take walks in nature and spend time in the woods. I stay informed so I can vote in ways that put people in power who care about our world. I take time to notice beauty in small places: a bird flying over head, stars in the winter sky, the way the sun is coming in through a window. When all of life is sacred, the spiritual path is not separate from the rest of your life. It becomes the lens through which you frame your life.

38. What is your favorite witchy movie? If I had to choose.... damn. I really can’t. The triad of Hocus Pocus, The Craft, and Practical Magic kinda take that place. I love them all in different ways.

39. What is your favorite witchy book, both fiction and non-fiction. Why? My favorite witchy books... Non-fiction: Living Druidry by Emma Restall-Orr, because it’s a look at Druidry through a Druid’s eyes. It introduces Druid concepts without the formal textbook layout, and I love reading about her experiences. Fiction: The Tree Shepherd’s Daughter and the associated series by Gillian Summers because who wouldn’t love a book about an elf who talks to trees whose day job to hide among humans is to make furniture to sell at Renaissance Festivals? Like... It’s just good, okay?

40. What is the first spell you ever preformed? Successful or not. This got answered in my last post.

41. What’s the craziest witchcraft-related thing that’s happened to you? And so did this one!

42. What is your favourite type of candle to use? I typically use those cheap chime candles or tealights. They burn down quickly and are easy to get ahold of.

43. What is your favorite witchy tool? I would have to say my drum. I love love love love raising energy with it or doing trance work while drumming.

44. Do you or have you ever made your own witchy tools? All of my wands have been handmade and my altar statues are all sculpted by hand. My ogham staves are handmade, and I’ve made a set of runes in the past, but they weren’t fond of me. XD

45. Have you ever worked with any magical creatures such as the fea or spirits? Ohhhh yes. Lots! The Wylde Hunt is one such example, but I’ve also worked with goblins and other various fae.

46. Do you practice color magic? I use color associations loosely, but don’t adhere to them too much.

47. Do you or have you ever had a witchy teacher or mentor of any kind? I did, sort of. My mom’s best friend was the one who bought me my first tarot deck, taught me how to read, etc. She gave me witchy homework now and then, but it wasn’t really a formal mentorship. She’s like another mother to me though, and I love her lots. <3

48. What is your preferred way of shopping for witchcraft supplies? Unfortunately, my preferred way is no longer possible. My local shop closed down in Feb of 2017 and I have been super sad ever since. I’m still trying to find a suitable alternative.

49. Do you believe in predestination or fate? I believe that we have free will and that the Universe sort of fills in the gaps. I think somethings are sort of “meant” to happen, but I don’t think everything is set in stone.

50. What do you do to reconnect when you are feeling out of touch with your practice? I light candles at my altar and just open myself to the energies, or I go on a walk with my friend, Mark. We always get into super deep conversations that get me back in the vibe.

51. Have you ever had any supernatural experiences? I could fill an ENTIRE post just on this alone, but yes. Plenty.

52. What is your biggest witchy pet peeve? Answered!

53. Do you like incense? If so what’s your favorite scent? I love incense! I tend to burn a lot of Dragon’s Blood, though I’ve recently discovered one called Mountain Heather that I am ALSO in love with.

54. Do you keep a dream journal of any kind? I keep weirdly vivid dreams in the notepad function on my phone. It’s usually right near my pillow and I just tap what I remember in there and try to go back to sleep.

55. What has been your biggest witchcraft disaster? Man, I can’t really think of a time things went horribly wrong to be honest.

56. What has been your biggest witchcraft success? Maintaining my practice and developing it into something uniquely my own.

57. What in your practice do you do that you may feel silly or embarrassed about? I know some people would say having spirit guides and such is silly. There are others who would say that energy work and psychic vampirism and the like are kinda woo-y and weird too.

58. Do you believe that you can be an atheist, Christian, Muslim or some other faith and still be a witch too? Anyone from any religion can be a witch. Witchcraft is a practice, not a religious path. Anyone can learn to raise and manipulate energy regardless of which deity they do/n’t worship.

59. Do you ever feel insecure, unsure or even scared of spell work? I just don’t usually feel a need for it. It’s usually able to be solved by mundane means or by doing inner personal work.

60. Do you ever hold yourself to a standard in your witchcraft that you feel you may never obtain? Don’t we all have perfectly aesthetic rituals that leave us feeling profound as a standard which we don’t ever quite meet? Aren’t we all secretly pining for Tumblr/Instagram worthy altars?

61. What is something witch related that you want right now? I actually really want to get a Tarokka deck, which is a tarot-esque oracle used in the D&D Curse of Strahd campaign. I want them for the campaign, but also to use for actual divination because it sounds like fun to try.

62. What is your rune of choice? I’m very partial to Kenaz (light, illumination, guidance), and Laguz (movement, water travel, magic, intuition).

63. What is your tarot card of choice? The 8 of Cups, The Star, and the 3 of Swords are all sort of cards I look at to determine if I’ll love or hate a deck.

64. Do you use essential oils? If so what is your favorite? I do use some, albeit sparingly. I’m rather fond of patchouli, sage, and a heather one I found.

65. Have you ever taken any kind of witchcraft or pagan courses? I’m currently wrapping up the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids’ Bardic Grade Course.

66. Do you wear pagan jewelry in public? Right now, my everyday necklace is a nine-pointed star which is supposed to represent the 9 sisters of Avalon, of whom Morgan le Fay was one.

67. Have you ever been discriminated against because of your faith or being a witch? Yes. Once, in early high school by a teacher. And once in college by some preppy sorority girl who wandered over to the LGBT clubs’ table at a Campus Life event looking to cause an argument.

68. Do you read or subscribe to any pagan magazines? Not magazines, but I follow a number of blogs both on Tumblr, Patheos, and Wordpress.

69. Do you think it’s important to know the history of paganism and witchcraft? Yes. Absolutely. The Burning Times weren’t about real witches. Modern paganism is not ancient paganism, and the context of myth, traditional practices, etc. are important.

70. What are your favorite things about being a witch? The language and tools I have with which to describe my experiences and think about and interact with the rest of the universe.

71. What are your least favorite things about being a witch? Being a conscious being and co-creator with spirit is freaking hard, yo.

72. Do you listen to any pagan music? If so who is your favorite singer/band? My absolute fave is Damh the Bard, but also give S.J. Tucker and OMNIA a listen. <3

73. Do you celebrate the Esbbats? If so, how? I used to do Dark Moon tea and meditation time with the Dark Goddess. Usually if I do something for any of the moon phases it’s sort of spur of the moment these days.

74. Do you ever work skyclad? I don’t, because I currently lack private space to do so.

75. Do you think witchcraft has improved your life? If so, how? Well, I am an empowered being with knowledge and love of the Universe and the divine connections between us all. I’m also equipped with various techniques for performing inner transformative work as well as affecting change in the world around me. What’s not to love?

76. Where do you draw inspiration from for your practice? My practice is a lot of “Solitary Wicca” meets OBOD druidry, meets a sort of Dragonheart ‘knights of the Old Code’ sort of feel. It’s about nature, creativity, and living honorably.

77. Do you believe in ‘fantasy’ creatures? (Unicorns, fairies, elves, gnomes, ghosts, etc) I do. I don’t believe they exist corporeally in this plane of existence though.

78. What’s your favorite sigil/symbol? I’m not sure I could pick one... but if I had to, I’d say the symbol for Awen.

79. Do you use blood magick in your practice? Why or why not? I’ve used blood in magic exactly twice. Once was in a dedication rite to The Hunter, and the other was to the Wylde Hunt. Both times it was blood from something like a paper cut or popped blister, whatever that was already available. I used it as a potent source of energy but also as a sympathetic tie to myself. Since I was dedicating myself to said entity, using it as a taglock made sense.

80. Could you ever be in a relationship with someone who doesn’t support your practice? Absolutely not. Thank you, next.

81. In what area or subject would you most like your craft to grow? I’m looking to pursue the OBOD’s further courses. I want to become a celebrant for the order and perform marriage, death, etc. rites for others within the order as well as those in the pagan community.

82. What’s your favorite candle scent? Do you use it in your practice? I love candles that smell like mulled spices or coffee or pumpkin. I don’t use them for magic, just for ambiance.

83. Do you have a pre-ritual ritual? (I.e. Something you do before rituals to prepare yourself for them). If so what is it? I ground and center before every ritual. Beyond that, I’m usually doing magic on the fly.

84. What real life witch most inspires your practice? Emma Restall-Orr, whom I’m not sure would identify as a witch. She’s technically a druid and author of various books and I love how gritty and honest and earthy what she shares is.

85. What is your favorite method of communicating with deity? I like to get somewhere quiet, and channel them through sort of automatic writing. I also frequently use visualization / meditation techniques to go to my sacred grove and speak with them there.

86. How do you like to organize all your witchy items and ingredients? What is this... organize you speak of? All spell components are in wee jars in a drawer. xD

87. Do you have any witches in your family that you know of? My mom was a practicing Wiccan when I was little, and my sister has interest in witchcraft.

88. How have you created your path? What is unique about it? Answered in my last post.

89. Do you feel you have any natural gifts or affinities (premonitions, hearing spirits, etc.) that led you toward the craft? If so what are they? I have a strange knack for vibing with plants/crystals/etc. and just knowing what they can be used for. I’ve also always had the ability to sort of see/hear things not there: spirits, fae, etc.

90. Do you believe you can initiate yourself or do you have to be initiated by another witch or coven? To be initiated implies you are entering into a group. The OBOD gives you the opportunity to initiate yourself if you aren’t close enough to a grove, but the point stands that it’s a ritual given to you by someone else. You can dedicate yourself to a specific path, but initiation implies you’re being included in something you once were not included in.

91. When you first started out in your path what was the first thing or things you bought? I’m pretty sure it was a new tarot deck, tbh. It’s been too long. I don’t remember.

92. What is the most spiritual or magickal place you’ve been? Answered in the last post: but Avebury, England.

93. What’s one piece of advice you’d give someone who is searching for their matron and patron deities? They aren’t necessary for a balanced and successful path. I know it can be weird not having a specific god/ddess but it’s really really really not necessary to find one right away to be able to have a successful practice.

94. What techniques do you use to ‘get in the zone’ for meditation? I dim the lights, drink some coffee or wine, get somewhere comfy, and put on some quiet music.

95. Did visualization come easily to you or did you have to practice at it? It used to come a lot more easily to me. I realized I was using it as sort of escapism and stopped, and have been building it back again.

96. Do you prefer day or night? Why? I prefer night. Everyone else is asleep and it gives me time and space to think and work on things without being disturbed.

97. What do you think is the best time and place to do spell work? The best time and place is when and where you need it most.

98. How did you feel when you cast your first circle? Did you stumble or did it go smoothly? We forgot to include a means of opening the circle in our first ritual’s notes. So... sort of a stumble.

99. Do you believe witchcraft gets easier with time and practice? Yes... and no. Because with time and practice, you come to find deeper things, and bigger truths. It builds upon itself.

100. Do you believe in many gods or one God with many faces? In my belief system, all gods are separate beings, but all a part of the Great Song of Creation that gives life to the universe.

101. Do you eat meat, eggs and dairy? I do! No restrictive diets here.

102. What is your favorite color and why? I can’t truthfully pick one. I’m fond of burgundy lately.

103. What is the one question you get asked most by non-practitioners or non-pagans? How do you usually respond? “I really like your necklace; what does that symbol mean?” To which I say “I got it at a renaissance festival; it’s supposed to represent the nine sisters of Morgen LeFay.” which seems to be an acceptable response.

104. Which of your five senses would you say is your strongest? Probably my sight.

105. What is a pagan or witchcraft rule that you preach but don’t practice? “Always cast a circle.” I recommend it for new folks, but I rarely ever actually cast one myself.

#about me #asks #questions #witchy questions

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roses-and-grimoires · 7 years

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Character Study

(Cut for length.)

1. What’s the maximum amount of time your character can sit still with nothing to do?

Idristan likes to think that he wants to settle down somewhere, maybe focus on writing down everything he’s learned about voidsent and voidtouched, and start a very nice garden. But in truth, I don’t think he’s ever really gonna do that. He gets really restless when he has nothing to do. Plus, it doesn’t do his self-destructive habits any good...

2. How easy is it for your character to laugh?

Depends on how you’re going about it. He can appreciate wit and laughing at others. More traditional jokes might not fly as well.

3. How do they put themselves to bed at night (reading, singing, thinking?)

These days? He’s been mainly using a combination of alcohol and potions to more or less pass out. Usually he would read or think for a bit.

4. How easy is it to earn their trust?

Idristan believes in varying degrees of trust. Getting him to trust you completely is hard. He’s been living with some secrets that could get him killed for years, and it’s really hard to get him to open up entirely with anyone because of that--at least, if he gets a choice in the matter.

5. How easy is it to earn their mistrust?

Fairly easily. Again, varying degrees.

6. Do they consider laws flexible, or immovable?

Very flexible. Idristan believes in doing what is right--specifically, what he believes is right. If that means doing things that are illegal in the pursuit of that, then so be it.

7. What triggers nostalgia for them, most often? Do they enjoy that feeling?

Spending time in the Brume. The smell of beef stew. Snow on Starlight. And it’s mixed for him. He enjoyed his childhood, as much as could be expected, but there’s a lot of guilt and regret there now too. He is sorry he couldn’t be there for his sister for all those years or speak to his mother again before she died.

8. What were they told to stop/start doing most often as a child?

To stop getting into fights.

9. Do they swear? Do they remember their first swear word?

Oh, yeah. He mainly sticks to blasphemy, but slips in a bloody, shite, or fuck now and then. All that Limsan influence lately. And yes. If only because his mother came down hard on him for it.

10. What lie do they most frequently remember telling? Does it haunt them?

Honestly, it’s hard for him to keep track. Once you’re gone through a couple of different identities and general lying about your past, it can be hard to keep straight. Perhaps saying he’s fine when he’s really not--and that one has gotten him into trouble before.

11. How do they cope with confusion (seek clarification, pretend they understand, etc)?

He’ll ask for clarification. Often not very nicely, but he’ll ask.

12. How do they deal with an itch found in a place they can’t quite reach?

Grumble and try to ignore it.

13. What color do they think they look best in? Do they actually look best in that color?

Black, of course. And it’s not bad on him, though he can pull off white fairly well too.

14. What animal do they fear most?

Dragons. Certain voidsent.

15. How do they speak? Is what they say usually thought of on the spot, or do they rehearse it in their mind first?

Carefully. He tends to hold back a lot (see lack of trust). Certain topics you practically see his mind working as he judges answers.

16. What makes their stomach turn?

Working with cultists.

17. Are they easily embarrassed?

Yes. He is rather prideful.

18. What embarrasses them?

Weakness. Admitting he made a mistake.

19. What is their favorite number?

20. If they were asked to explain the difference between romantic and platonic or familial love, how would they do so?

“One is about the person you want to spend the rest of your life with and would do anything for.... the other is about your sister.”

21. Why do they get up in the morning?

Because lying around doing nothing is far worse.

22. How does jealousy manifest itself in them (they become possessive, they become aloof, etc)?

He tends to become possessive, and a bit sulky as well.

23. How does envy manifest itself in them (they take what they want, they become resentful, etc)?

Sooo much resentment. So much. He’s far better about it now that’s he’s older, but it flares up every now and then.

24. Is sex something that they’re comfortable speaking about? To whom?

To his partner he’s fine with it. To everyone else, not really. He thinks it’s something that should be kept private. Basically he’s still a bit of a prude--though he’s getting better about it.

25. What are their thoughts on marriage?

He likes the idea. He’s very much a monogamist and a traditional romantic. While he could live happily with a partner without ever making it official, there’s part of him that wants to do the whole ceremony and everything.

26. What is their preferred mode of transportation?

Anything but airships. Seriously. Anything.

27. What causes them to feel dread?

The thought that his secrets might come out. The idea that he might lose himself or hurt someone because of one of them. Inquisitors. Airship travel.

28. Would they prefer a lie over an unpleasant truth?

No.

29. Do they usually live up to their own ideals?

Yes, but he usually doesn’t see it that way himself. His standards for himself are far higher than those he keeps for other people.

30. Who do they most regret meeting?

Uathach, Draidetch, Richaud.

31. Who are they the most glad to have met?

@solennelagarde, of course. And @ser-gemini. And @synn-heolstor and Michaux... not he would ever admit that to either of their faces. And ARK as a whole is slowly getting there.

32. Do they have a go-to story in conversation? Or a joke?

No, he tends to wing it. And since most of his jokes are either at someone’s expense or rather grim and fatalistic, it’s perhaps for the best he doesn’t always start with them.

33. Could they be considered lazy?

Kind of. He gets bored easily, and that tends to result in him slacking off--or trying to pin whatever it is on someone else. If it’s something he actually cares about though? Hello obsession, my name is Idristan.

34. How hard is it for them to shake a sense of guilt?

That’s actually possible? Someone should really tell him; the guy hangs onto things and just beats himself up, sometimes for years. It’s not pretty.

35. How do they treat the things their friends come to them excited about? Are they supportive?

If it’s something that interests him, he’ll share in the excitement, at least to a degree. If not, you’re more likely to get a “yeah, that’s nice” and perhaps an attempt to change the topic.

36. Do they actively seek romance, or do they wait for it to fall into their lap?

He tends to wait for it.

37. Do they have a system for remembering names, long lists of numbers, things that need to go in a certain order (like anagrams, putting things to melodies, etc)?

For names he tries to memorize them along with the face. Or... sometimes tries, if he thinks it’ll actually be worth it. Long lists and numbers I can see him trying to turn into songs, or at least something he can hum.

38. What memory do they revisit the most often?

The happy ones are mainly of his family and the time he spent with Solenne and all of his friends in the last free company he was apart of. He doesn’t really try to dwell on them, especially now.

The unhappy ones... well, those tend to come up in nightmares and certain places. There are reasons he avoids certain places in the Shroud now.

39. How easy is it for them to ignore flaws in other people?

Very, very difficult.

40. How sensitive are they to their own flaws?

Oh, he’s aware of them. He just chooses to ignore them.

41. How do they feel about children?

He likes them. He wants some of his own one day.

42. How badly do they want to reach their end goal?

Extremely. It’s honestly a bit unhealthy.

43. If someone asked them to explain their sexuality, how would they do so?

“I mainly like women. Not that it’s likely any of your concern, because flings don’t really tend to interest me.”

QUESTIONS FOR CREATORS A) Why are you excited about this character?

He’s fun. He’s prickly enough to create conflict, but also has that hidden sense of empathy and concern for others--one that he will vehemently deny if you push him on it. He also has some fairly lofty goals that give him a direction to move in--even if it’s unlikely that he’ll ever achieve a few of them, watching him struggle is entertaining. Plus, he’s got a lot of stuff that he struggles with, so that can come into play--and a few secrets that can be danced around. Basically it’s just easy to throw him into things and see what happens. That and he’s gone through some really interesting growth already, and I’m interested in seeing which direction he moves in now.

B) What inspired you to create them?

Honestly? Two things. Thanks to the MSQ and some Ishgard rp I really started to like the setting and wanted an Ishgardian to play around on. Second, I fell in love with the characters from a podcast--or at least, the idea for one. Basically there was one guy who started out as a psychologist then got dragged into the occult and became a paranormal investigator. So I took the basic idea, twisted it a bit (voidsent hunter instead of investigator), and found a way to make it work with an Ishgardian backstory. He actually ended up pretty different than said character as a result, especially motivation-wise. C) Did you have trouble figuring out where they fit in their own story?

Sometimes. I feel like I’m really not that great at coming up with long-term plots, plus it hasn’t always been easy to find people that he bounces off of well. D) Have they always had the same physical appearance, or have you had to edit how they look?

Pretty much the same. I settled on what he would look like really on once I had an idea what I was working on.

E) Are they someone you would get along with? Would they get along with you?

No, probably not. I mean... the guy’s kind of a jerk. And he’s pretty particular about the people he likes. F) What do you feel when you think of your OC (pride, excitement, frustration, etc)?

Sometimes I just want to facepalm cause he’s a stubborn idiot who doesn’t always think about peoples’ feelings. But I’m proud of all the ways he’s changed too. G) What trait of theirs bothers you the most?

He is really self-destructive. He’s got some bad habits that he is actively not working on, has a bad tendency of pushing people away, and just.... being too prideful and stubborn to admit that he needs help. H) What trait do you admire most?

His stubbornness, ironically. He’s gone through a lot, yet he’s still around and he’s still empathetic to other people. He wants to do some good in the world. He hasn’t let it turn him completely resentful and bitter. I) Do you prefer to keep them in their canon universe?

I usually come up with new characters for new settings. An AU could be interesting though. J) Did you have to manipulate or exclude canon factors to allow them to create their character?

I had to dive really into Ishgard lore to make sure that I was getting everything right (hell, I had to check something fairly recently). So I feel fairly confident his backstory makes sense and fits with what we know. There’s been some other stuff that’s happened to him that’s a bit lore-bendy, and while I feel like I can justify it really well, I acknowledge what it is.

Tagged by: @ser-gemini Tagging: Anyone who wants to. It’s a bit long, so if you feel like it consider yourself tagged!

#ffxiv #balmung #idristan agache #thanks for tagging me

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migook · 7 years

Text

[TEXTBOOK REVIEW] Integrated vs. EWHA

In the 5-ish years I’ve been off and on studying Korean, I’ve largely worked with Talk to Me in Korean, Integrated textbooks, and EWHA textbooks. I’ve never felt the need to venture into other textbook series (though I’ve been peeking through and I guess technically working with another since coming to Korea, but only in a sense of review.) Good textbooks differ for person to person - we all learn in our own styles and need things presented to us in different ways.

This system has been invaluable to me. As a self-studying learner, the kind of textbook you use is really important, because most of us don’t have a teacher to correct us or further explain things, and likewise, many of us don’t have a Korean friend or Korean-speaking friend to assist along the way. I’ve been lucky to have friends to help, but still, the textbook I used was very important for this.

Thus, I have a hopefully detailed and terribly picture heavy review of both Integrated and EWHA textbook series and how they compare to each other or how you as a learner can utilize them together or with other books!

When I got my first textbooks, I’d already taught myself to read and write Hangul and had been working quite a while with Talk to Me in Korean. As a result, I was a bad student and skipped a lot of the stuff at the beginning of the textbook. If you’re a new learner: DON’T DO THIS! There’s a lot of invaluable information, especially in the Integrated series. I’ve brought my beginner book to language exchanges before and have swayed a few people into buying some of the books I use because they found the beginning information alone to be hugely beneficial.

My first textbooks were the Beginner Integrated series. My decisions were based on the fact that I already had friends using these books - it would make it easy for me if I had questions, as they’d already worked with these before - and also the price. At the time I got them, I was able to get both Beginner 1 and 2 for about $35. Unfortunately, that was 5-ish years ago and the price isn’t quite as low and is much more on par with other textbooks.

Please don’t mind how old and beaten up looking it is; this guy and I have been through a LOT together!

This is the stuff I skipped when I first got the book, and frankly, would have been invaluable to my learning. From the way I taught myself to pronounce Hangul, even these days I still have to push myself to differentiate my 으 from 우. But visually seeing how these sounds are formed is really important, especially for beginners. There’s a lot of sounds we as foreigners and especially as beginners struggle to differentiate. When I help at Diana’s classes, I find a lot of people have issues with 어 and 오 - let alone 에 and 애 and further 스 or 쓰. Of course it’s not a foreigner only thing; at the language exchange, while helping Koreans with pronunciation, I’ve found they sometimes hear things that aren’t there or can’t differentiate certain sounds, either. That’s just language. But knowing how to say things not only helps your pronunciation but when you’re talking to someone, watching the way they speak can help you differentiate sounds as yours ears get used to it.

It’s actually quite extensive. Again, if I’d read the beginning, I would have figured out things like resyllablfication - a mouthful that simply means consonants carry over into empty spaces to make pronunciation MUCH easier. Instead, I spent a good while mispronouncing everything and wondering why speaking was so difficult.

Now let’s get into the good stuff!

Integrated is set up into Lessons that are then broken up into 2 conversations/dialogues. After each conversation, you’re given a new word bank, and some new words and expressions in your notes. After that it’s a couple to few pieces of grammar. Sometimes that grammar is a full grammar piece (like a sentence ending), sometimes it’s a particle, sometimes it’s about irregular /ㄹ/ or /ㅡ/ or something.

Typically, integrated is very detailed. There’s usually a lot of notes, examples that show varieties of way of use, and then exercises! I never got a workbook with Integrated so I can’t tell you much about it, but because a. I had no one to check it and b. I have so many exercises in the book, I didn’t regret this. A friend of mine who has used integrated told me that she feels the exercises in the book are sufficient enough because they’re very similar to what you see in the work book anyway.

Let’s have a look!

Look how short these dialogues start out. Ahh, nostalgia~

The word bank is always sorted by word type, which becomes useful when you get further in and realize that sometimes adjectives are conjugated differently from verbs! The New expressions heading usually is followed by really useful stuff that doesn’t always warrant its own grammar lesson but still is relevant to your learning.

Grammar is always introduced first by examples and then explained in the notes. As you can see, Integrated can be very verbose in its explanations. For some people, this is beneficial. Others, not so much. I tend to like to learn my grammar inside and out; I’m not that great at learning by example or inferring reason, so this very verbose manner of explanation is great for me. Also, I have a tendency to overthink things, so when it’s laid out, it helps.

The end of the lesson is always presented with a narration that uses all of the grammar you learned in the past lesson and whatever the lesson’s central theme was (university life, transportation, food, etc.) There’s comprehension questions and activities. But the best part of the end of the lessons is all the stuff they tack on!

Ignore the doodles, pls. And the notes. I was a mess, okay!

The end of the lesson always features some kind of culture lessons where they teach you various matters about life in Korea and Korean society. It also goes further into detail about usage. Language is not a one way kind of thing. The way initially presented in the textbook is not the only way to say or express things. Further, it has more activities that build upon what you’ve done throughout the lesson. See why a workbook is virtually unnecessary?

Importantly, the end of the lesson has conversation translations. As you can see, there’s no answers for the exercises, which could be a make or break thing for people. Having no one to correct it makes it hard to utilize the exercises.

Despite the fact that the book lacks answer keys, I find Integrated has been invaluable to my learning. Admittedly, I may be biased because of the time I’ve spent with these books, and thus I’ve grown fond, but even in retrospect I still feel they were and are incredibly useful.

Integrated textbooks are thicker than my EWHA textbooks - they're roughly the size of 2 EWHA books, which seems to make sense because Integrated has two beginner books and I believe for EWHA, level 1 and 2 are considered beginner and 3 seems to start on an intermediate level. As Integrated books are so big, they’re full of information. FULL! The first beginner book alone presents quite a lot of conversational grammar and vocabulary and beginner 2 (what I would think of as high beginner to myself) further expands on it.

Admittedly I was the most inconsistent studier until I came to Korea, so it’s probably unsurprising that I’ve worked out of these two books for the entirety of the time I’ve been learning. In fact I only JUST made it into my Intermediate books. I have a lot of reasons for that, but the point I’m trying to make is that I’ve spent all these years able to use the grammar and vocabulary from these books, so it’s really quite beneficial in my eyes.

(A comparison, for example, is the book my friend teacher Diana uses. Her lessons follow Beautiful Korean, a book that has 3 books in the beginner series, I believe, and each costs 16,000 won. Considerably cheaper, sure, than Integrated Beginner coming in at 30 a piece. But when you consider again that Integrated is the size of 2 textbooks, the price seems to even out. Further, Through us using Beautiful Korean, most of what we learned was only pronunciation and vocab. Only at the beginning of the 1-1 lessons were introductions and the most basic sentences and structures introduced. The actual act of making sentences and grammar doesn’t show up until 1-2. So further, if you consider comparison, you need all 3 books from the beginner series of Beautiful Korean to possibly probably equate to Beginner 1 and maybe 2? idk I haven’t seen what comes after Beautiful Korean 1-3; it might still be beginner level for all I know! That’s not to put down the Beautiful Korean series at all but as far as values, when you consider all 3 books will cost about 48,000 won, Integrated, to me, seems more valuable. But I digress.)

Integrated Beginner 2 stays much the same and follows this same format. In fact, even in Integrated it does, though notably the conversations grow longer and now after each conversation there’s comprehension questions, which is a welcome addition!

That said, EWHA certainly has it’s merits, and my shallow self will admit the fact that they are ever so pretty certainly endears me towards them - but I promise it goes well beyond shallow reasoning.

EWHA is best paired as a set with it’s companion study guide. As you will see, EWHA does not go as deeply into explanation about things as Integrated - and thus we have the study guide. Sometimes the study guide doesn’t offer a deeper explanation, either; often it’s unnecessary and as I’ve mentioned before, EWHA seems to want you to understand things through context and by gleaning things yourself. The study guide provides more examples, though, in case an explanation isn’t quite enough; you’re supposed to figure out usage and context with those examples. Sometimes it’s great! It depends on how you learn, to be honest. I find I need lots of examples AND lots of explanation, but I’m trying to learn to mine more from examples without being handheld and spoonfed, but like I said - we all learn in different ways.

Much as Integrated does, EWHA has a good introduction to Hangeul in both pronunciation and construction. Though I don’t find it QUITE as indepth as Integrated is, EWHA tends to throw little tips at you as you work through the books that Integrated introduces in the beginning, and really you don’t miss much by getting them later.

So Integrated is set up in lessons with conversations per lesson. EWHA instead gives you two prep lessons which will lead to a conversation practice. And where Integrated introduces one big word bank per conversation, Integrated just throws them all into your prep lesson. Sometimes it’s big, sometimes it’s small. Something useful that I didn’t do but probably should have was going through the entire lesson and write down the vocab or make flashcards if that’s your thing and review them before you get to them that way they have some familiarity to you. Or, on the other hand, you can go through at the end of the lesson and see which words you remember and then play with the ones you don’t. Your call!

The prep lessons build up to a practice conversation! You get a little information about your roleplay characters and what you’re supposed to be talking about. Basically it’s guiding you and nudging you to use the grammar it’s just introduced to create a conversation. It tells you things like “make a greeting and introduce yourself” “ask their nationality” blah blah and you’re supposed to construct the conversation. On the next page they’ve written out the conversation how they want you to follow it, so don’t look! Cover it up as you try to do it so you don’t rely on just reading it. It’s a really beneficial way of learning to make sentences and especially to think outside of the box of what you’re used to!

As you can see on that page, sometimes they throw in pronunciation tips, which I definitely needed when I first started out! I was lucky I started with TTMIK who do a good job of explaining why ~습니다 is pronounced as ~슴니다 but other things I didn’t learn about until later.

They also give you conversational tips! Obviously you might not be able to figure out the conversation fully on your own, but the book has extras for you. It’s good to try your best and then to check the dialogue and see how or why they came up with what they did. I really like this part, because sometimes I get fixated on one way to say or express something, but as with all languages, there’s many ways to say things! I don’t know why I become so uncreative when I’m trying to construct things in Korean; I guess a sense of unfamiliarity where with English I know exactly how to throw things together. So these are parts are VERY IMPORTANT in really expanding your manner of speech and understanding!

As you can see, it continues this way, following this sort of pattern of prep lessons leading up to a conversation practice. Occasionally, EWHA will throw in a page with images and what they are in Korean. Obviously, you’re supposed to figure out what they are visually but I’ll confess sometimes I’ve had issues with that, but don’t worry; the study guide has you covered! We’ll get to that soon, I promise.

Another example of the conversation practice. Note there’s even MORE vocab at the bottom!

Towards the end of the lesson, there’s always an audio piece that you listen to and answer comprehension questions over and you get MORE fun little expressions like above, except these you’ll have to find in your study guide. It’s really important you get these as a set because if you don’t, you’re lacking an entire half of your EWHA experience - and the study guide just makes it better for self-learners.

Like the textbook, it also opens with some pronunciation and intro to Hangeul type things. You really aren’t lacking for this kind of stuff, when it comes to these books! It’s also why I always recommend these to beginners! While I am fortunate to currently be in Korea where I can practice and have people help correct me, when I started out self-learning there was no one to do that and I was going off of (terrible) romantization to figure out how to say things. It was bad!

At the end of every lesson, the study guide has a vocabulary check and this! Is! One of my favorite! Things about the study guides!!!!! In the series 1 books it’s very often just words but as you get into series 2, you get phrases and the such which is useful because, again, sometimes I just forget how to construct things I know and it’s nice to see it used in ways that makes you go “ahhh” and helps you make better use.

The study guide always shows which pages of the textbook it corresponds to. You can see how there’s a tiny bit of extra information in here; there’s not a lot at this point, because these things don’t necessarily need as much explanation - but there’s plenty of sample sentences! Read the sample sentences! If you’re having a hard time understanding something, reading the samples might be able to help you glean what you’re supposed to be understanding.

As you can see, there’s also an answer key to the activities in the book, which is really great if you don’t have anyone to check your work!

Remember those little expressions in the conversation practice pages? The study guide goes further into depth on them and helping you with your usage. This is the second best part of the study guide! It’s just really full of extras to help you out!

You can also find transcripts for the audio dialogues in here!

Just a few more samples!

Both sets are really wonderful for learning Korean. I maintain that the “best” one is whichever adheres best to your learning style. If you, like me, require lots of explanation, then Integrated might be best for you. It’s extra full of activities which really negates the need for a workbook. Unfortunately, you need someone to check your work, because while there’s translations for dialogue, there’s no answer key for your activities. EWHA is great for a self-studier in the manner that they DO provide not only transcripts/dialogue translations but also answer keys. Someone who doesn’t necessarily need things explicitly laid out can benefit from EWHA and to be honest, it could probably help people learn TO take meaning through context. Again, if you go with EWHA, you really need the Study Guides as well for the entire experience.

Some things: re EWHA. As you can see above, in books 1-1 and 1-2, your instructions and lesson introductions are written in both English and Korean. By series 2, the English there disappears. You still have English explanations and vocab translations, but your activity instructions and lesson intros are entirely Korean. By series 3, it’s FULL Korean. Your study guide still has English!!!! But your books? Korean! Even the vocab!!!!! I’ll try to remember to add pics of that later. But the idea is, of course, that you’ll learn as you go and eventually you won’t need it entirely written in English. I’m certainly not at that point yet, but I hope I’ll be able to get there soon!

Obviously, textbooks don’t come very cheap, so if you have to choose between the two sets, weigh your pros and cons. That said, the way I use them typically is that Integrated gets prioritized and then when I need a break or a review, I use EWHA. I used to review through Integrated but I find I’m not really taking in anything new when I’m just going over something I remember. By using both sets, I get different vocab sets, different situations, different kinds of usages of the grammar I’m learning. Both introduce things at different times. I’ve learned some things from EWHA that hadn’t been introduced to me at the time in Integrated where sometimes Integrated introduced to me things EWHA wouldn’t for a LONG time get to. But they both give me unique, fresh takes on things I’m learning. I’ve bought my books over a long period of time, so if you DO want to play with both, I’d say start with one set and later on down the line, add the other, so you can spread out the purchases.

Regardless, even if you can only choose one, I think they both have very strong merits as learning tools - and there’s always additional (free) options to help pad out your learning. I still make use of Talk to Me in Korean when I need to review something or I want another take on it or I need another explanation. When I REALLY want to get in-depth with things, I hit up How to Study Korean, where things are really broken down and in-detail explained. Don’t rely on just one study option. If you choose to use a textbook series, pad it out with the free online resources as well! The more ways you can see things used, the better it will stick with you!

I hope this is able to help a little! If you have questions, feel free to ask me! I can try to get some simple comparisons later of Integrated Intermediate level and EWHA series 3 books, and eventually I’ll do some write ups about the TTMIK books I own and the ways I find them useful!

#Korean #EWHA #Integrated Korean #Korean textbooks #langblr #textbook review

11 notes · View notes

pieces-falling-from-me · 7 years

Note

all of them

Woman!• 1. List 5 things you want to do before the year ends. --- Get another piercing, successfully bake banana bread, read three more books...ummm and I’m not sure what else. The year is almost up!• • 2. What color are your pants? --- Dark destroyed jeans• • 3. Favorite motivational quote. --- “Have some fire. Be unstoppable. Be better than everyone else here and don’t give a damn what anybody else thinks.” (Cristina Yang)• • 4. When was the last time you drank coffee? --- Around 3pm today• • 5. What was the last thing you ate? -- A maple pumpkin muffin!• • 6. Favorite animal. --- Polar bears• • 7. Favorite song. -- Vienna, by Billy Joel or Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper• • 8. Last movie you watched? --- Wonder Woman• • 9. Any turn ons? --- Lots ;)...soft hair, people who smell good, ear kisses, nice collarbones, creative talent, brown eyes• • 10. Any turn offs? --- Also lots. Rudeness, cockiness, patriarchal bullshit, men who have chest hair• • 11. List 4 big words off of the top of your head. --- triskaidekophobia, ubiquitous, penultimate, pamplemousse • • 12. What are some meaningful movies? --- Music of the Heart, The Freedom Writers, Kedi• • 13. 2 most important people in your life right now? -- My wife and daughter :)• • 14. What are 3 things you want to do before the month ends? --- Start Christmas shopping, go hiking before it snows, pay bills lol• • 15. When was the last time you read a good book? --- Just finished one! I’m always reading.• • 16. How long do you study for usually, if you study? --- I was the worst at studying. Always super last minute.• • 17. Do you have any nicknames? -- A couple• • 18. Favorite kind of perfume? (fruity, alluring, etc.) --- Slightly sweet, slightly vanilla-y, slightly smoky• • 19. Do you have any international friends / friends who live out of state? --- Lots!• • 20. What is something unique that you do every single day? --- Umm...I honestly have no idea. • • 21. If there was a movie based on your life, what would it be called? --- “Gay Chaos”• • 22. When was the last time you bought a gift for someone? --- Just this weekend! I bought my wife a necklace. I mean, she picked it out, but it still counts.• • 23. Are you a shopaholic? --- I don’t think so. I do love shopping though when the mood strikes.• • 24. What are some songs that always make you feel better? -- Vienna, by Billy Joel, Time After Time, by Cyndi Lauper, and anything by the Barenaked Ladies• • 25. List 3 activities that you can only enjoy by yourself. --- I really can’t think of any. I pretty much like doing anything with my wife or kid :)• • 26. If you could live in any biome (and survive) which biome would you live in? --- Forest, or Tundra• • 27. How do you like being roused in the morning? --- ...let’s just say my FAVOURITE way is rated R ;)• • 28. How was your day? What did you do? --- It was ok! I went grocery shopping, baked some muffins, and did some casual job hunting while my daughter was at preschool• • 29. What did your last text message say? --- “I’ll eat your muffin.”• • 30. Do you respond to texts quickly? --- Usually right away, unless I literally can’t• • 31. Who was the last person you called? --- My wife• • 32. List 5 things that are on your wish list. --- Like, anything?? World peace, the end of climate change, gun control in America, a food processor, and a private jet• • 33. If you were famous, what do you think you would be famous for? --- Something music-related• • 34. Winter or summer? -- AUTUMN• • 35. What is a quality that all people should have? --- Kindness• • 36. If you could have a large collection of one item, what would that item be? --- Hmm....seaglass• • 37. What have you been thinking about lately? --- Whether or not I want to go back to work.• • 38. What is the secret to a happy life? --- Loving yourself• • 39. What are some phrases you say often? --- “That’s the worst.”, “For real.”• • 40. Favorite food? --- IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE! Lasagna and pie are right up there, though.• • 41. List 3 wishes. -- Didn’t I already do this?• • 42. What are some of your greatest fears? --- My loved ones getting sick or dying, fire, President Trump• • 43. What is the last thing you downloaded onto your computer? --- Season 2 of Wynonna Earp• • 44. Most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen (in real life)? --- She’s sitting right beside me.• • 45. Spicy food:Like or dislike? --- LOVE• • 46. Scary movies:Like or dislike? --- If I’m in the right mood.• • 47. Do you like to travel? --- Love it.• • 48. Any regrets? --- Not really, no. There’s no point in regrets.• • 49. Do you like rain? --- One of my fave things ever.• • 50. What do you spend most of your money on? --- Eating out, probably• • 51. Would you rather visit the past or the future? --- Hmmm. Past.• • 52. Favorite clothing store? --- Simon’s, Anthropologie, Old Navy/Gap, and a local store called Belle et Rebelle• • 53. What is the best advice you can give to those who are feeling down? --- It gets better. Truly.• • 54. How often do you think about your future? Does it scare you? --- All the time. It’s terrifying.• • 55. What angers you the most? --- Currently? The lack of gun control in America. And I’m not even American.• • 56. When was the last time you got majorly angry? --- See above.• • 57. When was the last time you got really sad? --- Also see above.• • 58. Are you good at lying? --- Haha no• • 59. What foreign language would you like to learn? --- I’m trying to learn Italian, currently! I’d also love to learn Spanish.• • 60. How many languages can you speak and what are they? --- English, French, and VERY basic Italian.• • 61. How often do you go to parties? If you don’t, what do you do instead? --- Not too much anymore, but usually once a month some friend has a gathering. Otherwise I mostly stay home, or go out with the wife or with the wife and kid.• • 62. What books do you plan to read this year? --- I never really plan ahead, I just pick up whatever seems interesting at the time.• • 63. Do you have breakfast every morning? --- Most mornings• • 64. Tell us a secret. --- Calzona will rise. Shh.• • 65. How many concerts have you been to? --- Too many to count• • 66. Last hug? --- Earlier this afternoon• • 67. Who knows you better than anyone else? --- My wife, hands down. Also my twin.• • 68. Baths or showers? --- Both! Showers for actual cleaning, baths for just...soaking.• • 69. Do you think you’re ambitious? --- Somewhat.• • 70. What song is stuck in your head? --- Taylor Swift’s new song, which I actually hate.• • 71. Countries you’ve visited? --- A lot• • 72. What do you most value in your friends? --- Their kindness and sense of humour• • 73. What helps you to sleep better? --- Valerian tea.• • 74. What is the most money you have ever held in your hand? --- Uhhh in my hand?? About 5 grand, I think.• • 75. What makes you nervous? --- Sharing my writing, making new friends• • 76. What is the best advice you’ve ever been given? --- “Being nervous is the same physical reaction as being excited. So you’re not nervous -- you’re excited.”• • 77. Is it easier to forgive or forget? --- Forgive• • 78. First mobile phone? --- First I ever bought myself that was truly mine? A little Motorola candy bar phone. It had a colour screen!• • 79. Strangest dream? --- I usually don’t remember them, actually!• • 80. Best dream? --- Probably something sexy...haha• • 81. Who is the smartest person you know? --- My wife• • 82. Who is the prettiest person on tumblr? --- @myfaerytale ;)• • 83. Do you miss anyone right now? --- Yeah• • 84. Who do you love? Why? --- I love my wife and daughter more than anything in this world.• • 85. Do you like sharing? --- Depends what I’m sharing ;)• • 86. What was the last picture you took with your phone? --- My daughter this afternoon with her hands full of pumpkin muffin dough• • 87. Is there a reason behind everything that happens? --- Yes, I think so• • 88. Favorite genre of music? --- Pretty much everything, honestly• • 89. If you had one word to describe yourself, what would it be? --- Laid-back• • 90. Describe your life in 5 words. --- Laid-back, loving, exciting, fun, happy• • 91. Describe the world in 4 words. --- Chaotic. That’s really the only word.• • 92. Craziest thing you’ve ever done? --- Ummm….a naked polar bear dip?• • 93. First three songs in your favorite playlist? --- I don’t have any premade playlists!• • 94. Are you more creative or logical? --- Creative• • 95. Would you rather lie or hurt someone with the truth? --- Truth• • 96. What are you most proud of? --- I’m raising a pretty great kid• • 97. What personality trait do you admire in other people? --- Kindness, laughter• • 98. When you imagine yourself as really, really relaxed and happy, what are you doing? --- Laying in the sun reading• • 99. How do you usually start a conversation? --- Hi?• • 100. What is the best news you could hear right now? --- That Trump and the entire Republican Party are gone.

5 notes · View notes

x-oc-blog-x · 5 years

Text

Inside Avas’ OCs

I got a questionnaire from mibba.com for my OCs

Oliver Asman

Basic

1. What is your full birth name? Oliver Lee Asman

2. Any nicknames? Oli

3. When were you born/how old are you? June 5. I’m 19

4. If immortal or slow-ageing, what is your apparent age? I’m human soo.

5. Where were you born?

The United States

6. Who were your parents? Cassie and Daniel Asman

7. Do you have any siblings? Yeah. He is 5. His name is Joel.

8. Where do you live now? At jacks house in the US

9. Who do you live with? Jackson Canmore and his mom.

10. Are you right or left-handed?

Left

11. What words/phrases do you regularly use? I definitely say sorry a lot.

12. Name some habits or strange quirks you have? I chew on hoodie strings. And my shirt sometimes. I know it’s gross

Appearance

13. Height: 5’ 7”

14. Weight: 147 pounds

15. Skin Tone: I’m tan

16. Body Shape: normal? I don’t know.

17. Hair: blonde quiff

18. Eyes: blue

19. Face Shape:what does this even mean?

20. Everyday Dress Style:I like to wear black jeans and a t shirt

21. Formal Dress Style:slacks and dress shirt.

22. Any Jewelry? A few bracelets just to fidget with really.

23. Any Scars? Just a few. Ive got some on my thigh. I don’t want to talk about it.

24. Tattoos? No.

Growing Up

25. How would you describe your childhood in general? It was okay. It could have been better. I was kicked out though. There was that.

26. What is your earliest memory?

My mom and dad arguing over money. He hit her.

27. How much schooling have you had? I graduated

28. Did you enjoy school?

Yeah. I got to spend time with friends. And jack

29. Where did you learn most of your skills/abilities?

School

30. Any role models while growing up? Not really until middle school. I really liked the flash. Jack made me watch it.

31. What did you want to be when you grew up?

I actually wanted to be a dinosaur. Then I wanted to be a teacher

32. What was your favourite thing to do? Play with dinosaur toys with jack. And when I grew up a bit I liked to write.

33. Were you popular?

34. Who were your friends?

Jack, Misha, Collin, Rex, Alex, Loni

35. When and who was your first kiss?

My first kiss was a girl named Maddie in 6th grade

Past Influences

36. What do you consider the most important event of your life so far? Moving in with jack when I got kicked out. That really influenced our friendship and helped us get together. And that was life changing.

37. Who has had the most influence on you? Jack.

38. What do you consider is your greatest achievement? Healing from being kicked out and not trying to reach out to my toxic family.

39. What is your greatest regret? Missing so many opportunities because of insecurity.

40. What is the most evil thing you have ever done? I have no idea. I try not to do bad things.

41. Do you have a criminal record of any kind? No

42. When was the time you were the most frightened? When I was kicked out. I was so scared. My dad had me by the hair and was dragging and throwing me.

43. The most embarrassing moment of your life so far? I accidentally submitted one of my writings for an assignment instead of the actual assignment. My teacher was really confused.

44. If you could change one thing from your past, what would it be and why? As much as I loved living with Jack and his mom, I wish I wouldn’t have come out to them. Maybe they would still talk to me.

45. What is your best memory? My first kiss. Jack and I were in the park. And without me even telling him I liked him, we both just kinda kissed.

46. What is your worst memory? Other than being kicked out, Being beat up in the bookstore. I didn’t do anything to them, but because I was holding hands with jack, they put put me in the hospital.

Beliefs and Opinions

47. Are you more optimistic or pessimistic? I try to be an optimist.

48. What is your greatest fear?

Being alone

49. What are your religious views?

I believe in the Christian god. But I never go to church or anything.

50. Political views?

Not conservative.

51. Views on Sex?

Sex is a cool thing. Everyone is different with it, but it’s nice. I like it. I want to go more into detail but I really shouldn’t.

52. In your own opinion, what is the most evil thing someone could do?

Kick out their child for being lgbt+

53. Do you believe in Soul Mates/True love? I do.

54. What do you base success on?

Personal Achievements. I’m successful for finding a healthy relationship and getting out of a toxic situation. Other people are successful for getting past their bad pasts.

55. How honest are you about your thoughts and feelings with yourself?

I try to push my feelings away. I don’t like negative emotions.

56. How honest are you about your thoughts and feelings with others?

I usually tell jack how I feel if I’m depressed because he likes to help.

57. Do you have any biases or prejudices?

Yes.

58. Is there anything you would absolutely refuse to do under any circumstances?

I’m sure there is. But I don’t know what they would be

59. Why would you refuse?

N/a

60. Who or what, if anything, would you die for?

I’d die for jack and his family. I’d die for my friends. Id die for the kids like me who don’t have anyone to go to because they were abandoned for who they are.

61. What do you feel the most passionate about?

Jack.

62. What one act are you most proud of?

Healing from bad things.

63. What one act are you most ashamed of?

Coming out to my parents.

64. Are you a leader or follower?

Follower

Relationships

65. In general, how do you treat people you don’t know well? I try to be nice to everyone.

66. How do you treat people you do know?

With respect.

67. Who do you respect the most and why?

Jack. He is a nice human who has been through bad days. And he is still the best and nicest person I know.

68. Who are your friends?

Misha, collin, Jack, Loni, Alex, and Rex.

69. Who is your best friend?

Jack

70. Ever been in love?

Obviously.

71. Who do you consider family?

Jack, Misha, Collin, Ms. Canmore

72. How close are you to your family?

I don’t talk to them. At all.

73. Who do you turn to in desperate times and why?

Jack. He has always been there for me.

74. Who do you trust to protect you and why? No one should have to protect me. But in the times that I needed it, Jack. Sorry if I keep saying his name for everything. He is everything to me.

75. Who do you despise the most and why?

My dad. He took me by my hair and threw me from our house because of my sexuality.

76. Do you tend to argue or avoid conflict? Avoid. My anxiety doesn’t like to fight.

77. Do you care what others think of you?

Yes.

Sex and Intimacy

78. Do you consider yourself straight, gay, bi, trans or something else?

Pansexual.

79. Do you have a significant other?

Yes.

80. Describe them: kind, smart, sweet, supportive, loving, and everything someone could want.

81. What is the perfect romantic date?

Going to the park and having lunch.

82. Best sexual partner?

Jack is the best. But he is the only person I’ve had sex with.

83. Worst sexual partner?

No one. Jack is the only person I’ve had sex with.

84. Worst thing you’ve done to someone you love?

I don’t know.

Likes and Dislikes

85. What is/are your favourite hobbies/pastimes?

I like to watch tv. And write.

86. What is your most prized possession?

The bracelet jack gave me.

87. Favourite colour?

Green

88. Favourite food?

Pizza

89. Favourite movie? Spider-Man: far from home

90. Favourite TV show?

Glee

91. What, if anything, do you like to read?

I like poems. Rupi Karar especially

92. What style of music do you like?

I like all music. Except country.

93. What is your idea of good entertainment? Books, tv, plays, etc.

94. Do you smoke?

No. It’s gross

95. Drink?

I don’t unless someone offers at like a party or something.

96. Drugs?

Nah.

97. Typical Friday night?

Cuddles with jack.

98. What would be the perfect gift for you?

Roses.

99. Rain or Sun and why? Rain. I like to feel the rain.

100. Day or Night and why?

Day. I like the sunrises and the sense of everyone having something to do in the light.

101. What makes you laugh?

Puns. Jokes.

102. What shocks/offends you?

Anti-lgbt people. People who deny human rights to others.

103. How do you deal with stress? I usually break down and cry.

104. Are you spontaneous, or do you feel you always need a plan?

I prefer plans to ease my anxiety.

105. Any pet peeves?

Nah.

Occupation/Study

106. Do you have a job or are you studying? I stay at home. I don’t do much. I sometime write for commission money.

107. If so, what is it/what course?

Writing.

108. Do you like it?

Yeah.

109. If studying/not working, where does your money come from? It doesn’t really.

110. What is your boss/teacher(s)/agent/publisher ect like? I am my boss that’s pretty cool.

111. What are your co-workers/other students like? Nope.

112. Do you get along with them? Nope.

113. What is something you had to learn that you hated?

Semicolons

114. Do you tend to save or spend your money?

Save

Misc.

115. Describe the routine of a normal day for you:

Wake up. Cuddle. Sometimes work. Eat. Cuddle. Blah blah.

116. What is your greatest strength?

Being able to pick myself up when I’m down

117. Greatest weakness?

Being so emotional

118. If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be?

I would want to look better. I think I could improve my face.

119. Introvert or Extrovert?

Introvert

120. Organised or messy?

Organized.

121. Three things you’re good at:

Writing, overthinking, and being a friend.

122. Three things you’re bad at:

Rationalizing, talking to strangers, and being alone

123. Do you like yourself?

Kinda

124. What is your life goal?

To be fully happy with who I am.

125. Where do you see yourself in five years?

Hopefully I’m married to jack. Maybe having a baby.

126. If you could choose, how would you want to die? With jack by my side. I don’t want to be alone.

127. Three things you would do with 24 hours left to live? Talk to my family and explain to them some things, tell Joel how important he is to the world, and to have some alone time with jack.

128. What is one thing you’d like to be remembered for after your death? Being a good person

129. Three words to describe your personality?

Awkward, caring, and nice.

130. Three words others use to describe your personality?

Awkward, horny, and fun😂

0 notes

captainlenfan · 5 years

Photo

New Post has been published on http://websiteshop.network/episode-437-qa-with-robb-and-nicki-30/

Episode 437 – Q&A with Robb and Nicki #30

http://robbwolf.com/2019/07/26/episode-437-qa-with-robb-and-nicki-30/

We’re at it again with Episode 437, Q&A #30!

Submit your own questions for the podcast at: https://robbwolf.com/contact/submit-a-question-for-the-podcast/

If you want to see the video for this podcast, be sure to check out our YouTube channel.

Show Notes:

1. Fitbit Sleep Tracking [1:35]

Jay says:

G’Day Robb, love your work. I took a break from your podcast to learn computer programming and am now back because I’m stressed and my desk bound body is broken. Glad to be back and see you’ve figured out your keto problems when bonking during class. I’ve signed up to your keto master class so fingers crossed.

I have a somewhat basic question about sleep.

My Fitbit says I slept 7 hours with 1 hour awake. I don’t remember waking and there are up to 30 a night of these tiny ‘awake’ periods. I do sometimes toss and turn to get into comfortable positions. My partner says I’m asleep within minutes of hitting the pillow. So I think I’m sleeping ok.

Should I think about this as 8 hours sleep or 7? I tend to wake up energised when my Fitbit says 6hrs 30 mins + 1 hour awake…. So thinking this is equivalent to standard 7-8 hours per night. When I push for Fitbit to say 8 hours then I’m very lethargic when I wake. But it’s probably then like 9 hours which could be ‘over sleeping’ for me.

Anyway, love the work you two are doing. I miss the Q&As with Greg but love the new format.

Anyway, fangirling from Australia. My question can probably be answered by Google but I’m sure you’ll be able to cut through the interjunks.

All the best – Jay

2. Palate Fatigue & Food Burnout [8:11]

Maria says:

Hi, Robb and Nikki, I was wondering if you can address palate fatigue. For some reason, I tend to be the kind of person that needs to have a lot of something and then don’t want it anymore and have to switch. Before, I was into avocados and sardines, all the time, and now it is eggs and bacon. It is almost as if my body is asking for these foods at certain times. Thank you!

3. Protein Toxicity and the Carnivore Diet [12:22]

Jesse says:

Hey Robb,

In WTE you briefly mention (p. 27) that humans cannot consume more than 35% of their calories from protein before suffering from protein toxicity. The carnivore diet has recently gotten some publicity and seems to have some anecdotal success for folks with stubborn autoimmunity issues. Do you think following a carnivorous diet carries a high risk of suffering from protein toxicity? And would we be able to look for evidence of protein toxicity in kidney function testing?

Best,

Jesse

4. Waking Up From Hunger While In Ketosis [17:55]

Justin says:

Dear Robb,

I’m a huge fan of the pod and your work.

For the past two months, I’ve been following a keto eating plan (I weigh all food and track macros – I’m usually hitting 40g net carbs, 90-100g protein, and somewhere between 235g-270g fat, for a total of roughly 3,000-3,500 calories per day). I’m a 30 y/o male, 5’9. I usually eat 3-4 meals/day with no snacks. I currently weigh 156lb and am about 16% body fat (I did a BodPod when I was a few pounds lighter and was at 14.5%). In terms of exercise, I usually go to the gym 3x/week and do some combination of squats, deadlifts, press, and bench press. As an example of where I’m currently at with strength, I do 4 sets of 5 repetitions (2 min rest periods) 205 pounds on squats.

My question is this: when I try to cut calories down by 300-500 (I’d like to get to 12% body fat), I wake up in the middle of the night hungry. I feel like I keep hearing on various podcasts and books that I read that in a state of keto, hunger should be significantly blunted and this shouldn’t really be an issue. But I feel like if I don’t go to sleep pretty full, I wake up in the middle of the night. I know sleep is critically important, so this seems like a problem. If I eat enough to sleep through the night, I can maintain the same weight but really struggle to lose weight. I’ve done self-experiments to make sure I’m not waking up due to stress, noise, etc., and have isolated that my sleep is almost completely correlated with my hunger levels. I wanted to ask for your guidance because I imagine other people might struggle with a similar issue – I know many people who do well with hunger during the day, but not so well at night. Some things I’ve wondered about is if I’m overtraining or if there’s some sort of other physiological issue I need to attend to. Maybe I’m not understanding keto properly, but I feel like with my macro breakdown I should be able to comfortably go 12-16 hours without eating? Or, is the ability to go prolonged periods without food less about eating and more about individual differences?

Thanks for all of the amazing work that you do.

Justin

5. Fasting For Skinny Dudes [23:50]

Brett says:

Hi. Robb and Nicki…

Fasting for overweight or normal weight people has been well covered. Is there any benefit to underweight guys fasting in an effort to add mass? I’m 6’3” and 165lbs, 37 years old. I can eat whatever I want in whatever quantities I want and my weight never changes. I would like to be heavier. I’ve tried weight programs and I tone up ok but it’s rare to add more than 5lbs. The minute I stop the program I’m instantly back to 165. Everything else you always talk about like diet, sleep, stress is already dialed in

Where you can find us:

Submit questions for the podcast: https://robbwolf.com/contact/submit-a-question-for-the-podcast/

Transcript:

Download a copy of the transcript here (PDF)

Robb: Well, howdy, wife, how are you?

Nicki: I’m great. How are you?

Robb: Good. It’s a quiet house.

Nicki: It is. The kids are swimming.

Robb: The dog is-

Nicki: The dog-

Robb: At grandpa’s house.

Nicki: At grandpa’s.

Robb: Nice.

Nicki: We’re alone.

Robb: Man, we’re home alone, and we’re podcasting instead of doing naughty things. Geez. What’s up with us? Anything new or … This may be the last podcast we do from Reno?

Nicki: I think we’re going to try to get another-

Robb: Might sneak in one more?

Nicki: One or two, yeah.

Robb: Okay, oh yeah. Okay.

Nicki: Yes.

Robb: Okay.

Nicki: Okay.

Robb: All righty. So, anything else you want to update people on, or we just jump right in to …

Nicki: I think we’re jumping in.

Robb: The good stuff, okay.

Nicki: Yeah, yeah. Let’s see. We have a question on Fitbit sleep tracking from Jay. He says, “G’day, Rob. G’day, G’day, Rob, love your work. I took a break from your podcast to learn computer programming and am now back because I’m stressed and my desk bound body is broken. Glad to be back and see you figured out your Keto problems when bonking during class. I’ve signed up to your Keto master class, so fingers crossed.”

Nicki: That sentence didn’t really quite make sense to me.

Robb: He’s Australian, I mean English is a second language so yeah.

Nicki: “I have a somewhat basic question about sleep. My Fitbit says I slept seven hours with one hour awake. I don’t remember waking and there are up 30 a night of these tiny awake periods. I do sometimes toss and turn to get into comfortable positions. My partner says I’m asleep within minutes of hitting the pillow, so I think I’m sleeping okay. Should I think about this as eight hours of sleep or seven? I tend to wake up energized when my Fitbit says six hours and thirty minutes plus one hour awake. So, thinking this is equivalent to a standard seven to eight hours per night.

Nicki: When I push for Fitbit to say eight hours then I’m very lethargic when I wake but it’s probably then like nine hours, which could be oversleeping for me. Anyway, love the work you two are doing and miss the Q&A’s with Greg.” I miss Greg too.

Robb: We need to spend more time with Greg.

Nicki: We do.

Robb: We should just have a Greg guest retrospective-

Nicki: We should.

Robb: Just get him on the show, Q&A fired at Greg and just shoot the breeze.

Nicki: We should.

Robb: Yeah.

Nicki: Let’s definitely do that.

Robb: Yeah.

Nicki: Okay, “But love the new format. Anyway, fangirling from Australia. My question can probably be answered by Google, but I’m sure you’ll be able to cut through the inter-junks. All the best, Jay.”

Robb: Well, Google might have banned the information at this point. You never really know, but you know, this is interesting stuff, and I’ve used a number of wearables like Oura Ring, Fitbit. I dig all of them. All of them are really cool and at the end of the day, all of them made me a little bit crazy and I ended up discontinuing using them.

Robb: And, one of the things that made me the craziest was the sleep piece because it just didn’t really matter what else in the rest of my life that I did, it always said that my sleep was kind of marginal, my HRV was kind of like, “Ah, you’re kind of ready but not really ready.” I had a real problem with sleep latency because I’ll get in bed and read and it would-

Nicki: Yeah, it was like it was tracking, it was saying that you had a …

Robb: Yeah, difficulty falling asleep and so I would take-

Nicki: But you were awake reading.

Robb: Right. Right, so I’ve just found some challenges with this stuff and I think this is where … And, Jay lays it out pretty well. If you’re feeling good, you know, I think that these wearables are really beneficial for establishing a baseline, and then if something changes, good or bad, then we can kind of look at that as a little bit of a compass guidepost, but at some point it’s almost like you’re drowning in information and I don’t know that it’s doing you more good, because it just kind of is what it is.

Nicki: And, Tyler Cartwright shared an article with us about some sort of study that was done where people who are tracking sleep, I don’t remember if it mentioned the specific device, but there’s like a placebo effect. So, if you wake and your thing says that you’ve slept like crap then people tended to feel …

Robb: Worse.

Nicki: Worse.

Robb: Yeah.

Nicki: Even if-

Robb: I remember that.

Nicki: And, so it was basically saying because some of this technology is not as refined or as … If it’s not actually reporting accurately, it could be causing you to feel worse even though maybe you slept fine.

Robb: Just fine, yeah. That’s what the researchers did is they were doing an actual sleep study, which is much more involved. And so, they would actually send them sometimes false information on the day when they … And then, conversely, on days when they actually kind of slept like shit, they would say, “You’re ready to go, Tiger.” And the person was like, “Okay, I’m ready to go.” You know?

Robb: And, so, this is where some of this stuff, it’s just … We’re kind of drowning in information, and I think to some degree just waking up and looking around and like, “Ah, how do I feel today?” And you go poo and it’s like, “Oh, that was formed and I didn’t need like an armload of toilet paper.”

Robb: Like, these kind of pretty objective metrics of just feeling are rather powerful. It’s reminiscent, it’s an old book at this point, but Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. He went into great detail talking about how though even though we’ve increased the information we have, like looking at MRIs and stuff like that, we have all this additional information. And we were just talking to our friend, Dr. Jim Greenwald, the other day who’s a retired orthopedic surgeon. He feels like MRIs have pushed orthopedic surgery backwards and there’s a whole host of reasons why, but the information that one obtains from a really thorough physical, according to Dr. Greenwald, and just listening to the patient, tells you so much about what’s going on and like, is surgery really an option, let’s do all this physical therapy and stretching and stuff like that.

Robb: But it’s virtually everything on an MRI that’s like, “Yep, you’ve got some sort of pathology.” You know? Because we just get down so granular, but it’s not actually better informing what we’re doing, and I think that there’s a certain element of this with the wearables scene, which … Well, probably somebody will want to hang me out to dry because these wearable companies make a ton of money and I do think that they have great application. I think that more, if you’re really burning the candle at both ends, like if I had something like this in my 20’s, it would’ve probably been good, because I was trying to murder myself with exercise and short sleep and everything.

Robb: That would have been a really beneficial thing for me, I think, getting that objective feedback of, “Okay, you’ve got three reds in a row, you’ve got to slow down.” But I know that was probably like the longest answer to something that could have been rather concise. Getting back to this, but I think, Jay, I wouldn’t worry what the hours are. I would just, if you enjoy wearing it, use it as a baseline, then that way if anything changes, then you can always refer back to the baseline but then beyond that, how do you look, how do you feel, how do you perform? I think those are really powerful metrics.

Nicki: All right. Our next question is from Maria on pallet fatigue. “Hi Robb and Nicki, I was wondering if you can address pallet fatigue? For some reason I tend to be the kind of person that needs to have a lot of something and then I don’t want it anymore and have to switch. Before, I was in to avocados and sardines all the time and now it is eggs and bacon. It’s almost as if my body is asking for these foods at certain times. Thank you.”

Robb: So, good question. Pallet fatigue is different. This is almost like, it sounds like burning out.

Nicki: Burning out, yeah.

Robb: Out, on stuff, you know.

Nicki: Eating it too much.

Robb: Man I-

Nicki: You did it with sardines.

Robb: I did it with sardines. Man, I used to love sardines and then there was just one day … I think…

Nicki: You were eating them for breakfast, you would have them in your backpack, you’d take them in your office.

Robb: I had sardines. Breakfast and lunch and traveling and everything. I think I got a can that was off one time, and I was kind of sick from it, or my body finally … I need to be hungry to eat sardines at this point, or I need to do magic in dressing them up.

Robb: But pallet fatigue really has to do with the … A meal kind of experience. So, if you’re eating a lot of something, then eventually, even it’s a very good something, you will get bored of it, and this is the sensory specific pallet fatigue.

Nicki: At the one sitting.

Robb: At that one sitting. And this is where if we have food that is wide in variety of textures and flavors and scents and whatnot, then we can override that pallet fatigue signal. Interestingly, we just had a person reach out to me, have not been able to talk to her yet, but she used to work for the biggest food manufacturers around developing seasoning strategies and pallet fatigue bypassing algorithms.

Robb: So, there’s actual computer algorithms for figuring out how to make food more addictive. And this is, not to drag this out into the weeds, but this is some of the stuff that makes me a little crazy with the Layne Norton’s, the Alan Aragon folks. They do some good work, but they will get into a pissing match about this study says that fructose is not a problem.

Robb: It’s like, okay. We have some people out there that are misrepresenting the metabolic consequences of fructose. Check. Great. You guys have set us straight on that. Now, what does this mean and what is the relevance there when we’re talking about people eating processed food? People don’t sit and eat plain fructose. They eat these highly complex, super engineered flavor combinations that no joke … It was fascinating. This email is fascinating. We’re going to have, even though I’m not really doing much in the way of interviews anymore, I’m going to do some interviews in the future, and this gal is going to be one of them, where she’s like, “You were bang on with Wired to Eat. Like, there is a really highly refined understanding, like the Doritos roulette example that I’ve talked about. There’s a super high, refined understanding about how to engineer foods to be hyper-palatable and effectively addictive. And having pissing matches about that. Like, fructose versus this versus that, and ignoring this topic of palate fatigue and how you can bypass that is really missing the boat for people. And man, I don’t know if my salty palmer is kicking in or what.

Robb: That was about as far a field from what Maria had asked. But Maria, again, palate fatigue … This sounds like she’s just experienced some burnout.

Nicki: So, she’s just wondering if she’s just burning out. She’s eating the same thing for too much and …

Robb: Yeah, yeah.

Nicki: And is her body asking for these foods or she’s just …

Robb: I don’t know, man.

Nicki: Reaching a-

Robb: My body would tell me to ask for cookie dough ice cream all the time. So, I don’t know. I don’t know. Maybe. Some of that stuff, it … People are like, “The innate wisdom of the body.” And you know, sometimes it’s like, oh, I just want a piece of fruit. And so, I don’t know. Maybe that’s the innate wisdom of body. But more often than not, it’s kind of like, man that Twix. Or, you know, [inaudible 00:11:22] be pretty amazing. So, I don’t know. I don’t know.

Nicki: Okay.

Robb: But you can absolutely burn yourself out on something.

Nicki: On …

Robb: Yeah, yeah.

Nicki: Too much. All right. Our next question is from Jessie on protein toxicity and the carnivore diet. “Robb, in Wired to Eat, you briefly mention on page 27 that humans can not consume more than 35% of their calories from protein before suffering from protein toxicity. The carnivore diet has recently gotten some publicity, and seems to have some anecdotal success for folks with stubborn autoimmunity issues. Do you think following a carnivorous diet carries a high risk of suffering from protein toxicity, and would we be able to look for evidence of protein toxicity in kidney function testing?”

Robb: So, I’ll answer the last one first. The protein toxicity is not a kidney issue. It’s a liver issue. It’s you need substrates other than protein to deal with the ammonia and nitrogen-based bi-products of protein metabolism. And in general, humans seem to hit about 35, maybe some populations as high as 40% of their total calories can come from protein, and then beyond that, we have rabbit starvation. You were reading a book that was talking about [crosstalk 00:12:40].

Nicki: We called it trout starvation.

Robb: Trout starvation, which I had never heard of.

Nicki: I’m blanking on the book, but yeah.

Robb: Similar deal where people were eating exceptionally lean proteins and ultimately ending up with problems, because they had no other substrates in their … It would be hard as hell to do this, because the experience of protein toxicity is very uncomfortable, and the main desire that you have is to eat something other than protein. The only reason why people get into these scenarios is that they literally have no other options or-

Nicki: In the wilderness.

Robb: Yeah, yeah. And-

Nicki: And isn’t it because those types of things like rabbits and trout are very-

Robb: Very lean.

Nicki: Lean proteins.

Robb: Yeah, yeah. And so, even if you were to eat something like rabbit or trout, that’s why you eat the brains and the innards, and you know, you’re trying to just get every little bit of fat out of them, and what not. And so, I’m a fan of the carnivore diet. I don’t think it’s the first place for everybody to start, but man. The results that people are getting in this kind of autoimmune scene are really impressive. And so, I’m optimistic about where this will go. I would actually not be surprised at all if some iteration of a carnivore intervention ends up proving to be more efficacious than autoimmune paleo, and I’m the person who came up with the term autoimmune paleo. I’m the first person to write about it, publish it in a book, and really coin the term.

Robb: So, you know, as much as AIP has helped people, I would not be surprised if carnivore ends up befitting more people when it’s all said and done, for a whole host of reasons. But someone would just need to be in very difficult situation to induce a state of protein toxicity.

Nicki: Well, because people on the carnivore diet are eating rib eyes, and they have lots of fat, and-

Robb: That-

Nicki: Other cuts of meat that there’s a significant amount of fat in there.

Robb: Yeah, yeah. Or … And or they’re adding some additional fat to it, and stuff like that, so yeah.

Nicki: Okay.

Robb: Yeah, yeah.

Nicki: So, because of that, they’re not hitting this-

Robb: They’re … When you do kind of a breakdown, usually people are right at 30 to 35% of calories from protein, yeah. And this is one of the interesting things, like the Inuit, some of their gene alterations. Like, they don’t really generally enter ketosis. They seem to more directly mobilize fatty acids. But it’s an interesting adaptation, even though the Inuit are held us as an example of ketogenic culture. Biology decided that it was more efficacious, more survival advantage to create these gene alterations that there’s actually a very high infant mortality rate from low blood sugar. You know, in that very early period right after birth, which most babies are in ketosis, but different arctic-based populations may not even be able to enter that. But the two adaptations that they seem to be better at, their protein threshold may be as high as like 40 to 45%. So, there may be a couple of percentage points higher on the ability to handle protein.

Robb: And then also, in lieu of producing ketone bodies, they’re better at direct mobilization of fatty acids for energy. So, it’s an interesting adaption. Even Loren Cordain’s early work kind of suggested that human … Maybe the default mode for humans is kind of bumping up against that protein threshold consistently. And it’s just because there’s all kinds of, you know, mythology around this stuff. And yes, humans ancestrally were big game hunters and bigger game was fatter, but there’s kind of a reality that … I’ve actually lived as a hunter gatherer for a period of time, you know? And it’s like …

Nicki: Eight days. Start. 10 days.

Robb: Fucking calories are hard to come by, you know? And you eat kind of whatever you can get your hands on, and yeah. I don’t want to belabor that too much.

Nicki: I just remember picking you up from the airport and you did not look like my husband. You were so skinny.

Robb: Dude, I was skinny. Yeah.

Nicki: It was only like 10 days since I dropped you off, and you were emaciated.

Robb: 20 pounds lighter. Yeah, yeah.

Nicki: All righty. Our next question is from Justin. “Waking up from hunger while in ketosis. Dear Rob, I’m a huge fan of the pod and your work. For the past few months, I’ve been following a keto eating plan. I weigh all food and track macros, and I’m usually hitting 40 grams of net carbs, 90 to 100 grams of protein, and somewhere between 235 to 270 grams of fat for a total of roughly 3000 to 3500 calories per day. I’m a 30 year old male, 5 foot nine. I usually eat three to four meals per day with no snacks. I currently weigh 156, and I’m about 16% body fat. I did a bod pod when I was a few pounds later and was at 14.5%. In terms of exercise, I usually go to the gym three times a week and do some combination of squats, deadlift press, and bench press. As an example of where I am currently at with strength, I do four sets of five reps, two minute rest periods, with 205 pounds on squats.

Nicki: So, my question is this. When I try to cut calories down by about three to 500 calories, because I��d like to get to 12% body fat, I wake up in the middle of the night hungry. I feel like I keep hearing on various podcasts and books that I read that in a state of keto, hunger should be significantly blunted, and this shouldn’t really be an issue. But I feel like if I don’t go to sleep pretty full, I wake up in the middle of the night. I know sleep is critically important, so this seems like a problem.

Nicki: If I eat enough to sleep through the night, I can maintain the same weight but really struggle to lose weight. I’ve done self experiments to make sure I’m not waking up due to stress, noise, et cetera, and have isolated that my sleep is almost completely correlated with my hunger levels. I wanted to ask for your guidance, because I imagine other people might struggle with a similar issue. I know many people who do well with hunger during the day, but not so well at night. Some things I’ve wondered about is if I’m over-training, or if there’s some sort of other physiological issue I need to attend to. Maybe I’m not understanding keto properly, but I feel like with my macro breakdown, I should be able to comfortably go 12 to 16 hours without eating. Or is the ability to go prolonged periods without food less about eating and more about individual differences? Thank you for all the amazing work that you do. Justin.”

Robb: Man. Lot of good stuff in there. One thing that leaps out to me is the 90 to 100 grams of protein I think is way to low.

Nicki: Yeah.

Robb: For 100-

Nicki: I mean, I am more like 120 grams of protein, and-

Robb: Yeah.

Nicki: I’m smaller.

Robb: Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, that definitely leaps out at me, and some very smart people, far smarter than myself, ranging from Paul Jaminet to Chris Masterjohn, have noted, and they really get in the biochemistry at a pretty high level, so you could do some following up on this, but they make the case that if you’re reasonably active and keto, and they’ll make the case that you shouldn’t be keto if you’re reasonably active. So, that’s a whole other aside. But they make the case that if you’re going to be active and you’re going to be keto, you need more protein. And that’s just alpha omega, done.

Robb: We’ve seen with keto gains, we’ve seen with the carnivore diet, which we were just kind of talking about in the previous question a little bit, when people eat at higher protein levels, they do then tend to get better satiety, and there also tends to be more of a ability to recover from training and stuff like that. Part of what’s going on, and one of the benefits that’s interesting, is glycogen can be restored, liver in and muscle glycogen can and will be restored from protein breakdowns in many corners of the keto-sphere, people are terrified by that. And if you have epilepsy, if you’re using keto as a cancer adjuvant or something like that, then there’s reason for it.

Robb: For body composition and weight loss, it’s a disastrous deal to drop protein, because people end up hungry, and then they need to eat a lot of either fat or carbs. And it’s very easy to overeat.

Nicki: Because I feel like 3000 to 3500 calories is also high for-

Robb: Correct.

Nicki: A five foot nine-

Robb: Yeah.

Nicki: 156 pound guy. So, if he upped his protein significantly, his fat would probably come down a little bit.

Robb: Yeah, I would get the protein up to at least 150 grams per day, and …

Nicki: Maybe plug your numbers into the keto gains macro nutrient calculator-

Robb: Yeah. And select…

Nicki: And see what that spits out.

Robb: For the recommended level, and maybe … So, if you use the keto gains macro nutrient calculator, it will default to .8 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass, or you can toggle use keto gains recommended, which is 1.0 grams per pound of lean body mass, and/or you could adjust it for 1.2 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass. I would tweak it to the 1.2 grams. So, I would up your protein, and adjust all the other macros appropriately based off the … What that spits out. I would also make really certain that you’re getting adequate electrolytes. Shameless plug for Element, but this is another one of those things that if the electrolyte balance is off and sodium is too low-

Nicki: You can be hungry.

Robb: You can be hungry, you can get an adrenocortical response. So, those are the two big things that I would really look at is upping protein and really weighing and measuring your electrolytes. Tracking it in MyFitnessPal or something like that to make certain that you’re at least getting five grams of sodium per day. And then if you’re eating largely whole, unprocessed foods, the magnesium and potassium should take care of itself. But I’ll be kind of shocked if you don’t see improvements off that.

Robb: But if you don’t, it could also be a case where keto is just not a good fit. Maybe a little bit of carbs in the mix would be a better option.

Nicki: Okay. So, Justin, please let us know.

Robb: Yeah, let us know. Follow up on that.

Nicki: Try that, up the protein, and then let us know how you do. Okay, our final question for this week is from Brett, and his question is on fasting for skinny dudes. “Hi Robb and Nicki. Fasting for overweight or normal people has been well covered. Is there any benefit to underweight guys fasting in an effort to add mass? I am six foot three, 165 pounds, 37 years old. I can eat whatever I want in whatever quantities I want, and my weight never changes. I would like to be heavier. I’ve tried weight programs and I tone up okay, but it’s rare to add more than five pounds. The minute I stop the program, I’m instantly back to 165. Everything else you always talk about like diet, sleep, and stress is already dialed in.”

Robb: Man. There are some folks that advocate fasting as kind of a means to lean body mass gain. The literature on it doesn’t really paint it in a super favorable light. I … This was kind of my problem. I enjoyed power lifting, but my body just desperately likes being about 165 to 170 pounds. Even getting up to about 175, which if I get up to 175 from lifting and not just being fat, then I look pretty good. And if I start getting 180, 185, I look big, you know? I have kind of small bone structure, I guess-

Nicki: It’s like the big arms when you walked to the coffee shop when I first met you.

Robb: It’s like the big arms when I swept you off your feet on our first meeting. Exactly. Shout out to Carla Mack around that. But the bastard of this thing is I would eat and eat. I mean, like six meals a day. Big meals. Felt disgusting. You know? And I would get busy, go on a trip, whatever it was, and I would lose 10 pounds just almost instantly. And so, it’s … I think there is some degree of a set point for people, and there’s just kind of a reality that you know, for some people, muscle mass gain is easier. Again, this is one of these things, Brett doesn’t … Does he mention? 37 years old?

Robb: I would get androgen levels checked and make sure that testosterone, estrogen, sex hormone binding, globulin. We’ve covered this in a previous podcast. And this is something that we’re going to dig into later in some more depth, like really understanding what your hormonal profile means and what to do about it if it’s not kind of at an optimized level.

Robb: If that’s not optimized, then the anabolic stimulus from the food and the training is going to be poultry. So, you’re just kind of peeing in the wind with that. So, that would be the couple of things that I would think about. I would look at androgens and see what testosterone and that whole gamete of things looks like. I would … And then if that looks pretty good or depending on what you want to do, even then though, there’s just … Gaining muscular weight is tough for a lot of people.

Nicki: Right. So, it seems like fasting is not a good option for adding mass and like fasting…

Robb: Fasting is definitely not a good option. Yeah. I mean, at least just do three meals a day. If you want to do a little time restricted feeding, that’s great. There does seem to be some literature that suggests eating more calories earlier in the day. Bill Lagakos has talked about this at nauseum. That seems good, and it seems like kind of a no downside deal, because you could just eat huge breakfast, big lunch, small dinner. Try to stick them a little tighter together, and there seems to be some legit body composition improvements, metabolic improvements, and it should kind of stack the deck favorably for muscle mass gain, and you’re getting a little bit of that sirtuin type signaling that’s associating with fasting, ketosis, and all that stuff.

Robb: But yeah. As a baseline, getting back to the actual question asked, fasting is probably not a great idea in this case. I know there’s examples of people who do it, but it just sounds like Brett has a tough time gaining muscle mass, and so, I think depriving his body of anabolic signal from protein for extended periods is probably not a great idea for improving muscle muss and body composition.

Nicki: Okay. That’s our last question for this week.

Robb: Sweet. Okay.

Nicki: Let’s see. If you … Or as always, submit questions at robbwolf.com on the contact page, and let’s see, we drip these questions out each week on Instagram, so make you’re following at dasrobbwolf. What else?

Robb: We still have some stuff over at YouTube. They haven’t taken that down yet either. So, yeah. Yeah.

Nicki: I think that’s it.

Robb: Okay.

Nicki: We’ll catch you guys next week.

Robb: Take care everybody.

Nicki: Bye.

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inquisitorhotpants · 7 years

Text

A Comparison of the Republic & Imperial Militaries

Background Information:

-- The Republic military had no conscription. This is going to result in lower numbers (ex: the total strength of the US military is only 0.4% of the US population, and it’s estimated that the total number of current service personnel and veterans only comprises 7% of the total population).

-- While the ideological war drives the Jedi and Sith, the ideology hasn’t permeated the Republic the way it has the Empire (by dint of the Sith running the Empire and the continual reminder that the Republic has attempted total destruction of the Sith - and thus, by extension, all who follow them - more than once). This will also effect numbers.

-- We are presented with numerous canon examples, from KotOR to the prequel trilogy, of how the Republic is easily lulled into a false sense of security, and how they have no wish to get their hands dirty (see: the Jedi waiting when the Mandalorians attacked, see also: the “Grand” army of the Republic). Thus, that fire and the pugnacious spirit that tends to permeate the Empire is not present to such an extent in the Republic.

-- Corollary to this, there is a conversation between Canderous and Carth in KotOR where Canderous talks about how the Republic had more people, more vehicles, the Jedi, everything, and they still only won due to one Jedi general’s brilliant tactics, and one Jedi general’s WMD, basically, over Malachor V. The Republic isn’t known for their warfighting skill. (See also: the Grand Army of the Republic, who had to be created from birth to be effective soldiers.) This is by no means the only conversation; Canderous points out the ways the Republic fell on their faces numerous times in that game.

-- Per canon information, the Republic army was poorly funded and had consequent recruitment problems. Also with this, it’s written that the Army and the Navy don’t even have the same pay scales, which really makes me wonder what’s going on with the Republic because why on earth would you not pay your military the same, on a comparable pay chart?

Numbers!

So this involves quite a bit of calculation. Dropped under a cut to save dashboards.

One quick note: For simplicity’s sake, as this is meant to be a general look at military strengths on both sides of the galaxy, I am not accounting for wartime casualties. Frankly, it would only hurt the Republic, because they got roundly stomped in the Great Galactic War.

Empire

So per my population post, the total number of non-Force sensitives in the Empire is 15,999,216,000,000,000. To extrapolate out the total number of military personnel, we have to establish a few things:

The normal length of service in the Imperial military, barring a medical discharge, is 35 years, with the maximum being 40 years. This makes our average age range 18-62, accounting for enlistees directly out of school and officers who don’t begin their careers until after their university studies are complete.

To figure out the percentage that that would be for the total population, I used the world census data, averaged the rounded total for ages 18-62, and calculated the percent that is of the world population, giving me 57%. Sounds good, let’s use it.

57% of 15,999,216,000,000,000 is 9,119,553,100,000,000, which would be the total Imperial military strength, counting both front line active duty and reserve/home guard.

Obviously, not everyone is going to be front line active duty. Prior to the Great Galactic War, active duty consisted of 30% of the total military force, or 2,735,865,900,000,000. These are the folks on starships, at posts away from their home worlds, basically anything that isn’t “staying at home and waiting for a call-up”. It’s easier and less economically taxing to not field a massive active duty army when you aren’t actually fighting a war. You can train people at home.

Once the Great Galactic War started, 45% of the total military force were active duty, bringing the wartime total to 4,103,798,900,000,000. (And given that it was started by the Empire, once can reasonably assume that the plans for this force increase were in the works for some time.)

After the Great Galactic War, once they’d conclusively stomped the shit out of the Republic, there is a forces drawdown, though not to pre-war levels, in anticipation of the Republic retaliating. Post-Treaty strength is 37%, giving us an active duty military force post-Treaty of 3,374,234,600,000,000.

Imperial Summary:

Total military strength: 9,119,553,100,000,000

Pre-war active duty strength: 2,735,865,900,000,000 (30%)

Wartime active duty strength: 4,103,798,900,000,000 (45%)

Post-war active duty strength: 3,374,234,600,000,000 (37%)

Republic

The Republic population is 64,000,000,000,000,000. Using this methodology once again, and this time targeting the lowest end of the spectrum (because as we see in SWTOR - remember the quest to rat out the padawans? - the Jedi are very much not keen on relationships and attachment, etc etc etc), this gives us a total of:

19,200,000,000 Force sensitives of all magnitudes 63,999,981,000,000,000 non-Force sensitives

As noted above, the Republic has no conscription, and they also have enlistment/retention issues, which lead to drastically lower numbers.

It’s doubtful the length of service in the Republic military is as long as it is in the Empire, and tours are not lifetime hitches. Thus, the average age range for Republic service is 18 to 50, accounting for new enlistees at 18 and officers who didn’t begin their tour until after university. A “lifer” serves 25 years, instead of 30.

Using the same methodology as the Empire to calculate what percentage of the total non-Force sensitive population is military age, we arrive at 30,080,000,000,000,000 eligible-age people.

I’m estimating high for service in the rest of this, honestly. As I noted above, the military in the US only makes up 0.4% of our current population. Where there is no conscription or mandatory service, numbers are low. But estimating at the general rate for a number of non-conscript militaries in the world (most less than half of 1%) would have left the Republic, honestly, completely conquered and the whole galactic outlook of SWTOR would have been vastly different, so here we are.

Using this information as a guide (and absorbing the civilian DOD employees currently on the US military pay scale for simplicity’s sake), the Republic military is usually comprised of 61% active duty and 39% reserves.

Pre-war, the total force strength is 6% of the population, or 1,804,800,000,000,000, with the division between active duty and reserve being the aforementioned 61/39, giving us:

Active duty: 1,100,928,000,000,000

Reserve: 703,872,000,000,000

During the war, they get a boost in enlistment and other shady methods of “recruitment” as detailed in the Wookieepedia article. Total force strength during the Great Galactic War is 9%, or 2,707,200,000,000,000. The division between active duty and reserve at this time was 81/19, which will then account for the Sacking of Coruscant (not enough people left to guard it). This gives us:

Active duty: 2,192,832,000,000,000

Reserve: 514,368,000,000,000

Post-war levels drop, though not as low as they were pre-war, as the Republic of course expects the Empire to do something shady and underhanded at any moment. The total post-war strength is 7%, or 2,105,600,000,000,000. I personally believe after the Sacking they’d pull more people onto reserves/home guard, but then that wouldn’t account for how the Empire gets steamrolled by a much smaller force 12 years later. Anyway, the percentage allocation I’m working with post-Sacking is 70/30, giving us:

Active duty: 1,473,920,000,000,000

Reserve: 631,680,000,000,000

Republic Summary:

Pre-war active duty strength: 1,100,928,000,000,000

Wartime active duty strength: 2,192,832,000,000,000

Post-war active duty strength: 1,473,920,000,000,000

Final Summation

Pre-War Imperial active duty: 2,735,865,900,000,000 Republic active duty: 1,100,928,000,000,000

Wartime Imperial active duty: 4,103,798,900,000,000 Republic active duty: 2,192,832,000,000,000

Post-War Imperial active duty: 3,374,234,600,000,000 Republic active duty: 1,473,920,000,000,000

It is not surprising that the Republic lost the war, nor that Coruscant was sacked. We are never shown strategic sense on the part of the Republic, not once. Tactical acumen is hardly ever mentioned in context with the Republic, an entity that has demonstrated more than once that it lacks either the manpower or backbone to defend itself.

Had Revan - by canon accounts a tactical genius - deigned to finish taking over the Republic, she (you will pry fem!Revan from my cold dead hands) could have done so. But of course, thus the running off to Dromund Kaas to personally confront the Emperor (a tactically fucking asinine move), because you have to get rid of her somehow.

Conversely, we are told over and over about Imperial leaders and military figures who are tactical geniuses, who are highly intelligent, who have made their lives about warfighting. And yet somehow ... they never show this. The Empire has to go from conquering force to ass-backward bumblefucks in the space of 12 years, because the Republic has to win.

To be frank, it’s 100% bullshit how the Empire gets steamrolled throughout SWTOR. It doesn’t work numerically, it doesn’t work tactically - the Republic loses more than one WMD (that’s the whole point of the first chapter of the Jedi Knight storyline!) and got their asses beat in the Great Galactic War, and yet somehow, suddenly they’re amazing strategists that beat the Empire back at every turn? - and it’s pretty poor storytelling in my opinion because the net result is “lol Republic wins” in the face of all evidence to the contrary.

#swtor #number crunching #even on a war of attrition #the republic would lose #all those slogs we get #balmorra #hoth #don't get me started on fuckin corellia #but anyway #here's the military matchup #because why not

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lemonadeandlanguages · 8 years

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Quebec Education System

(This is going to be long, bear with me)

Canada’s education system is for the most part really similar to the States’. But, since education is a provincial thing, some provinces *ahem*QUEBEC*ahem* have a very different system. So I’ll try to explain it briefly:

The school year usually goes from mid- to late-August and ends towards the end of June. The date varies, but all schools are out before June 24, which is the Fête Nationale (kinda like Quebec Day, if you will). It’s mandatory between the ages of 6 and 16.

BEFORE ELEMENTARY

School isn’t mandatory before Grade 1 but students can attend prematernelle (Pre-Kindergarten) if they turn 4 years old before September 30. Sometimes it is offered in an actually primary school, or in a daycare. If it is offered in an actual school, the pre-K students have to have their own separate building instead of sharing with the rest of the elementary students.

Maternelle (Kindergarten) is also not mandatory, but the majority (98%) of parents send their kids to Kindergarten anyways. Usually, it’s in the same school the kids will be attending for elementary. To be able to go to Kindergarten, the kid has to be 5 years old by September 30.

ELEMENTARY

Also known as primary school, it goes from Grade 1 to 6. Towards the end of primary (in grade 4 and 6), students have to pass ministry exams for French, English and Math. Grades in primary school are usually marked in percentages.

HIGH SCHOOL

High school is commonly known in French as le secondaire (Secondary school). Unlike in the States and the rest of Canada, high school lasts for five years, from Sec. 1 to 5 (grades 7 to 11). There are no middle schools in the province, and students typically attend the same school for five years. Some high schools offer IB programs and AP classes, but not all. In the last two years of high school, students present ministry exams for History, Science, and Math (Sec. 4), and English and French (Sec. 5). The result of these tests, along with part of the grades of those two years are used to determine whether or not they get accepted into cegep. Grades in high school are usually marked in percentages.

CEGEP

Cegep is Quebec’s own little invention that is a pain in the ass if you want to study outside the province. The name was originally an acronym for Collège d'enseignement général et professionnel (General and professional teaching schools, is the closest English translation), but it has since then become a word of its own. Cegeps are all public, although there are some private schools that serve the same function, and were implemented in the late 1960s.

It can last two or three years, and it basically prepares students for university. There are two types of cegep paths: pre-university, which is two years, or career programs, which are three. Students can choose what they want to study, with the most common programs being social science, science, and communications. As the names suggest, pre-university programs are designed for students wishing to continue their studies in university, while career programs usually don’t require further studies. In some cases, however, students in career programs can continue on to university if they wish to do so. Aside from program-related courses, students need to take common classes: English, French, Phys Ed., Humanities, and a complimentary class (basically a class outside your program, for example, a physics class is you’re studying social science).

Cegep has a grading system similar to a GPA called the R score (or Cote R in French), but with a scale going from 0 to 50. However, most students get a score between 15 and 38. Just to give an idea of the value of the numbers, students need at least at 35 R score to get into medicine and law. The R score can’t be calculated by any one individual, as it requires information that isn’t available to everyone: a student’s grades, the class average, standard deviation, as well as past grades from high school, etc. It is calculated by the Ministry of Education, and is the subject of many complaints by people who do not find it is a fair way to evaluate students.

UNIVERSITY

Like high school, university in Quebec is shorter than in other parts of Canada and the States. In fact, most people can complete their bachelor’s degree in three years. Students from other provinces and countries, however, have four years of university, as they did not go to cegep. If a Quebec student wishes to go study in another province, they can choose to do one year of cegep to make up for their lack of Grade 12, and then do four years of university, or they can complete their cegep studies and do three years, as their cegep courses are usually equivalent to introduction courses in other universities.

Admission to university is very often ONLY based on a student’s R score. Unlike in the States, where the application process can be very long, in Quebec, applying to a university can be done in an evening (no joke, I applied to three in about three hours). Few programs, such as law and medicine, require letters of intent and recommendations from teachers. More artistic programs may require a portfolio. Most of the time, all the university requires is a transcript of the student’s grade, which is provided by the cegep. The deadline for applications is almost always March 1, but students that apply earlier can receive their acceptance letter before that date.

McGill University is without a doubt the most famous one in the province, however, Quebec boasts a wide variety of universities. In fact, just this year, Montreal (the biggest city of the province) has been named the best student city in the world. It has six universities, the highest in North America, and two of the three English universities are located there.

LANGUAGE

Since the 1970s, Quebec has a law regulating the language of education. It’s officially known as the Charter of the French Language, but everyone calls it Bill 101 (Loi 101). In fact, Bill 101 regulates the use of the French language in all aspects, not just education, but we’ll focus on the part that concerns education for now. This law only applies to permanent residents and citizens and it states that everyone must attend French school UNLESS:

Their mother or father has completed the majority of their studies in Canada in English;

The student has completed the majority of their studies in English in another Canadian province.

The main reason for this law is that, prior to the 1970s, many immigrants would choose to send their children to English schools instead of French ones because they thought it was more convenient to learn English than French. However, the government did not like that, and after several attempts at restricting people’s ability to choose, they announced that the only official language of the province was French and instated the Bill 101.

However, it is worth noting that this law only applies to primary and secondary education. Students can choose to study in either English or French in cegep and university. In 2013, there were attempts to extend the law until cegep, but it fortunately never passed.

Aside from Bill 101, learning a second language is mandatory in elementary and high school. In French schools, the second language is English, and vice versa. Previously, English was taught starting in Grade 3, but, if I’m not mistaken, it now starts in Grade 1. Some schools offer different levels of English classes for students that may have a higher level than others. For example, some students from Francophone families will not speak a word of English before attending elementary, and therefore are placed in the lowest level, while other students, such as Anglophones and some immigrants might already speak it at home and will be placed in a higher level. In English schools, French is taught much more intensively, and it is common for students to study several subjects in French. As a results, Anglophone children are among the most bilingual in the province. The teaching of a second language is mandatory until the end of cegep.

Curiously, many parents with the possibility to send their children to English schools do not, as they believe that their children will be more proficient in both languages if they study one at school and practice the other at home. This however, has led to some English schools closing their doors due to a lack of students.

RELIGION

Until fairly recently, many schools taught religion as a class. Usually, this meant that Catholic students would have a class about religion, while the rest of the students had an ethics class. This was changed in 2008, when the ministry implemented ERC classes (Ethical and Religious Cultures) in primary and secondary schools. However, some religious schools remain, all of the private.

NOTE: I know the proper term for the schools are francophone schools (not French) and anglophone schools (not English). However, it’s easier to read this way, so I left it like that.

Please let me know if I missed something! :)

#i tried to stay neutral the whole time #lnl #quebec #school #education #quebec education system

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diaryoftheanonymous · 4 years

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Entry #13 // 6/5/2020

Wow it’s been almost 2 years. I honestly have no excuse for being inactive. I just got lazy one day and forgot I had a tumblr.

I was back-reading my posts here though, and I realized that my life right now is way different from what I thought it’d be 2 years ago. Despite the world going to shit this 2020, my personal, individual life is actually doing pretty okay. I have a girlfriend, I’m in college, I’m in the course that I am genuinely interested in, and I’m part of a mass organization to fight for the rights of the citizens of the country. I’ve written two pieces against the fascist government fuckers that are ruling the country right now, and I’ve never been happier about that.

Today I woke up earlier than I usually do. I woke up at 1pm instead of my regular 2:30 or 3pm. I checked my phone and it was a notification of PUBG being on sale in Steam. I checked it and it was 50% off. My friend got it for me. It’s kind of weird because I haven’t met him in real life. I met him through my other friends in Minecraft, but we’ve been pretty good friends. Might meet up around in Taft, because he’s going to be studying in La Salle for college too. It’s really cool that you earn friends like these from games. Anyway, my girlfriend delivered over some hash browns that I can cook and a pack of my favorite instant noodles, Shin Ramyun.She’s honestly the only reason I’ve been eating this quarantine. Just kidding. Kind of.

I also kind of have this set schedule everyday dedicated to playing games specifically Counterstrike, League of Legends, and Valorant. it’s always around 3-4pm and then i take a break from my laptop and head downstairs to eat something. I play with my friends again at around 8:30.

My routine for the past few days would be to: wake up, take a bath, eat, play, call my girlfriend, eat, play, call my girlfriend while watching netflix or doing whatever until 4am, play some solo queue in CSGO, and then sleep at around 7am. I know it’s not healthy, but my body’s gotten pretty used to it. I feel like I’m not in the Philippines timezone anymore, to be honest.

Speaking of the Philippines, everything’s been going to shit regarding the government, the economy, people’s healthcare, basic human rights, etc. The fact that it’s summer and it’s literally around 35-40 degrees Celsius everyday does not help at all. It’s super hot all the time and I’m sweating all the time.

How did I end up here from my brokenhearted self that you knew from 2 years ago? I don’t know either, I guess the only way to really answer that question is to retrace my steps. 2019 is still very vivid, so this shouldn’t be too hard.

I’ll divide it into parts so it wouldn’t be too hard to read.

-End Log 17:21-

#diary of the anonymous #diary #journal #feelings #personal #read me #june 6 2020 #thirteenth entry #backread #lifestory??#it's been 2 years #games #philippines #junkterrorbill #i'm back bitches

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fashiontrendin-blog · 6 years

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How I Avoided Sunday Scaries Last Week: A Detailed Account

http://fashion-trendin.com/how-i-avoided-sunday-scaries-last-week-a-detailed-account/

How I Avoided Sunday Scaries Last Week: A Detailed Account

This Sunday Scaries diary starts in the middle of the night…

4:30 a.m.

I wake up to Avi getting out of my bed and leaving the room. I presume he’s moving to the couch, which he occasionally does when he’s having insomnia and is nervous about waking me up. I lay awake for 30 minutes, mind turning over the previous day. When I hear him stir, I say that I’m awake too, and he joins me back in bed. We talk for the next hour about life — what’s keeping us up, what’s exciting us, getting us down — and eventually both drift off to sleep.

9:50 a.m.

I wake up to Avi’s voice: “My mom’s flight just landed.”

“What time is it?”

“9:50.”

“She’s early.”

“Yeah. I gotta go. I’ll call you.”

He pulls on his pants, kisses my check and is gone.

10 a.m.

I lay in bed and consider falling back asleep. I had a rough couple nights of sleep and have been playing catch-up. When I realize it’s not going to happen, I succumb to the blue light and check my phone. It’s dead. The memory of last night returns: My charger wasn’t plugging in properly, as if there was something stuck in the inlet. I grab my phone, my sewing kit, and make my way to the couch.

10:21 a.m.

I’ve been using various tools to dig something out of the charging port of my phone for 20 minutes. It looks like cookie dough. I’m squinting and trying to see inside. I don’t test it until I’m confident it feels clean. When I finally try the charger, it works. Hurray! Blessed be the fruit.

10:24 a.m.

I decide to make myself a smoothie bowl, which have a reputation for being snooty and expensive, but which I think might be the hidden secret of breakfast. The ones I make are cheap, healthy-ish, delicious and don’t require fresh food. Here’s how I make them:

-One frozen banana (I keep a bowl of them in my freezer at all times) -A big handful of whatever frozen berries I have on hand (usually blueberries, strawberries and raspberries) -A few glugs of almond milk (I buy cartons two at a time and they last forever) -A tablespoon of flax seeds (or chia seeds, or whatever seeds) -Blend until smooth -Top with honey, gluten-free granola, goji berries

As the blender roars, I make up a story in my head about my neighbors hating the all-too-frequent sound and having an inside joke about how much they hate me. When it’s done, I return to the couch with my bowl. I reach for the remote but stop myself and grab a book instead. I’m reading Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh.

“Reading makes me happier than TV,” I announce to an empty room, like a weirdo.

10:45 a.m.

I’m still reading Eileen. It’s good.

11 a.m.

I suddenly occurs to me, mid-page, that there were two Man Repeller stories I was supposed to finish editing on Friday but didn’t. I drag my computer to the couch and get to work on editing what will eventually become 12 Home Decor Tips I Can’t Stop Thinking About and Why “Black Girl Magic” Doesn’t Always Sit Right With Me.

11:22 a.m.

My brother Andy FaceTimes me mid-edit. He’s smooshed into his couch too. We rehash the picnic we had last night at Transmitter Park. He had to leave early and wants to know what he missed. He has a general existential fear of missing out, which always makes me laugh because I don’t know anyone who does as much fun and interesting stuff as he does.

12:35 p.m.

I finish editing and suddenly remember I’m supposed to be recording my day today for Man Repeller’s Sunday Scaries franchise. I spend the next 15 minutes documenting the above. Now I need to rush to get ready to meet up with Avi and his mom for lunch.

12:55 p.m.

I shower off but decide not to do anything with my hair as it looks fine. For my skin, I put on EasyDew Active Soothing Serum mixed with The Nue Co vitamin-C power to start, followed by Honest Beauty Nourishing Lotion, then Glossier sunscreen mixed with a drop of Drunk Elephant bronzing liquid, and finish with Glossier Cloud Paint in Haze. Then I move to my closet to get dressed.

1:19 p.m.

Omg. That took me forever and I don’t even like my outfit. I panicked! How does one dress for a day with one’s boyfriend’s mother when one has no idea what the day entails? After trying a basic dress and sandals and realizing I felt entirely unlike myself, I put on navy blue wide-leg pants I haven’t worn in a year and a black puff-sleeve shirt. I feel very whatever about this outfit but I have no further time to deliberate or I’ll be late!

1:25 p.m.

IT IS VERY HOT. Why am I wearing pants? Why am I wearing such dark colors? I’m fired.

1:42 p.m.

I arrive at Avi’s looking so hot and sweaty his mother immediately dotes on me — bringing me water, sitting me in front of the air conditioner, etc. It’s very sweet. Avi says he’s calling a car because we’re going to Jackson Heights! As they put on their shoes, I run downstairs and buy myself an iced coffee.

1:58 p.m.

Avi, his mother Rita and I are squeezed into the back of a car on our way to Queens. Rita and I are discussing how chubby Avi was as a baby. She says her doctor put him on a diet at six weeks old! Apparently he was taking down double the milk he was supposed to. This delights me to no end.

2:25 p.m.

We arrive at Sri Maha Vallabha GanaPati, a Hindu temple in Queens — said to be one of the first Hindu temples in the U.S. (Also, did you know some people call Queens one of the most diverse places on Earth? The whole neighborhood is incredible and feels completely different depending on where in the borough you are.)

We remove our shoes before entering the temple and I take note of a sign that says shorts and ripped jeans are prohibited. I’m suddenly thankful for my full-coverage outfit. Avi and I walk around looking at the shrines, leaving his mother to pray on her own. I’m struck by one of the plaques that reads: “When I study, grant me success (by means of right understanding) always.” I make a mental note; I like that definition of success.

2:53 p.m.

After we leave, we head to the temple canteen for lunch, which Avi heard serves the best Dosa in New York. The canteen is underground, looks like a cafeteria and smells delicious. We order too much food, confirm it is indeed the best dosa, and spend the meal discussing Indian politics, Avi’s mother’s argument with Avi’s father about what car to buy next, and Avi’s mother’s similarities to my mother.

4:09 p.m.

After a long lunch, we head out. Next we are going to Patel Brothers, which is the largest Indian American supermarket chain in the U.S. It’s a mile away. We decide to walk because it’s beautiful out. I’m not worried about a thing, except that my brother missed out on lunch. (He’s been talking about going to Jackson Heights for months.)

Avi and I are laughing because we can’t seem to get 10 feet without his mother stopping to identify a plant and discuss its properties. It’s very charming.

Avi: “Mom, you’re too Michigan. Have you ever walked a mile straight?”

Rita: “This is the simple life, Avi. You should learn it.”

4:28 p.m.

We arrive at Patel Brothers. I follow the two of them around like a puppy, laughing in delight as they argue about things like whether Avi needs a 50-pound bag of rice. At times I can’t tell who is trolling who.

5:04 p.m.

All done! When we walk outside, it feels like it’s going to rain, so I call us a car home. The train would take double the time, unfortunately. When it arrives, we pile in for a 40-minute ride back to Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, where we both live.

5:32 p.m.

On the drive home, I feel a vague fondness for driving on the highway. I don’t do it much. The car is lulling me to sleep. Our middle-of-the-night antics are catching up to me.

6:11 p.m.

We are home! Took much longer than expected. I immediately crank Avi’s A/C unit and put on one of his sweatshirts — I’m in the mood to be cozy. Avi puts on a Michael Bublé holiday music video as a joke to tease his mom, who he claims loves Bublé, which she denies. We pretend it’s Christmas for three minutes while Rita makes us tea.

6:40 p.m.

Tea’s up. Avi puts on Jaws for our afternoon nap time, for no discernible reason.

6:57 p.m.

Wow, the aesthetic of Jaws is amazing. The whole thing looks like it’s been run through a Huji filter, and the clothes are on point too. Avi gets up to cook, leaving me and Rita on the couch as she critiques every scene aloud, which is making me laugh.

Rita: “This is bad direction, no?”

7:47 p.m.

The light is dwindling outside. The house is filling with the smell of garlic. Tomorrow is Monday. I wish tomorrow was Sunday instead.

8:38 p.m.

I decide I would watch any movie with Rita commentary turned on.

8:45 p.m.

Jaws ends right as Avi brings us plates of food: sesame wings over rice with pickled carrots (a recipe he’s been perfecting this month that he found on Smitten Kitchen). He puts on cooking videos while we eat. He’s a good TV host — always picking random entertaining things to put on during downtime. The three of us watch a video of a person making cheesecake, and then cookies, and then a home-made iced latte. During the third one, as the guy goes to great lengths to roast his own coffee beans, Rita expresses her disapproval:

Rita: “No way.” Avi: “What ma?” Rita: “Why would you do all this? You can just buy one.” Avi: “He’s not doing it because he wants a coffee, he’s doing it because he wants to do it.” Me: “He’s stopping and smelling the roses!” Rita: “I think he needs to go to a third world country and see what’s really important.”

Fair enough.

9:17 p.m.

I wash Avi’s dishes as a thank you for cooking for us and then pack up to head home. My eyes are stinging, I think from the sunscreen I put on earlier that morning; it’s making me feel exhausted. Or maybe I’m just genuinely exhausted.

9:27 p.m.

Avi walks me to the train and waits on the platform with me until it comes. We chat and reflect on the day until the very last second, at which point I kiss him and run onto the train car. He watches me go. It’s all very old-timey.

9:41 p.m.

Hello home! Hello Bug.

10 p.m.

I put on PJs, brush my teeth and do my skincare routine right away because I know if I sit down on the couch now I’ll never get up. On my skin, I use Paula’s Choice cleansing oil to start, then Glossier face wash followed by Peach & Lilly toner, and then finish by mixing Caudalie face cream with a couple drops of Drunk Elephant face oil (I’ve been dry lately).

10:11 p.m.

I sit down on the couch and solve the Rubick’s cube on my coffee table in under three minutes, my latest party trick. Someone sent a Rubick’s cube to the Man Repeller office this summer and I took it home because I’ve always wanted to learn how to solve one. About a month ago, Avi and I decided to dedicate an entire night to learning. Hunched over a Youtube tutorial we figured it out together, and we’ve spent the last few weeks trying to beat each other’s times.

10:35 p.m.

I’m in bed now. I set my alarm for therapy tomorrow morning. I normally go on Friday mornings but I was sick last week so my therapist kindly rescheduled. I grab Eileen to read myself to sleep.

10:37 p.m.

Wait! I forgot to meditate. I open Headspace and do a five-minute session laying down, which I think is cheating. It’s a miracle I didn’t fall asleep.

10:42 p.m.

Okay, now it’s actually bedtime. Night!

23 PHOTOS click for more

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purplesurveys · 7 years

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208

Have you ever screamed in the shower? Yeah, usually when the water first hits me and it’s way too cold.

When you’re on the computer do you use your iPod or iTunes/Limewire? I used an iPod until I was 13 and iTunes until I was 14. I’m 19 now...Spotify is the way to go these days.

Who are the four people you talk to on MSN most often?

When was the last time, if ever, you spoke back to a teacher? Last year. I don’t do that to college profs anymore because there’s always that fear of getting sued over it lol. If there’s a prof that’s been really rude and doesn’t deserve my respect though I wouldn’t hesitate to answer back.

What teacher would you never speak back to? Anyone respectable.

Could you be classified as shy? When I’m around people I don’t really know, or if my friends leave me with someone they’re close to, but not me. Generally I’m getting better at handling situations like that, but I still have my tendencies to be quiet.

What was the last thing you broke/sprained? My wallet hah.

In your group of friends, are you the smart one, athletic one, etc.? I’m the mother of every group I’ve been in. LOL I’m always the one to let them know if they’re being too loud, making sure everyone has a place in the circle, giving them food, etc.

Who are your closest friends? Gabie and Angela are my best friends.

Have you ever fought with a friend because of their boyfriend/girlfriend? Ugh no, that’s such pointless drama to get caught up in.

Because of yours? No, all of my friends love us.

What was the last test you got back, and what did you get on it? I got my art studies test back AFTER MORE THAN A MONTH, it was the only one I was left waiting for. I got a 98, so basically an A I think (we don’t use letter grades).

Are you out for summer yet? If not, when do you get out? No, the academic school year started four months ago and I don’t finish sophomore year until next May.

Do you have any big plans for the summer? I actually plan on finishing the entire civic service program my school requires during the summer. The demand is high for the rest of the school year, so I’d rather do it during the break when not a lot of people would take it.

Has a stranger ever yelled at you for your language? I don’t think so. I hate petty people so I’m most likely to provoke them more.

What kind of iPod do you have and what colour is it? I have a blue iPod from 2009 but I don’t use it anymore, plus it’s the super-thin model so god knows where it’s been the past few years.

What do you wear when you’re going to sleep? A tank top and shorts are my comfort clothes.

Say something to the person you like right now: No.

Who is the last person that was at your house? No one ever goes here so I guess the last person even if it had been three weeks ago was my girlfriend.

Whose house were you last at? Gabie’s, although I haven’t been inside since October. I always drop her off every Friday though.

If you go out for lunch during school, where do you go? My university has SO many food hubs (40-50 street food stands stationed around campus, an entire road for independent mini-restaurants, and a shopping center with a couple of bigger establishments) and all 25 colleges have their own cafeteria so you’d have to be really desperate for food if you still feel the need to go out.

Are you going anywhere exciting anytime soon? LMAO I was going to my art studies field trip in Pampanga today but I ultiimately got too lazy. No plans other than that.

When you’re on the computer/texting, do you spell things correctly or use shortforms? Shortforms only when I’m talking to either of my best friends, but even that is seldom. I’d rather spell correctly.

If you could join your favourite band, what instrument would you play? I listen to music, not play it myself. I’d rather enjoy them from the audience.

What is the last concert you went to? Coldplay, but I’m going to be seeing Paramore again real soon!!!!!

Are you going to any upcoming concerts? How excited are you? YES I AM AND I’M VEEEERY EXCITED. Paramore is the only band in the world I would pay to see more than once. I went to their concert in 2013 but only got lower box tickets, so it wasn’t the full experience. When they announced their return for next year, I wasn’t going to settle for anything less than a VIP ticket so that’s what I got.

Do you have any homework you should be doing right now? I know there are papers that I at least have to start conceptualizing but I couldn’t care less at the moment...

Whose house, other than yours and your families, are you most comfortable at? Katreen’s and Angela’s definitely. Gabie’s too but I get triggered, especially when their family is complete. They’re very close with each other and you all know how I feel about mine, so I don’t stay there when they’re all bonding and I’m obviously the ‘others.’

Has any of your friends’ family ever yelled at you? No, that would be so mean and I wouldn’t go to their house after that.

Who was the last person to wear your clothes/shoes other than you? I’m an X Small, so nothing I wear ever fits other people...

Whose clothes other than your own did you last wear? Why? Gabie’s cardigan. It was cold in Starbucks so she lent me hers.

Have you ever made a “100 Things To Do This Summer” list? I probably did an attempt but I must not have made it beyond 20 entries.

Did you do everything on the list?

Do you have any after school activities, or do you just sit around at home? I’m (nearly) in a journalism organization so I stay there after my classes if I have to or want to.

Did you ever play a sport as a little kid? Did you enjoy it? I had swimming lessons when I was 9, then did track for 2 years, and I’ve been playing table tennis ever since. Swimming was fine, track was alright when my stamina was still strong, but my true love has always been table tennis.

Do you actually participate in gym class, or just stand there? I hated our curriculum in PE. Our school is divided into quarters instead of semesters, so for every quarter we have a new thing–swimming, fitness, a new sport, and a new dance. That’s one new topic, for every quarter, for every year. I had to be active since I wanted a nice grade, but I hated all of it. I wish I was just able to play table tennis all year round.

What class do you have the most tests in? In the current semester, all my profs don’t hold a lot of quizzes. They just lecture a lot.

What class do you have the least tests in? I don’t have tests in my newswriting class at all. It’s all about news reports.

What class were you in when you last got a class detention? We don’t have detention.

Have you ever been on the honour roll? It wasn’t a thing in private school but I’m a current dean’s lister in university.

Lat thing you bought that was over 100 dollars? Paramore tickets.

How much money do you have on you right now? A little over 1500 pesos. That’s $30 for this survey that is obviously at least North American.

Would you consider getting a summer job this summer? Consider, yes. Actually pushing through with it, very unlikely.

When you were little, did you ever have a lemonade stand? Nope, that’s too American. < Heh yeah.

Did you ever watch the show Full House? No, it was either never on Philippine television or I was always too young for it.

What cartoons do you still watch? Sometimes I would watch We Bare Bears and Spongebob.

What was the last thing that scared you? I remembered a still from The Exorcist when I had my eyes closed in the shower, ugh.

When were you last in a car and who were you in it with? Yesterday, driving home from school. I was alone.

What radio stations do you flip between in the car? 93.1, 99.5, 94.7, and 88.3. The first two play the current biggest hits, the third one plays the more underrated but still hits and 00′s music, and the last one is more punk rock, grudge, alternative, metal.

What song can you absolutely not stand right now? Anything by Fifth Harmony.

Do the librarians at your library know you by name? No, since I never stop by. We have a huge catalog, over a million titles, so the grandiosity of it kind of makes me anxious.

Which of your friends was the last one to annoy you? Gabie.

Is there anyone at your school you feel really bad for? Myself?

How many people are in your group of friends at school? That’s my entire org so that’s more or less 35 people.

What ten people would you most likely bring on a roadtrip? Gabie and any nine people from the org.

#survey #surveys

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junker-town · 7 years

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Predicting the winner of every Week 7 college football game, from TCU-KSU to WKU-Charlotte

On the surface, Week 7 of the college football season seems like a dud. Don’t be fooled.

There are two ways to look at this week’s college football matchups.

On one hand, it looks like a dud. There are no matchups of two ranked teams, and most of the Saturday evening’s prime time matchups are, per S&P+, projected blowouts: Alabama over Arkansas by 25, Ohio State over Nebraska by 22, Georgia over Missouri by 27, etc. There will be some exciting games because this is college football, but on paper ... yuck.

On the other hand, cock your head at this:

Nebraska is a 24-point underdog ... at home.

New Mexico State is a 6.5-point road favorite over a conference opponent.

Virginia is a four-point road favorite over a conference opponent.

Iowa State is a three-touchdown favorite over a conference opponent.

Kansas State is a home underdog (against TCU). That usually doesn’t work out well for the visitor.

Auburn is a touchdown favorite in Baton Rouge.

A Tom Herman team is a touchdown underdog. That usually doesn’t work out well for the favorite.

Plus, South Alabama just upset LSU conqueror Troy last night. That’s a pretty good place to start.

These are warning signs that this could be a really, really weird week in college football. Fingers crossed.

Below are picks and projections using the S&P+ projections you can find in full in the Football Study Hall stat profiles. See the bottom of the post for more detail about these.

The spread (listed in parentheses) is shown next to S&P+’s pick for each game. When S&P+ predicts a push (a tie with Vegas, basically), I’m listing the pick on the side that S&P+ would’ve picked, if teams could score in decimals.

This document breaks games (and S&P+’s season performance to date) out into their decimal glory.

Ranked teams in action

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Alabama’s Jalen Hurts

No. 1 Alabama 40, Arkansas (+30) 15 (Saturday, 7:15 PM ET, ESPN)

No. 2 Clemson 34, Syracuse (+22.5) 18 (Friday, 7:00 PM ET, ESPN)

No. 4 Georgia 42, Missouri (+30) 15 (Saturday, 7:30 PM ET, SECN)

No. 5 Washington (-18) 42, Arizona State 19 (Saturday, 10:45 PM ET, ESPN)

No. 6 TCU 33, Kansas State (+6) 28 (Saturday, 12:00 PM ET, FS1)

No. 7 Wisconsin (-17.5) 36, Purdue 18 (Saturday, 3:30 PM ET, BTN)

No. 8 Washington State (-14.5) 37, California 18 (Friday, 10:30 PM ET, ESPN)

No. 9 Ohio State 38, Nebraska (+24) 16 (Saturday, 7:30 PM ET, FS1)

No. 10 Auburn 27, LSU (+7) 22 (Saturday, 3:30 PM ET, CBS)

No. 11 Miami (-6) 33, Georgia Tech 24 (Saturday, 3:30 PM ET, ABC)

No. 12 Oklahoma (-7.5) 39, Texas 27 (Saturday, 3:30 PM ET, ESPN)

No. 13 USC 33, Utah (+12.5) 23 (Saturday, 8:00 PM ET, ABC)

No. 14 Oklahoma State 43, Baylor (+25.5) 23 (Saturday, 3:30 PM ET, FS1)

No. 17 Michigan 26, Indiana (+7.5) 19 (Saturday, 12:00 PM ET, ABC)

No. 18 South Florida 40, Cincinnati (+24.5) 17 (Saturday, 7:30 PM ET, ESPNU)

No. 19 San Diego State 27, Boise State (+7) 26 (Saturday, 10:30 PM ET, CBSSN)

No. 20 NC State 36, Pittsburgh (+11) 26 (Saturday, 12:00 PM ET, ACCN)

No. 21 Michigan State (-4) 25, Minnesota 20 (Saturday, 8:00 PM ET, BTN)

No. 22 Central Florida 49, East Carolina (+35) 17 (Saturday, 7:00 PM ET, CBSSN)

No. 23 Stanford 34, Oregon (+10.5) 29 (Saturday, 11:00 PM ET, FS1)

West Virginia 37, No. 24 Texas Tech (+3.5) 35 (Saturday, 12:00 PM ET, ESPNU)

Memphis 36, No. 25 Navy (+3.5) 35 (Saturday, 3:45 PM ET, ESPNU)

The last thing you want to do is face Alabama the week after a disappointing Crimson Tide performance. Good luck with that, Bret Bielema.

Power 5 vs. Power 5

Amber Searls-USA TODAY Sports

Virginia’s Bronco Mendenhall

Arizona (+1) 35, UCLA 33 (Saturday, 9:00 PM ET, Pac-12)

Colorado (-11.5) 37, Oregon State 24 (Saturday, 4:00 PM ET, Pac-12)

Florida (-2.5) 29, Texas A&M 26 (Saturday, 7:00 PM ET, ESPN2)

Florida State (-7) 33, Duke 20 (Saturday, 12:00 PM ET, ESPN2)

Illinois 24, Rutgers (+2.5) 23 (Saturday, 12:00 PM ET, BTN)

Iowa State 43, Kansas (+21.5) 23 (Saturday, 12:00 PM ET, FSN affiliates)

Louisville (-21.5) 39, Boston College 15 (Saturday, 12:20 PM ET, ACCN)

Maryland (+3.5) 28, Northwestern 27 (Saturday, 3:30 PM ET, ESPN2)

Ole Miss (-3.5) 31, Vanderbilt 26 (Saturday, 3:30 PM ET, SECN)

Tennessee (-3.5) 28, South Carolina 24 (Saturday, 12:00 PM ET, ESPN)

Virginia (-4) 30, North Carolina 25 (Saturday, 3:30 PM ET, ACCN)

Virginia has a really good shot at moving to 5-1. 2017 is odd.

FBS vs. FBS

Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports

Houston’s Ed Oliver

Air Force 36, UNLV (+7.5) 31 (Saturday, 2:00 PM ET, MWC Video)

Appalachian State 33, Idaho (+12.5) 21 (Saturday, 5:00 PM ET, ESPN3)

Arkansas State 36, Coastal Carolina (+19) 25 (Saturday, 7:00 PM ET, ESPN3)

Army 29, Eastern Michigan (+6) 26 (Saturday, 12:00 PM ET, CBSSN)

Colorado State (-24.5) 43, Nevada 18 (Saturday, 10:15 PM ET, ESPN2)

Hawaii 35, San Jose State (+17) 26 (Saturday, 11:59 PM ET, MWC Video)

Houston (-13.5) 40, Tulsa 23 (Saturday, 4:00 PM ET, ESPN News)

Marshall 31, Old Dominion (+16.5) 19 (Saturday, 2:30 PM ET, ESPN3)

Miami (Ohio) (-9.5) 33, Kent State 17 (Saturday, 3:30 PM ET, ESPN3)

Middle Tennessee 30, UAB (+6) 25 (Saturday, 6:30 PM ET, beIN)

Mississippi State 34, BYU (+23.5) 14 (Saturday, 12:00 PM ET, SECN)

New Mexico (+2.5) 31, Fresno State 29 (Saturday, 10:00 PM ET, MWC Video)

New Mexico State (-6.5) 34, Georgia Southern 23 (Saturday, 6:00 PM ET, ESPN3)

Northern Illinois (-4.5) 28, Buffalo 21 (Saturday, 3:30 PM ET, ESPN3)

Ohio (-9.5) 35, Bowling Green 24 (Saturday, 3:30 PM ET, ESPN3)

Southern Miss (-22.5) 42, UTEP 15 (Saturday, 7:00 PM ET, Stadium)

Temple 33, Connecticut (+9.5) 24 (Saturday, 12:00 PM ET, ESPN News)

Toledo (-8) 36, Central Michigan 26 (Saturday, 3:30 PM ET, ESPN3)

Troy 32, South Alabama (+18) 20 (Wednesday, 8:00 PM ET, ESPN2) — S&P+ is 1-0 already!

Tulane 34, Florida International (+13.5) 26 (Saturday, 7:00 PM ET, $CUSATV)

UL-Lafayette 33, Texas State (+13.5) 25 (Thursday, 7:30 PM ET, ESPNU)

UL-Monroe (-7) 33, Georgia State 25 (Saturday, 5:00 PM ET, ESPN3)

Utah State 25, Wyoming (+3) 25 (Saturday, 4:30 PM ET, Facebook)

UTSA 31, North Texas (+2) 29 (Saturday, 7:00 PM ET, ESPN3)

Western Kentucky (-16) 36, Charlotte 17 (Saturday, 4:30 PM ET, $FloTV)

Western Michigan (-14) 36, Akron 21 (Saturday, 3:30 PM ET, CBSSN)

The AAC East race is pretty straight-forward at this point — barring insanity, it’s UCF vs. USF for the crown. But if Memphis indeed beats Navy, and Houston indeed takes down Houston, the West race is going to get messy and interesting.

Each year at Football Study Hall, I have posted weekly S&P+ picks as a way of affirming the ratings’ validity. I use my S&P+ system as a complement to most of my analysis, and the picks are a way of showing it generally knows what it’s talking about.

S&P+ tends to hit between 50 (meh) and 54 percent (great) against the spread from year to year. It isn’t always the single best performer, but it holds its own. And beyond picks, it goes deeper than any other set of college football analytics on the market. You can go into granular detail regarding team strengths and weaknesses in a way that no other set of ratings allows. (See the annual team statistical profiles as proof.)

This year, I will be posting the weekly S&P+ picks at SB Nation instead of FSH.

Because I like to experiment, however, I won’t just be posting the official S&P+ picks. Go to this Google doc, and you will find three sets of picks: S&P+, F/+ (combined ratings from S&P+ and Brian Fremeau’s FEI), and what I’m calling an adjusted S&P+ pick, in which I attempt to account for two additional factors: week of play and type of game.

Week of play: I’m finding that there are cycles to scoring averages throughout a given season. Week 1 typically falls below the season scoring average, while the final weeks of the season tend to perk up in the scoring department. This adjusted projection will take this into account.

Game type: It shouldn’t be surprising to learn that the standard deviation of possible results in a game against FCS competition, for instance, is different than that of a conference game. This projection will also adjust for different types of games. This will mean some pretty extreme projections, but we’ll see how it performs.

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toomanysurveys9 · 8 years

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1. List 5 things you want to do before the year ends.

pay off loans/debts. have this baby! put more money in savings. lose weight/get healthy after baby. go on a road trip somewhere fun.

2. What color are your pants?

black.

3. Favorite motivational quote.

everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about. be kind. always.

4. When was the last time you drank coffee?

last weekend i had a frappe if that counts.

5. What was the last thing you ate?

i had an amish-made donut for breakfast..

6. Favorite animal.

besides cats and dogs, owls and foxes.

7. Favorite song.

body like a back road by sam hunt. it’s just kind of fun. otherwise i also like better man by little big town lately.

8. Last movie you watched?

deadpool.

9. Any turn ons?

well, yeah. pretty usual stuff.

10. Any turn offs?

too aggressive. dirty. list goes on..

11. List 4 big words off of the top of your head.

i don’t feel like it.

12. What are some meaningful movies?

there are a lot of meaningful movies to different people. some i like are the lion king (don’t judge me - there are several good lessons in that movie!), the pursuit of happiness, and shawshank redemption.

13. 2 most important people in your life right now?

there are way more than two. especially my parents, my husband, my son (even if he’s not born yet), and my siblings. just to name a few.

14. What are 3 things you want to do before the month ends?

have my child!!!! i am so uncomfortable, and i only have four days until my due date but it’s probably gonna be longer before he’s actually born. i would love to have wyatt’s crib set up in his room. and maybe try to get cocoa to settle down a little more when people walk in the house because it’s gonna be hard to control a crazy pup while trying to bring in a baby too, but it’ll be manageable no matter what. :)

15. When was the last time you read a good book?

it’s been a little bit since i’ve read anything.

16. How long do you study for usual, if you study?

i rarely studied in school. lol.

17. Do you have any nicknames?

marley, marley harley, lina, mar, mare.

18. Favorite kind of perfume? (fruity, alluring, etc.)

if i wear it, it’s usually kind of floral i guess..

19. Do you have any international friends / friends who live out of state?

i do.

20. What is something unique that you do every single day?

i don’t really think i do anything all that unique, ever.

21. If there was a movie based on your life, what would it be called?

something that would tell you my life is basic and boring and not worth watching probably.

22. When was the last time you bought a gift for someone?

last week.

23. Are you a shopaholic?

definitely not.

24. What are some songs that always make you feel better?

i don’t know. depends on the day and my mood.

25. List 3 activities that you can only enjoy by yourself.

surveys for sure. reading, unless i’m reading to the kiddos. book shopping.

26. If you could live in any biome (and survive) which biome would you live in?

i don’t know, to be honest.

27. How do you like being roused in the morning?

i don’t. lol. uhm. i guess just the alarm and getting up myself will do.

28. How was your day? What did you do?

so far it’s been uneventful. i woke up. took care of puppies. was going to work on getting clothes put away, but ended up bouncing on an exercise ball and then mom picked me up. when the guys get back from training, i’ll probably go home and put clothes away. now i’m helping with lilli and rose while doing surveys.

29. What did your last text message say?

my last sent text was me telling jake i was at my parents but i promised to get laundry put away when i get back home. last received text was mom telling me she was on her way to pick me up.

30. Do you respond to texts quickly?

depends what was said and if i want to talk to that person at the time..

31. Who was the last person you called?

my mom probably.

32. List 5 things that are on your wish list.

i don’t really have a wish list..

33. If you were famous, what do you think you would be famous for?

i have no idea..

34. Winter or summer?

summer. i hate being cold and i hate getting sick so much.

35. What is a quality that all people should have?

kindness towards others..

36. If you could have a large collection of one item, what would that item be?

books. more books would be lovely.

37. What have you been thinking about lately?

wyatt. giving birth and labor. my family (there have been a lot of surgeries lately).

38. What is the secret to a happy life?

i’m not sure i’ve quite figured that out just yet.

39. What are some phrases you say often?

"fuck”. “i don’t know”.

40. Favorite food?

mac and cheese lately.

41. List 3 wishes.

parents to have everything they need/want. jacob to be happy. be the best mom and wife i can be..

42. What are some of your greatest fears?

failure at anything/everything. losing those i love.

43. What is the last thing you downloaded onto your computer?

birth plan i think.

44. Most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen (in real life)?

i’m not too sure.

45. Spicy food: Like or dislike?

depends on how spicy. i don’t like a lot of spice. but i like a little bit.

46. Scary movies: Like or dislike?

like if they’re not stupid.

47. Do you like to travel?

i do but don’t get to enough.

48. Any regrets?

of course. i have lots of those.

49. Do you like rain?

sometimes. i usually don’t mind it unless it’s cold and i have to be out in it.

50. What do you spend most of your money on?

i only spend money on wyatt (if i have to have something - we still need little things) and bills. jake spends everything else on whatever he wants.

51. Would you rather visit the past or the future?

the future. for sure.

52. Favorite clothing store?

i don’t really have one. i usually just go to walmart because it’s cheap, but i very rarely get clothes..

53. What is the best advice you can give to those who are feeling down?

i don’t really know besides it can get better, and i hope it does for their sake..

54. How often do you think about your future? Does it scare you?

lately, i think about it A LOT. there’s a lot of unknowns, and it is very scary, but i’m also kind of excited and happy...

55. What angers you the most?

when people are abusive towards other people and animals probably.

56. When was the last time you got majorly angry?

yesterday. jacob said he was getting a motorcycle and there is no way that is in the cards for us anytime soon. we need to build up our savings and get other stuff taken care of. plus, i’d like to move out of state by next summer.

57. When was the last time you got really sad?

today.

58. Are you good at lying?

not really, no.

59. What foreign language would you like to learn?

french more or spanish.

60. How many languages can you speak and what are they?

just english really.

61. How often do you go to parties? If you don’t, what do you do instead?

i never go to parties anymore. i usually stay home and do nothing. i kind of can’t wait for wyatt to be born cos i’ll have him to tend to..

62. What books do you plan to read this year?

i don’t know. probably reread a lot of books... and a lot of children’s books to wyatt. i’m hoping he will enjoy books...

63. Do you have breakfast every morning?

i have to or i get sick.

64. Tell us a secret.

i don’t really have any secrets to tell.

65. How many concerts have you been to?

quite a few. most were just free ones at the fair, but they were concerts all the same.

66. Last hug?

rose before she got laid down for her nap.

67. Who knows you better than anyone else?

jacob. kayla. my mom.

68. Baths or showers?

showers for sure. not really a fan of baths, but that’s partially because our tub is tiny.

69. Do you think you’re ambitious?

i guess so.

70. What song is stuck in your head?

none at the moment. i have other things on my mind.

71. Countries you’ve visited?

i’ve only ever been to different states in the u.s.

72. What do you most value in your friends?

loyalty and trustworthiness i guess.

73. What helps you to sleep better?

fan on. dark. covered up and comfy pillows. i also generally prefer to sleep naked or mostly naked.

74. What is the most money you have ever held in your hand?

quite a lot from semis fueling up when i worked at the gas station.

75. What makes you nervous?

thinking about how i’m going to be in charge of a little person’s life.

76. What is the best advice you’ve ever been given?

i don’t know..

77. Is it easier to forgive or forget?

forgive for sure.

78. First mobile phone?

i don’t know, just a basic flip phone for emergencies only when i was in middle school.

79. Strangest dream?

oh man. i’ve had some weird ones since getting pregnant.

80. Best dream?

i don’t know.

81. Who is the smartest person you know?

probably my dad.

82. Who is the prettiest person on tumblr?

i don’t know?

83. Do you miss anyone right now?

i do.. but he’ll be home soon i’m sure.

84. Who do you love? Why?

jacob. wyatt. rest of my family.

85. Do you like sharing?

depends what and with who. for instance, i don’t like sharing my husband. i don’t mind sharing food, if it’s not something i’ve been craving.

86. What was the last picture you took with your phone?

belly bump picture.

87. Is there a reason behind everything that happens?

i don’t know. i guess there might be. but there might not be..

88. Favorite genre of music?

i listen to country a lot these days..

89. If you had one word to describe yourself, what would it be?

anxious.

90. Describe your life in 5 words.

it’s had ups and downs.

91. Describe the world in 4 words.

it’s a huge mess.

92. Craziest thing you’ve ever done?

ran around my trailer in just a bra and jeans when i was drunk.

93. First three songs in your favorite playlist?

i don’t have a playlist anywhere.

94. Are you more creative or logical?

logical i think.

95. Would you rather lie or hurt someone with the truth?

hurt someone with the truth.. i don’t like to lie. but i don’t really like hurting people either, so either would really suck.

96. What are you most proud of?

graduating college. i was the first in my family to do so.

97. What personality trait do you admire in other people?

i don’t know. i guess courage would be one of the top ones.

98. When you imagine yourself as really, really relaxed and happy, what are you doing?

having a good day with family (husband, son, parents, siblings, etc).

99. How do you usually start a conversation?

hey, what’s up?

100. What is the best news you could hear right now?

that it’s time to have this baby. or someone paid off all my loans. ha.

#survey #surveys #personal #question #questions #random

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