#so audiobooks may be more of a situation specific thing for me than a broad application thing

[birlwrites]

tried listening to an audiobook for a road trip. immediate result is that whenever i read something that's written in an even SLIGHTLY conversational style, i hear it in the voice of the audiobook narrator

[mermaidsirennikita]

I was gonna ask, I didn't read the book but I do know a lot of the plot points and quotes tnx to tik tok and twitter so on the surface it looks like a good adaptation to me, plus I've seen nothing but praise for it online ever since the casting was announced. You're like the only person I've seen say basically anything negative about the show. Do you think this is a situation of people misunderstanding the book, because I'm not sure it's just a lot of people didn't actually situation. Even then I feel like I would have seen more criticism, it's a popular book after all and there are definitely people out there who have read it.

I'll be real with you, I actually do think that more people haven't read the book in full than you think. That's kind of a thing on BookTok. You get the broad strokes, you enjoy fandom, you consume a lot of fanworks, you think you get it.

I also think that because it's a BookTok book, it's a fandom thing--we're going to stan this shit because it's amazing and it gives us more stuff to consume, whereas all they had before was a book and the audiobook (which is amazing, by the way-the audiobook > the book as written, imo, because of the cast). Fandom is a bottomless pit that wants more more more because without new content MOST fandoms eventually kinda die off and you lose that connection and the high that having new shit to fangirl discourse over gives you.

What makes me REALLY think that a lot of people haven't read the book in full or read it... I don't even wanna say closely because I don't think the book needs a super close reading... is the lack of discourse over the songs changing. The songs are a big part of that book, and typically that's the type of content fandom would cling to--Impossible Woman is a song, for example, that Billy writes about Daisy and then denies writing about Daisy even though everyone, including Daisy, knows it's about Daisy. That is FODDER, and I guess it's not there? But if you hadn't read the book, you wouldn't really know that.

Similarly, Honeycomb in the show IS NOT Honeycomb, lol. The meaning is so altered, lyrics aside. It's a song, as written by Billy, about getting back to this dream life with Camila. Daisy alters the song, yeah--but not into this "we could make a good thing bad" shit, into this idea that there is DOUBT. Which especially bothers Billy because a) he doesn't want to cop to how close he is to falling off the wagon at any point but because b) Daisy herself represents doubt in his marriage. At a pivotal point, Daisy switches the lyrics back to what Billy wrote, because she is basically telling him "you WILL have this", loving him so much that though she wants that to be a certainty for THEM, she is giving him that certainty for him and Camila. Affirming THAT relationship.

... the fact that people aren't calling that out more just makes me raise an eyebrow. Because I do know of other BookTok popular books where people just don't read them yet discuss them as if they have, lmao. I know this is a thing that happens. It's the hype train.

I mean, people also don't seem to be confused about where the timeline is going--how old is Julia when she's making this doc on the show? When all is said and done in the book I believe Billy and Camila have quite a while together before she dies; she's in her early 60s when she goes. Julia is the person putting together this retrospective, and she was tiny (barely able to remember Camila and Daisy's confrontation) when the band broke up. So if that was 20 years ago when these interviews are being done, how old is she? Is she still compiling them? Camila was interviewed in the book, and Billy is later interviewed after her death, but I'm just... curious as to how this will all work.

The thing is, though, that the show just came out and many people aren't aware of the changes in full yet, so we may see more and more critique. I saw several people on Twitter going "wow, so we won't have" [X moment that connects to a specific lyric or song vibe]. People are only just now listening to the album. It hasn't been out for like... even a few days. I've seen more level-headed critiques coming out.

I mean, I read this book the month it came out, I think; I'd read TJR beforehand. I think I escaped a lot of the FANDOM stuff with it, which also makes it easier for me to have a jaundiced eye, and I don't feel like I came into the book hyped over things like I AM THE SOMEBODY. I was able to make very independent opinions, and I had nobody to discuss it with until I got my friends to read it, lol. And I'm trying not to sound condescending when I say that, but it is a DIFFERENT experience than coming into this book with the hype train made. Some of the stuff fandom is into I just... don't get. And I don't think it's a perfect book, even though I love it.

Also, I will say, professional critics really aren't super hot on the show lol, and many of them HAVE read the book based off the reviews I read. Several didn't like the book either, so maybe that's just a thing, but several did and make some pretty harsh comparisons between the book and the show.

So look, I'm sure many people have read the book and don't care (and that's FINE, if you like it then by my guest), some will care later and are too hyped right now to care, but like... yeah, I think that BookTok and booktwt especially have created a culture in which "joining in" is more important than fully consuming the material. So even if the book isn't your thing, which is FINE, you feel like you're missing out if you don't join in. And the fandom around this book makes it easier to CliffNotes it. I'm sure the MAJORITY of people have read the book. But I've seen a few comments that make me go "lol there is nO WAY you actually read the book", and it's kind of fascinating to see.

[fionas-french-challenge-blog]

Blog 1 - Initial Challenge Planning

My challenge:

Vocabulary – Difficulty keeping up language practice  outside class. I have tried to combat this sporadically through use of  Duolingo, although it does not target specific vocabulary from my classes.

‘Thinking too much’ – Rather than trusting my  knowledge of the language and letting myself feel how to correctly use the  language I find myself grasping for particular rules and structures that I  should be using, therefore hindering my fluency and stressing me out further.  The best solution I have found for this is knowing structures very well so  they are second nature, though this becomes an issue when I am placed in  variable situations.

Getting confused about when to use different  conjugations – I get confused about which conjugations to use in certain situations  and find myself stressing and without knowing where to start if I haven’t  been specifically instructed to use a certain one. I have best approached  this in the past through memorisation, though I feel as if this knowledge has  not stayed in my memory very well.

My Learning goal:

Getting a 6 in FREN2010 throughout the regular  assessment pieces in the class and overall for the course.

Being able to differentiate and describe different  verb tenses + conjugations (present; past (passé composé, imparfait); future  (futur proche, futur simple); conditional).

Feeling more confident and relaxed in straying from  specific sentence structures/responses/questions, especially in class.  Decreasing my use of English in French classes.

Increase confidence in conversation (especially with  native speakers).

Retaining knowledge so that I can have a good base  for FREN2020 and speak functionally in France at the end of the year.

My learning styles and strategies:  

Very clear guidelines/rules for grammar – Purposed French  language learning Instagrams, Youtube, and Podcasts should help me with this  by providing definitions and explanations for difficult grammar concepts using  different learning strategies of which some will hopefully suit me.

Creativity – exploring knowledge through reuse which  is then subject to critique; application of critique and revision of problem  areas. – I will achieve this through interaction with French social media  (Instagram). This creativity is given much room for exploration in my formal  university class sessions and is therefore not a huge focus of mine for this  challenge.

Group settings/discussions. –  I can participate in discussions on  Instagram and YouTube posts aimed specifically for French learning.

Natural and practical applications for knowledge – Exposing  myself to French designed for native speakers (podcasts, YouTube videos,  Instagram, Netflix, etc.) should help me to be more comfortable with integrating  French into my everyday life, and therefore increase my familiarity with it  in a casual setting.

The technologies I am  going to test:

Duolingo:

Not very useful to actually teach me intricacies of  grammar

Good way to revise and improve vocabulary

Requires listening to and replication of  pronunciation

No options for experimenting with language knowledge  (e.g. creativity using the language and therefore challenging self to be more  independent with language – ‘thinking too much’ challenge)

Instagram: Following French Instagrams with language  teaching focus, as well as sourcing some French Instagrams with an aesthetic  I would like.

Exposure to native speakers of French and content  intended for native speakers – broad exposure to structures, vocab, and culture  I may otherwise be unaware of.

No output from me (unless I interact with the  Instagrams in French)

iPhone: Changing language on iPhone to French

Only useful up to a certain point (once vocab for  common phone notifications is learnt)

May be frustrating when I am trying to go about  daily activities.

Netflix:

Preserves interest/motivation as language can be  explored without focusing on the task as a targeted learning activity.

Native speaker speed and pronunciation, as well as  slang and culture.

Some English movies/programs can be dubbed with  French – expands content available and possibly means I can watch content  that I’m already watching in French)

Youtube:

Gives a larger variety of content with which to  preserve interest/motivation.

Good way to gain access to various teaching  strategies for particularly challenging aspects of language.

Very self-guided -> can be very basic or very  challenging.

Due to volume of content could be difficult to  successfully locate useful resources.

Podcasts:

Countless options offered from lessons,  news-readings, audiobooks, talks etc.

Many offered at various levels of French  (purpose-made)

Not currently a habit of mine – often use my phone  to listen to things when I specifically want to relax (e.g. after work or  class), meaning that in such an occasion I may have to force myself into  this.

CEFR language level tests:

Will be frustrating on top of usual class assessment.

Potentially not very accurate as the tests I have source  seem to have only 20-30 questions on which to base their results. Therefore,  may be necessary to take tests from multiple sources each time.

Tests may recycle questions so that it would be  unwise for me to take the same test more than once over the course of this  challenge.

My plan:

Trying to add activities into my day that I can  reasonably attempt to incorporate as habits. This involves evaluating  technology that I already use on a daily basis in terms of how my use of each  may be altered slightly to increase French exposure.

Incorporating 4+ 30 minute or longer French  listening activities into each week (May be Netflix show, movie, podcast,  Youtube video).

Duolingo: Reaching 50XP per day.

Instagram: Because I already check Instagram almost  daily, I will make sure to properly read through the content from the French  Instagrams that I follow, making sure that I unpack the meaning completely.

iPhone: Changing language to French so that exposure  every day is unavoidable.

My evaluation approach:

My goal of achieving a final mark of 6.0 or higher  will be evaluated from the grades which I receive in my FREN2010 course at  university. I will additionally record results from class assessment on my  blog.

At the start of the challenge and every following  fortnight I will take an online French placement test based on the Common  European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL) learning levels. I will  change the source of such a test each time, and perhaps do multiple tests at  the same time, in order to increase accuracy of results.

Blog 1 Reflection:

I have intentionally designed my language learning challenge so that over the semester I can develop it in any way that I think is suitable. I have taken such an approach as this challenge must be incorporated into my daily life, and I want to go into the challenge from a practical perspective knowing that some aspects of the initial plan may be less realistic to fit into my lifestyle than others. Furthermore, I may discover that some aspects are less helpful for me in terms of achieving my learning goals than I thought they would be. Over the next week, I think it is important that I further evaluate my chosen technologies in terms of my goals and learning strategies, and do more research to explore other technologies which may be more useful for me in the context of this challenge. I would like to revise my plan for the challenge if necessary.

[skillwiththequill]

answer all 150. do it. i fuckin dare ya

....

.......

This took me over an hour. I hope you’re happy.

1. Who was the last person you held hands with? Probably my niece, Eliza. She is turning 2 soon and is HECKIN ADORABLE.

2. Are you outgoing or shy? Depends on the situation. If I am comfortable then I am outgoing, if I am stressed or uncertain I am shy.

3. Who are you looking forward to seeing? Solomon, the boy I like

4. Are you easy to get along with? Maybe? I dunno. I can be pleasant, but sometimes I don’t give a crap whether people like me or not and I’m just unabashedly myself.

5. If you were drunk would the person you like take care of you? I think both the people I like would take care of me. One would do it better than the other, but they are both really nice people. I feel like the one who would take care of me better would probably insist on a serious conversation afterwards though, because we are LDS and drinking isn’t really a thing we are allowed to do. Yeah...

6. What kind of people are you attracted to? People who care about things a lot. People who are snarky. People who listen to me. People who like to make me smile.

7. Do you think you’ll be in a relationship two months from now? And ruin my almost 22 year streak? Not a chance, bruh.

8. Who from the opposite gender is on your mind? Definitely not a boy named Solomon. Actually I have been thinking about my brother a lot lately, he is going through some stuff right now. That isn’t a fun crush-type response though. Sorry.

9. Does talking about sex make you uncomfortable? Not nearly as much as it used to. It depends on the people I’m with obviously, but I feel less weird about it than I used to.

10. Who was the last person you had a deep conversation with? Marissa.

11. What does the most recent text that you sent say?” Kk. Let us know when you get home, okay?”

12. What are your 5 favorite songs right now? The World is Wide Enough, Emma Dear (by a friend, you won’t know it), Breathe... I dunno. I don’t listen to a lot of music.

13. Do you like it when people play with your hair? Lots. Right now it is all split endy though, which makes me feel super self conscious because split endy hair insta-tangled.

14. Do you believe in luck and miracles? Yes?

15. What good thing happened this summer? I got to spend a month with my niece and the polar bear at the zoo liked her a lot.

16. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again? ....never been kissed. Sorry to disappoint

17. Do you think there is life on other planets? Given the vastness of the universe, probably. Intelligent life? Given the vastness of the universe......probably?

18. Do you still talk to your first crush? Not really. I should Facebook message him actually, I heard he just started at my school

19. Do you like bubble baths? Yeah. Gotta have a book or an audiobook though. I can’t handle being alone with my thoughts that long.

20. Do you like your neighbors? I have a downstairs neighbor I like a lot and there is a girl in my building that I absolutely ADORE. In general though, I don’t know my neighbors.

21. What are you bad habits? When I feel insecure my knee-jerk reactions are usually pretty manipulatory. I don’t like that about myself.

22. Where would you like to travel? Top 3 are New Zealand, Germany, and London.

23. Do you have trust issues? yeah

24. Favorite part of your daily routine? My favorite parts of the day are when I’m cooking. I don’t really have a fave routine though.

25. What part of your body are you most uncomfortable with? The part that I’m uncomfortable with that affects my daily life is my upper arms. They don’t look good and I can’t wear a few shirts because they either show too much of them or the sleeve gets super stretched and gross looking. Overall least favorite part is probably my tummy though.

26. What do you do when you wake up? Go back to sleep or read stuff on my phone.

27. Do you wish your skin was lighter or darker? Not really. I like my skin tone. I am a little paler than I usually like right now because I don’t go outside anymore, but it isn’t something I would wish to instantly happen.

28. Who are you most comfortable around? Marissa. Maybe Bethany.

29. Have any of your ex’s told you they regret breaking up? Never had a relationship, can’t exactly have an ex.

30. Do you ever want to get married? Yeah.

31. Is your hair long enough for a pony tail? Yup.

32. Which celebrities would you have a threesome with? I don’t think I would feel comfortable with a threesome or no strings attatched sex, so I am gonna pass on this one.

33. Spell your name with your chin. azlkytszsxza wedastghgewrfsdtyoln

34. Do you play sports? What sports? Naw.

35. Would you rather live without TV or music? I reject the premise of this question. TV is a very specific mode of entertainment and music is super broad. Does “music” mean listening to an audio file or does it mean I can’t sing or play the piano or go to a concert? As it is, the two options are not in the same category and I refuse to play along with this insanity.

36. Have you ever liked someone and never told them? yyuuuuuuup.

37. What do you say during awkward silences? CAW

38. Describe your dream girl/guy? Cares a lot about people and things. Snarky. Likes to make me smile and entertains my bad jokes. Holds me. Sorry y’all, I can’t give a physical description really.

39. What are your favorite stores to shop in? bookstores. grocery stores.

40. What do you want to do after high school? um. Go to college. Already there, bruh. If we translate this to college, I’d say work in DC and then become Toby Ziegler.

41. Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance? I think they should be offered a second chance, but that second chance may not look the way they expect. They deserve an opportunity, but they have to earn trust.

42. If your being extremely quiet what does it mean? I’m in my head and I probably shouldn’t be there. It means you should give me a way to get out of whatever situation I am in and take me to a private place and ask if I am okay.

43. Do you smile at strangers? Sometimes. Usually it is the White People smile/grimace/nod thing.

44. Trip to outer space or bottom of the ocean? Where in outer space? If I get to go to another planet, I pick that. If I am just gonna chill in emptiness that is cool and all, but I would probably prefer DEEP bottom of the ocean. More to see.

45. What makes you get out of bed in the morning? work. Class. books. friends.

46. What are you paranoid about? nobody likes me and they all just tolerate me because they pity me and I don’t have any actual friends.

47. Have you ever been high? I’ve been in a plane, does that count? One time at the dentist I got pretty loopy from nitrous.

48. Have you ever been drunk? no

49. Have you done anything recently that you hope nobody finds out about? yes

50. What was the colour of the last hoodie you wore? maroon

51. Ever wished you were someone else? frequently

52. One thing you wish you could change about yourself? do I have to pick one thing? If I can’t get a whole new me, I wish I could cut down a lot on the self doubt.

53. Favourite makeup brand? I don’t wear makeup really.

54. Favourite store? half-price books. Or Winco.

55. Favourite blog? I’m going to change this question to favorite twitter and answer LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA’S

56. Favourite colour? Yellow

57. Favourite food? depends on what I am craving. Rught now probably asparagus.

58. Last thing you ate? lefotver lasagna and a side salad

59. First thing you ate this morning? ...a bit of leftover lasagna while I was toasting oats for a quick granola to put on my yogurt.

60. Ever won a competition? For what? yeah a lot. Singing, speaking, debate, and Academic Decathlon in general. Plus random crap like indexing competitions and a lord of the rings trivia competition.

61. Been suspended/expelled? For what? heh. heh. I started a doctor who club in my high school without permission and put up a couple posters at which point I got in-school suspension for graffiti.

62. Been arrested? For what? no, Got pulled over one time because the inspection on my dad’s car was overdue and I was driving it to work.

63. Ever been in love? ...not reciprocated romantic love. 

64. Tell us the story of your first kiss? I’ll let you know

65. Are you hungry right now? naw, had some leftover lasagna.

66. Do you like your tumblr friends more than your real friends? some of them more than some of them. I have about 5 favorite people in the world and 2 of them are tumblr friends.

67. Facebook or Twitter? ugh. I don’t actually use twitter, I go to a few specific feeds and read those. So probably facebook, even though I hate facebook.

68. Twitter or Tumblr? Tujmblr

69. Are you watching tv right now? no, I am answering questions. When I finish I will probably continue watching Speechless.

70. Names of your bestfriends? okay so does this have to be reciprocated best friend-ships? Because a lot of people are more important to me than I am to them and I don’t know if they count.

71. Craving something? What? I want some water right now.

72. What colour are your towels? light green. Close to that teal-y shade that everyone and their mom loves right now.

72. How many pillows do you sleep with?1. Sometimes 2.

73. Do you sleep with stuffed animals? Yeah, a teddy bear named Jamison.

74. How many stuffed animals do you think you have? 2. Back home I have a stuffed kitten named Silver. My older brothers used to torture her to make me cry.

75. Favourite animal? if dead pets count, my cat Pantouf. If not, a lynx

76. What colour is your underwear? beige

77. Chocolate or Vanilla? Chocolate

78. Favourite ice cream flavour? depends on the selection. I like me some burnt almond fudge though.

79. What colour shirt are you wearing? Black, with a dark grey sweater over it.

80. What colour pants? medium dark jeans

81. Favourite tv show? the show I am watching right now is Orange is the New Black. My favorite TV show is The West Wing still.

82. Favourite movie? I dunno. I like the prestige. Right now I want to watch Finding Dory.

83. Mean Girls or Mean Girls 2? haven’t seen the second

84. Mean Girls or 21 Jump Street? haven’t seen 21 Jump Street

85. Favourite character from Mean Girls? idk, it has been a while. The gay guy.

86. Favourite character from Finding Nemo? The Starfish

87. First person you talked to today? I woke up for 20 seconds to say bye to my roommate, but I went back to sleep. So probably my coworker who called to ask how to fix a printer.

88. Last person you talked to today? Angie, my downstairs neighbor.

89. Name a person you hate? Trump

90. Name a person you love? Marissa

91. Is there anyone you want to punch in the face right now? yes

92. In a fight with someone? never been in a physical fight that was not for training in Tae Kwon Do

93. How many sweatpants do you have? 1 pair of sweatpants and 1 pair of yoga pants.

94. How many sweaters/hoodies do you have? 3 hoodies, 3 sweaters. Only 1 sweater that I wear over other things though.

95. Last movie you watched? I Am Not a Serial Killer. Y’all should watch it, it is on Netflix.

96. Favourite actress? Kate McKinnon

97. Favourite actor? I guess probably still David Tennant, though I haven’t watched anything with him in it for months.

98. Do you tan a lot? I mean, I tan easily. I don’t ever go somewhere with the purpose of tanning though. It just happens when I am at the beach or I am walking or whatever.

99. Have any pets? none at school, 2 cats and a dog at home.

100. How are you feeling? thirsty

101. Do you type fast? eh. Not really. Faster than I used to, but most people under the age of 40 can probably blow me out of the water.

102. Do you regret anything from your past? yeah

103. Can you spell well? yeah

104. Do you miss anyone from your past? a lot

105. Ever been to a bonfire party? I grew up by the beach. All the time.

106. Ever broken someone’s heart? I doubt it.

107. Have you ever been on a horse? yes. One time it didn’t end well, the second time it was fine.

108. What should you be doing? I should probably go to the bathroom. Idk, it is Friday before a 3 day weekend. I don’t have a lot pressing on me rn.

109. Is something irritating you right now? fearmongering about GMOs

110. Have you ever liked someone so much it hurt? yup

111. Do you have trust issues? wasn’t this already a question? IT TOTALLY WAS. #3.

112. Who was the last person you cried in front of? Probably my roommate Makenna. Last semester was rough.

113. What was your childhood nickname? My mother came up with a lot of inane nicknames for me. I’ll share “Wyssie”

114. Have you ever been out of your province/state? yup, lots. I am outside it now.

115. Do you play the Wii? When I am home.

116. Are you listening to music right now? I can half hear the music my roommate is playing in her room.

117. Do you like chicken noodle soup? It aight.

118. Do you like Chinese food? Depends on where it is from and whether there is congealed pig blood in it.

119. Favourite book? The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

120. Are you afraid of the dark? Not really.

121. Are you mean?  I don’t try to be. I probably come off that way dometimes though. Or rather, I come off as insensitive/self-centered sometimes. I wish I could stop that.

122. Is cheating ever okay? no.

123. Can you keep white shoes clean? I’ve never legitimately tried and I don’t see myself trying.

124. Do you believe in love at first sight? no

125. Do you believe in true love? yeah

126. Are you currently bored? no

127. What makes you happy? people. Being not me.

128. Would you change your name? my name is fine.

129. What your zodiac sign? Aquarius

130. Do you like subway? I worked there for 2 years and I still like it. Except for the cold cut combo. Don’t get the cold cut combo, it is disgusting.

131. Your bestfriend of the opposite sex likes you, what do you do? Think about it a lot and potentially go out on a date with them. Idk. I don’t currently have a male best friend.

132. Who’s the last person you had a deep conversation with? okay this one is a repeat too. What is with this noise.

133. Favourite lyrics right now? teach me how to say goodbye

134. Can you count to one million? why? I mean I theorhetically can, I doubt I would have the patience though.

135. Dumbest lie you ever told? I bet I told some idiotic ones when I was little. Don’t remember them.

136. Do you sleep with your doors open or closed? yes. Usually closed, but I don’t care if they are open.

137. How tall are you? 5′7″

138. Curly or Straight hair? wavy

139. Brunette or Blonde? Brunette

140. Summer or Winter? Late Fall

141. Night or Day? night

142. Favourite month? December

143. Are you a vegetarian? no

144. Dark, milk or white chocolate? dark

145. Tea or Coffee? tea made from things that are not tea leaves.

146. Was today a good day? it was aight.

147. Mars or Snickers? never had a mars bar

148. What’s your favourite quote? The stigma will last as long as our silence.

149. Do you believe in ghosts? I think I believe in spirits, but I don’t believe they come visit us

150. Get the closest book next to you, open it to page 42, what’s the first line on that page? There’s nothing rich folks love more/than going downtown and slummin’ it with the poor (hamilton: the revolution)