XIII

🦗

[inthemidstofbuddie]

how to properly structure a query letter!*

Dear [Agent], 

[An optional brief introduction, no longer than 2 - 3 sentences, perhaps where you elaborate on the #ownvoices of your manuscript, or pointing out certain things in your manuscript that the agent asks for. I reiterate that this paragraph is optional. Unless you have a very specific reason to be querying this agent—for instance, if they tweeted an MSWL for a heist novel and you’re querying a heist novel—there is no relevance, so don’t include this paragraph.]

[The first paragraph of your summary introduces the world, the main character, and their Normal. For instance, Cynthia lives in the times of a pandemic and works to continue living in their new normal. Every day, Cynthia choose to get up and keep living and making the most of their situation while trying to find something to do to be useful.] 

[The second paragraph of your summary introduces the plot. To continue with the above idea, Cynthia has been tasked with trying to find a cure to coronavirus, but all they have to work with in their home is duct tape, tangerines, Tylenol, and a never-give-up attitude.] 

[The third paragraph introduces stakes, aka what will happen if Cynthia doesn’t discover a cure with the resources they have at home. Luckily for them, however, a woman named Jane they had a one night stand with needs a place to crash after she was evicted. Cynthia agrees to let her stay as their roommate, especially because Jane brings with her the missing ingredient to the cure for coronavirus, a magic bean she stole from a giant–but there’s only one magic bean. If Cynthia and Jane can’t find a way to make more beans, they might be sent to the realm of giants forever.] 

[The closing paragraph goes like this: Complete at 89,000 words, THE MAGIC BEAN is an Adult contemporary fantasy with potential for a companion novel. I believe it will appeal to fans of Erin Morgenstern and Naomi Novik. Briefly explain who you are and share what you’re comfortable with about yourself—I say I’m 26, headed to grad school for archiving, and that the book is #ownvoices for genderqueer representation. Also mention if you have any connection to the publishing industry. I mention who I was previously represented by, why we amicably parted ways, and that I’ve mentored in many writing contests.] 

[Final closure: Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you again!] 

[Best,]

[My name]

[My phone number and, though optional, my twitter handle] 

*i’ve been in the publishing industry for nine years now, have mentored many authors who went on to be published by the Big 5, and worked in writing contests to help writers, not only with their manuscript, but with their pitch and query letter and comps etc. i know what i’m about 😉

[salty-inc]

Gonna tell y’all what I can hear now that I got my hearing aids

[salty-inc]

Birds! They chirp and it’s so beautiful.

[salty-inc]

Far away cow moos

[salty-inc]

My friend has this is his back yard and to say I cried is an understatement.

[salty-inc]

My best friends singing voice

[salty-inc]

Chickens: *chicken noise*

Me, sobbing:

[salty-inc]

The filter for my fish tank! Bubble bubble bubble

[salty-inc]

I sit in the bass section in band. Today I could clearly hear the flutes up at the front! They’re not great, but I can finally hear them!

[salty-inc]

The sound of walking in sand.

Soft but kinda crunchy? Very nice sound 10/10

[salty-inc]

Me playing guitar for the first time. Took the hearing aids out. Not a very good sound… yet

[salty-inc]

Tree leaves in the wind. I got a little spooked at first because it’s 1 am and I’m alone in the park but it’s a real good sound.

[salty-inc]

Bees

Let me say, it was really fucking terrifying walking past the flowering tree in my backyard and hearing zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz coming from it.

[salty-inc]

“sunlight” by Hozier

I sat in my car alone while listening to it. I knew it would be special but wow, that was a religious experience.

[salty-inc]

Their hooves make sounds in the grass but they are completely silent. Beautiful creatures. Beautiful sound

[salty-inc]

Pine needles and pine cones make crunchy sounds!!! Oh my! Very nice

[salty-inc]

Colored pencils make a real nice scratch noise when I’m drawing. I didn’t know they did that

[salty-inc]

I forgot to add this is the beginning! But that little sniffing noise that dogs make when they’re smelling the air or the ground? Wonderful!

[salty-inc]

OCEAN!!!!!!

[salty-inc]

So there was just an entire booth full of wind chimes for sale at mountain fair. It started to get a little windy and they all went off at once. It was so pretty.

[adrenaline-revolver]

since microplastics have now been found in plACENTAS allow me to reiterate: 

faux fur is plastic

pleather literally has plastic in the name

synthetic wool is plastic

stop implying that plastic is good for anything.

[randomfandomteacher]

“Vegan” fabrics? Yeah that shit is just plastic rebranded

[todaysbird]

not supporting the fur industry - but remember, vintage furs from thrift stores do not contribute to killing animals and are actually better for the environment than faux fur.

[villainous-queer-deactivated202]

You can also buy fur new if you want. That is not a crime unless you are buying endangered animal furs. It’s also not really worse for the environment or the animals than buying regular meat or eggs from the grocery store, because all those animals are factory farmed, whether for fur, meat, or eggs. Factory farming isn’t solely a problem with fur, and anyway if you want to stop it then you’re better off calling or writing your politicians and getting involved with the larger movement that is trying to end big agra monopolies than only shopping at ‘pure’ retailers. You can’t change the world with your pocketbook, that’s a lie capitalism fed us.

The best furs to buy for warmth are coyote and raccoon, anyway, not mink and such. Sheepskin is also good. Stuff like mink, ermine, and sable aren’t actually very useful in terms of keeping you warm. Vintage bear and beaver are also pretty warm. Rabbit is useless, it sheds and goes bare quickly and isn’t very warm at all. Soft though.

Wool is the only fibre in the world that keeps you warm even when the wool is wet, and silk is among the best baselayers for warmth. Linen is the coolest fibre in the world, better than cotton, has been used for centuries and is a lot less costly in effort and water to produce–cotton is only cheaper artificially.

Down is the warmest and most breathable stuffing for blankets and pillows and it lasts a really long time. Cotton or wool stuffing is available also, but it doesn’t get the loft that down does, nor is it as warm (cotton isn’t warm at all). Remember that stuffing is also made of plastic!

Leather is great stuff, if you take care of it properly. It needs regular care and maintaining, but it will last a really long time if you do, and just get softer and softer over the years. And yes, you can clean it! You use something called saddle soap to clean it with. Patent leather has a plastic coating and may not even be leather these days, unfortunately. Deerskin is very nice, very soft but not very warm.

There’s a movement I first heard about in the historical costuming community, from Pinsent Tailoring: Slow Fashion. It’s a response to fast fashion, and the goals are to have a wardrobe that is more about longevity and quality of the clothing, and also about the clothing being made so that in a hundred years, all that would be left are the metal/horn/bone/shell/wood buttons. It’s very hard to do that with modern shoe soles, but if the heel or insole of your shoe is the only plastic you leave, you’re still doing better than an outfit from Target or something. Making your own clothes is actually not extremely difficult, you can start with extremely simple things, including the Bisexual Shirt (poet shirt), a pair of comfy pajama-style pants, and so on.

Make friends with your local vultures, costume historians, and leatherworkers (which are all, sometimes, also cosplayers)! They’re going to have oodles of resources for where to find natural materials.

Also, support Indigenous businesses!

[compbook]

march 2

spanish

estructuras 3.3

estructuras 3.4

arabic

drills 1-4

drills 5-6 for extra credit

[compbook]

the way I refresh is by working with my plants. It’s been a dreadful winter, with nothing much to do in terms of getting my hands dirty. Crochet is only fun for so long!

A few days ago, I got a ratty little rosebush from a grocery store. Today, I repotted it. There were six separate plants in one pot, so I separated them out. Now I certainly have more than I bargained for, but I’m quite pleased. I have four pots of roses, two of which I hope to keep outside when it warms up. Hopefully I’ll be successful in keeping these roses alive, and hopefully I’ll be able to propagate them this fall and give one to my mom. She loves roses.

I’ve spent all day listening to Hamish Macbeth. The books are a bit...non-pc, but I love stories about the highland moors. It’s nearly 2 pm now, though, so I ought to get busy. I’ve been putting off my Spanish homework for some time now. The longer I put it off, though, the worse the prospect of doing it seems, so I’d better get it done now before I plumb drop the class.

[compbook]

march 2

spanish

estructuras 3.3

estructuras 3.4

arabic

drills 1-4

drills 5-6 for extra credit

[helen-studies-deactivated202106]

pictured: my self care (left) and workout (right) trackers for march with my markers (top left) and other stage props

mar. 1st, 2021

.

oh my goodness, have i had better weeks in my life. i had absolutely zero motivation to do anything. i’m certain that i’m failing my chemistry this term and i’ll have to retake it in the fall. which really sucks because this is the last chemistry class i need to take and i just want to be done with it.

otherwise, i’ve been enjoying this term so far. i got really good feedback on my podcast assignment for my social media class. my instructor loved it so much that she gave me 5 extra points on top of the full points i had already gotten, and she also played it for her colleague! i was super worried about that assignment, so hearing that positive feedback really made my day.

.

but i did get registered for spring over the weekend, which is what i’ll be focusing on in this post.

.

this spring term, i’ll be taking:

principles of biology II

physical education

organic farming & agriculture

intro to western art, neoclassicism to contemporary

here's to simply finishing & surviving winter term!

[ddaengstudies]

Zoomester Studyblr Challenge

Hi! I’m not a big creator on here but I always see Studyblr Challenges and I try my best to always take part (even tho i fail halfway) but this is my last semester at uni and I wanted to do a little something something. 

Info

This challenge is starting on March 1st and contains 31 prompts (one per day of the month) but feel free to take part at any given time! 

I initially aimed this challenge for all my struggling last semester/grad school/ thesis writing people BUT honestly, whatever your grade, this zoomester is crazy as it is.

If you do the challenge, use the tag #zoomester studyblr challenge so that it is easier for me to track posts and that way other people can also track and reblog!

Aims

This is lowkey my way of getting to know some more of you beautiful hardworking people.

Times are still hard so perhaps participating and getting to know people from the tags can be comforting for some people.

It really doesn’t matter if you’re new to the studyblr community or have been on here for a while and would like a safe space to insert yourself, here it is. 

Rules

If you want to do this challenge, please reblog this post

There are daily prompts for 31 days but challenges should not be a burden to the way you post so you can post as frequently as you like/are able to.

Please be respectful. If some of the prompts ask for personal insights please have in mind that everyone has had different experiences and POVs.

Prompts

Day 1- Introduce yourself! What’s some basic info you’d like to share about yourself? Also! What are you studying? (If you’re in college, what’s your major? which semester are you in?)

Day 2- If you’ve chosen a major, why did you decide on it? If you’re in any other grade , what field/major interests you the most?

Day 3- Have you done a challenge before? If so, how was it? If not, what are you expecting to get out of this experience?

Day 4- For my researching fellows, what are you researching on? If you’re not currently researching, what is the topic within your field that you’re most passionate about?

Day 5- Tag 3 studyblrs that you like seeing on your dashboard.

Day 6- Quickly! tag urself! 

five am. ice cold water. watching the sunrise. healthy smoothies. skincare. reads often. friends with everyone.

ten am. iced coffees. always in a hurry. golden hour aesthetic. remembers the little details. loves old movies.

midday. mom jeans. picnic dates. thrift-shopping. pinterest. low-key insecure. obssessed with photography.

three pm. the color yellow. walks everywhere barefoot. oversized t-shirts. can make anyone laugh. a bit crazy.

five pm. warm smiles. classy. aesthetic instagram feed. anklets. soft music. yoga. face masks.

eight pm.  netflix. cuddles warm sheets. indoors life. loves singing but can’t. sweats. never sleeps.

midnight. driving at night. flirty. neon lights. wears a lot of read. neon lights. big sunglasses. karaoke.

three am. tired eyes. small sketchbooks. pressed flowers. stargazing from the window. 

Day 7-  Some of your music faves right now (let’s say up to 5)

Day 8- International Women’s Day! What’s your take on feminism?

Day 9- Write something that you’d like to tell yourself.

Day 10- Tag someone whose aesthetic you love seeing on your feed.

Day 11- What’s something that you’ve always wanted to do but haven’t got the chance to do so?

Day 12- Are you more into plant or flowers? What’s your fave type?

Day 13- Tell us the most eye-opening book you’ve read.

Day 14-  What are some of the reasons you love yourself/should love yourself?

Day 15- Tag someone who you think would get along just right with you.

Day 16- What’s you go-to coffee/tea/beverage order?

Day 17- Share with us your feel good playlist.

Day 18- Tag someone who’s blog you constantly check.

Day 19- Tell us about your online experience (is it sometimes overwhelming? Do you feel like its a great way to get in touch with people? What’s something that you love seeing on here?)

Day 20- What are three things that inspire you?

Day 21- Share a quote that speaks to you.

Day 22- What’s your comfort food/ comfort routine for sad days?

Day 23- What’s some random miscellaneous piece of information that you just happen to know?

Day 24- Share with us your favorite word (it can be in any language)

Day 25- Tag someone who has great text posts 

Day 26- What has been your best zoomester experience so far?

Day 27- If you’re about to graduate, what’s something that you’ll miss from school? If you aren’t about to graduate, tell us something you really love about school.

Day 28- Spill the tea about the things that you’ve done during the zoomester (Online shopping, courses taken, any hobby)

Day 29- Quick! Name your own aesthetic! or alternatively, what’s an aesthetic you’d like to try out?

Day 30- What’s the best advice someone has given you? 

Day 31-  Send three people some uplifting messages!

TAGLIST

@myhoneststudyblr @gammastudies @studywithsab @productivebuddy @studyambitiouss @hopebooks @coffeambition @diaryofastemstudent @theologei @study-in-cafes @heyeducateyourself @cofitee @verypolish-studyblr @studycris @future-engr @studydiaryofamedstudent @coffee-catz @illya-studies  @problematicprocrastinator @fiercelittlestudyblr @serendistudy @bulletnotestudies @study-van @bright-goals​ @notebookist​

[ayatstudies-deactivated20211215]

types of academics: tag yourself

nocturnal: messy notes, never sleeps, wakes up after noon, sarcastic, coffee addiction, turns everything in late, sweats, netflix, needs a lot of naps, deep cleans their room maybe once every 2 months, messy buns, says they’ll be productive but never is until it’s past 2 am

“perfect”: balances work, social life, and health, never sleeps past midnight, aces everything, pretty notes, coffeeshops and libraries, cardigans, makes their bed every morning, mom friend, skincare routine, organized playlists, neat handwriting, autumn, coffee with cream and sugar

extroverted: loud but beautiful laugh, twirly handwriting, polaroids, colorful pens, skirts, wants to/does dye their hair, goes to parties but leaves early, summer, travels a lot, teacher’s pet, throws sleepover study nights, paints nails while reading for homework, leather jackets

chaotic: amazing music taste, probably good with technology, doesn’t bond with professors, has few close friends but lots of acquaintances, parties a lot, never focused (but when they are they’re really productive), really bad at reading people, cram sessions, bad sleep schedule

independent: has only one friend per class, gets everything done on time, prefers office hours over asking questions in class, rain, print-out lecture notes, one yellow highlighter, beautiful smile, the color green, painter, likes studying outside, sensitive to high-energy people, striped sweaters

[afro-evolutionary-astrology]

At this point, I’ve learned it’s actually cheaper to shop and cook for a community than it is for an individual or even a family unit to do so.

This last year learning how to batch cook massive amounts of food for the communities I’m a part of has shown me how aggressively cheap it is both to eat plant-based and feed a large sum of people.

One of my favorite stories is a recipe I kinda winged with my mutual aid group in Tx. We served 75 bowls of lentil soup over rice and it only cost us $4 to make that quantity of food. Literally, the cost per bowl was like $.06 to make and so much of the produce was donated.

Like, let that sink in. We fed 75 people for $4. How much do we spend on groceries for ourselves or families on a monthly basis?

All of yesterday, a comrade and I cooked 60 hearty bowls of a Spicy Split Pea Soup and Pinto-Potato Chili. We wanted to meal prep together but fucked around and made enough to feed 8 other comrades and have a ton to distribute to the unhoused community in our city. In each container is 2 cups of soup/chili over 2 cups cooked rice. That means one box is gonna be 2 meals cuz leftovers.

Currently, the project I’m trying to make a reality is a Plant Based Community Kitchen. The vision is to build a small menu of recipes, no more than 10, that all incorporate 2 base grains/legumes/starchy vegetables.

To bulk-buy ingredients that are paid for by donation to batch cook in a meal-prep style so that there is a variety of dishes that can be made in batches that can feed a comrade, college student, family of 4 up to a week’s worth of meals for dirty cheap.

We’d have volunteers come cook and help deliver and distribute, hoping to save comrades money, battle food insecurity, help feed more consistently the unhoused, and build the communal structures that allows us less reliance on money/capitalism to meet our collective needs.

For instance in my city, these are some numbers/costs from a restaurant supply store nearby and template recipe I made to estimate yield and price.

This basic ass template recipe at these prices would allow me to make 900 meals for under $100.

If 10 comrades threw in $20 once, this kitchen would be funded for months, and cook enough to food to feed people consistently for long periods of time, and have a variety of flavors and meals all combating food insecurity, food deserts, and food swamps.

[amandaswork]

FEB 24 / 21

trying to get things done but the list keeps getting longer and longer… we can do this! 

[redstarovermoundcity]

De-Stereotyping Anarchism as a “White Ideology”

Accusations of anarchism as a “white ideology” erases its application of struggling peoples around the world, many of whom are of color.

[tutti-durruti]

Non-Western Anarchisms is a good read for folks who want a starting point for learning about some specific movements.

[gendernihilistanarchocommunist]

indigenous anarchist Aragorn! also has some good pieces on this very topic, and they’re great

[livedpoetry-deactivated20230925]

Here’s some literature about anarchism in China, Korea and Japan.

Also, the Southeast Asian section of The Anarchist Library also recently launched.

[lifeofthegrind]

some people were asking for a actual and i can never pass up an opportunity to procrastinate so here’s just a couple of things i always need to remind myself of…now back to my paper :(

[awed-frog]

Here is the link! What an amazing idea ❤️

[studywithprincess]

30/12/20

Omg I’ve been offline for so long but I’m baaack. Hope everyone’s doing okay! This post was scheduled for New Year’s Eve but I’m bad at sticking to plans 😂 Anywaaay, enjoy my New Year’s Eve reflection:

Not sure what it was but I felt the need to read all my journal entries at like 3am this morning and it was very sobering. It’s about a year old and seeing how much I’ve changed is crazyy. I was reading some of the entries and thinking wtf is this girl talking about, I was literally talking out of my ass but I digress 😂

My last entry was actually written in July 2020, which feels like really long ago. Hopefully, I’ll journal more this year. I really miss it and I realise in hindsight how therapeutic it was. Try it out ☺️

[goingwest--going]

⤷ hey babes! after years of deliberation i’ve decided to create my very own studyblr 

𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐞

my name is aj or jay, i’m a black pre-junior attempting to get her bachelors and masters on a 5 year accelerated track. i’m getting my bachelors in business administration and im studying marketing. i currently have two internships under my belt and i’m looking for another 🤍

im 20 years old and for the most part i live near the heart of philly.

𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬

im into all things marvel, and i’m currently binge watching greys anatomy. i love game of thrones and kudos to you if you realized from my icon. i don’t necessarily have a love for art as my url would suggest but i love all things aesthetic so if i’m not here i can def be found on pinterest 

𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐢 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐲𝐛𝐥𝐫

this will be my first time attempting to take twenty credits in my academic career and i really want to hold myself accountable. the goal is to raise my gpa and to find a time management system that works for me

𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐢 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠'𝟐𝟏 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦

business law || foundations of business || introduction to entrepreneurship || spanish i || introduction to business statistics  

𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 ➳ a song of ice and fire: game of thrones

[meangirlnurse]

i’ve started replacing “i want to die” with “i feel overwhelmed” in my internal monologue, which is usually more accurate and more productive

[philonotis]

ive been working on replacing ‘im so stupid’ with ‘im so silly’ and it has the same effect!

[shrunkencannelini]

“I can’t do this” -> This will be a challenge for me, it’s normal to feel intimidated

“I hate this” -> This is a tough situation to handle and I’m doing my best

“I hate myself” -> I’m struggling with low self esteem right now, I need to support myself as I would a friend

“I can’t believe I forgot again” -> It’s tough to balance so many things, maybe I need to let go of some of them

“They’re not going to like me” -> I don’t have to perform for anyone, my personality is valid and loveable just as is

The list could go on and on…

Redirecting the “blame” from yourself and recognizing that you are a human suffering through normal, difficult human experiences is important. Support yourself like you’d support any of your close friends if they said these things.

[bumblebeeappletree]

Would the conversation about climate change be different if it weren’t in English?

The relationship between language and the climate movement is often overlooked. This blindspot has many practical implications.

The climate movement is going mainstream. But would the conversation be different if it weren’t in English?

According to the IUCN Red List, 28 percent of all assessed species are threatened with extinction. Reports show that 40 percent of amphibians, 26 percent of mammals, and 34 percent of conifers are threatened; scientists predict that half of the planet’s species could disappear by 2100.

But biodiversity is not the only type of diversity under threat. By 2100, over half of all of the existing languages today will disappear without a trace. While not generally associated with environmentalism, language preservation could forge a path to a sustainable and just future.