feet first, don't fall

evelyn • masters student • usa

[recapitulation]

meal ideas!

low energy ("do not ask me to do any prep work at all, so help me god")

mozzerella cheese wrapped in pepperoni ("pizza tacos"!)

hummus and pretzels or naan (putting the naan in the microwave for like 10 seconds...heavenly)

canned chili (with shredded cheese and sour cream if you have it! boom done!)

instant miso soup (warm and lovely!)

cheese and cured meat, olives, canned fish, crackers, dried fruit, or whatever easy "charcuterie" type items you like

alternate bites of apple and spoonfulls of peanut butter (mixing honey or chocolate chips to the peanut butter is my favorite)

a "deconstructed sandwich": bites of lunch meat, pickles, cheese, cherry tomato, etc (I love roast beef and white cheddar for this)

yogurt and granola or fruit

medium energy ("I'll boil water but don't ask me to chop shit")

boiled eggs and fresh veggies (put a little salt on top of the eggs for pizzaz!)

buttered noodles (take it up to level 10 and add roasted garlic; takes 30 mins in an oven, only one swoop of the knife required)

baked potato with toppings (I like cheese, bacon, broccoli, green onion, and sour cream)

quesadilla (add some canned beans, cilantro, or avocado!)

pot roast (requires a lot of time but not a lot of actual work. I love it with peas!)

cuban sandwich (bread, swiss, pickle, mustard, ham... my favorite thing to panini-ify by far)

pan-fried tofu with scallion sauce (this sauce goes well with everything and tofu is no exception)

pancakes or waffles! (I love mine with jam)

ham, pickle, and cream cheese roll-ups

fried eggs (with toast and lots of butter...so comforting)

fruit smoothie (bananas, frozen strawberries, yogurt...or whatever!)

I hate salad but could write essays on this copycat olive garden salad (throw it in a bowl! chopping required if you use onion)

spaghetti (controversial maybe but angel hair > spaghetti noodles)

pasta salad (olives broccoli fresh mozerella... those little mini pepperonis... yeah)

high energy ("I don't mind chopping some things up!")

stuffed shells with spinach

chicken and roasted garlic (oh my god.....one of my all time favorites)

beef tacos (I like mine with cilantro and onion, and when I'm feeling especially high energy I love a tomatillo salsa)

chicken alfredo

tom kha gai (a thai soup and my absolute favorite! you just need access to galangal)

lasagna! (freezes well and then boom! low energy meal for later)

pad thai! (not as hard as you'd think, as long as you have access to tamarind paste!)

potstickers! (this is a lovely group activity if you want to cook with housemates!)

rice and beans

bang bang shrimp (ogughfhgfuh I love it. you can also do bang bang tofu!)

minestrone soup (so many nice veggies!)

fried rice (put whatever you have on hand in there! broccoli, peas, carrot, and beef is my favorite combo)

broccoli cheddar soup

spring rolls and peanut sauce

skewers (such as beef, onion, zucchini, bell pepper... you don't need a grill, oven works!)

roasted turkey with garlic parmesean asparagus

pork chop with mashed potatoes

other tips:

whenever you think of a meal you'd like to make, take 3 seconds to google search it, take a screenshot of the image results, and put it in a "food ideas" folder. instant visual menu!

if you're on instagram, there are a bajillion different recipe accounts that post videos! a few of my favorites: jipsoon_kitchen, eatwitzo, cordandthekitchen, chungeats, tiffy.cooks, two_plaid_aprons

[witchaj]

This is all great!

I got this website from a nutritionist and it’s become my absolute favorite way to find new recipes. The search filter options are fantastic! Sorting by method really helps me because I think that’s what makes the biggest difference in how much energy you need.

Visit here to search all of our posts in a comprehensive recipe index. You can find whatever you're looking for to fit your health needs her

And here are some other ideas for low/medium energy meals:

Cottage cheese with crackers, fruits and/or veggies.

Guacamole with veggies and/or tortilla chips

Chickpeas/garbanzo beans with tzatziki. You could add rice, lettuce/spinach, and/or pita.

Buffalo cauliflower with yogurt dip. You can roast or microwave the cauliflower, top it with hot sauce, and add bleu cheese or shredded cheddar on top.

[creatingbliss]

Things I Do At The Start Of Every Month

• Upload and delete photos from my phone. Google Photos has become my best friend, so once a month I make sure to upload all my recent photos to it, and then delete (most of) them from my phone to free up space.  •Figure out monthly finances and budget. I try to determine what the month should like for me money wise. Where do I have money coming in? Where is money most likely going to go? What’s the max I want to spend in each area? Sometimes it really helps, other times it doesn’t.   •Review + rearrange calender. I pull up Google Calendar, my dry erase board and planner and make sure everything is the same in each. I add events, rearrange them, and delete others.  •Make plans w/ friends and family. This isn’t something I do all the time, but if I really want to go out to eat or do something special with my mum or a sibling I’ll let them know and we’ll try to set a date to do so.  •Schedule appointments. More like make a list of things I need to schedule in the upcoming days/week. •Make/Buy birthday/holiday cards. I usually handmake my cards so having them premade is less stressful than waiting the day before (or day of) to try and draw out something spectacular.  •Plan off/zero/me days. It doesn’t matter what you call it. Sometimes you just need to make sure you have a day or two set to just focus on you. •Wash and clean car. I don’t own a car but I try to make sure the one I primarily ride in is fairly clean inside in general.   •Change bedding. Actually, I do this more often now. I change my bedding twice a month and wash my pillowcases once a week.  •Essentials shopping trip. If I’m in need of a face cleanser, lotion, toothpaste, I plan to go get it.  •Deep clean my bedroom/Reorganise my spaces. That’s the only area I really have to clean. I’ll sweep/mop the floor. Dust everything down. Clean my mirrors. Reorganise my shelves, dresser top, and closet. •Write down broad goals and to-dos. Basically, a rough idea of what I hope to accomplish and things that have to get done over the next few weeks. •Wash makeup brushes/give my makeup a good wipe down. Have no fear, I wash my makeup brushes at least once a week and spray them down with my daily brush cleaner, but sometimes I get lazy and leave the ones I don’t use that often dirty. Therefore, I’ll go ahead and wash them and really clean off/disinfect my palettes, lipglosses, foundation etc  •Pick two books to read this month. This is just from one of my yearly goals to read a new book every two months. I’ve been trying to choose one on my reading list and a ‘self-help’ type book.

[breezystudies]

This is actually really useful and definitely something I’m going to start doing in the new year!

(also gives me an excuse to buy a new journal)

[linguisticparadox]

Spoke to a gen z person the other night and apparently the young folks don't know about the very legal sites from which you can access public domain media (including Dracula, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and other Victorian gothic horror stories)?

Like this young person didn't even know about goddamn Gutenberg which is a SHAME. I linked to it and they went "aw yiss time to do a theft" and I was like "I mean yo ho ho and all that, sure, but. you know gutenberg is entirely legal, right?"

Anyway I'm gonna put this in a few Choice Tags (sorry dracula fans I DID mention it though so it's fair game) and then put some Cool Links in a reblog so this post will still show UP in said tags lmao.

[linguisticparadox]

Okay lessee, we got the aforementioned www.gutenberg.org, where you can access public domain print works in lots of different formats--you can even read books in your browser if you don't wanna take up space on your device! Worth noting that a lot (maybe all?) of it is machine-rendered text from scans, which is then corrected by volunteers, which means that there are sometimes errors, especially in less popular works. This can especially be an issue if you're reading something in another language (I had to hunt down a pdf scan of Le Tour du Monde en Quatre-Vingt Jours bc it was too difficult for me to parse mistakes in fucking 19th-century French lmao), but for the most part it's at most a slight inconvenience.

For other kinds of media, including music and movies, we got www.archive.org, which is by the same folks behind the Wayback Machine!

For more books including some that are still in the public domain (they even have Jeff Smith's "Bone" series!) we got www.openlibrary.org. The files from this will auto-delete from your device unfortunately, but that's exactly what happens with library ebooks so I can't complain (I do know of at least one way to get around that, but I wanna stick to strictly legal and above-board things for this post lmao). You do need to make an account, but it's free and super easy!

Speaking of libraries, go check out your local library's website, you'll probably find a page listing their electronic materials! For example, my library has hoopla, libby, kanopy, and creativebug, and that's just a few of the things they have! Libraries are maybe the best thing still existing in these fucked-up times, but you have to keep using them because your local government will take the first excuse they get to shut them down! (btw get active in local govt!)

Lastly, one that is maybe not so well known but that I've had endless nerdy fun with is cpdl.org/wiki/, the Choral Public Domain Library, where you can find tons of choral scores in different languages! I adore learning obscure folk songs so this is my absolute SHIT.

Anyway, that's all I can think of off the top of my head at the moment, but feel free to send me links or add them in the comments! However, please be mindful that, while I certainly don't turn my nose up at a little yo ho ho-ing myself, this is strictly for LEGAL sites. This is important for, say, teachers who want to share media with their classes, or singers who want to find scores they can legally perform publicly, just to give a couple of examples!

[fiti-vation]

[ernasd]

oh this is a life saver

[gallusrostromegalus]

So these are both “Aw Fuck I’m outta real food” meals BUT ALSO:  if you’re learning how to cook, these are great “baby steps” meals to learn how to cook basics into something enjoyable without “wasting” anything expensive.  Though I maintain that even cooking screw-ups are valuable in terms of lessons learned.

Also they’re great for when you get absorbed in something and you realize your blood sugar is dropping and you need to make something Quick.

[petermorwood]

Making basic storecupboard or fridge ingredients less basic and more nutritious.

[obaewankenope]

fuck google docs so fucking much

i've just lost hundreds of docs and pdfs and i'm beyond pissed right now

they're all permanently gone

[obaewankenope]

actually they're not holy shit

okay so, gonna tell ya'll something awesome rn

google drive is a mess sometimes with its storage things and if you're unlucky it might delete some of your files and you won't realise until it's well past the point where they won't be in 'trash' anymore and you're fucked

all is not lost however!

if you're on drive via browser, hit the little ? in a circle next to the settings cog and select "help"

search for "file recovery"

it'll show you the ways to try and recover your files on pc, android, and mac etc

these don't matter

you need to scroll down to the bottom and just hit the "contact us"

you'll be logged out automatically

log back in

click the little box to give google permission to attempt to restore your files for that account

click "submit"

give them some time to work but it's an automatic process

i've got most of my files back in less than 10 minutes

all is not lost! rejoice!

[obaewankenope]

I'm gonna reblog this again bc wow but was it helpful to learn!

[acetechne]

The seasons in my journal are all accounted for now

[exeggcute]

lol I am in such a stressed-out blind rage today from insurance bullshit that I wrote up a glossary of health insurance terms (things like deductibles, premiums, and copays) because all the free guides online are unnecessarily complicated and the only way you can squeeze a dime out of these bullshit companies is to understand their overly-complicated policies. give em hell

[tbhstudying]

some recent photos from my studygram! the first one is a throwback to my ap gov notes from first semester + the second one is my march monthly spread :”)

studygram: tbhstudying

[academicssay]

‪ How to choose a PhD advisor | Courtesy of @andrewkuznet (Twitter) | Source: https://t.co/YobHa1lhOS

[post--grad]

here is a list of questions i have already answered about graduate school!! 

please check it before you send me a question about graduate school :) :) i hope it’s useful! xo // updated 02.2020

basic info

what is the PhD and what can you do with it? (+) 

what does a literature PhD entail?

should i do a PhD if i have to pay tuition?

is the degree worth it?

does it look bad to take time off between degrees?

what was your timeline like? 

what’s the difference between a terminal MA and a PhD? (+)

does getting an MA first help you get into a PhD program?

is it okay to just try grad school out? 

application process

how can i prepare for applying early in my undergrad career? (+) (+)

where should i start looking for programs?

should i choose a program based on rank or fit? (+)

how can i find lower-profile programs doing cool stuff?

how many programs should i apply to?

parts of the application

advice on the writing sample

advice on the GRE (+)

how should i ask for letters of recommendation?

how should i write a statement of purpose? (+)

how do i demonstrate my “ability to excel”?

how should i address mental health/family/personal issues that impacted my grades?

should i send in extra materials?

grad school application spreadsheet

how should i email potential advisors? (+) (+)

how can i survive the waiting period? (+)

how should i prepare for an interview or phone call? (+)

what should i ask at open house?

what should i do if i don’t think i can afford my grad school tuition?

what should i do the summer before i start my program?

seminars/coursework

how should i plan for grad seminar presentations? (+)

what should i bring with me to seminars?

what are grad seminars like?

how can i get better at speaking during seminars?

what do you mean grades don’t matter

reading

what should i have read before i start my lit grad program?

how much reading should i expect?

how can i read a lot without getting overwhelmed? (+)

how can i read efficiently? (+) (+)

quals-specific reading advice

how should i take notes on critical articles?

writing

how do i write a lit review?

how do i write an indicative bibliography?

how do i choose a dissertation topic? (+)

how do i plan for a long research paper?

how do i balance all the different kinds of writing i have to do?

money & living

how can i find housing before i move?

how do finances work in grad school?

what is adjuncting and why does it suck?

how can i budget while on a stipend?

should i work while in grad school? (+)

what’s important to a research assistant application?

i’m running out of funding / i’m off normative time

fellowship, postdocs, & job stuff

which websites post US fellowship/postdoc/job ads?

CV writing tips

how do dissertation fellowships work? (+)

tips for grant, award, & fellowship applications

should i share my materials with others?

how does the academic hiring process work?

how do i keep track of all my applications?

how do i think up a second project when i’m not even done with my dissertation?

job materials masterpost

skype interview-specific tips

job talks

negotiating (+)

general tips (+)

what’s up with the professor is in?

how do i stay motivated while getting buried in rejection letters?

misc

will grad school make my mental health issues worse? (+) 

how do i survive conferences (abroad)?

how should i deal with burnout? (+)

secret labor

i think i want to quit

my advisor is ghosting me

how do i work with no structured schedule?

how do i get enough sleep?

how do i balance my work & my teaching?

how can i beat imposter syndrome? (+) (+)

how can i excel in grad school?

[post--grad]

good morning friends, this list has been updated with asks from the past seven months–this is likely the last update that i’ll make to this list.

[textsfromtheborderline]

[miseducatedmelanicmuse]

[seriesofnonsequiturs]

I love using “good catch”

I also say “thanks for the update” or “thanks for the head’s up!”

“I really appreciate the head’s up!” also a classic

If I haven’t gotten back to someone in a swift enough period (i.e. one work day max) I say “thank you for your patience. after some consideration, I have decided…”

don’t apologize for piddly things! 

thank you > sorry

[goth-aunt]

I need to remember

[stargazing-enby]

thank you > sorry

Thank you for waiting for me > sorry for being late

Thank you for helping me/for your time/for listening to me > sorry for bothering you

Thanking someone when they do you a favour > apologizing for your existence

This is especially hard when you haven’t been taught that people need to respect your limits, but with a bit of practice you can absolutely get there!

[allofmystudentsrunaway]

oh gods it was parents evening again tonight..

other parents: how did you do that?

Me:do what?

Other parents: your teenager is eating a salad..

Me:i never forced him eat, now he will pretty much eat anything…except chicken casserole which we both agree is gross

Other parents:we don’t get it.

Me: our only rules are bed at eleven on a school night and don’t hack any important government agencies.

Other parents: you don’t restrict screen time?

Me: you know 95% of kids will self regulate, given the chance?

Other parents: thats not true

Me: have you tried it?

other parents:…but, now he’s reading 1984

Me: he has had a university reading level since he was 12, what am i going to do censor his reading material?

other Parents: what if he reads something you don’t approve of..

Me: i fail to see your reasoning…

Me: you know he cooks too..it’s our mother/son time, we talk about his friends…

other Parents: he talks??

[greenbergsays]

That “he talks??” bit gets me

Yeah, kids talk. If your kid doesn’t talk to you, it’s because of one of two reasons:

You’ve created such a hostile/unwelcoming home environment that they don’t feel comfortable enough to talk

You have signaled to them somehow, some way, that you don’t care about what they have to say. That what they have to say isn’t important.

Kids are not stupid, not at any age level. They pick up on shit and they remember and then when they grow to be teenagers, they know who they can talk to about stuff and who they can’t.

My 13 year old nephew is not particularly affectionate with his mother and he rarely talks to her about anything important, but there are times I can’t get that kid to stop hanging off me and he has those serious conversations with me, like when we discussed his friends coming out to him as bisexual.

It’s not even that hard to make a kid feel loved and welcome. I don’t even know what my nephew is talking about half the time with his games, but they’re important to him, so I let him talk and I make appropriate noises of shock and sympathy when they are needed.

He watches a lot of YT channels, so we’ve discussed the importance of regulating your media, because I don’t want motherfuckers like PewDiePie shaping his world view.

He reads anything from Stephen King to manga and he does that because I’ve been reading him books since he was a baby. I do it with all of my nieces and nephews; when they get school-aged and old enough to read on their own, our “us” time is going to the bookstore and letting them pick out a drink and a book.

Because reading is important to me and I want it to be important to them, too. Now, it’s not something I suggest, it’s something that my nephew asks for.

“I finished my book, Aunt [Dessie], when can we go to the bookstore again?”

And when I tell him a date, I make sure to keep it.

Saying, “You can talk to me about anything” and “you can rely on me” is all well and good, but words are just words. You have to mean it and you have to show them that you mean it.

Otherwise, when it gets to those important moments in their life, they’re gonna shut you out rather than let you in.

[hil-arrr-y]

Two job-hunting resources that changed my life:

This cover letter post on askamanger.com. A job interview guide written by Alison Green, who runs askamanager.

[nienque]

not so much study tips, more thoughts on university/studying in general

although these posts are abundant, i like to have my own collection of study tips/uni thoughts

- i’ve been viewing my studies as an office job, mostly because of the 9 to 5 mentality. i am not one for night studying, i have tried and tried and felt guilty when i heard others talk about their late night study sessions, but it is just not for me. which is fine, because with this 9 to 5 idea i have created working days for myself and i can use my evenings for extracurriculars, books, friends, netflix 

- the train has (weirdly) become one of my favourite study spots. of course this really depends on the public transport you use. i am on a train for two hours a day, no transfer, and i either go to a silent area (have not yet seen this elsewhere, but dutch trains have carriages in which there is complete silence) or i put in my earpods. i love this because when i come home, i have already done so much work, e.g. organized my lecture notes of that day, inserted my professor’s comments into my paper etcetera

- although i’ve also learned to recognize when i am just done. sometimes i have had enough and it is way better to accept that and then i either listen to some music and stare at the passing landscape, or i watch an episode of the crown. when feeling exhausted, there’s no point in pushing and forcing yourself

- this goes for many many aspects: comparison will kill you. it is often still my tendency to compare myself to others on all levels - grades, kindness, clothing, weight, work ethic - but i make the effort to not ‘indulge’ in it. what my therapist told me has really helped: just notice that the urge to compare is there but then leave it be. like it’s a tiny spider crawling on your leg; you don’t have to do something with it

- on the topic of work ethic: don’t listen to your fellow students. don’t listen to what some wonderful academic says (online). don’t even listen to what your professors say regarding study hours. it has often made me feel very uncertain, but i think it is way better to figure it out yourself. to build up a feeling of trust towards yourself, so you can really start to notice, to feel, when you have done enough. that is something only you should be able to judge and not some external source

- sometimes i get overwhelmed with this sensation that i have not done enough, that i am lazy and have accomplished nothing. however, every (every!) time i have noticed this to be untrue. so perhaps i have not studied every chapter, but i have studied other chapters. i found the cliché of looking at what you have done to really be true. it helps me put things into perspective, i think we can really underestimate ourselves in how much work we have done. what you consider to be 20% may actually be 60%

- motivating internal monologues are completely normal and actually very good! give yourself that motivating speech, it’s like a snow track that becomes deeper and clearer everytime you repeat it 

it helps me to look back on these at times, has been in my concepts for a while now (like some kind of motivating internal monologue) but i want this to have a place on my actual blog, because i believe tips like these (less focused on studying and more on coping with the whole world of studying/academia) are important as well 

[faeinting]

These are… rlly good

[margomoment]

how do u tell the difference between executive dysfunction, procrastination, and laziness bc fuck idk how to

[laranoa]

Idk if you were actually looking for an answer but I talk about this with my therapist a lot so heres his wisdom:

Laziness=You don't want to do a task, so you choose not to, and you're fine with that. You either dont care if it gets done or you figure someone else will do it.

Procrastination=You want to do the task, but you put it off because it seems difficult/boring/time consuming.

Executive dysfunction=You want to do the task, and intend to at that very moment. There is no significant reason not to, but you can't because your brain is having difficulty transitioning between activities.

The key difference, he points out, is that if you experience guilt or shame from not doing it, then it's NOT laziness, because those feelings indicate, on some level, a desire to complete the task.

The latter two have more overlap imo, but for myself, I think of it as whether you are having trouble confronting the task itself, or just the transition.

[jeanjauthor]

An excellent explanation!

[shakespeareanqueer]

Wow this is super helpful thank you

[faeleverte]

@mrspoptop info you might like to have condensed for you

[mumblingsage]

Procrastination can stem from either perfectionism (in which case it helps to lower your standards; remember, if you get something done sooner, you can always look over it and fix the wonky parts) or not knowing where to begin (in which case finding a first simple step--”Open Word and type my name and a possible title for this essay; start writing down what I think the main topic of each paragraph will be”--will help). 

[ziggyplayedd]

things that made me stop wanting to die that require no effort whatsoever

change the color used to highlight text on your laptop

move the pictures on your wall

stack whatever clutter is in your room into piles even if you don’t have time to clean it all

slightly vary your commute, even just by one street

change where you sit and scroll aimlessly on your phone even if it’s only to the chair in your room instead of your bed

drink water or juice out of a wine glass in the morning because nothing is real

shower with the lights off, without music

buy $3 flowers at trader joe’s—they look bad next to the more expensive ones but they look so good in your room

start typing things you don’t post into your notes. your thoughts can be worth documenting even if you don’t deem them worth sharing

wake up super early just once. you don’t have to make it a habit it’s just extra satisfying to go to bed that night

listen to the entirety of your favorite album from 2015

[sandersstudies]

Almost all of these are about variety. Humans need stimulation! We need enrichment! We literally cannot do the same thing every day!

The other day I was feeling miserable, so I hopped on a bus and rode it all the way back to where I’d started, and my brain, which had finally had some proper stimulation via new environments, was suddenly ready to go again!

This is why taking walks/drives and trying new hobbies are good for you! Don’t turn yourself into a sad zoo animal! You need some pumpkins to roll around in your enclosure!

[yippeeepenid]

ITS BACK!!!!!

god i fucking love the quote “dont turn yourself into a sad zoo animal” it has really inspired me!