Scattered thoughts from a scattered mind

Ramblings and nonsensical thoughts and projects, fresh from the scattered mind of an adult with ADHD. Projects are as incomplete as they are varied.

[vudo-one-blog]

Fundraising for after school robotics program - Please Share

My name is Aaron and I am currently working as an English Teacher in Mexico. I have a diploma of software development which I studied in Australia and am an avid tinkerer in all things related to robotics and electronics. The school I am working at currently does not have any extra-curricular activities in these areas and I would like to introduce my students to the wonders of robotics, programming and electronics. The issue I have is, that the school does not have funds available to buy Arduinos, components and other related materials such as project books. I am hoping to raise enough funds to buy the following to run a pilot program for the school; - 10 Arduino Starter Kits -10 Arduino robotics smart car kits (Third party product from ebay) - Extra sensors and components for more advanced projects once students skills increase - Childrens Arduino robotics guide books for reference materials The students will be aged from grades 5 and up which will enable me to leverage older students greater abilities and cognition to help keep the younger ones interested. This would be an amazing thing to achieve as I believe the students are missing out on an important aspect of learning, being problem solving, logical reasoning and team work which will all be taught in a way which is both rewarding and fun. Any donation no matter how small would be simply amazing, and I thank everyone in advance for taking the time to consider this campaign.

You can donate by following the link below;

https://www.gofundme.com/2nyhu2c#

[vudo-one-blog]

Fundraising for after school robotics program - Please Share

My name is Aaron and I am currently working as an English Teacher in Mexico. I have a diploma of software development which I studied in Australia and am an avid tinkerer in all things related to robotics and electronics. The school I am working at currently does not have any extra-curricular activities in these areas and I would like to introduce my students to the wonders of robotics, programming and electronics. The issue I have is, that the school does not have funds available to buy Arduinos, components and other related materials such as project books. I am hoping to raise enough funds to buy the following to run a pilot program for the school; - 10 Arduino Starter Kits -10 Arduino robotics smart car kits (Third party product from ebay) - Extra sensors and components for more advanced projects once students skills increase - Childrens Arduino robotics guide books for reference materials The students will be aged from grades 5 and up which will enable me to leverage older students greater abilities and cognition to help keep the younger ones interested. This would be an amazing thing to achieve as I believe the students are missing out on an important aspect of learning, being problem solving, logical reasoning and team work which will all be taught in a way which is both rewarding and fun. Any donation no matter how small would be simply amazing, and I thank everyone in advance for taking the time to consider this campaign.

You can donate by following the link below;

https://www.gofundme.com/2nyhu2c#

[vudo-one-blog]

Silence

Standing, At the world's edge, Confronted, With the many thoughts, That occupy my mind daily.

Who am I? Am I right? Where do I belong?

And then I am hit, By the sudden realisation, That, I am nobody, You are nobody, Just an absurd collection of atoms, Ever swirling, Ever changing, Never really there, But there all the same.

And then the sensation sets in, It tingles and begins to itch, I begin to think I've been given something, And as soon as it arrived, It's gone, And for once my mind is clear.

No more thoughts clattering, But now I'm scared, This new silence is deafening, And now I'm more lost than ever before.

[vudo-one-blog]

Confusion

How to explain the pain I feel, Anguish is lamenting within, Each meeting creates an internal lesion, All of this because you're as hot as hell and as cold as ice, Such confused feelings you have, I can't say I love you, But I can say I want to know you, However, your confusion is beginning to make me give up

[bassiter]

some REAL writing advice

i posted this list a few years ago but i thought i’d repost it with a couple edits, since it’s all still perfectly good and plenty of people could do to see it. it works no differently for fanfic and original works.

For the most part, just don’t listen to anything your English teachers say unless they’re like, a published author. You know that shit about how “you shouldn’t use the same word to start a sentence more than once in 4 consecutive sentences” - yeah, that’s bullshit. As long as you don’t REALLY over-use something, you’re fine. Good flow in a story isn’t even necessarily consistent with proper grammar.

That being said, be well-versed in proper grammar. Yeah, there’s always artistic liberty, but there are times when you do absolutely need to structure a sentence a certain way. Such as “would have” (correct) vs. “would of” (you’ll look like an idiot if you write that). Know participles and all the different tenses and how to use them correctly, know passive and active voice, etc.

Keep expanding your vocabulary. Contrary to what your English teachers say, using “said” a lot isn’t that bad, but using other words sometimes keeps it from getting monotonous. Keep learning new idioms and phrases. Know when to use the words and how to use them. Example: “for all intensive purposes” isn’t a thing - it’s for all intents and purposes. Know the connotations that certain words have.

Know your voice. Even if you’re writing in 3rd person, you’re probably still writing from the POV of a particular character - write as though you’re in that character’s head! Keep to a vocabulary level that that character likely has. Vaguely switch over to first person occasionally. Teachers often say not to write how you speak, but if you’re writing limited from a person who wouldn’t speak like a scholar all the time, write how they would speak. If you’re writing omniscient, you’re hopping from person to person and you can still do that.

Know how people work. Observe people, keep track of your own emotions, actually think about how different people would react in a certain situation. Make people stutter a little bit in their dialogue or not say precisely what they mean - most people don’t talk like a textbook. Put in thought processes and body movements in between dialogue. A sentence like “He blinked.” is perfectly acceptable in some contexts and could mean a lot.

Know how the world works. If you’ve never had a job before, research what getting a job is like before you write about it. If you’ve never had anal sex before, dear god please fucking research it. Make your story realistic and keep the “altering real-life events for the sake of a more entertaining story” to a minimum. And if you’re writing fantasy, do some worldbuilding.

And that being said, know what’s entertaining. Know what keeps your readers hooked. You don’t have to write out every single class a character goes to and all their homework and whatnot if it’s not relevant to the plot or characterization. You can just mention that they had a long day at school. Do time lapses, it’s okay. You don’t even have to give a summary of the things that happened during the time lapse because that makes it seem like you think your readers are stupid. Give them credit and don’t explicitly state everything.

Really just a follow-up, but DON’T write day-to-day. Unless it’s specifically a day-to-day fic or something that takes place in a very short amount of time. Chances are not every day has something interesting or relevant to the plot going on.

Write more about thoughts and actions than dialogue. Knowing how a character is feeling about something and how they express it is can be much more telling than what they’re saying. But it’s also good to have a healthy mix of thoughts, direct dialogue, and hearsay.

Know how to structure your writing, mainly for accessibility. Don’t make paragraphs that are too long and don’t only make one-sentence paragraphs. Start a new paragraph when someone starts talking. Don’t confuse your readers.

Read. Read a lot. Get a good grip on how the most successful writers of our age write. Read unpublished writers, too. That isn’t to say that you should copy them - just take some pointers from them. No one writes well without ever reading a fuckload. Develop a writing style that you’re comfortable with. Some people are more descriptive than others, and that’s okay. Some people rely more on dialogue to tell a story, and that’s also okay.

Write. Just keep writing. Like anything else, the more you do it, the better you get. Write things you like to write about and get feedback. Even Shakespeare probably started out with some pretty shitty stuff, so it’s okay if you’re a little rusty right now. You will get better with practice.

[sleepbby]

i hate y'all kids who do thriftshopping as a fun cheap activity now but used to bully kids for wearing secondhand clothes

[vudo-one-blog]

Omg THIS

[cruciatus-animus]

[theredmedic]

asking-ask:

nudeparrot:

cruciatus-animus:

This is why I don’t tell 99% people im bisexual

I love how gay people do it too. Just… really? You’re literally saying the same shit to bisexuals that straight people say to you, and you don’t see the hypocrisy? 

If youre biphobic or hate bisexuals, fucking unfollow me, for serious.

[circeofjagd]

Fuck biphobia.

[rwiggly]

Same here. I’m bi and if you have a problem with that then gtfo.

[heyjudeberry]

Tw biphobia,

[vudo-one-blog]

One of those things that really annoys me, like the queer community disowns those that are Bi to a large extent, and the straight community sees us confused closeted homosexuals when the only thing we are doing is loving people for who they are because it’s a big and beautiful world filled with unique and beautiful people! 

This is also a reason why I don’t like to label myself as anything because why does everything need to fit so neatly into a little box for the benefit of others, we are complex beings with complex and changing thoughts and behaviours.

[doctaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa]

CNN Discussion feat. Amanda Seales and Steve Santagati.

[i-eat-men-like-air]

you know what, fuck it, I’m going to reblog this twice because I have a story to tell.

Almost two years ago I was approached by a man at a bar. He was very handsome— tall, with great cheek bones and the kind of eyes that crinkle at the corners with every smile. That man asked to buy me and my friends a drink. 

Not wanting to give him the wrong idea, we turned him down. None of us were single, and we’d all had experiences where men have expected things from us after providing seemingly generous acts of charity. 

That man spent the rest of the night harassing us. He followed us around the bar, dumped a beer over my friend’s head when she confronted him, made lewd comments about my ass when I walked passed to go to the bathroom. We tried to tell the bar staff what was happening, but with the room being so crowded, by the time we managed to locate the bouncer, he’d disappeared into a throng of people.

That man approached us when we were on our way to our car. He was verbally aggressive, throwing slurs at us and stepping into our personal space. When I pushed him away, he punched me in the face hard enough to knock me down. When my friend tried to call the police, he slammed her head into a wall. 

We were lucky that after that, he panicked an ran away. It could have been much, much worse.

Bottom line? Fuck you if you think all women want is attention from attractive men. Fuck you for eternity.

Attention from an attractive man didn’t give me an ego boost. It gave me a fucking black eye. 

[jimhines]

“Attention from an attractive man didn’t give me an ego boost. It gave me a fucking black eye.”

[jcoleknowsbest]

men gotta stop this shit…

[goshyn-deactivated20191025]

This makes me so sad because it’s true. 

[vudo-one-blog]

Absolutely hate how much this is the case, I’ve heard so many stories from female friends about the horrendous and down right scary encounters they have had with men at bars.

The sad part is I wish I could say that only a few of them had one of these stories, but the fact is, that all of them have multiple stories of almost being date raped, beaten or harassed when the only thing they were trying to do was enjoy a night out, like any man does and wants too.

So guys wake up to yourself, your not entitled to women and respect their decision to not want your company.

[ofminervas]

hello !! ok so today i want to share some of the things i’ve learnt in my years of being a languages student, particularly regarding vocab & grammar. i personally love learning languages and there are many obvious benefits, communication being one of the fundamental ones. 

tbh vocab and grammar are probably the backbones of any language - they play a huge part in developing your translation, reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. 

pt i: vocab

have a list. the simple act of writing is one of the most effective ways to retain information tbh ! it’s good to keep a seperate section / notebook / document for this so everything’s in one place & i personally like to keep prescribed textbook words and words i look up during translations / exercises in seperate places as well, for the sake of organisation. also you can flick back through later and feel accomplished :-)

flashcards. write the word in your language on one side and the translation + relevant grammar info on the other side, and use that to test yourself. quizlet + anki are great online flashcard tools !

mnemonics. short [or long!!] phrases / acronyms /stories are super useful, especially with words with multiple meanings or words which look annoyingly similar.

word / pictorial association. ok word association is obviously easier in languages of the same family because so many words look / sound similar but pictures are great too, especially for more visual learners. 

this article contains some excellent tips for studying a language with a different alphabet 

pt ii: grammar 

make up chants / songs [hand gestures can help!!] 

look for patterns. 

take the french present tense -er verb endings: -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent. 

and the imperfect tense -er endings: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. 

not too different right?? learn to spot these similarities + use them to your advantage !

repetition is key. sounds boring but repetition is one of the best ways to drill things into your brain; whether it’s verbally, mentally or just by writing out the entire table. i often repeat things over and over to myself whilst doing everyday activities like washing the dishes and it really helps. 

learn the exceptions to the rule. because there are always exceptions. just learn them. i do recommend making summary notes or flashcards for harder concepts simply to gain a better understanding and also because you can look over them quickly & easily

also just !!! practice !!! often things make much more sense in context, so practice by doing exercises and translations

pt iii: general tips / links 

read !!! reading exposes you to so much more culture + vocab and grammar in the way that it’s used in a day to day context 

similar to above; watching tv shows / movies and listening to music is super fun too + develops listening and therefore speaking skills 

practice practice practice. whether it’s just going over vocab or scanning through a text or listening to music or writing a short passage, try to engage with your target language on a daily basis. trust me, it helps a lot. 

find a partner !!! learning new things with friends is so much less daunting + you can study together and motivate each other and maybe even travel together one day

apps / sites like duolingo, memrise, omniglot, babbel, bbclanguages and 101languages can make language learning more fun + engaging

+ some youtube channels ! 

each language is unique so for more specific resources, check out some of these masterposts: japanese, latin, spanish, chinese, italian, korean, french, [etc]

remember: learning a language is hard. adapting your brain to understand a whole new set of words and rules is hard. it’s supposed to be hard. but it’s ok to make mistakes. it’s ok. you got this. and in the end, it’s so rewarding - knowing another language is a skill you’ll have for life. good luck + i hope this was useful !

- joanne

[nursery-deactivated20160926]

me: *talks for 30 minute straight on a subject no one cares about just because i love sharing information*

[vudo-one-blog]

Too real for me

[vudo-one-blog]

Just be you! Because Fuck what others think!

Got onto the thought of how as a teenager going through highschool, ADHD hampered my ability to have a large social group and make new friends, however now as an adult it is my ADHD that enables me to make friends.

My ability to ramble and be able to talk about anything, I find really suits bars and clubs and general hangs with people, however as a teenager it was the opposite my ADHD crippled my ability to string a coherent sentence together without stuttering my words or completely forgetting what I was saying, which kind of crippled me with fear of looking like an idiot in front of school mates.

Actually as I’m writing i’ve kind of realised that maybe I’ve just learnt how to use my ADHD traits to my advantage and have grown more confident in myself, I guess the point of this post now is to say that regardless of any conditions that you may have, it is ok to be yourself, it does get better and don’t be afraid to just be you! Because lets be honest fuck anyone who makes you feel less about yourself!

[blacberries]

*comes on too strong because i feel a Lot*

[vudo-one-blog]

Super excited but freaking the fuck out!

Leave for Mexico at the end of May, to teach English to school kids. I am super excited but also freaking out majorly about the unknown, not sure if I have enough cash saved up and if I will like teaching!! Have around $3000 after expenses to live off until I start getting paid and think I will need to scrimp and save for awhile but hope that I can still travel around and have a great time regardless. If all else fails I can just make use of my emergency ticket home money. 

[mickeygifsmain]

literally…..a masterpiece 

[poonany]

My shit

[ishipitlikeups]

They turned what is arguably the worst song of all time into something amazing

[vudo-one-blog]

These girls absolutely killed it! 

[yunta0722]

[vudo-one-blog]

Netflix and SPIDER!!!!!

Chilling in bed watching some Netflix and what starts crawling across my chest, but a spider.

[vudo-one-blog]

Sometimes I really hate how hard it can be to do super important stuff when you have ADHD, 3hrs, 21 tabs, a page of chicken scratch and crosshatching later and I  have finally booked my flights from Sydney to Mexico for May!!!!!!!!!!!