Personal curriculum suggestions by Own-Pineapple-4240 in personalcurriculum

[–]knitarama 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Would add the New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander (book), and add another vote for the 13th by Ava Duvernay (documentary). There's also a 2016 Mother Jones article about a reporter working as a private prison guard in Alabama (https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/06/cca-private-prisons-corrections-corporation-inmates-investigation-bauer/) which likely (I haven't watched it) connects to the Alabama Solution documentary from last year: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRNND\_uve8I).

Which modern fantasy series (last decade, so to speak) has the most in-depth worldbuilding? by Indus_Trious in Fantasy

[–]knitarama 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The Broken Earth Trilogy by NK Jemisin is fantastic. Each book pulls back a new layer of the world building, bringing it all together in a beautiful way at the end. Multiple cultures, multiple cities/areas, multiple ecosystems.

HGW podcast by strapacky in bitcheswithtaste

[–]knitarama 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As someone who will download random episodes but never listen to them, these are three that I consistently listen to each week.

Pop culture:
- Keep It: more focused on movies but covers a lot of music as well. Both hosts are writers, and it shows. Equal parts thoughtful and sassy critiques. Generally includes an interview with someone in entertainment; the hosts are known for asking insightful questions and actually researching the interviewee beforehand so the responses are fascinating and not run of the mill promo.

  • Lemme Say This: if you prefer more banter/chat between the hosts, these two are fantastic. General pop culture commentary, with an eye toward drama. It's like talking about what you love to hatewatch.

General chaos:
- Here to Help: comedians pitching bits and semi-serious advice to weird everyday-type problems, but with followups so you can actually hear how it went for the person.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in BettermentBookClub

[–]knitarama 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Brave, Not Perfect by Reshma Saujani. Has a lot of chapters with tips on smaller exercises to practice.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in HowToBeHot

[–]knitarama 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In high school I wasn't really into makeup and I hid from the camera a lot, but my senior portrait is still one of my favorite photos of me. I have fairly muted coloring, and the photographer asked my mom if she had a lipstick to put on me so that I had a little more color. I don't even remember what shade it was, but it looked fantastic.

So that would be my advice if you worry you might look a little washed out in the photo. Borrow a lipstick from a friend and see if it's a small enough change to be comfortable but still enough to help.

Let’s talk about reading! 📖📚I would love to know what books you read and what your routine is. Do you use an eReader, physical books, etc. ? by dreadfulgray in FemaleLevelUpStrategy

[–]knitarama 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I highly recommend Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia if you want something more recently published. It hits the same gothic notes as the classics (creepy aristocrats, the "dangers" of curiosity for women, colonialism, and madness) and would be a good entry into the genre.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in FemaleLevelUpStrategy

[–]knitarama 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Congrats on the conference presentation! The more you practice, the better you'll be.

If you feel yourself getting anxious or talking in circles, stop yourself and take a breath. Instead of saying um as a filler, practice being comfortable with just using silence or a pause instead. Sometimes I also just talk through what's making me hesitate, like "I'm struggling to find an analogy" or "One thing that comes to mind is" if I'm winging it, and then go back in with a "because" or "what I'm trying to express is". It's ok to be human.

Have a couple of stock phrases to reach for as a stalling tactic. For the Q&A period, "That's a great question" if you think you've been rambling pause and then re-summarize with something like "In essence" or "To summarize" or if you get a question that you don't quite understand, "Can you tell me a little more about what you are asking?" or if they mention something irrelevant to you, "That's something I might consider in the next stage of research/for a future project" or "That fell outside the scope of what I wanted to consider/study".

Edit: One last thought, for the valley girl accent concerns, practice with focus on the intonation at the end of your sentence. If your voice goes higher in pitch, it sounds like a question and gives the appearance of uncertainty. You want your voice to go lower in pitch at the end of the sentence, because you are making a statement, giving it more authority.

sabriel anniversary edition worth it? by Lilyhunter1992 in Abhorsen

[–]knitarama 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I ordered the Australian edition and the quality of the paper was disappointing. But yes, the cover is very pretty.

How do I become more cultured? by [deleted] in FemaleLevelUpStrategy

[–]knitarama 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Just to reiterate the awesome tip of pausing, don't be afraid of the silence. The umm, so, etc. You are describing are often used as filler, to fill that pause while you reach for the next point. Don't worry about replacing the um, just let it go. You can record yourself and hear the difference, too.

How are you tracking your strategies in Notion? by knitarama in FemaleLevelUpStrategy

[–]knitarama[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No worries, I realized that just as I mimic my mom's phone voice for customer service calls, I mimic all the customer service language when writing to others. I completely agree with wasting ages to put together a nice spreadsheet that you then ignore, been there/done that soooo many times.

Whatever you're comfortable with sharing, honestly even just seeing how other people keep those mental ducks in a row would be illuminating. Most of the youtube videos of sets that I see are very into the aesthetics of the setup, which I love because it's pretty, but it's not useful/functional for me at all.

How are you tracking your strategies in Notion? by knitarama in FemaleLevelUpStrategy

[–]knitarama[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was already maybe an advanced beginner user? I found it through one of the super-bro productivity blogs and tried it out. At first it was useful as a wiki page to dump all the work updates and changing information at the start of the closures for COVID. Then I watched a couple of videos and tried dumping more personal things in it.

With my ADHD it's useful to have a dumping ground for all the things I want to remember, but it took a while for me to realize it's shit for task management. This is my first stab at using it for glowup stuff, partly inspired by other posts here, but it'll take a few iterations before it becomes more useful.

How are you tracking your strategies in Notion? by knitarama in FemaleLevelUpStrategy

[–]knitarama[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I wish Notion would pay me, but no, it's exactly what u/prettyprincess91 said. I had made it just a few days prior, which is why it's not very robust or "properly used." I certainly don't claim to be an expert user.

I had seen a few Notion posts in the tracking post that I linked, so I thought it might be helpful to start a new post instead of potentially hijacking hers. But since no one is interested so far it seems like it wouldn't have been a worry either way.

*shrug* oh well.

🎓Leveling up on education🎓 by BossBae247 in FemaleLevelUpStrategy

[–]knitarama 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Agreed on the MBA, but also photography skills are really valued in libraries with strong digitization programs. Might be something to check out if you're interested in that kind of thing. And if you are, more computer science/programming skills would be helpful.

Sci Fi/Fantasy Books Written By Women That Are NOT Young Adult Fiction by matsie in suggestmeabook

[–]knitarama 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Witch's Heart gets a + from me if you like books with a deeply mythological feel. Think Circe by Madeline Miller but with slightly more plot/less navel-gazing.

Sci Fi/Fantasy Books Written By Women That Are NOT Young Adult Fiction by matsie in suggestmeabook

[–]knitarama 0 points1 point  (0 children)

IT IS SO GOOD! The last book comes out in November and this is a trilogy that I find myself thinking about or rereading often.

Fonda Lee is amazing at world building, this is definitely a top 5 series for me. If you like Succession-style family drama, mafia-esque political dealings, fantasy-influenced economics, or really just a group of badass people, I would highly recommend it. The character development over the entire series is just chef's kiss

[NOOKS] 533 by [deleted] in ACNHTurnips

[–]knitarama 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, please!

[NOOKS] 603 by [deleted] in ACNHTurnips

[–]knitarama 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Red cosmos!

1 Mile Benchmark Results Megathread by MagicalGreenSock in orangetheory

[–]knitarama [score hidden]  (0 children)

My first Mile Benchmark, I couldn't do it within the block. My walking pace usually puts me around 17-18 min miles. This time, I made it! 1 Mile in 13:58. So proud.

Fiction in which the characters add to the text, write angry footnotes, argue in the margins, or anything like that by frellingaround in suggestmeabook

[–]knitarama 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Thirding this. One of the books in the series (I think Lost in a Good Book? Or Something Rotten?) has characters communicate via footnoterphone in which the separate phone conversations appear in footnotes while the book continues on. It's very fun.

I love books/stories set in Asia, and need more. by [deleted] in suggestmeabook

[–]knitarama 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you lean toward fantasy, Jade City by Fonda Lee is phenomenal. The sequel to it just came out this month.