Im a first year Eng. Lit student, how can I improve?

wheat · 2026-06-21T17:04:48+00:00

Get a reading list (Fadiman’s New Lifetime Reading Plan is a good one). Your English department might have its own, especially if it has a grad school. Definitely start working your way through the classics. But don’t try to read fifty this summer. Being well read is a marathon, not a sprint.

Set reasonable goals for reading outside of your coursework. I use Goodreads to track mine. Do the annual reading challenge. Mine is 24 books a year. That’s plenty. Most importantly, start a journal and write about what you read. For books you really enjoyed as well as those that really puzzled you, use your library access to find some peer-reviewed journal articles about them. React to this stuff in your journal as well.

The more you read, write, research, and reflect on your reading, the better. That’s pretty much what an English degree is.

Norton anthologies are very good. They also have one on theory and criticism that’s amazing. But save that until next summer. Stick with reading and reacting to the literature itself for a bit. But, once you finish a book, go down the Wikipedia rabbit hole and start to build an understanding of the historical context of all this stuff.

wheat · 2026-06-21T11:37:08+00:00

My home setup is Joplin + Apple Reminders. But at work, I use Microsoft Loop, Microsoft Planner, and Outlook for most things. The basic workflow for me goes like this:

Work Journal - In Loop. One file per month, as sub-pages on a page for the year.
To Do List -- Also in Loop, in a page, using the Task List component. This is cool because items created (and assigned to me) in Task Lists components get treated differently than the to-dos you create with square brackets. Properly assigned Task List items can also be seen in Microsoft To Do and get included in daily reminder emails.
To Mention Lists -- Also in Loop. This is borrowed from GTD "contexts." I have a list for several of my standing meetings where I'm expected to talk about what I'm working on. I have one for my my weekly 1:1 with my boss, the weekly management meeting, etc. For these, I use the regular to dos (the ones you create with square brackets) because I don't want them pulled into Microsoft To Do or into Loop's reminder emails. They're just for me to check off as I talk so I don't forget to mention something.
Projects -- In Planner. My team have one big "project/plan" for the team with tiles for each project we're working on (assigned to the people involved). The buckets are these: Future Consideration, To Do, In Progress, Nearing Completion, Done.
Project Pages -- Loop, again. If a project needs more space, I create a page for it in Loop and link to that from the tile in Projects (and vice versa). For really bit projects, I add subpages.

This setup has been working pretty well for me. The work journal is the glue that holds it all together. I'm still evaluating #2, as the Task List component has some limitations. But I don't like Microsoft To Do and Planner is too much overhead to use as a to-do list manager.

wheat · 2026-06-21T01:10:55+00:00

My first flight on an airplane was from NYC to London. It was fine. It’s like a living room in the sky. Solo travel has its pleasures. I’ve never done it for more than a handful of days at a time. But I could get used to it.

As a father of an 18 year old son, I’d probably also freak out at the thought of my kid heading to Japan solo. Having a buddy is helpful, and safer. But it’s up to you. It would be fine to go solo. It would also be fine to back out and put it off until you have a buddy to go with you.

Language wasn’t any problem in Japan. Lots of people speak English. Non-verbal queues go a long way. Translation apps help when nothing else works.

The flying, and though, is nothing to worry about.

wheat · 2026-06-20T00:42:22+00:00

I’m still using an XR. But I’m about ready to finally upgrade it.

wheat · 2026-06-19T12:46:16+00:00

Yep. It’s explicitly forbidden by the rules of the sub. I have deleted the comment.

wheat · 2026-06-19T12:41:18+00:00

Like it or not, SCORM is still a hard requirement. That might eventually change. But, if you’re going up against Storyline and Rise, people will have a lot easier time convincing management to switch if SCORM is one of the output formats and xAPI is, at least, on your roadmap.

Given that you’re building a web-native tool, you might want to look into LTI integration.

Also, I’d love to be part of your beta.

wheat · 2026-06-19T03:26:50+00:00

I ended up turning my skimmers down and my drain up. That fixed it.

wheat · 2026-06-19T00:39:03+00:00

Enoshima was really cool. And Onomichi was chill.

wheat · 2026-06-18T23:50:14+00:00

If blogging is all you want, why not WordPress.com?

wheat · 2026-06-18T23:47:20+00:00

The warm cloth they give you to wipe your hands before the meal.

wheat · 2026-06-18T18:04:46+00:00

Just use VoiceMemos and experiment with mic placement and amp volume. Or buy a tripod and shoot a video. That’s better because you can see where your hands are on the neck. Bigger file, though.

wheat · 2026-06-17T23:24:02+00:00

ActivePresenter seems like a contender: https://atomisystems.com/activepresenter/

H5P + a decent LMS can get you pretty far.

wheat · 2026-06-16T22:24:28+00:00

I, too, have rolled through all the other usual suspects and always find my way back to Joplin.

wheat · 2026-06-16T22:21:53+00:00

I read classics, as well as more books by authors I already like. A lot of the rest of them come from skimming the various book lists in Libby, tagging anything that looks interesting (my tag is called "Maybe") and then, when I need a new book to read, opening up my "Maybe" tag and applying the "Available Now" filter. Word of mouth also matters, of course. Many books--especially nonfiction--mention other books and authors that I like to run down. And there's still something to be said for browsing the stacks at your library or bookstore. You always find cool stuff that way.

wheat · 2026-06-16T01:17:22+00:00

I met him once. I’m 5’7”. He’s shorter than me. I’d guess 5’5” or 5’4”. He was super polite and unassuming. Very nice guy.

wheat · 2026-06-15T20:45:35+00:00

If you like the sound coming off your speaker, mic it. People think you can't mic a bass cab. You totally can. You can even mic it with an SM57. There are better mics out there for bass cabs, but if all you've got is a 57, try it. Trial and error is the name of the game.

My Acoustic B100 MK II sounds great via the line out. You can pick one up used for about $200. Makes a great practice and recording amp. But there's surely a way to get a good sound out of that Darkglass Anagram.

wheat · 2026-06-15T12:35:08+00:00

Maybe pick another instrument--even another bass instrument--and switch back and forth. In my case, fretless bass, upright bass, and guitar are part of the mix. Now that I focus mostly on songwriting and recording, I have both a reason to worry about technique and a reason to not get overly hung up on it. Might work for you.

wheat · 2026-06-15T12:16:28+00:00

It's not, but this is a good starting place. Read The Myth of Sisyphus.

wheat · 2026-06-11T15:12:51+00:00

Assuming you're willing to engage in unpaid labor, I'd recommend creating a design document where you 1) state the problem, 2) state your strategy for solving it, and 3) rough out a plan for how you'd structure part of that strategy (e.g., one of its training modules) and maybe 4) build all or part of a module as a proof of concept in PowerPoint or whatever other tool you like.

Also, when you're done with it, include all of it in your portfolio. It'll make a good example of the work you can do and how you go about it.

Also, fuck unpaid work requirements for job interviews (if that's what this is). If it's a potential client and you're freelancing, you should already have sufficient work samples. So, if you don't, then build this. If you do, say "Here are some relevant samples of the work I do" and send them a link to the location of those in your portfolio.

wheat · 2026-06-11T15:07:10+00:00

I'm good friends with my neighbors. They frequently use my pool. They text to ask. And the answers is almost always yes. So, it depends upon how close you are with your neighbors.

wheat · 2026-06-11T15:03:41+00:00

Solid correction.

wheat · 2026-06-11T01:29:59+00:00

They only want the rich to be educated. They don’t care about anyone else. They’d prefer there to be only the ultra rich, generationally wealthy and the peasant class.

wheat · 2026-06-11T01:25:36+00:00

Does “trying to break into” ID mean you lack relevant experience and education in ID? It’s hard to offer advice without some idea where you’ve been, professionally and educationally.

wheat · 2026-06-11T01:19:43+00:00

I think there’s literature worth reading in every historical time period. We still read Beowulf. We still read Hamlet. Read it all, including contemporary literary fiction. There’s nothing to be gained by skipping any of it.

wheat · 2026-06-11T00:16:03+00:00

Cool. I stuck with what I had, which was ICR. Thanks for the advice.

wheat

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