hexandbalances:

While I have never been very interested in the consumerist side to Christmas, as I get older I’ve rediscovered a great deal of joy in the celebrating the winter solstice. The act of making decorations, particularly with family or friends, brings a sense of warmth and meaning. I thought I might share some of the things I do throughout the month leading up to the solstice (with unaffiliated links to tutorials if you’d like to give it a try). The ephemeral, often foraged nature of these decorations encourages attention and presence in the moment, and requires little in the way of resources.

• A garland of dried orange slices, star anise (bought in a ludicrously large bag from an international grocery store), clove, and cinnamon sticks, strung together with plain baker’s twine. Dehydrating orange slices in the oven has the added benefit of making your home smell wonderful. I have made a garland of cranberries in the past but it’s a sticky, staining business that requires a fine needle and thread and gentle handling.
• Alternatively, use small cookie cutters to make simple shapes of discarded orange peel if you rather not waste the food.
• A minimalist tree - Lowes and other garden centers/pop up tree farms often put cut offs in a bin that you can take from for free. A single branch with the right amount of foliage in a vase makes a lovely minimalist tree - especially decorated with $3 fairy/wire lights from Aldi’s or Target. Very good for apartment living.
• That same bin at Lowes is where I collect cut offs to make live garlands or wreaths. This requires floral wire (~$3) for best results, and available floor space to assemble.
• Scrap fabric garland - especially useful if you have a lot of “cabbage” left over that you don’t know what to do with. We made this for the first time this year and it was an exercise in “letting go” for me. I prefer precision, but my coven mate Has Absolutely No Time for That. Rather than try to direct things, she ripped strips of fabric and I tied them to a length of baker’s twine in random alternating colors (the “tedious” job in her opinion). It turned out much nicer this way by playing to each other’s strengths. I recommend it.
• Salt dough ornaments. I haven’t had luck getting these to store successfully year to year so I’ve consigned myself to making them anew each time. The upshot is that salt dough has a great deal of versatility so I can try something new every year.
• One year I did also accidentally make a brick-hard batch of Lebkuchen that, while lovely to look at, where utterly inedible. They made lovely gingerbread ornaments, though; I may do it on purpose this year.

Khaire ❄️

pinkuboa:

misc-rpg:

misc-rpg:

you know what’s one of the hardest things to do when you’re making bust/portrait art?

deciding on a pose.

like, you want the pose to be characteristic for that character, but you also want it to be interesting + unique esp. if it’s your MC. and then u have to decide on their default expression.

BUT THE POSE

IS SO HARD

esp the legs

like what do you do with the legs

If you’re having a hard time deciding on poses, I’d just sketch all of ‘em out as little skeletons and compare them from there.  Like this: 

This way, you can compare the poses you have easily, and help you determine if your current poses are good as is or if you need to modify some here and there.  Any new poses I’d make I’d just draw again.  

Don’t feel bad if some of the characters aren’t that different from each other.  Not everyone needs to be in a dynamic pose, there’s a lot of people who just, well, stand regularly when they talk to people!

I don’t know if you actually want more ideas for how to position legs or are just “let me draw normal looking legs in peace”, but I drew some out and proceeded to discuss it in detail below the cut.  I spend a lot of time drawing characters standing up because I am lame and don’t feel like drawing them any way else somedays.  OTL

When I pick poses, I always go for something that either

• A) shows off the character’s personality or
  
• B) gives a fake personality to deceive the audience
  

So hey, here’s how I like to position legs:

Keep reading

anotherfrenchstudyblr:

1.Some nouns, like l'élève (“the student”), have the same spelling and meaning in both forms.

2.Other nouns have the same spelling, but have different meanings.Un tour is a tour, while une tour is a tower.

3.There are also nouns that only have one possible gender. Even a baby girl is bébé, for instance.

4.Many masculine nouns can be changed to a feminine form simply by adding an -e to the end. Your male friend is un ami and your female friend is une amie.

5.Some genders depend on a noun’s classification. For instance, languages, days of the week, months, seasons, metals, colors, and measurements are mostly masculine.

FOUR STEPS TO GUESS GENDERS:

First, the basic pattern is that nouns ending in -e are feminine. All others, especially nouns ending in consonants, are masculine. This is true for over 70% of all nouns.

Second, there are two consonant endings that are generally feminine: -ion and-son.

Third, there are nouns endings in -e that are usually masculine. These are:

• -tre, -ble, -cle (think “treble clef”)
• -one, -ème, -ège (think “OMG”)
• -age, -isme

Fourth, there are a few endings that either have a lot of exceptions or are otherwise more complicated.

• -é is masculine, but not -té
• -de is masculine, but not -ade, -nde, -ude
• -ste and -me tend to be masculine, but there are dozens of exceptions. Words for people ending in -ste are often gender-neutral, e.g. le/la cycliste.
• -eur is masculine for most professions or technical terms, but it’s feminine for some emotions and abstract things.

• le résumé (masc) — the resumé
• la liberté (fem) — the liberty

• le guide — the guide
• la parade — the parade

• le chauffeur — the driver
• la peur — the fear

Feminine Animals

In French, female animal nouns are generally formed as follows by taking the last consonant, doubling it, and adding a mute -e to the end.

• un chat ⇒ une chatte
• un chien ⇒ une chienne

Of course, there are many exceptions. For example:

• un ours ⇒ une ourse (not une oursse)                             (bear)
• un cheval ⇒ une jument (not une chevalle)                    (horse)
  

Review the partitive article:

corbinstudies:

Quick anecdotal advice for vocabulary retention. I look up the etymology of a word to make a connection between it and languages I already know. My mind jumps around a lot and random connections are easy for me to make rather than just a direct translation.

German -> English Example: 
Urlaub -> vacation.
The word “allow” in English comes from the same root.
So my mind can go: Urlaub -> allow (to leave) -> vacation

zodiacbaby:

itchycoil:

hausmusik:

devildyke:

spacedumpster:

devildyke:

one of my friends found radiooooo which is a site that streams music from any country from any decade (well, most countries/decade combos work) and we’ve been digging going on a quest to find what is rad

so far the following is good

• 50s/60s/70s/80s russia
  
• 70s cambodia
  
• 20s japan
  
• 80s ethiopia
  
• 80s india
  

let’s add 70s armenia and 70s japan to this list

actually im willing to bet 70s *any country will be amazing, it’s all been really good so far

and if you go for 90s india fast music you might get hit in the face with tunak tunak tun right away so get your meme groove on

one of my moms recommended 70s east germany and this proves true, this is weird and amazing in a good way

also set the mood to “weird” for maximum fun, it enhances literally every station

Shit this is nice. Can’t wait to find even more 70′s African funk gems.

y'all

I’ve reblogged this before but. Again

superlinguo:

There is now a publicly accessible signbank for American Sign Language (ASL)!

You can search for ASL signs by using English key words, and if you create an account you can get more information about each of the signs. This video from the site gives some more information:

The ASLSignbank joins similar websites for other signed languages, including:

• The Auslan Signbank
• The BSL (British Sign Language) Signbank

The Signbank is essentially a dictionary of signs for each of the languages. Each website was set up by a different team at a different time, and have slightly different layouts and functions.

You can see that there are some signs that are similar across languages, e.g. the sign for tree in ASLandBSL looks similar to each other, but different to Auslan, while the sign for dog is different in all three (ASL,BSL,Auslan).

Just as any other dictionary won’t teach you about how to stick words together to make sentences, these Signbanks won’t teach you the grammar of each of these languages - but if you’re learning ASL, BSL or Auslan they’re a great way to look up vocabulary!

Reference

Hochgesang, Julie A., Onno Crasborn & Diane Lillo-Martin. (2018) ASL Signbank. New Haven, CT: Haskins Lab, Yale University. https://aslsignbank.haskins.yale.edu/

andwakesimagination:

Just a few applications and websites I’ve found useful. 

FOR THE GENERAL WEB

• SESSION MANAGER—this application allows you to save websites, shut down your computer, and then open all your tabs again with the click of a button. Just a warning—when the old tabs reopen, it will shut down any others. Websites can be added and deleted from the list far easier than with bookmarks. 
• TOOMANYTABS—For when you have a ton of tabs open, this app helps organize them.
• RECENTLY CLOSED TABS—click on the tab for a drop-down list of the fifteen most recently closed tabs.
• AWESOME SCREENSHOT—allows you to take a screenshot of the screen and edit it right in the application.
• MEASUREIT—you can measure the pixel size of anything on the web. 
• STRICT POMODORO—a time management application that blocks you from certain websites and then allows a five minute break. 
• CONVERT CASE—website that converts lowercase to uppercase letters and vice versa. 
• CLEARLY—if text on a page is difficult to read, simply click the icon to show the page in Clearly, with colors, font size and line heights that you decide. Then click the arrow to return to the page. 
• GOOGLE DICTIONARY—Just double click on a word for the definition.
• DOWNLOAD MASTER—If there are a bunch of files to download on one page, this app can help download them all at once, or pick and choose which ones you want.
• REALPLAYER—a media player that comes with a download extension for the web, useful for downloading videos straight from the page. Also does conversions for you, including video to mp3.
• SPEEDDIAL—sets you up with a start page that you can customize to have linked to your most frequently visited websites. easily customizable. 
• TIMESTATS—More for fun than anything, this app lets you keep track of how much time you spend on the web and where you spend it. 
• EXTENSIONS MANAGER—Can help manage all your nifty new extensions. 

FOR TUMBLR USERS

•  STYLISH—lets you set up themes for different websites, including your dashboard.
• MISSING E—just get it okay? Allows for one click reblogging, as well as tons of other useful features. 
• TUMBLR SAVIOR—you poor soul if you’ve survived without this. Blacklist certain things so you never have to see them on your dash. 
• TUMTASTER—download audio posts from tumblr.
• TUMBLR EDIT TAGS—edit your tags right from the dashboard.
• TUMBLR CUSTOM PHOTOSETS—allows you more options for arranging photosets. 
• ASK MANGLER—lets you have paragraphs in asks.

I’m sure there are tons more, but I just felt like sharing the ones that I use the most on a day to day basis. Hope you find these useful!

pixiis-blog:

wolfbeware:

netheritenugget:

accio:

normalise being bad at roofs in minecraft. normalise not being able to make an aesthetically pleasing roof to save your life in minecraft.

Normalize just digging into the side of a mountain to avoid making roofs in Minecraft

yall need me to tap the sign?

here’s a roof guide that i use because i used to be shit

i dont remember the source, b/c ive had this for like years, but i suggest messing around with these roofs with different shapes/sizes of buildings

in fact, you can mix and match and have one roof with a side room with a different roof on it

honestly, have fun

I’ve had these saved for a long time and unfortunately don’t know the source either, but here are the other tutorials from this artist if anybody is interested!

louistomlinew:

+ 57 summer themed gifs. don’t redistribute or take credit, & pls like or reblog if you found this helpful. mf

soratayuya:

winds-and-whispers:

guerrillatech:

this leaves out the most crucial tip you’ll ever need:

-site:pinterest.*

excludes the entirety of pinterest’s evil domainverse from image search

Reblogging for the Pinterest addition

guildenstern:

t00tsmcgee:

biologyweeps:

Alright you guys, ‘tis the season again and I’ve already seen bullshit float about so here we go: what to do and what not to do when you happen to have a tick attached to yours truly.

WHAT NOT TO DO:

DON’T cover the tick in anything. Vaseline, nailpolish, whatever. Doesn’t matter. It’ll all suffocate the tick, making it panic vomit germs into your blood stream. That’s the opposite of what you want.

DON’T burn the tick. Same problem, plus the additional option of giving yourself a burn wound in the process. 

DON’T squeeze the body of the tick when you try to remove it. Again this empties the tick’s digestive system into your body. Bad. 

DON’T wait for the tick to detach itself. The longer it stays on you, the higher the chances it’ll transmit anything to you. Plus when ti detaches it may again vomit germs into you. 

WHAT TO ACTUALLY DO

STAY CALM. A tick hanging on you is not a reason to panick. You’re not going to keel over just like that, and if you’re unsure what to do, there are many resources on the internet on how to safely remove a tick, like this one from the CDC (aka the professionals)

USE APPROPRIATE TOOLS. These can be suitable tweezers (the pointy kind, not blunt tipped ones), tick removers (there are cheap ones out there, those you can buy at the vets are totally fine for use on humans, too!). Ideally you can remove the entire tick in one go, however if that doesn’t work and the mouth part breaks off in your skin, that’s not a terribly big deal and you can totally remove it separately after you got the body remove. Again, don’t panic.

KILL THE REMOVED TICK. But not by squeezing it. Flush it down the toilet, submerse it in alcohol in a container etc. Ideally if the tick has bitten you and not your dog, keep the tick around in a sealed container in case you start having symptoms and someone needs to identify the tick species. Also IF you start getting symptoms like the tell tale Lyme disease rash, HIT A DOCTOR RIGHT AWAY AND TELL THEM ABOUT YOUR TICK BITE. Do not wait this out, ticks can transmit a whole host of diseases beside Lyme, so be mindful of that, too! 

Some of those diseases you can actually get vaccinated again, such as tick born encephalitis. Check with the local authorities if you live in a risk area, and if so, get the shots to protect yourself. 

Excellent post! I would like to add that ticks hide in tall grass and bushes mostly. They do not drop down from trees or jump to other people’s heads etc. Ticks aren’t designed to jump, they latch on somewhere on your leg and then crawl upwards in most cases. 

So be careful with bare legs and tall grass!

in areas with extremely high lyme disease prevalence, such as the northeastern US, doctors will prescribe a dose of antibiotics as prophylaxis within 3 days of exposure if a deer tick is found engorged and is estimated to have been attached to you for over 24-36 hours.

70-80% of diagnosed lyme cases in the US present with the characteristic bullseye rash but only 50% of lyme disease cases in the state of Maine, the location where the disease is most prevalent and thus likely most commonly suspected, have this symptom, so do not rely on that to alert you that something may be wrong after an exposure. if you spend time in green areas perform tick checks on yourself every day and use clothing as a barrier

letstteok-korean:

#004: Markers: - 에서, 까지 & 부터

Covers over the markers: 에서, 까지 & 부터

Also has a little bit of “grammar” in it.

bumblewyn:

heywriters:

darkleweather:

some people think writers are so eloquent and good with words, but the reality is that we can sit there with our fingers on the keyboard going, “what’s the word for non-sunlight lighting? Like, fake lighting?” and for ten minutes, all our brain will supply is “unofficial”, and we know that’s not the right word, but it’s the only word we can come up with…until finally it’s like our face got smashed into a brick wall and we remember the word we want is “artificial”.

I couldn’t remember the word “doorknob” ten minutes ago.

ok but the onelook thesaurus will save your life, i literally could not live without this website

oldladyknitter:

Not mine but I thought this would be really helpful!

myurbandream:

heckofabecca:

shirosredknight:

boogiewoogiebuglegal:

cricketcat9:

topsecretespeonage:

neurofancier:

khirsahle:

newtsckamander:

suaimhneas-peace:

emeraldboreas:

a-windsor:

mellivorinae:

a-windsor:

mellivorinae:

OH MY GOD whyyyy did no one tell me you’re supposed to send thank-yous after interviews?? Why would I do that???

“Thank you for this incredibly stressful 30 minutes that I have had to re-structure my entire day around and which will give me anxiety poos for the next 24 hours.”

I HATE ETIQUETTE IT’S THE MOST IMPOSSIBLE THING FOR ME TO LEARN WITHOUT SOMEONE DIRECTLY TELLING ME THIS SHIT

NO ONE TOLD YOU???? WTF! I HAVE FAILED YOU. Also: Dear ______: Thank you so much for the opportunity to sit down with you (&________) to discuss the [insert job position]. I am grateful to be considered for the position. I think I will be a great fit at [company name], especially given my experience in __________. [insert possible reference to something you talked about, something that excited you.] I look forward to hearing from you [and if you are feeling super confident: and working together in the future]. Sincerely, @mellivorinae

THIS IS A LIFESAVING TEMPLATE

YOU ARE WELCOME

My brother got a really great paid internship one summer. The guy who hired him said the deciding factor was the professional thank you letter my brother sent after the interview.

should it be an email? or like a physical letter?

email, you want to send it within a few hours at max after the interview if you can so it’s fresh in their mind who you are. 

Confirmed! I interviewed for a job right after arriving in NY. The interview went incredibly well, and I went home and immediately wrote a thank you letter and put it in the mail. I had a super good feeling about this interview.

I didn’t get the job.

However, a few weeks later, I was called in to interview with another editor in the same company, and I did get that job. I found out later from the initial editor (the one who didn’t hire me) that he had planned to offer me the job, but since I didn’t follow up with a thank you letter, he assumed I didn’t really want it. He offered the job to another contender–but when he got my letter in the mail shortly after the offer had already been made, he went to HR and gave me a glowing recommendation. It was based on that recommendation that I got called in for the second interview.

So: send an email thank you immediately (same day!) after the interview. If you’re feeling extra, go ahead and send a written one too. OR go immediately to a coffee shop, write the letter, and return to the office and give it to the secretary.

Either way, those letters are important.

Pro tip: If you really want HR to develop a personal interest in your application, publicly thank them on linkedin. Just make a short post telling your network about how X recruiter really went above and beyond to make you feel welcome, or about how be accommodating and professional they were, or whatever. Make sure to use the mention feature so they’ll get a notification and see it. 

Flattery will get you everywhere… and public flattery that might make its way back to their manager, doubly so.

Obligatory plug for one of FreePrintable.net’s sites: ThankYouLetter.ws. They have a whole section with interview thank you letter templates, and a page with specific tips for interview thank you letters. (There are also tons of other letter templates if you browse around a bit.)

As a former professional recruiter and recruiting manager, I confirm, especially for entry-level positions, where you are competing with oodles of people. This little thing can make a difference. Also the fact that, maybe, you took time to google the “interview etiquette”.

SIGNAL BOOST

The post-interview thank you notes can be a good way to recover in case you got asked a question whose answer you either didn’t know or felt was super weak. So if you follow the above given template, jump in with something like “upon further thought to your question, here’s my revised answer.” 

But yeah always send a thank you note after an interview. It’s a small thing but it makes a hell of a difference. And def send thank you messages to any recruiters who may have helped. And also after you get the job. Small things like that really go a long long way.

GO READ ASK A MANAGER RIGHT NOW.

AAM is an AMAZING resource for all work-related questions. This is a good starting place—basically the Big Questions people tend to have. (And some weirdness.) Job searching, negotiating for raises, performance issues, living through toxicity, recognizing toxic situations, dealing with coworkers, managing people, helpful starting-point scripts for all of the above… Do yourself a favor and check it out!

JFC no one ever told me any of this!!!!