When You Download A Pdf And It's Called Like 1328723486basdf12.pdf But Then You Gently Rename It To What

[ID: a google doc with the italicized text: “orpheus loves eurydice.” “loves” has a blue underline under it, which is signalling that it should be autocorrected to “and.” End ID.]

literally emo over this autocorrect . like it’s right… there’s no need for “orpheus loves eurydice” as a statement. the evidence is already there: orpheus and eurydice

this week i set up some shelves behind my desk and added some postcards of some of my favorite paintings.. im so happy! but,, i spend all my free time gazing at the renoir instead of doing work....

it’s always amazing to watch adults discover how much changes when they don’t treat their perspective as the default human experience.

example: it’s been well-documented for a long time that urban spaces are more dangerous for kids than they are for adults. but common wisdom has generally held that that’s just the way things are because kids are inherently vulnerable. and because policymakers keep operating under the assumption that there’s nothing that can be done about kids being less safe in cities because that’s just how kids are, the danger they face in public spaces like streets and parks has been used as an excuse for marginalizing and regulating them out of those spaces.

(by the same people who then complain about kids being inside playing video games, I’d imagine.)

thing is, there’s no real evidence to suggest that kids are inescapably less safe in urban spaces. the causality goes the other way: urban spaces are safer for adults because they are designed for adults, by adults, with an adult perspective and experience in mind.

the city of Oslo, Norway recently started a campaign to take a new perspective on urban planning. quite literally a new perspective: they started looking at the city from 95 centimeters off the ground - the height of the average three-year-old. one of the first things they found was that, from that height, there were a lot of hedges blocking the view of roads from sidewalks. in other words, adults could see traffic, but kids couldn’t.

pop quiz: what does not being able to see a car coming do to the safety of pedestrians? the city of Oslo was literally designed to make it more dangerous for kids to cross the street. and no one realized it until they took the laughably small but simultaneously really significant step of…lowering their eye level by a couple of feet.

so Oslo started trimming all its decorative roadside vegetation down. and what was the first result they saw? kids in Oslo are walking to school more, because it’s safer to do it now. and that, as it turns out, reduces traffic around schools, making it even safer to walk to school.

so yeah. this is the kind of important real-life impact all that silly social justice nonsense of recognizing adultism as a massive structural problem can have. stop ignoring 1/3 of the population when you’re deciding what the world should look like and the world gets better a little bit at a time.

Abnormal Study/Work Things that Actually Help Me

Scrolling through Pinterest, Tumblr, YouTube, etc. for study vibes. Lots of people would say this is a waste of time, but getting in the mood to study significantly helps me. As someone that rarely has the motivation to do things and struggles with low-energy levels daily, seeing aesthetic pictures or watching study-with-me videos gives me the inspiration and motivation I need. 

Multitasking is my best friend. If I’m interested in what I’m working on, this isn’t always necessary, but usually, having multiple things to do at once is helpful. Jumping between similar assignments, working 20min on one long assignment or chore, then finishing a smaller one, then going back to that longer thing, etc. It helps me avoid burn-out and taking breaks that turn into just giving up. 

On the subject of breaks, taking breaks isn’t always the best for me. I know a lot of people rave about the pomodoro method, and while it works to help me get started on something, I eventually let go of that timer once I’m in the groove of working. Taking a break– long or short– will usually just incentivise me to stop working altogether because that ‘break’ is sooo much better than working.  I much prefer long hours or scheduled out work vs play times. 

Having multiple drinks on my desk. This is another form of multitasking to me. Water is always a necessity, but juice, coffee, tea, etc. is a needed addition. Similar to chewing gum, it helps stabilize me and prevent burn-out since my brain has multiple forms of stimuli. 

Long to-do lists. I will literally have 20-30 things on a to-do list typically. Sure, I don’t always finish it all in a day, but writing out that to-do list helps get my mind organized and keeps me focused. Plus, it also helps to avoid procrastination. If I only write out 5-6 things, I’d think “Sure, I can wait to do those. There’s only a few” whereas 20-30 things pushes me to work as soon as possible. 

A lot of people would disagree with how I work, or tell me that there’s a better way, but these are just some things that work for me. Some of us are wired a bit differently, and that’s perfectly fine. Do what works best for you.

fascinating that as soon as i start really digging into the whole law school thing all my targeted ads start being for whiskey

Listening to native speakers of the language you’re trying to learn

I feel like the only person not tempted to use ChatGPT like it doesn't even occur to me as an option

this was a great read. “Laziness Does Not Exist” by Devon Price

Close-up of Dumbbell Nebula