I’m Not Girlfriend Material. I’m Not Even Sure I Can Feel Those Kinds Of Emotions Towards One Person.

truly an old-book-enthusiast haven.

i remember going to this mall once, then having severe anxiety and guilt for not using that time on studying or requirements instead. thankfully, i saw this shop, and although it did not fully relieve me of my guilt— it made me feel like i would also regret it if i wasn’t with my family to see this.

give yourself a break sometimes! ✨

Taste of Cherry (…طعم گيلاس) dir. Abbas Kiarostami, 1997

Developing Self Discipline

Requested by flowering-veins. Thank you!

Self-discipline can be considered a type of selective training, creating new habits of thought, action, and speech toward improving yourself and reaching goals. Self-discipline can also be task oriented and selective. View self-discipline as positive effort, rather than one of denial.

Schedule a small task for a given time of the day; Practice deliberate delaying.

Schedule a particular task in the morning and once in the evening.

The task should not take more than 15 minutes.

Wait for the exact scheduled time. When the schedule time is due, start the task.

Stick to the schedule for at least two months.

Advantage: Scheduling helps you focus on your priorities. By focusing on starting tasks rather than completing them, you can avoid procrastination.

Schedule a task and hold to its time; Avoid acting on impulse.

Track your progress; At the end of the allotted time, keep a record of accomplishment that builds over time.

If you begin to have surplus time, fill it with small tasks, make notes to yourself, plan other tasks, etc.

Advantage: Building a record will help you track how much time tasks take.

If you begin to have surplus time, fill it with small tasks, make notes to yourself, plan other tasks, etc.

Harness the power of routine.

Instead of devoting a lot of hours one day, and none the other and then a few on an another day and so on, allocate a specific time period each day of the week for that task.

Hold firm.

Don’t set a goal other than time allocation, simply set the habit of routine.

Apply this technique to your homework or your projects, you will be on your way to getting things done

Advantage: You are working on tasks in small increments, not all at once. You first develop a habit, then the habit does the job for you.

Use self discipline to explore time management

Time management can become an overwhelming task. When you do not have control over your own self, how can you control time? Begin with task-oriented self-discipline and build from there.

Advantage: As you control tasks, you build self-discipline. As you build self-discipline, you build time management. As you build time management, you build self-confidence.

Maintain a self-discipline log book.

Record the start and end times of the tasks.

Review for feedback on your progress

Advantage: This log book can be a valuable tool to get a better picture over your activities in order to prioritize activities, and realize what is important and not important on how you spend your time.

Schedule your work day and studies.

When you first begin your work day, or going to work take a few minutes and write down on a piece of paper the tasks that you want to accomplish for that day.

Prioritize the list.

Immediately start working on the most important one.

Try it for a few days to see if the habit works for you.

Habits form over time: how much time depends on you and the habit.

Advantage: When you have a clear idea as to what you want to achieve for the day at its start, the chances are very high that you will be able to proactively accomplish the tasks. Writing or sketching out the day helps.

Discouragement:

Do not be intimidated; do not be put off by the challenge

If you slip, remember this is natural

Take a break and then refresh the challenge

Tricks:

Associate a new habit with an old one: If you drink coffee, make that first cup the time to write out and prioritize your tasks.

Advantage: Association facilitates neural connections!

Mark your progress:

On a calendar in your bathroom, on a spreadsheet at your computer, on your breakfast table: Check off days you successfully follow up. If you break the routine, start over!

Advantage: Visualizing is a ready reinforcement of progress

Role models:

Observe the people in your life and see to what extent self discipline and habits help them accomplish goals. Ask them for advice on what works, what does not.

last year i used to sleep from 5 am to 10 am every day and it was Not Good for me. i’ve gotten a couple of questions about my sleep schedule so i thought i’d share some tips that helped me adopt a healthier sleep schedule. enjoy 🛏💤

See me letter the headers in this video! 

You can change the color of the banners in Photoshop - these are editable PDFs. 

See all subject options & download here

The Honest Guide on Preparing for College

I thought it’d be cool and useful to give you guys an “Honest Guide on Preparing for College.” It has all the things you may already know, and then also some things you perhaps don’t. And a bunch of tips that are helpful for preparing for college, but also during college. I’ve been working on this post for months, adding few new tips every now and then so hopefully you guys like it and find it useful! :) I may add more tips from time to time, I’m not sure.

Suffer from acne? Visit a dermatologist to get it under control ASAP. The earlier you start, the earlier you’ll see results! And trust me, you’ll be going bare-faced a lot in college. At least twice a day- morning & night. And you’ll always want to look and feel your best! It sucks to be self-conscious.

Figure out a rough guideline of your morning/ night routine. Your college routine is usually not going to be the exact same as your home routine. Ie: Make up will probably be done in your room, not in the bathroom. If you use makeup often, consider buying a vanity mirror! Very useful. 

You won’t need binders. I brought 3 (1-inch) in case and I hardly use one. It’s more useful to have individual folders for each class. Or even those notebook with tabs inside to hold papers. The point being, the way you organize your work is different in high school. You’re not going to the same 5 periods everyday in college. You have classes that meet MWF, and TTh, etc.

Don’t forget to bring college essentials! Refer to my two posts here (”College Essential Hacks”) and here (”Things I Forgot/ Nearly Forgot to Bring to College”. 

Invest in make-up. In high school, I never wore make-up but now I often wear mascara and light lipstick! I spent countless trips figuring out what shade was best for me and trying out different products. Would’ve been easier to just do this in the comfort of my own home than in college! I’m still a make-up noob though, haha. I can’t even figure out how to apply eyeliner confidently!

Bring clothes you’ll actually wear. 1/3 of the clothes I’ve brought to college were never worn… They just took up closet space!

Bring formal clothes too. You never know what events you’ll go to (including sorority rush, galas, etc). Don’t forget a good pair (or two) of shoes for the outfit!

Realize that the first month-ish of school is the prime time to make new friends. People are more open to making new friends and are more friendly and receptive. Make the most of this!!! I can not stress this enough! Remember that first impressions can stick, so be especially graceful during this period. I would even go so far as to say that you should try to go out to a party in the first few weeks of school for two reasons…. 1) You can see if you fit with the party scene and if you enjoy it. 2) When you attend events early on, people will assume you’re down to go for the rest of the semester and you’ll get invites. (Which you can turn down, of course.)

Keep in touch with old friends! Seriously. Don’t just make new college friends and forget about your old high school friends. Keep in touch! Message them regularly and keep them in the loop! It might seem like a lot of work to message them all the details about something, especially when they are unfamiliar with the people so you have to describe it a lot (Wait, who’s Jim again? What’s your roommate’s name again? etc), but it’s so rewarding to have an old, familiar friend with you as you both experience college together, but separately.

Know your schedule and be on top of this. Be organized. I recommend a planner and also having a print out of your weekly schedule that has your classes and other time commitments. I actually drew my weekly schedule and hung it by my desk. It not only helps me visualize my week, but also lets my roommates know when to expect me. I also use a calendar app very diligently. Whenever I commit to an event, I immediately put it into my calendars (the app, and also my physical calendar in my room). I also inputted the dates and times of my exams/ important assignments from the get-go so I wouldn’t be surprised about when they were. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND INPUTTING THE DATES OF YOUR EXAMS AND DUE DATES OF PAPERS, ETC INTO YOUR CALENDAR ASAP!!!!!!!!

Keep in touch with family. Similar reasoning with #9. But basically, your parents and siblings have lived with you all of your life. They’ll miss you. Text them, call them, facetime them once in a while. Send them a postcard. Buy them college gear. Do little things like this; they’ll really appreciate it!

Don’t be so uptight and remember to be grateful. I feel like I’ve matured greatly in college. I used to have these crazy-high expectations about friendships and stuff, and now, it’s not that I have absurdly low expectations, but I just don’t take everything for granted. I am grateful for anything and everything my friends do for me. They bought me Chipotle? Aww. They reminded me about the review session? So sweet. Basically, don’t take things for granted.

Don’t be that one annoying friend. You know who you are. College is a time where you can really ‘reinvent’ yourself and you should really try to be a ‘better you’ during college. Here are some traits I find annoying, personally… An annoying friend is one who does any or all of these things:

“Forget” to pay a friend back for spotting you. Seriously, we all hate that person who does this and we all really respect that person who is really diligent about paying back someone. So take note. Everyone is on a tight budget in college.

Rants all the time. If you’re ranting all the time and your friend is just listening, you have yourself a freaking awesome friend. Just remember that friendship means you can rant, and your friend can rant back. It’s a two-way street.

Tries to peer pressure others into doing something they like. Okay, I get that you drink and smoke a lot. But you don’t need to feel the urge to ‘convert’ me to doing the same. No means no.

Always bails or is flaky. Freaking annoying.

Takes things too far. We all have that one friend who takes things too far and doesn’t know when to stop….

Too sensitive… But we also may have an uber-sensitive friend who always holds grudges and is a grumpy cat. 

Don’t skip class. Seriously. It doesn’t matter if the lecture is posted online, or if you’ll just get notes from a friend. Or if you already ‘know’ what’s being taught. Just go. Skipping class = lower grades = lower GPA = unhappy you.

Be willing to try new things. This can vary to an extent from person to person. It can be as crazy as asking someone out or trying new food. College is a time of growth, new experiences, and fun times. HOWEVER, don’t do anything that will harm yourself. None of this “yolo” mantra please.

Bring a lot of undies. Shirts and pants can be reworn more than once (within reason), but undies can’t. So save yourself from doing laundry all the time and bring a lot of undies.

Learn to let things go. I used to be that person who held onto grudges. But since starting college, I’ve really begun to realize that life is so much more fun and enjoyable if you don’t let the little things faze you. Learn to let it go. Don’t let what that rude guy said to you this morning stick with you for the whole day. Who cares if you asked someone out and it failed? You don’t need them anyway! You’re too fabulous for them to handle! 

Learn to be confident in yourself. “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You “- Dr Seuss. Over the years, I’ve found that I’ve grown much more confident and independent. I love it.

Learn how to socialize and be a great conversationalist. Smile and actually pay attention to what they’re saying. Remember what they said and bring it up the next time you see them. Hey, how was your lunch at Gypsy’s with John? It makes people feel special and nice. Use their names in the conversation as often as you can (without it sounding totally awkward and weird). People like hearing their names in conversation. [Btw, I read these facts on a Time article somewhere so its legit.]. People don’t remember what you say, but they remember how you made them feel. So make them feel loved and appreciated. Laugh.

Live and learn through your mistakes. No one’s perfect. So what if you bombed your first midterm? It’s the first of many. Pick yourself up and study harder for the next one. Don’t get all beaten up.

Consider bringing your AP study guide books to college. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve opened my AP Calculus review book from Princeton Review to review and look up things.

Keep track of your meal points. I frequently hear people saying they always have leftover meal points at the end of the year, but maybe it’s because I like to buy a lot of snacks, but I was actually behind on points for half the semester. It’s no big deal–I can easily add more points–, but just don’t be under the illusion that you have unlimited amount of points and can buy whatever you want. Be smart about rationing off your points.

Don’t let one midterm grade affect you. Yeah, you failed that midterm. So what? Just do well on the next ones. There’s nothing you can do about your midterm grade–you can only improve yourself for the future. Have a good cry, rant to friends, watch some Netflix–and then realize the changes you have to make and enforce the changes. 

Pick classes that you’ll enjoy. Don’t pick morning classes (if you can help it) if you’re not a morning person. Don’t take a Drawing/ Painting class if you’re not an artsy person for your Visual Arts requirement–there’s classes like Art History or stuff like that. Be reasonable about the classes you take and how much workload you know you can handle. Not everyone is the same.

Go see your adviser from time to time. Just to make sure you’re on track! Work out a 4-year plan. You don’t want to have any surprises later down the road!

Be careful with labels. Like “best friend” or “favorite person”. Sometimes, these can lead people on unintentionally and you’ll get yourself in awkward and uncomfortable situations where they like you but you don’t like them or something. I learned that it’s just best to call people your “friends” and unless you are really bonded with a person, then call them your best friend. But honestly, if you two are best friends, you kinda just know you are each other’s best friend–it’s a mutual feeling and it doesn’t really need to be said or labeled. I think it’s just best to rid yourself of using labels, honestly. Terms that imply exclusivity can sometimes lead people on. I think you should have a self-check with yourself every month or two and go like, “Okay, where am I at? I really like where I am right now. I could improve on this… etc etc. Let’s see the friends I’m close to… Do I think any of them likes me? I don’t want to unintentionally lead them on.” Just stuff like that.

Understand your finances for college. Including scholarships, how much you’re paying, how much you’re working (if applicable), etc. Just be on top of all your money stuff! 

Don’t go out and eat out a lot. I ate out a lot during freshman year. Too much. I had no regrets during the moment but now looking back, I just imagine all of the money I could’ve saved if I didn’t eat out…. :( You can save so much money by reducing how much you eat out.

Be financially conscious and be mindful of how much you spend. There are plenty of hangouts you and your friends can do that don’t require money or that much money. Examples: movie nights, picnics, checking out the campus botanical garden, going sightseeing in the city, cooking dinner together, etc. Just because it costs money doesn’t mean it will always be fun, memorable or worth it–something to remind yourself of! In addition, shoot for quality over quantity. Buy a $50 pair of Rainbows sandals that will last for years, instead of flimsy, cheaply made sandals that will break after a couple of uses. Splurge on that North Face jacket–you’ll be wearing it a lot and it’s versatile and will last you years. Now that I buy groceries and cook for myself, I’ve definitely come to appreciate the value of the dollar.

Realize how small the world is and how connected everything is. Don’t talk shit about people. Seriously. The person you’re complaining about may have a friend who is taking a class with the person you’re telling to. Or the person you’re telling it to may have a friend who has a friend who knows the person. If it’s one thing that keeps coming up in my time here, it’s that everyone seems to know everybody (or is a friend of a friend). So limit your shit-talking, secret-sharing, gossip talk to only your trusted confidants. Seriously, though. As you go through college, you’ll come to notice that many people will reappear in your classes because of being in the same major, and more. The world is small, y’all. Don’t be reckless.

Sentence Practice - July '19

Welcome back, everyone! It’s been a busy week and just yesterday I had my first ever Korean Food in a restaurant and I fell into a food coma instead of writing this post. So I’m a tad late, but here we are!

We spoke about a lot of things so far and last was the tenses with speech levels, so today instead of adding to the pile of overwhelming knowledge I’ll be doing some practice sentences. As always I may make mistakes but that is okay. We are here to learn not only a language but also to realize that it is okay to make mistakes and that they are needed to learn! So are you ready?

Good. Let’s go! 가자!

1. Yesterday I went to a Korean Restaurant.

Yesterday - 어제

to go - 가다 - Past tense 가았어요 -> 갔어요

Korean 한국 

Restaurant 음식점

-> 어제 저는 한국 음식점에 갔어요

2. In August I will visit my parents. (In August I will go to my parents)

August - 팔월

to go - 가다 (I use to go instead of literal ‘visit’ here) - Future tense 가겠어요

My - 우리 / 저의 (제)

Parents - 부모님

-> 저는 팔월에 제 부모님에 가겠어요

3. The weather is cold today.

Today - 오늘

Weather - 날씨

Cold - 추워

-> 오늘 날씨가 추워요

4. I like the flowers in front of our house.

Flowers - 꽃

House - 집

Our - 우리

In front - 앞

To like - 좋아하다

-> 저는 꽃을 우리 집 앞에 좋아해요

5. We live in this apartment.

We - 우리

To live - 살다 - Present tense 살아요

This - 이

Apartment - 아파트

-> 우리는 이 아파트에 살아요

6. My big sister went to physical therapy.

My - 우리 / 저의 (제)

Big sister (from girl’s view) - 언니

To go - 가다  - Past tense 가았어요 (merges into 갔어요)

Physical therapy - 물리 치료

-> 제 언니는 물리 치료에 갔어요

7. We will go to the hospital tomorrow.

We - 우리

to go - 가다 - Future tense 가겠어요

Hospital - 병원

Tomorrow - 내일

-> 내일 우리는 병원에 가겠어요

That’s it for now. If you found any mistakes, please let me know - how else would I learn, right? 

Also if you have any requests outside of the grammar posts that I am doing please let me know. I’d like to know what’s useful and what is not. I might to some small themed posts here and there with vocabularies and such, just to give our brains time to process the grammar with some vocabulary and sentences. Let me know if you think that would be useful! 

I don’t know what the next post will be about yet, but it’ll come soon! Until then, stay awesome!

파이팅!

September wallpapers :-)

They’re going up now in the google drive folder (click here) - they are all, except 6 designs, the same as last month as I wanted to publish them before the 1st but didn’t have time to make new designs before heading to VidCon Australia!! :D 

Minimalist sans-serif and serif desktop background are here - phones are included in the above link.

When I get back on Monday, I’ll be making up a few new designs for the spring/fall seasons and maybe 2 or 3 others designs. If you have suggestions please leave me them!

Enjoy guys! xx

A Guide to Audio Journaling

This past month (or longer, I think) I switched from regular, written journaling to audio journaling, and I thought it’d be great to share my experience: the practice, what I actually do, why I do it, and some things to think about if you wanna try it out.

I keep all my audio journals on the voice memos app on my phone, but if any of you know an alternate platform to do so, feel free to share!

Anyway, hope this helps, and as usual, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to send me a message or drop me an ask. Have an awesome week :)

Weather in Korean

공기 - Air

영하 - Below zero

눈바람 - Blizzard

기후 - Climate

기후변화 - Climate change

구름 - Clouds

이슬비 - Drizzle

가뭄 - Drought

지진 - Earthquake

가을 - Fall, Autumn 

홍수 - Flood

안개 - Fog

산불 - Forest fire

우박 - Hail

폭염 - Heat wave

태풍 - Hurricane 

얼음 - Ice

번개 - Lightning 

비 - Rain

무지개 - Rainbow

장마 - Rainy season

하늘 - Sky

눈 - Snow

눈송이 - Snowflake

봄 - Spring

폭풍 - Storm

여름 - Summer

해 - Sun

기온 - Temperature

천둥 - Thunder

쌀쌀하다 - To be chilly

맑다 - To be clear

춥다 - To be cold

건조하다 - To be dry

덥다 - To be hot

습하다 - To be humid

따뜻하다 - To be warm

태풍 - Typhoon

자외선 - UV rays

날씨 - Weather

바람 - Wind

겨울 - Winter

황사 - Yellow dust