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sophia_sol) wrote2025-03-28 07:46 pm
sophia_sol) wrote2025-03-28 07:46 pm
5 things: tumblr grammar, teaching child about birds, macro photos, sally pointer, joplin notes app
whoops it has been far too long, once again. sorry dw!!
one
I have realised: in the past few years I've gotten in the habit of leaving comments in tumblr tags to compliment the fanart I reblog, and as a result I have gotten out of the habit of using commas, because they automatically insert a tag break. And this has bled over into all my writing, including fiction writing! But using commas appropriately does improve the clarity of writing, especially when you tend to write a lot of long sentences like I do...I am having to re-learn to be very deliberate about my commas.
This is a very funny problem to be having! Thanks tumblr!
two
Last week I got to be in the presence of a small child asking me "why" questions about birds. Living the dream!
Small child learned from me about turkey vultures and mourning doves and starlings, as the birds that were most visible to her at the time to ask about. Occasionally I was stymied by what exactly she meant by "why?" -- like, what part are you wanting to know more about? Be more specific, please! But eventually I figured I could just treat "why?" as "tell me more, I'm interested," and that seemed to work well enough.
And then! The next day I got an update from small child's parent that she spotted a turkey vulture and was very excited, and talked about how I had taught her about them!! 🥺
three
I have figured out how to use my camera to take close-ups of tiny things! Turns out the key is to use manual focus; the autofocus doesn't work when you're that close. This is very exciting!
Guess what this presages: BUG PHOTO SUMMER. I'm excited.
four
Sally Pointer videos are there to save the day....when things feel hard, watching her enthuse about how much fun it is to make mistakes and try things out and learn is a guaranteed mood improver. Thank u sally pointer <3
five
I have been testing out various apps/programs for keeping personal notes, and think I might be able to use Joplin for a bunch of niches in my digital life, more than I was expecting -- exciting!
On the docket:
The one thing I'm specifically not going to move to Joplin: my fic-writing. The android app for Joplin does not have a functional word-count feature, and it turns out that IS a vital feature for me, unfortunately. So that will stay in Ellipsus for now, I think.
one
I have realised: in the past few years I've gotten in the habit of leaving comments in tumblr tags to compliment the fanart I reblog, and as a result I have gotten out of the habit of using commas, because they automatically insert a tag break. And this has bled over into all my writing, including fiction writing! But using commas appropriately does improve the clarity of writing, especially when you tend to write a lot of long sentences like I do...I am having to re-learn to be very deliberate about my commas.
This is a very funny problem to be having! Thanks tumblr!
two
Last week I got to be in the presence of a small child asking me "why" questions about birds. Living the dream!
Small child learned from me about turkey vultures and mourning doves and starlings, as the birds that were most visible to her at the time to ask about. Occasionally I was stymied by what exactly she meant by "why?" -- like, what part are you wanting to know more about? Be more specific, please! But eventually I figured I could just treat "why?" as "tell me more, I'm interested," and that seemed to work well enough.
And then! The next day I got an update from small child's parent that she spotted a turkey vulture and was very excited, and talked about how I had taught her about them!! 🥺
three
I have figured out how to use my camera to take close-ups of tiny things! Turns out the key is to use manual focus; the autofocus doesn't work when you're that close. This is very exciting!
Guess what this presages: BUG PHOTO SUMMER. I'm excited.
four
Sally Pointer videos are there to save the day....when things feel hard, watching her enthuse about how much fun it is to make mistakes and try things out and learn is a guaranteed mood improver. Thank u sally pointer <3
five
I have been testing out various apps/programs for keeping personal notes, and think I might be able to use Joplin for a bunch of niches in my digital life, more than I was expecting -- exciting!
On the docket:
- replace google keep, to jot down quick notes to myself
- replace google drive, to keep semi-permanent lists I want to be able to edit while out and about (eg: list of things to look for while thrift shopping)
- replace the folder in onedrive where I keep lists of many different things I want to track (eg: kinds of cheese and my opinions on them, all the artists I've seen live in concert, the timeline of all fandoms I've spent time in)
- organize my ever-more-complex TBR list, which is what I was looking for a solution for in the first place
- keep track of important details about friends and acquaintances' lives, since I can't rely on my memory to do that to a socially appropriate level
- and I'm considering moving my personal project kanbans from Trello to Joplin too!
The one thing I'm specifically not going to move to Joplin: my fic-writing. The android app for Joplin does not have a functional word-count feature, and it turns out that IS a vital feature for me, unfortunately. So that will stay in Ellipsus for now, I think.
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Remember that slippery slope I told you about once? : D
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