linen @linen@witches.town

I think I'm going to hang one of my new prints above the piano (but I'm not sure which one yet. maybe the tree one?) then I can stare at it while I'm playing! yesss

actually no, I'm so invested in improving my living space because every single small positive change I made makes me measurably happier

I'd probably be less invested if I didn't work from home, or started actually leaving the house more than a couple times a week

one day I'll be interested in things other than optimizing my living space, but today is not that day

I think I need to get a second rainbow keyboard to use when I want to lie down and type, because it feels so good to type on, isn't super expensive, and also does rainbow light shows. (plus my current backup keyboard is just so bad)

@zatnosk that's great! you're welcome 😄 hope writing goes well

@zatnosk personally, pretty much all the writing I've done has been academic, but I think the structural stuff helps a lot in less formal contexts too.

@zatnosk and I mean, the point that's trying to make is more like "hey your writing should be organised and structured in a way that makes sense", but bc high school a lot of people take away things like "essays must have 3 body paragraphs."

I see you're a programmer, so an alternate way to think of the structure might be as a (height 3) tree: the root is the thesis, the level 1 child nodes are your arguments, the level 2 child nodes are your supporting points. do a depth first preorder traversal, and stick a summary intro/conclusion on the start/end. bam!

@zatnosk oh! fair enough! the "proper essay" structure I'm thinking of is what they teach you in high school (which everyone hates bc it's so restrictive) and goes like this:

- introduction paragraph: "hook" sentence to draw in attention, thesis (the main point you're trying to make), brief summary of the arguments you're going to give

- body paragraphs (3 of them): 1st sentence is the argument, the rest of the paragraph is the supporting points

- conclusion: restate the thesis and a summary of your arguments, something to say "yes my arguments were convincing and I proved my point well"

@zatnosk also, a thing I like to remember about structured writing (like essays) is that the structure is there to help you make your point, not to force your writing into a shape. I've had friends try to sick exactly to "proper essay structure" bc they thought that's how essays worked, but the structure is there to help organise and clarify your arguments, and if departing from the structure would help, then do it! (idk how relevant that is to you but yeah)

@zatnosk you can do it! also, the order I do things may not be an order that works best for you - if a different way seems more interesting (like if you'd rather find your arguments before setting out an outline), try that out! people have pretty different writing styles, and it does take just doing lots of writing to figure out your style.

@zatnosk you can totally do this for an essay! I like to start with a few iterations on an outline, which usually goes sth like this: figure out thesis, figure out main arguments, figure out sporting points for each argument, revise thesis based on my arguments, reorder arguments based on my thesis. maybe repeat the last 2 a couple times, then actually start writing. when I start writing, I work point by point (which depending on the length is either paragraph by paragraph or section by section), starting with the easiest or most interesting. fix things to transition between points nicely, and write intro/conclusion. then edit a few times! hope that helps!

@sed yesss that sounds amazing

I also want to try those really large round bathtubs they always have in gibli movies

why do I not spend my entire life applying heat to my body

I want to install a baseboard heater in my bed omg

I messed up my neck somehow, and instead of getting up for a heating pad I've lined up my spine along the gap at the top of the baseboard heater and it feels unreasonably good wow

@deem hahah yeah. the colours tho.....