Ani's 2018 Log

[Peluche]

I never forgot anything ever ever.

Super envious

I had a teacher in 7th grade (12 years old maybe?) who asked me a question. I answered and he asked if I had written that information in my notebook. I said no, and in front of the class said, "oh.. I hate people like you. Store it all away like a f*****g computer" ... And my mom used to just look at me when I'd get on some intellectual binge and say "when I imagined what my future kids would be like, I never imagined they'd be like you" which was meant nicely but never felt it.

Bitternes and self-loathing are natural, but you don't let it out in front of students, that should be teaching 101.

I've often thought that I should give up my "silly hobbies" for a Nobel prize worthy pursuit

Fields medal in your case

This anti-intellectualism is SO alien to my culture. I thought at first it was a US thing, but Cavesa had similar experiences.

I need more brains.

[Ani]

I never forgot anything ever ever.

Super envious

Have you seen me try and learn languages for the last few years? Life has a way of working itself out I'm making up my share of forgetting in triplicate.
TBH, it was pretty painful.

I've often thought that I should give up my "silly hobbies" for a Nobel prize worthy pursuit

Fields medal in your case

Oh no no. I can do math. I can't invent math. I know my limits and they are well well below Fields medal level. Doesnt even make a good daydream I'm thinking like an entire field change. Physics, maybe. Or Mycology.. I really like mushrooms.

This anti-intellectualism is SO alien to my culture. I thought at first it was a US thing, but Cavesa had similar experiences.

I need more brains.

Sorry I can't remember where you're from. UK?

[Ani]

Your director is incredibly petty, and you are entitled to your feelings about the whole experience.

Ah yes, the familiar feeling of having to downplay one's abilities/achievements lest we make others feel inadequate in some way, or bore them or sound weird to them or whatever. Everybody rides your backside about doing well in school (and you do), but that just raises the bar and consequently any slight deviation from being above average only results in disappointment from others. Then, after school is over, no one wants you to be smart anymore. You're not supposed to have intellectual hobbies or pursuits anymore, don't you know you just make everyone feel bad when you know a lot of stuff about stuff?? Ani, I have to admit I admire you for your dedicated pursuit of the sciences, I am glad your lifestyle permits you to engage in continued learning about physics and the like because it's so, so interesting and exciting and I unfortunately fell out of things like that a few years ago due to life events. And I'm glad you find refuge in this community because you and others are inspiring to read, and you deserve a space to talk about it and be proud of yourself. Your sharing has the side effect of nudging other people to maybe get back to some things they used to enjoy, too

Congrats on IOL Survival course!!

Thanks! I don't always keep up as well as I wish, but I try to stay in contact -- some day my life will be a little calmer and I hopefully won't have forgotten everything. I really appreciate the support.
And IOL Survival!. This is such a fun language. We'll both be reading children's books like pros pretty soon

[Peluche]

Sorry I can't remember where you're from. UK?

India

[aaleks]

This anti-intellectualism is SO alien to my culture. I thought at first it was a US thing, but Cavesa had similar experiences.

It's alien to my culture too. Or maybe I just have quite the opposite experience.
----
When I was a little girl it was a shame not to know things but not the other way around. And all my friend read books, but we weren't geeks, nerds, or the like. We were quite ordinary kids who like hung out with friends, watch TV, and of course there were sport and/or hobby groups. But I have to say that I never was a straight-A student, I guess I was too lazy for that, and besides school bored me .

Either way I'm used to the thought that intellectual development, although I'm not sure about the term, is very important and to know a lot stuff of a lot of stuff is not a bad but good thing. That people need to keep learning something new during their whole life and that is normal. Something like that...

[Elsa Maria]

Ani, I am a SAHM whose youngest kid is in 11th grade. I think some of the people I know IRL wonder what I do all day.
Hmmm, so far today I have "done" Latin, Russian, and Danish.

I really wanted to post in your log to thank you for leading me to the Drops app. I used it for several days and got up to 10 minutes allotted time. I really, really like it. I am considering the Polyglot lifetime purchase.

[Peluche]

It's alien to my culture too. Or maybe I just have quite the opposite experience.
----
When I was a little girl it was a shame not to know things but not the other way around. And all my friend read books, but we weren't geeks, nerds, or the like. We were quite ordinary kids who like hung out with friends, watch TV, and of course there were sport and/or hobby groups.

Doesn't surprise me. Books from Mir Publishers were very popular in India when they had a presence. I have a bunch of them! Y.I Perelman, Irodov... Ani might be familiar.

Here is the amazon.com page of a legendary one:
https://www.amazon.com/Problems-general ... 5030008004
Almost all reviews are from Indians.

[Ani]

Sorry I can't remember where you're from. UK?

India

Well that makes a lot more sense now
Thanks for the link to the book. I didn't know those -- just saved it to my wish list for further research

It's alien to my culture too. Or maybe I just have quite the opposite experience.

Could also be a location thing, and maybe some bad luck? I grew up in a very poor area and right now live in an area where more people feel driven by different values. My husband has a similar problem because most of the men here just get any job and basically stick with it forever or look for a new job close to home or with better hours. They have no aspiration for what you'd consider a career or career development, so the fact that he has goals and invests in his professional life is totally foreign to a lot of his friends here. I'd have an easier time finding my tribe if I lived near a big city on one of the coasts.

I really wanted to post in your log to thank you for leading me to the Drops app. I used it for several days and got up to 10 minutes allotted time. I really, really like it. I am considering the Polyglot lifetime purchase.

Awesome! I have the polyglot level. I actually bought whichever is a level lower before I realized there was a polyglot level. I emailed the company and they super awesomely just sent me an upgrade because I don't think there is currently a way to upgrade by paying the difference between the levels. I see myself using the app for quite a while so it seems like a worthy purchase. After I finish with Russian and Icelandic, someday I'll come back for Esperanto and maybe Japanese or Chinese, so there's a lot to do on there.
And what do SAHM's do all day? Lol

====

Celebrating a second victory this week!!
I read my first page in Icelandic!! Hallelúja!
I got a copy of Borða Biðja Elska (Eat Pray Love) in the mail and blessedly it is basically a word for word translation. Same punctuation and everything. Made a neat list of words and phrases to double check or do a more thorough search on but a quick Google to be sure I didn't get mixed up here and there seems to be plenty.
One page down, 2499 to go.

[aaleks]

It's alien to my culture too. Or maybe I just have quite the opposite experience.

Could also be a location thing, and maybe some bad luck? I grew up in a very poor area and right now live in an area where more people feel driven by different values. My husband has a similar problem because most of the men here just get any job and basically stick with it forever or look for a new job close to home or with better hours. They have no aspiration for what you'd consider a career or career development, so the fact that he has goals and invests in his professional life is totally foreign to a lot of his friends here. I'd have an easier time finding my tribe if I lived near a big city on one of the coasts.

I think I understand what you mean. I've had a similar experience as an adult.
When I wrote about the opposite experience I meant my childhood in the first place.

[Xenops]

Could also be a location thing, and maybe some bad luck? I grew up in a very poor area and right now live in an area where more people feel driven by different values. My husband has a similar problem because most of the men here just get any job and basically stick with it forever or look for a new job close to home or with better hours. They have no aspiration for what you'd consider a career or career development, so the fact that he has goals and invests in his professional life is totally foreign to a lot of his friends here. I'd have an easier time finding my tribe if I lived near a big city on one of the coasts.

Oh my goodness, this describes my previous home in north Idaho. Boise and Idaho Falls/Pocatello are better, but you still don't have much diversity. It was very strange for Christians to get a higher education, and so I had few friends of the same faith. Boston has proved to be quite different: upon telling a Christian girl I only had a bachelor's degree, she expressed relief because she thought she was the only one: most people have master's (I actually have 2 bachelor's, but I didn't feel the need to say that).

As much as it hurts me to say it, I can't say I can recommend any big West Coast cities. Seattle has been doing some odd stuff, like raising the minimum wage to 15$ and putting heavy taxes on businesses. "Keep Portland Weird" has not only been proven true, it gets weirder everyday. More people move out of California than into it I hear, so I can't recommend there either. Even though I practice different politics than most MA residents, I have found Boston to be preferable to West Coast cities. And I love the Oregon coast...

I also enjoy this community very much. To add to my odd selection of hobbies, I also am working on a constructed language. I preface it as "the nerdiest hobby you never heard of".