AvidBards
Lifestyle

How to Plan for 2021

Changing tune today for today’s post, I want to look at how we even begin thinking about planning for the new year after a year like 2020. Everything we have ever known about planning went out the window this year, and one thing was left clear: No matter how much you plan, life will get its way.  So, how to go about thinking about what we want to accomplish in the new year? I will be the first to admit that I felt utterly lost this year, unsure how to measure my productivity and successes when I was struggling to…

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Reflections

The Arts in a World of Scandals

Separating the Art From the Artist The last decade has seen more accountability and increasing calls for public and celebrity figures to be held responsible for their actions and statements. Recently, Johnny Depp was removed from his role as Grindelwald in the Fantastic Beast franchise after he lost his libel case against a UK tabloid that labelled him a wife-beater. This is not an isolated case but rather, the latest of a long line of celebrity scandals just as Kevin Spacey was asked to step down from his notable role in the political drama show, House of Cards. Similarly, Hachette Book Group…

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TV Shows

Non-English Shows I Binged on Netflix

Growing up in a non-English speaking country, I was exposed to multiple languages from a very early age. Because of that, films and TV in different languages is something I have been exposed to all of my life. But, perhaps ignorantly on my part, I did not realise that language was something that would turn people off from watching certain things. Maybe because they do not like the idea of subtitles or that some shows or films do not have dubbed versions (not my personal preference but to each their own). However, there have been so many excellent, binge-able shows…

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Academic

Understanding Creative Non-Fiction

A note to aspiring writers. “It is a way of looking again and again at itself from all angles in order to see itself most fully.” – Bret Lott on creative nonfiction. An area of publishing that is getting increasingly popular is the field of creative non-fiction (also known as literary non-fiction). From the onset, however, the term itself sounds like an oxymoron. How can non-fiction be literature? Welcome, to the topic of today’s post.  Creative non-fiction (CNF) refers to a piece of writing that uses typical literary styles or techniques (such as figurative language, playing with tenses and/or narrative…

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TV Shows

The Fall: Is it Feminist?

I am definitely late to the game on this one having just finished the BBC, British-Irish series The Fall this week! I knew that I wanted to talk about the series but I was at a loss of what exactly to talk about until I saw the ratings for the show. The three series tense thriller had people falling over themselves to binge watch the first series back in 2013, but by its finale in 2016, reactions to it had shifted. The recent addition of the show on Netflix UK has had many people obsessed (and thoroughly creeped out), bingeing it within a few days, myself included, a change of tune from 2016. So, what happened?

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Academic

Being A Student During Covid-19

5 actionable things you can do to be more productive. It’s said so often, but every now and then it really hits me just how incredibly unprecedented this whole year has really been for our generation. On top of a global pandemic, we are seeing every day the consequences of living in a world that does not and will not change to protect all its citizens. It’s enough to drive anyone into a hole. So how are you meant to keep going when your commitments and responsibilities require you to. My experience of working and being a student during Covid-19…

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