Ruby Granger #35 Hello, it's Flu-bee!

[laynelo_]

Oxford offers an English and American studies masters, there’s a high chance she’s applying to that course given she can feed in her US trip and the fact she’s always mentioned that she likes learning about US history too.

 

[et5]

Spoiler: OT books

How do you guys find time to read? Seriously, i wake up at 5, study German, because i want to move there next year. Get ready for work, go to work, come back, eat dinner, shower, text my boyfriend and then im exhausted and just go to sleep by 9pm. Either there arent enough hours in a day or i dont have enough energy. Im supposed to start working out next month, i dont know how i'll manage.

Spoiler

I recommend making it easy for yourself - leave a book beside your bed, read short stories (if the book has seven stories and you read one a day you'll be done in a week and that sense of accomplishment might encourage you to read more!) and vary what you read - I have non fiction, fiction and poetry on the go at the same time. I love reading on my kindle at night because I can lie on my side and don't have to have my glasses on. Bring a book everywhere with you - sometimes you find there are dead moments in the day you could be reading - waiting at the doctor/dentist, on the train, in the queue for the post office. You could also try audiobooks - I find memoirs read by the author to be great ones. Louis Theroux and Mara Wilson read their books really well. You could also try taking books out the library which might give you a time limit to read them and get you into the habit?

But it's also worth remembering not to put too much pressure on yourself! I read a lot as I'm not into TV but you don't have to choose one or the other! There have been times in my life - doing my masters degree, bad mental health, a very stressful job where I often did 12 hour shifts - where I've not read a lot. I read a lot now that I have a 9-5 job but even then I don't read for hours a day, usually just 30 pages in the morning or something unless it's a really good book!

 

[threeSMEGfridges]

Does... what is a carlisle jumper? Doesn't she mean fairisle? She's wearing a fairisle jumper? Has she literally just substituted it with another place in "the north"?!

a northerner and a Fairisle knitter I’m insulted and amused.

I mean they’re both cold but very very different places. She’s the archetype of the Southern “north is north” dolt

 

[VallegGirl]

their mother made them use old socks to wipe their butts during lockdown to save toilet paper. leanring anything from that woman would not benefit ruby at all....

although the two of them seem very close and like-minded. so she probably is already learning a lot from her and her mom is giving her advice on how to look presentable at work. just like your mother stops you to the door to make you change into better pantyhose, ruby's mother probably stops her at the door to hug her really tight to make sure her clothing gets wrinkled. (who am i kidding ? she drives her to work. but you get my gist lol )

Nooooo. I can't release that image from my head. Someone come along and poke out my mind's eye.. p.....lease

 

[andthatstheteasis]

It's because the Brontes are not 'victorian' enough AKA they're too regency/early Victorian to be ""relatable"" (its why I feel like she didn't like Bridgerton either + the sex scenes) I can tell she does not really like the Regency era at all and wants to live more of an Edwardian / late-Victorian lifestyle. I honestly expect her to want to be the Dowager Countess from Downton Abbey when she turns 40 ngl.

the funny thing about getting the honour of having the cranky old granny title with good one liners, stories and going to bed at 8:30 pm… you have to live a wild life first . The Dowager countess had some spicy lovers in her time! Ruby could never, but for her own and our sake I hope her rebel teen phase finally kicks in at 40

 

[SharyBobbins]

• There's a wolf howling downstairs and I think Ruby should sort that problem out before recording her video.
• Apparently the Brontes were genius because they captured emotion. Unless their contemporaries were all chatbots, this isn't a unique selling point.
• I can't believe she just described Pilgrim's Progress as basic. I don't think it was written as a children's book either (?), though correct me if that's wrong. You'd think a literature and theology student would have a better idea of its context.
• Ruby, stop trying to make Girlboss Cordelia happen.

Children's literature as an organised genre didn't exist when Pilgrim's Progress was written and there wasn't a concept of childhood. It would have been seen as a good text to shape young minds and I am sure most would have enjoyed it. The young March sisters loved it in Little Women. The Thomas Bewick section made me grind my teeth as Ruby didn't consider the historical context of the book, the importance of the engravings to people who may have never paid a thought to the birds around them before, the influence it had on ordinary people and future nature writers. Hopefully studying for an MA will help expand her critical thinking and research skills, I know she is young but she does come across as quite insular in her thinking at times.

It was good to hear her explain her opinions more, even if I don't agree with all that she said.

 

[Sarah33]

It’s so much easier to give advice than to heed it especially when you’re in the middle of the situation, but if I were Ruby I’d spend this time being honest with myself and trying to discover who I am away from academia. Must be so disorienting leaving it but my worry for all these studytubers, and I was the same when I was at school, is that they have so little interests outside academia. It’s normal to feel lost after graduating and it is a tough time, but she needs to be really honest with herself and see who she is beyond books and the granger lifestyle and her idea of productivity. I felt sorry for her watching her instagramming her day the other day when she said she couldn’t get going and was sort of forcing herself to read 30 pages and couldn’t focus, it’s fine to rest and just be and do internal self reflection beyond reading Plato; who was she doing all that work for when she’s on a gap year? There’s so little incentive for therapy and maybe she hasn’t realised she has a problem when all her followers tell her how much she inspires them, but she needs to realise struggling and reaching out for help doesn’t make you weak. I feel sorry for her as - speaking as someone who was mega academics focused at school and has lived a sheltered life as a partial result - she is depriving herself of so much just because she won’t let herself do it, even things like watching tv and listening to certain kinds of music. I was similar and I missed out on a lot and I don’t want that for her

 

[LaBlonde]

Yeah she has read its twice like @gossip_guy said above. Maybe the peach scene just went over her head because she is such an innocent unknowing child

i’m remembering so much about that book now (including the stomachache/toilet scene) and there is no way on any level that she read that. twice! it’s just not a book i can see her vibing with or truly taking in, it speaks about sex in such a visceral way!

she probably just went “the themes are really important” or whatever soundbite she tends to use and moved on

 

[MissGGG]

I don't know if that is the best advice. I took the view that most people know about the numbers game, so if you apply to a smaller college, you might find a lot have done that too. In the end I picked the one I liked the most, which was even more Hogswarts-like than Ruby's choice. It paid off. Also, if the over-subscribed college still thinks you are "over the line" but doesn't have a space for you, you could still be pooled to one of the less popular ones. The pooling system is pretty mysterious but I've never heard pooling to be due to a culture-fit. But I do agree with you that not being pooled was a sign that Ruby wasn't even borderline for Oriel.

Pooling isn't really a culture-fit thing. Colleges will have a fixed number of places (say, they cannot take more than 10 people in a particular subject) but if they have 15 candidates that they think can thrive at Oxford (which I guess is the most culture-fit they're really looking for), they'll take the "best" 10 and put the other 5 in the pool. Then a college that didn't have many applicants that year (or many "good" ones) might look in the pool and decide to extend an offer to them instead.

(Of course, these rankings of "good" and "best" are decided based on a limited snapshot of a student, so not being pooled/being pooled/getting an offer/not getting an offer definitely don't mean one student is better or worse than another, its just based on what the admissions team have seen and have decided they're looking for.)

Playing the numbers game is pretty meaningless. The number of applications to colleges can really vary from year to year, so an under-subscribed college might suddenly become super popular, a college that normally takes lots of students might suddenly not have the same capacity, etc. The idea of the pooling system means (in theory) you have the same chance of getting in to Oxford whichever college you apply to.

The reason Ruby didn't get in was because of what lots of people have said, she parrots her Quizlet cards and struggles to think independently. Oxford would have been looking for someone who can do more than memorise flashcards and I doubt she was able to demonstrate that in an interview when she's not shown it in a single video over all these years.

 

[opal73]

I hope it's not just going to be her in that classroom. If her role is assistant, she's being supervised by the actual English teacher, correct? I have a feeling her role is something more like an after school tutor and it's not really anything (especially since she's only there 3 days a week)

 

[VallegGirl]

Haha that made me laugh but it's so true. She made a big mistake with her revision folders. A much better preparation would have been to choose a poem at random, give herself 5-10 mins to annotate it, answer questions from a teacher/parent, then research the poem to see if her points are supported by the info that's online. That way she'd get used to analysing new literature under timed conditions. Idk why she did it in such a rigid way.

I have a couple of ideas why Ruby does things in the very rigid way she does. (a) I think that is a learning style that has been successful for her in terms of getting good grades. So it is a case of continuing with what has worked (b) Ruby sees failure as not knowing an answer or a response. In this way her learning style is very formulaic (c) Ruby hasn't made the cognitive link between her inability to critically analyse new information [in an original and creative manner] and her failure to get into Oxford. With the 'pick of the bunch' I believe Oxford are looking for 'out of the box' thinkers. Ruby is a very much 'in the box thinker'. This takes me back to point (b) in that she views things as having a right or wrong response or answer. My ideas may be way off. I'd be interested in others views though.

 

[Griftwood]

I made a new thread, this was the title with the most likes!

Ruby Granger #36 Pumpkin Bread Activity

Thanks to @CatCafe234 for the title!

tattle.life

 

[Sad Suitcase]

burning candles outdoors, writing a poem and burning it, rubbing the ashes onto a piece of paper? It’s all CREATIVITY.

See this is why she shouldn't live alone. But then again, she's burning stuff on a wooden table in the middle of a garden and the folks are nowhere in sight.

 

[DrinaM]

OT but I'm in my early 20's and am on a very, very slow driving journey because I got into a car accident as a kid and being in a car gives me PTSD
But I'm still learning, however begrudgingly, bc I'm not gonna have my parents or friends drive me everywhere lol. I also will need to drive to work, to pick up my own kids, etc. So yes, I need to drive and learn to get over my fear. It's a working progress, but I'm working on it.

But Ruby doesn't have an excuse. In fact, she's using her inability to drive as an excuse to stagnate at 12 years old.

Well done for taking the initiative, however begrudgingly, and getting out there and learning to drive. It can be so challenging, especially with PTSD related to car accidents. I was in a similar situation when I was learning to drive, but I am so glad that I stuck to it. Now its just a normal thing and allows me so much independence.

From what I understand, Ruby doesn't want to grow up. I don't know what happened to her (if anything) but she has said pretty clearly a couple of times now that she struggles with the idea of having to grow up. The people around her need to stop wrapping her in cotton wool. (my opinion)

 

[Whisper2Me]

There is a horrible misconception that you have to be skinny to be considered as having an eating disorder. Eating disorder is exactly that. You have a warped, unrealistic relationship with food. It leads to self harm, one way or another, and there are a lot of ways this can play out. Obsession with drink and preparing food is also a sign. There just is so much on the internet about the actual term and what it entails. Please be informed on this subject. Ruby's behaviour over the past several years fits it to a T.

I also agree that she has a mental illness beyond this and that it has been allowed to slide. First seen as "cute" or "she is testing us", then "she is highly intelligent or gifted". These are the thoughts and excuses of parents, while siblings are on the sideline, left out and getting a more realistic picture of what is going on. I feel so bad for her sister. She barely seems to be in the picture. Good for you, Martha, if you are reading this. You don't have to play this game anymore. Strike out on your own and live a healthy, happy life. I wish her well. Ruby needs intense therapy. Signs in her young childhood? Her admitting she took her favourite toy and constantly dragged it against the floor, rubbing the eyes until they were all scratched up. This is not normal behaviour as to how you treat a favourite stuffed animal. You cuddle them, kiss them, tuck them in bed, sit them up on chairs. You don't violently rub their eyes out! I know this sounds trivial, but it is a sign; I am certain one of many that her family witnessed, wondered and didn't deal with. Accusing people as being bullies. I have a feeling they never were. They were just aware she was different and reacted naturally. Her parents chose to spoil her in order to cover up the fact that she has problems that need to be addressed. I mentioned this once before, because it is all too common. You can get away with things when you are a child or teen, but when you become an adult odd behaviour sticks out like a sore thumb and people begin to question it. You can't hide it. You can't cover it up anymore. No one wants to deal with your problems in a workplace. You are in a worse place because therapy has been delayed. They often end up as pedophiles, drug addicts, alcoholics, violent and unstable, just labelled eccentric, loners to the extreme (not talking about introverts, but real odd loners) when really it is quite serious. So yes, the best thing would be for her to forget a Masters, forget Social Media for good, and get herself into therapy as her main focus for as many years as it takes so she has the chance of becoming a whole and healthy person, though sadly in many ways that is probably never going to happen. The more common tendency is to avoid the situation, pretend it doesn't even exist and slide down that rabbit hole with each passing day. I do not see a bright future for her.

 

[Deeznutslol]

this is why I asked! i’m also from the UK and nobody when i was in high school or even in my life now thought that hard about it. obviously i know what the distinctions mean and that there’s probably something misogynistic in it but it really is just standard practice here. it likely won’t change as it has in other countries because no one’s bothered

I feel like it’s generally a complete non-issue in the UK to be honest. I appreciate that it’s misogynistic to have a distinction between married / unmarried women but like hello, the world is generally a very sexist place lmao. I mean, I think it’s also a pretty outdated and misogynistic practice for a woman to take her husbands surname, it doesn’t happen in most countries. but again I don’t think it’s that deep as it’s just a cultural thing.
Either way, it certainly doesn’t imply anything about the school in terms of conservatism/christianity, I went to a non religious state school and I checked the list of teachers just now and it’s a mixture of Miss, Mrs and Ms.
Tldr; it’s not that deep

 

[heroesfeast]

Anyone know when the deadline for submitting her masters application is? Also when will she find out?

Applications for 2023/24 closed on 6 January. No idea when she will find out, though.

 

[DrinaM]

Kids are brutal, especially with access to social media. This will end in tears. When I was at school like 15 years ago, lids were filming teachers in class or finding their facebooks and laughing at their profile etc then. I imagine it is worse now. My class often had teachers in tears, one had a breakdown and one stormed out. Maybe she will get lucky and be given a breakout group to sit with, of the best behaved or girls like her? Maybe she won't have a full class and instead be more of a tutor with smaller groups?

Yes. They are brutal. I think I may have mentioned somewhere here that I taught Legal Studies to Seniors in Australia (16-17 year olds). I have a PhD in Law, and undergrad in Arts (English lit/Media) with 0 training in teaching kids in a classroom. I was subbing around 2 days a week for a full school term. The most challenging part of the whole thing was the behaviour management. I could see that wrecking her. Especially if they found her socials.

 

[autumngoblin]

She would look cute in a lob with layers honestly

i have super fine hair so I gotta keep it short/blunt cut. She could do so much more with her hair that I can only dream of with mine

Cher from Clueless style

 

[exopolitics]

Hello, it’s Pyu-bee!

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