Other | J.R. Johnson

Archive for the ‘Other’ Category

Not So Serious

Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, Thoughts on December 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Taking your responsibilities seriously should never stand in the way of taking your ego lightly.
— Adam Grant

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Wish Me Luck!

Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, #notwriting, annoyances, broken things, problems, technology on December 16, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Today we are experiencing some non-minor technical difficulties. I am attempting to handle the situation with aplomb.

“Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward.”
― Kurt Vonnegut

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One Weird Trick for Happiness

Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, do you have chill?, happiness, Thoughts, Writers on December 14, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Apologies for the clickbaity title, but I actually do have a weird trick. It’s simple to do but a little hard to explain.

The trick is to close my eyes and relax my focus (literal, not figurative) from “out there” back to the approximate plane of my nose. I know it’s working when I break into an involuntary grin.

It’s a small thing that only takes a second, but some days a little trick is all I need.

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Things In This Life

Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, cats, Thoughts, Tuesdays, unpredictability on December 12, 2023| Leave a Comment »

You as a person also have to understand that there are things in this life you cannot control, and one of those things is a cat.
— Ella Cerón

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There It Is

Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, Thoughts, Writers on December 6, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Truth is incontrovertible. Panic may resent it. Ignorance may deride it. Malice may distort it. But there it is.
— Winston Churchill

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Useful Today. Or Any Day, Really

Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, Thoughts on November 30, 2023| Leave a Comment »

From the annals of the “Thoughts that have been thunk many times before but are still sometimes good to think again” archives, I found this idea useful today:

When it comes to creativity, you can do anything if you don’t care if it’s perfect.

And you should.

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The Terminator as Art Critic

Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, Thoughts, toddler art on November 29, 2023| 2 Comments »

I found a picture that I drew of a dragon, lo those many years ago.

Being the curious sort, I decided to see if AI was worth its salt by (obviously) uploading the image and asking it to animate said dragon.

I hoped for something cute and silly.

(Well, actually, what I expected was for it to say, “Are you kidding, lady? And also, You call that a dragon? I could do better than that while managing air traffic control for LAX! Who drew this thing, a toddler?” Yes, more or less. No need to be mean about it.)

What I got was a canned reply on how to animate, plus this:

So, not my dragon and not an animation. Just a lot of “Ooh, look at me,” with a heaping dose of computerized side-eye.

Kind of the internet in a nutshell, actually;)

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An Early Career

Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers on November 26, 2023| Leave a Comment »

This image is a snapshot from my early career as a book reviewer. I was probably… eight?

Not sure why I found the word “flat” as interesting as the word “forbodes”, but I was right, I did read more Tolkien.

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*Thankfully, my handwriting has improved.*

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Work, It Could Be Worse!

Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, it could be worse on November 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Ever had a work day where the bottom just seems to drop out beneath you, and things spiral from bad to worse? Of course you have, everyone has, but probably few have had a day like the folks in this story:

Lake Peigneur: The Swirling Vortex of Doom

Early in the morning on November 20, 1980, twelve men decided to abandon their oil drilling rig on the suspicion that it was beginning to collapse beneath them. They had been probing for oil under the floor of Lake Peigneur when their drill suddenly seized up at about 1,230 feet below the muddy surface, and they were unable to free it. In their attempts to work the drill loose, which is normally fairly easy at that shallow depth, the men heard a series of loud pops, just before the rig tilted precariously towards the water.

Here’s hoping your day is a swirling vortex… of awesome.

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