Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, autumn, fall, inspiration, nature, photography, Thoughts on October 14, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Mr Man and I were out for a hike a few weeks ago when a barred owl flew across the path. I hadn’t expected to see an owl in daylight, but there it was. We watched it for a moment as it nestled into the crook of a tree, and went about our way.
This is what it might have been like to stay.
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, autumn, fall, inspiration, nature, quoteandaprettypicture, Thoughts on October 13, 2025| 1 Comment »
For those who have experienced the joy of being alone with nature there is really little need for me to say much more; for those who have not, no words of mine can ever describe the powerful, almost mystical knowledge of beauty and eternity that come, suddenly, and all unexpected.
— Jane Goodall
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, autumn, fall, inspiration, quoteandaprettypicture, Thoughts on October 12, 2025| Leave a Comment »
“The autumn stars had come out, incredible in number and brilliance… the whole sky seemed to tremble, a shaking of diamond chips, a scintillation of sunlight on a black sea.”
— Ursula Le Guin, The Dispossessed
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, autumn, fall, inspiration, quoteandaprettypicture, Thoughts on October 11, 2025| Leave a Comment »
After an extended flirtation with unusually warm weather, the seasons have well and truly turned. Fall has arrived, and with it, bright blue days and brilliant colors, crisp air and the urge to Get Outside before the snows come.
This is my way of saying that I’m going to be otherwise occupied for the next few days enjoying the weather. I hope you have a chance to get out and enjoy the season too.
In the meantime, I leave you with quotes and pretty pictures!
“If the leaves are changing, I feel poetry in the air.”
— Laura Jaworski
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Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, creativity, inspiration, Thoughts on October 9, 2025| Leave a Comment »
“Every minute of every hour of every day you are making the world, just as you are making yourself, and you might as well do it with generosity and kindness and style.”
— Rebecca Solnit
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, family, funny story, Futures, Sinclair on October 8, 2025| Leave a Comment »
I often run across funny stories in the news that catch my attention. Sometimes, it’s about a topic of interest, like libraries or space food or mushroom leather, for instance. And sometimes it’s about a dinosaur named Claire.
I was only two when my mother’s father died, so I never got a chance to know him. Now, I’m very much a green economy “let’s figure out how to live without needing several more planets” kind of person, but my grandfather’s work involved resource exploration for Sinclair Oil.
He was also by all accounts a wonderful person.
The fact that he was gone only made me more interested in what little I did know about him, including the fact that he worked for a company whose mascot was a friendly green dinosaur.* To a kid, that’s pretty cool, and I always kept my eye out for Sinclair stations when we traveled.
Sinclair’s advertising writers first had the idea to use dinosaurs in Sinclair marketing back in 1930. They were promoting lubricants refined from crude oil believed to have formed when dinosaurs roamed the earth.
This all came to mind because recently, someone in California stole the mascot from a Sinclair station in Brentwood. The stations often have a large (but not life sized, let’s not get crazy) representation of their dinosaur near the pumps. Very cool. So cool, in fact, that someone decided they wanted to take it home.
The dinosaur’s name, it turns out, is Claire.
Stolen California gas station dinosaur returned with apology note
The 4-foot-tall prehistoric mascot was stolen last week from a Sinclair gas station on San Vicente Boulevard in the Brentwood neighborhood. Video showed the person using power tools to remove Claire, loading her into the bed of a pickup truck that pulled up alongside the fuel pumps and driving away.
The good news is that a hue and cry was raised, and the thief, who must have at least one decent bone in their body, returned Claire to her rightful home.
More than once, I’ve wondered what my grandfather would think about the green energy transition and the push to move away from fossil fuels. While I don’t know what he would have said, it would have been a fascinating conversation.
He was a kind, thoughtful man who wanted only good things for his family and the future. I like to think that he would be happy to see humanity finding new ways to innovate, expand, and explore.
And I’m sure Claire and her family of Apatosauruses would approve.
* Although there’s a certain irony to making your company symbol a happy representation of the creature whose liquified remains power your product, but that’s a topic for another time!
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Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, #YouDoYou, chillaxation, creativity, Thoughts, writing on October 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »
We are all raised with ideas about what is worth spending our time on.
“Don’t waste your time [fill in the blank], you should be working on [fill in another blank]. If you have time later, maybe you can play.”
Thanks to some excellent teachers and super cool parents, I tend to think of this equation the other way around. There’s nothing like genuine interest to motivate. I’d put up with a lot of [math] in order to understand [orbital mechanics].
I also believe in the restorative power of doing things that remind me what I love about the world. I can’t work all the time, and if I try, both work and life suffer for it.
I mean, yes, do what’s necessary to graduate, keep a job, care for those you love, etc. There is real satisfaction in that. But I also try not to let anyone make me feel bad when I also [read/write/watch Star Wars] instead of doing something they consider more rewarding.
There are a lot of ways to be a good, capable, productive person.
Love what you love, and let it be your window onto the whole world.
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Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, creativity, Thoughts on October 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »
“We are born an empty bookshelf. Life is what we fill it with.”
― Felicia Day
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Posted in Likes, Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers, writing on October 3, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Whee, I just realized that our library has added two new libraries to its partner system and now I can haz alllll the books!
(Seriously, I can now check out something like 75 books at one time. I won’t, but I could!)
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, inspiration, Thoughts on October 2, 2025| Leave a Comment »
As anyone online likely knows, primatologist, conservationist, activist, author and reportedly all-around good egg Jane Goodall died yesterday. She was on a book tour, of all things, bringing her vision of a better world to those who would listen, and being an example of dedication and purpose for us all.
Dr. Jane was known around the world for her 65-year study of wild chimpanzees in Gombe, Tanzania. However, in the latter part of her life she expanded her focus and became a global advocate for human rights, animal welfare, species and environmental protection, and many other crucial issues.
I’m sad we lost her, and yet it’s lovely to be reminded that one person can do so much good.
What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.
— Jane Goodall
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J.R. Johnson 
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