“Love the trees until their leaves fall off, then encourage them to try again next year.” ― Chad Sugg
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Posted in Other | Tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, autumn, Thoughts, trees | Leave a Comment »
Maintaining a daily blog is both fun and sometimes challenging. To make it easier to keep up, I have a document with notes and partial drafts that acts as a pantry for ideas.
Sometimes, bits of those drafts become untethered from their original post and float free, like dandelion fluff on the breeze.
And sometimes, like fluff, they become useful in their own right:
I actually disagree with a lot of this, but that’s a me thing. The important part, I would argue, is to know what works for you specifically, and do that. If your art is powered by olde thyme apothecary candy or chocolate mint ice cream or raspberry lemon cake, do that:)
What original concept did I disagree with? No clue! But I think I stuck the landing.
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Posted in Writing | Tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, blog posts, creativity, inspiration, Thoughts, writing | Leave a Comment »
On writing in genres that some may not appreciate, from a writer (and archaeologist!) whose work spans urban fantasy, steampunk, mystery, history, humor, and romance:
“It doesn’t really matter what people think (loudly, in public), because as the huge number of romance readers can attest, it will not impact your audience reach. We will survive despite mockery at cocktail parties.
If you leave readers with a sense of community and feeling happy? They will love you forever regardless of label.” — Gail Carriger, The Heroine’s Journey
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Posted in Writing | Tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, #HeroinesJourney, creativity, write what you like, Writers, writing | Leave a Comment »
It’s October, so of course it’s time for the scary and the thrilling. And what have we here? A piece by John Scalzi, sci-fi author extraordinaire, on some of his favorite tales.
Best Sci-Fi Books With Monsters and Other Creature Features
Monsters are in the DNA of science fiction. Right from the beginning, they have shambled forth to represent the folly of scientists, the terror of the outsider and the sneaking suspicion that the actual monsters might not be who you thought they were. Without these creatures, science fiction would be much less interesting — and a hell of a lot less metaphorical. These are some of the best monster books, from the birth of the genre to one of its newest entries.
If you’re the sort of person who likes the scary stuff, enjoy!
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Posted in Writing | Tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, #recommendedreading, scary, sci-fi, Writers | Leave a Comment »
Hey, remember that asteroid we punched? And by “that asteroid” I mean Dimorphos, the cute little moonlet to Didymos, and by “we” I mean NASA’s 2022 DART mission. You know, the one where humanity sent a spacecraft to slam into an unsuspecting asteroid just minding its own business out there in the cosmos?
Right, that one. It turns out the story isn’t quite over!
“This thing that we thought was going to be very cut and dry turned out to be really interesting and complicated,” Thomas said. … That’s where Hera comes in, with its first arrival maneuver scheduled for Oct. 15.
October 15th? Why, that’s today! The spacecraft just started what will be the first of many orbital braking maneuvers. The earliest expected arrival date at Chez DimDidy is November 4th. (For the complete schedule, full telemetry, arrival simulation, and more, check out ESA’s Hera site online.)
And this is just the beginning of a months-long mission to better understand the asteroid’s composition and map the impact event. They even have two little probe-lets piggybacking on the bigger Hera probe. Once there, all three craft will Do Science.
How exciting! And hopefully the asteroid won’t hold a grudge.
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Posted in Writing | Tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, #avoidingdisaster, asteroids, cool science stuff, disaster preparedness, European Space Agency, NASA, space exploration | Leave a Comment »
Yesterday’s quote on radical empathy was the perfect set-up for today’s post about a woman who is practicing it. With books!
Baltimore Woman Brings Free Books to Hundreds of Kids With Magical Trolley
Ms. Maze, who calls herself a “radical street librarian,” has gone viral on TikTok for delivering free books to hundreds of children in the Baltimore area via a trolley. The green and gold vehicle transports children to a “magical” place where they can discover which genres excite them and develop an appreciation for reading…
How wonderful!
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Posted in Other | Tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, access, books, inspiration, librarians, libraries, reading | Leave a Comment »
“Empathy is the most radical of human emotions.” — Gloria Steinem
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Posted in Other | Tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, quotes, Thoughts | 1 Comment »
Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!
That’s right, Canada has its own Thanksgiving Day, and it now falls before the US holiday. It also began earlier than the US holiday.
The history of Thanksgiving in Canada
As the story goes, in 1578, English explorer Martin Frobisher and his crew gave thanks and communion was observed, either on land at Frobisher Bay, in present day Nunavut, or onboard a ship anchored there. The explorers dined on salt beef, biscuits, and mushy peas and gave thanks through Communion for their safe arrival in then Newfoundland. This is now accepted as the first “Canadian” Thanksgiving, forty-three years before the first “American” Thanksgiving.
Thankfully, we’ve come a long way from salt beef and mushy peas. While we’re on the topic, why do we eat what we do on Thanksgiving? Thousands of years of agricultural innovation by Native peoples, mostly! Here’s a quick explainer.
Happy Day!
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Posted in Food and..., Holidays | Tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, agriculture, Canada, food, history, innovation, Thanksgiving | Leave a Comment »
This weekend we made ten kilos of chili, six fruit tortes, and had an outdoor adventure. I’m ready for a chill evening and a bit of ice cream:)
Today’s random fact: the name for the paddle that churns cream into ice cream is a dasher.
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Posted in Food and... | Tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, food stuff, Thoughts | Leave a Comment »
Bertrand Russell on the Secret of Happiness – The Marginalian
“The secret of happiness is this: let your interests be as wide as possible, and let your reactions to the things and persons that interest you be as far as possible friendly rather than hostile.”
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Posted in Other | Tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, lessons for living, philosophizing, quotes, Thoughts | Leave a Comment »
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