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Posts Tagged ‘#365Ways’

Total Eclipse of My Heart

Posted in Likes, Science!, tagged , , , , , on November 7, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Do you love Tuesdays? Want to get a head start on tomorrow? (Or hate Tuesdays and want something to make tomorrow better? Yeah, that’s more me, I’m afraid.) Or perhaps you’re just looking for an excuse to stay up late, you know, For Science? You are in luck!

A total eclipse happens this week, and it will be the last one for 3 years : NPR

The initial phase of the eclipse begins at 3:02 a.m. ET, according to NASA. The partial eclipse then begins at 4:09 a.m. ET, when to the naked eye, it looks like a bite is being taken out of the moon. The lunar disk enters totality at 5:17 a.m. ET and will last for about an hour and a half.

Want more science? Check out NASA’s page on this eclipse: What You Need to Know About the Lunar Eclipse – Moon: NASA Science.

One of my relatives is very much a night owl, so she will have no trouble catching this. The rest of us might have to set our alarms (or, let’s be honest, check out the video tomorrow; no shame either way!).

Enjoy!

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Photo by Vincenzo Malagoli on Unsplash

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That Someone Is Us

Posted in Other, tagged , , , , , on November 6, 2022| Leave a Comment »

I went for a walk yesterday with Mr Man. The weather is beautiful, and while unseasonable warmth is disturbing in an “oh crap, climate change” kind of way, it was really nice out. We headed west, basking in the warm sun, gazing up at the blue sky, enjoying the birds and the breeze and the… Ouch, what was that?

A giant hole in the pavement, that’s what. All that looking up at the sky made me trip over what was right in front of me, a foot-sized hole in the tarmac next to a storm drain. Cracks radiated out from the hole. Retreating and reassessing, I peered into the darkness and realized that the hole was more than a trip hazard, it was a portal to the underworld.

Runoff had eaten its way through the pavement, then undermined the street around the drain cover.

That looks dangerous, we said. Someone should do something about that, we said.

In my mind, one important measure of adulthood is the acceptance of responsibility, for self, family, community, country and planet. 

We took a photo of the hole and sent it to the city with a location and a repair request.

Because that “someone” was us.

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Photo by Jovis Aloor on Unsplash

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Morning Sun

Posted in Likes, Other, tagged , , , , , on November 5, 2022| Leave a Comment »

I woke to light dancing through the curtains. This is my attempt to replicate that feeling.

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Morning Sun: JrJ

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Time Travel. It’s a Thing.

Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 4, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Exactly one year ago today I decided to do a little time travel. You may remember I mentioned a site called FutureMe, an easy and fun (and free) way to write yourself a letter to be delivered at some time in the future. 

My letter arrived this morning, delivering a boost from NaNoWriMos past.

Thanks, Past Me, I will.

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Photo by Mihai Moisa on Unsplash

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What’s Next?

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , on November 3, 2022| Leave a Comment »

One thing I like about being a writer is the rejection. That sounds weird, I know. 

As I’ve mentioned before,* I used to hate the cycle, write, submit, be rejected, write submit, be rejected. Then one day you wake up and realize that rejection is no longer as painful as it once was. And some time after that, it occurs to you that rejection is really just another part of the cycle, winter to acceptance’s spring. Or whatever. 

Don’t get me wrong, acceptances are definitely more fun. But they aren’t the only way to mark writing progress.

All I know is that my email tonight contained an editor’s, “Sorry, it was great and all but it’s just not great for me” email and it was Not A Big Deal. More like another hole in my writer’s punch card. 

Rejection, and the possibility of it, used to dictate a lot of what I did or did not do with my writing. No longer. 

Tonight, my first thought after skimming the rejection was, “Cool cool cool, glad they finally got back to me.” My second thought was, “What’s next?”

* A few examples: Making the Most of Rejection; Keep Writing; Exposure Therapy 101.

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Photo by Eric Muhr on Unsplash

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More Than I Know

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , on November 2, 2022| Leave a Comment »

It’s funny how much you can absorb without intending to. The other night I put on a classical channel in the background. An elegant but weighty piece came on and I looked up to see that it was by Brahms. Makes sense, I thought. 

The next tune was lighter, a sparkling Baroque presence. Telemann. Ah yes, I thought. 

Finally, a dramatic, Romantic sound that spoke of strength with warmth. Dvořák, of course.  

Of course? What do I know about classical music? Nothing, that’s what. But my father played it all through my childhood and apparently some of it sank in.

It’s the same with writing, I find. I’m not great at picking apart a story into pieces like sixth-grade sentence deconstruction. (That may have something to do with my memories of actual sixth-grade sentence deconstruction. Ugh.) 

Whatever genre I’m exploring, I prefer to swim in it, absorb it, dive deep until I am close enough to understand why some readers love it, even if I don’t. 

That way, I absorb more than I know.

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Photo by Caique Nascimento on Unsplash

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Writer Jokes

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , on November 1, 2022| Leave a Comment »

references:
Damocles; Siege Perilous; Chekhov’s gun
xkcd: Interior Decorating

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Photo by Austin Lowman on Unsplash

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Many Ways to Fly

Posted in Holidays, tagged , , , , on October 31, 2022| Leave a Comment »

I have moderately complicated feelings about Halloween. Do I enjoy the horror genre? I do not (so scary!). Did I rewatch Practical Magic the other day? I did. Do I like the concept of Halloween as a chance to try on other personas, other worlds, and to learn new ways to fly? I do!

If you’re dressing up tonight, go you. And if you’re frazzled from working on kiddie costumes, shepherding young ghosts door to door, and gaining eternal parenting credits for putting up with sugar-fueled children for a week? Your sacrifices will be remembered, always.

Thanks, Mom and Dad. Happy Halloween!

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Photo by Bee Felten-Leidel on Unsplash

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Magic Things

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , on October 30, 2022| Leave a Comment »

We went to the woods today. Blue jays, gray jays, deer, a tick and a spider as big as a fifty-cent piece, wild peppermint, oaks and maple and birch and hickory trees and their nuts, moss, lichen, granite ridges wearing down at geological speeds, and an abandoned bird’s nest, waiting patiently to be discovered in the middle of the trail. The first person stepped over the nest, unaware, the second person strode past, unaware, but the third saw it. And stopped.

“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”

― W.B. Yeats

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Photo by Farrinni on Unsplash

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Worlds Inside

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 29, 2022| Leave a Comment »

“Everybody has a secret world inside of them. I mean everybody. All of the people in the whole world, I mean everybody — no matter how dull and boring they are on the outside. Inside them they’ve all got unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds… Not just one world. Hundreds of them. Thousands, maybe.”

― Neil Gaiman, A Game of You

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Photo by ruud slinger on Unsplash

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