Posted in Likes, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, cats, home on July 29, 2022| Leave a Comment »
The Kitty Countdown is coming to an end! We pick up our new cat tomorrow afternoon, so we’ve been running around moving precariously-balanced items, stocking up on catnip and toys, and generally getting the house ready. It’s exciting.
Wish us luck!
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Posted in Funny, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, creativity, Fiction, free fiction, genre fiction, science fiction, Writers, writing on July 28, 2022| Leave a Comment »
While chatting with my father about a sci-fi book he’s reading, I remembered this short bit of free fiction from John Scalzi. Now I share it with you, too.
When the Yogurt Took Over: A Short Story | Whatever
When the yogurt took over, we all made the same jokes – “Finally, our rulers will have culture,” “Our society has curdled,” “Our government is now the cream of the crop,” and so on. But when we weren’t laughing about the absurdity of it all, we looked into each others’ eyes with the same unasked question – how did we ever get to the point where we were, in fact, ruled by a dairy product?
Enjoy!
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, cats, home, the menagerie, yay on July 27, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Our menagerie is about to expand. Not only have three adorable little bunny rabbits taken to frequenting the front yard, but we finally decided on a cat. We went with the slightly older, shy, fluffy and adorable option. We’ll pick him up this weekend so no pics yet, but here’s what he looked like as a kitten.
I asked DALL-E to make you an image of “a white cat with black spots and three rabbits in a garden, layered paper style” and got this.
Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, creativity, Thoughts on July 26, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, cats, choices, decisions decisions, kittens, Thoughts on July 25, 2022| Leave a Comment »
I believe I mentioned that we are just about ready for a new cat. (Honestly, can I even call myself a writer if I don’t have a cat?) The problem is, how to choose?
We’ve started the search at our local rescue, the one we turned to when we realized that the local strays were breeding up a storm and both they and their progeny needed to be trapped. Now we’re on the other side of that equation, which feels good. Still, there are so many options, each a door into a different version of the future. (It’s kind of fun when you think of it like that.)
Do we go for a kitten, engineered by evolution to be cute (nice) but without any idea what sort of personality they’ll develop as they get older (feels a bit risky)?
Do we go for a more sedate, cuddly cat with a couple of years under its collar, both to know what we’re getting and to skip the crazy kitten “It’s four a.m. and you have toes! I will eatz them!” phase?
Or somewhere in between?
Friday we met a pair of kittens relatively fresh from the trap and still a bit skittish. Yesterday we met the shy adult cuddler. Tonight we meet the in-betweeners.
This is why I don’t visit the animal section in pet stores; I want to help them all.
How to choose?
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, creativity, Em Liu, Fiction, Fireside, free fiction, genre fiction, Writers, writing on July 24, 2022| Leave a Comment »
It’s a lazy, rainy Sunday afternoon and (full transparency here) I find myself sorely lacking in motivation. Since we’ve had a mini “aliens on Earth” theme this week, let’s round it out with a short story from Fireside.
The Tourist by Em Liu
He goes to Earth alone.
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, inspiration, Thoughts on July 23, 2022| Leave a Comment »
“. . . what I like doing best is Nothing.”
― A.A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner
“How do you do Nothing?” asked Pooh, after he had wondered for a long time.
“Well, it’s when people call out at you just as you’re going off to do it, What are you going to do, Christopher Robin, and you say, Oh, nothing, and then you go and do it.”
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Posted in Science!, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, comics, inspiration, Mars, MarsPeserverance, nonfiction, science on July 22, 2022| 1 Comment »
Yesterday’s drabble was fiction, but this article is not. There really are Martians, and they’re living among us!
NASA engineer Nagin Cox on Mars rover time
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, Fiction, free fiction, genre fiction, Thoughts, unexpected, Writers, writing on July 21, 2022| Leave a Comment »
What do you know, some people actually did read Playboy for the articles!
Read 10 of the Best Stories Ever Published in Playboy ‹ Literary Hub
…while Hefner was indeed a man who collected and commodified women and called it “feminism,” it doesn’t change the fact that the joke about reading Playboy for the articles isn’t really a joke. The magazine has published some fantastic interviews, essays, and—most importantly for our purposes here—fiction over the years, the latter thanks in part to expert fiction editor Alice K. Turner…
Since its inception, Playboy has published work by Vladimir Nabokov, James Baldwin, Shirley Jackson, Nadine Gordimer, Doris Lessing, John Updike, John Cheever, P. G. Wodehouse, Arthur C. Clarke, John Irving, Roald Dahl, Frank Herbert, Stephen King, Norman Mailer, Joyce Carol Oates, Philip K. Dick, Ray Bradbury, Annie Proulx, and many other greats.
Almost all of the stories on this list are available to read online (via sites that will not get you in trouble at work, bonus). So enjoy the classic fiction, folks, while appreciating the venues we now have for sci-fi and other fiction.
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, aliens, climate change, creativity, drabble, Drabble Dabble Do, Fiction, genre fiction, Thoughts, Writers, writing on July 20, 2022| 2 Comments »
A drabble inspired by my love for science fiction. Also, the news.
Tipping Point, or, Oil Lobbyists Celebrate Over Drinks (London, UK, Earth)
Four oil lobbyists drank martinis around a mahogany table in a richly-appointed bar, celebrating. Their efforts had finally succeeded.
The lobbyist at the South end of the table grinned.
“Did you see the news? 40C! God, we’re good.”
West puffed on a Cuban cigar. “They say it’s the new normal. I’d say we’re ready.”
North shivered in the frigid air. “Agreed. Make the call.”
East opened a communicator that looked like a prop from Star Trek.
“Base? Terraforming is complete. Send the first wave of settlers.”
South looked at his fleshy fingers.
“Can’t wait to get out of these clothes.”
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