I’m in the middle of a last-minute day job project, waiting in my darkening office for external input before I can wrap up and make dinner. So today, a bit of bad haiku:
Darkness and hunger,
Impatience for what comes next.
Expectant and alive.
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, bad haiku, Thoughts, writing on November 18, 2022| Leave a Comment »
I’m in the middle of a last-minute day job project, waiting in my darkening office for external input before I can wrap up and make dinner. So today, a bit of bad haiku:
Darkness and hunger,
Impatience for what comes next.
Expectant and alive.
* * *

Posted in Other, Science!, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, healthcare, innovation, science, srslytho, Thoughts on November 17, 2022| Leave a Comment »
This article from 2016 highlights the terahertz spectrometer, which is a technology that can read books without opening them.
This new machine can read book pages without cracking the cover | PBS NewsHour
The machine uses beams of radiation to creep in between pages and scan individual letters. This new tool wasn’t made to create disdain among classic readers or for those too lazy to lift a cover. Rather it may unlock the secrets of old books or ancient texts too fragile to be disturbed by human touch.
Scanning an object layer by layer and deriving meaning from the images? Cool, nifty, amazing, a breakthrough for archaeologists and antiquarians everywhere!
Also, remind me again why mammograms still require what is, in effect, a highly sophisticated panini press?*
And yes, it is exactly as uncomfortable as it sounds.
* I know, I know, living tissue is not the same thing as parchment or an Italian sandwich. Still, it’s hard not to think that the gap between the current and ideal mammogram experience represents an untapped opportunity for innovation. Ladies, can I get an amen?
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, Andrea Kriz, creativity, Fiction, genre fiction, inspiration, Nature's Futures, Thoughts, Writers, writing on November 16, 2022| 1 Comment »
What would you do if you could do anything?
The future will not be any% glitchless by Andrea Kriz in Nature’s Futures
I’m working from home. Or trying to. Since the news broke, it just doesn’t seem like there’s much point. Seeing each other on the screen. Or in person. It’s all the same, right?
Ever since we found out the Universe is a simulation.
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Posted in Science!, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, Artemis, inspiration, NASA, science on November 15, 2022| 1 Comment »
Will the Artemis moon mission finally fly? The answer seems to be, “Probably.”* The weather has been challenging but tonight’s forecast looks good. Here’s hoping all goes well tonight!
NASA’s new Artemis moon rocket is once again being readied for its first flight : NPR
A successful launch would be a key milestone for NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to put the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface. The agency has not launched a space vehicle designed to send astronauts to the moon since 1972.
* Edit from the future: the answer is yes!
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Posted in Food and..., Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, cooking, creativity, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers, writing on November 14, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Need a bite of encouragement? Ever wonder how gyoza are made, or how an architect might make it into the Michelin guide for his dumplings? All this and more, including dough “as tender as an earlobe” await your edification and enjoyment!
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, first snow, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers on November 13, 2022| Leave a Comment »
“It’s snowing still,” said Eeyore gloomily.
― A.A. Milne
“So it is.”
“And freezing.”
“Is it?”
“Yes,” said Eeyore. “However,” he said, brightening up a little, “we haven’t had an earthquake lately.”
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Posted in Science!, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, baking, pie, Thoughts, writing on November 12, 2022| Leave a Comment »
I didn’t get everything done today that I’d planned. I did make apple pie, though, and that’s not nothing.
“If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.”
― Carl Sagan
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers, writing on November 11, 2022| Leave a Comment »
It’s easy to feel small when you’re young, old, alone, overworked and overwhelmed, tired or broke. That doesn’t mean you are.
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, coding, creativity, problem solving, Thoughts, yay on November 10, 2022| Leave a Comment »
There is one part of my day job that is repetitive and annoying. It’s the kind of task that would be much easier if automated, and for a while now every time I have had to do this thing I think, “There has to be a better way.”
Well, this week I found it.
It was a small thing, fixed with a hacky bit of code (my speciality), but figuring it out feels pretty great. Now every time I do the thing that used to annoy me so much, I instead feel a minor but deep-seated sense of satisfaction.
Perhaps you know the feeling? Something was broken and now it is fixed.
When I’m up against a problem like this I always think that there has to be a better way. While I’m not always right I like that approach much better than rolling over and giving up.
So whatever it is you’re working on, keep pushing. If there’s a way to make it better, eventually you’ll find it.
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, #CharactersGettingIdeas, creativity, Fiction, genre fiction, Thoughts, Wordle, Writers, writing on November 9, 2022| Leave a Comment »
My Wordle story has run into a minor hiccup: After a couple of weeks, I realized that the main characters should probably be gender swapped. That means going back and reworking what I have so far, and rethinking how the story should move forward. I’ve run a test version past the source of the Wordle story seeds and she approves, so yay.
Now I just need to make it happen.
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