Posted in Food and..., tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, cooking, food, learning stuff on July 12, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Today, a quick visit to Sicily to make tomato paste by hand. I had no idea it was this concentrated!
How to Make Tomato Paste in Sicily | The Kid Should See This
It’s easy. Take a ridiculously large amount of perfectly ripe Sicilian tomatoes. Cut them up. Leave them in the sun for 4 days to reduce down to about one tenth of their original volume. Put them in a jar and save it for a gloomy February day.
Here’s the video:
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, art, creativity, quotes, Thoughts, Writers, writing on July 11, 2025| Leave a Comment »
“For only after, can one nail down, examine, explain. To try to know beforehand is to freeze and kill. Self-consciousness is the enemy of all art, be it acting, writing, painting, or living itself, which is the greatest art of all.”
― Ray Bradbury
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, Thoughts on July 10, 2025| Leave a Comment »
A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows.
— St. Francis of Assisi
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, creativity, quotes, Thoughts, Writers, writing on July 9, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, awards, creativity, fantasy, Fiction, free fiction, Writers, writing on July 8, 2025| Leave a Comment »
I talk about science and fiction here, but I also like fantasy, science and otherwise. What’s up in the world of speculative fiction, fantasy edition? The World Fantasy Awards shortlist, that’s what!
Here’s the full ballot, with links to the short fiction list where available:
Here Are the 2025 World Fantasy Award Finalists – Reactor
Short Fiction
“Our Best Selves” by Hiron Ennes (Weird Horror Magazine #9)
“Godskin” by CL Hellisen (Strange Horizons, March 4, 2024)
“The V*mpire” by PH Lee (Reactor, October 2024)
“Raptor” by Maura McHugh (Heartwood: A Mythago Wood Anthology)
“Everything in the Garden is Lovely” by Hannah Yang (Apex Magazine #143, March 2024)
Do some of these look dark and scary and filled with content warnings? They do, but perhaps that’s your thing? If not, check out the other novels, novellas and more.
Winners will be chosen and awards presented at the World Fantasy Convention in the UK this November!
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, Thoughts, yay on July 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »
For reasons known only to the universe, we know a surprising number of people who were born today. That means it’s an excellent chance for me to cheer them on.
Not everyone wants a big to do, but whether you love your birthday, loathe it, or struggle to remember how old you are, the day is also an opportunity for the rest of us to appreciate you.
You’re here. And we’re happier for it.
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, kindness, Thoughts on July 6, 2025| Leave a Comment »
We recently had something of a family emergency. We’re okay and I’m mentioning it now not for sympathy, but because it reminded me that no matter what it looks like from the outside, you never really know what a person is going through.
When you can, err on the side of kindness.
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Posted in Other, Science!, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, aphelion, astronomy, science, space on July 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Whoops, I forgot to mention a recent solar system milestone. Two days ago, the Earth (that’s you and that’s me!) reached aphelion, or the point in our orbit at which we’re the farthest distance away from the Sun. That puts us at approximately (give or take the distance we’ve traveled in the past two days) about 3 million miles farther away from the sun than we are at perihelion.
It also raises a funny question:
Aphelion: Earth is as far away from the sun as it ever gets. So why is it so hot?
This happens every year in early July, which might sound backward. If we’re farthest from the sun, shouldn’t it be cooler?
The answer lies in the fact that the Earth gets closer to and farther away from the Sun, but it’s also tilted.
Our planet spins at an angle — about 23.5 degrees — which means different parts of the globe receive more (or less) sunlight depending on the time of year. In July, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the sun, bringing longer days and higher sun angles that lead to more direct sunlight — all of which produce summer-like heat.
And as this Space.com article details, we’re also moving at our slowest:
Since Kepler’s laws of motion dictate that celestial bodies orbit more slowly when farther from the sun, we are now moving at our slowest pace in orbit, slightly less than 18 miles per second (29 kilometers per second) compared to just over 19 at perihelion.
Given that, today might be a good time to relax, and enjoy the ride.
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Posted in Holidays, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, independence day, Thoughts on July 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Happy Fourth of July!
“I believe in Liberty for all men: the space to stretch their arms and their souls, the right to breathe and the right to vote, the freedom to choose their friends, enjoy the sunshine, and ride on the railroads, uncursed by color; thinking, dreaming, working as they will in a kingdom of beauty and love.”
— W.E.B. DuBois
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, creativity, failure, inspiration, persistence, Thoughts on July 3, 2025| Leave a Comment »
This world belongs to you. You are here to lead, to blossom out in the open, to show your heart to strangers, to fail and fail and fail again — with grace, with humor, with dignity, with joy.
— Heather Havrilesky
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