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Posts Tagged ‘#365Ways2021’

Uphill From Here

Posted in Science!, tagged , , , , , on December 21, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Today is the winter solstice, marking the Northern Hemisphere’s shortest day.

Why solstice? It’s science so there must be a Latin connection, right? Right.

During the course of a year, the subsolar point—the spot on the Earth’s surface directly beneath the Sun—slowly moves along a north-south axis. Having reached its northernmost point at the June solstice, it starts moving southward until it crosses the equator on the day of the September equinox. At the December solstice, which marks the southernmost point of its journey, it stops again to start its journey back toward the north.

This is how the solstices got their name: the term comes from the Latin words sol and sistere, meaning “Sun” and “to stand still”.

— December Solstice 2021: Longest & Shortest Day

The good news is that it’s all uphill from here.

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This is an analemma, a map tracking the sun’s position over the course of a year. You remember that diagram Tom Hanks drew on the cave wall that one time? Politikaner, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Playing Grandma

Posted in Food and..., tagged , , , , , on December 20, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Today, a recipe that has an important place in our family history.

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Swedish Pancakes
(Mike Johnson)

Mike: The history of this recipe begins with Olga, my father’s father’s (far far in Swedish) sister. For most of her life she was a live-in maid and nanny for a rich family across town, from the time when Swedish girls were brought over to replace other ethnicities in the service industry. She also cooked for her brother and his children, and later grandchildren on the weekends. After that she took care of her son. She worked all her life, living with the same family for 30 years and only retiring at 85. She died at the age of 99, tired and more than ready to go.

Jen: My father often spoke of Olga and how she would stand at his grandfather’s stove flipping seven thin pancakes at a time in the special cast iron pan, piling plates high on Sunday mornings. She didn’t have a recipe, just mixed the ingredients together until they “looked right.” Dad finally made up his own and still uses it to play the role of Swedish grandmother, eating over the stove as the rest of us spread butter and sugar and lemon or lingonberries on the pancakes,* then roll them up to eat. Delicious!

Ingredients:

  • 2 eggs
  • 1 ¼ C. milk
  • ¾ C. flour
  • ¼ C. sugar
Photo by M Draa on Unsplash

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* We do the dishes after so Dad can relax. We’re not monsters!

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It’s All Relative

Posted in Science!, tagged , , , , , on December 19, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Some days I feel like I am getting nothing done. Despite the fact that I have been working on a number of projects and fighting bad tech mojo on multiple fronts,* today is one of those days.

Am I am getting nowhere? Maybe, but I’m also doing it very, very fast. Thanks to the magic of plate tectonics (ok, that part’s pretty slow) and orbital mechanics, so are you.

If you’ve ever wanted to know how fast you are moving (even when you aren’t going anywhere), check out this fun site:

Speed

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Photo by Abed Ismail on Unsplash

* Really, keyboard, backup drive, laptop, and printer, you’d have me believe that this wasn’t all planned?

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Image Says It All

Posted in Writing, tagged , , on December 18, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Well, maybe a little time travel, courtesy of my image modification program.
Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

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Shouldn’t It Be You?

Posted in Holidays, tagged , , , , , , on December 17, 2021| Leave a Comment »

One thing about adulthood is that you get better at peering behind life’s facade and seeing its complexities.

That’s not always fun, but the good part is that you get to decide what to make of it for yourself.*

If there is a wizard behind the curtain, shouldn’t it be you?

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This holiday season won’t be what we hoped. I won’t be seeing my family in person this year. I keep reminding myself how tiring the drive is but it’s thin consolation.

What isn’t thin is that I can rest easy knowing that I won’t be passing on any Canadian Covid, or even the flu, to my immunocompromised family members. That’s a whole lot of yay.

We also now have the option of making this holiday whatever we want. An author I follow had a good take on this idea so feel free to head on over and take a gander. 

It’s ok, I’ll wait.

It’s not like I’m going anywhere.

Guilt Free

“This won’t do.

You still have a right to peace and happiness this holiday season, whichever holiday you choose to celebrate. Decide what that happiness is and go for it.”

— Ilona Adrews

Excellent idea.

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Photo by Hussaini Hashim on Unsplash

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* Also, if you want to have ice cream for breakfast, dangit, you can.

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Bee Thoven

Posted in Other, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 16, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Today is (probably*) Ludwig van Beethoven’s birthday, and it’s a date I note every year. That’s because it also happens to be my adoption date. 

Like a lot of kids, mini me went through an early phase where I pronounced new words as they were spelled (like “Zay oose,” here’s hoping no Greek gods were paying attention). And so in some corner of my mind this German composer will always remain “Bee Thoven.”

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The 20 greatest Beethoven works of all time – Classic FM

Here’s where I admit that I find a lot of his work a little over the top, like he was angry at the piano or something. As my stepmother has been known to say, “Too many notes!” I still recognize brilliance when I hear it, and his approach is a lesson for creatives of all forms.

“To play a wrong note is insignificant; to play without passion is inexcusable.”

― Ludwig van Beethoven

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Bring me my piano! Photo by Maria Lupan on Unsplash

* Beethoven was baptized on December 17th in Bonn, Germany, making it likely that he was born the day before. Let’s just go with it, shall we?

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Mindset Matters

Posted in Other, tagged , , , on December 15, 2021| Leave a Comment »

“An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.”

― G.K. Chesterton

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Photo by Tomas Tuma on Unsplash

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Are You Ok?

Posted in Other, tagged , , , , , on December 14, 2021| Leave a Comment »

This pandemic just keeps on keeping on, and while we are in a much better place than we were last year we’re not back to normal yet.

I watch my neighbors walk by, the teenager who gets off the school bus alone every day at 3:45, the man who drives a cab that may or may not be in demand, the new father who strolls up and down the street every afternoon, the older couple who always hold hands as they walk their dog, and the orange cat we are (almost) certain has a home.

I wave and say hello but mostly I want to ask, “Are you ok? Are your homes warm, your pantries full, your hearts whole?”

I know that in my neighborhood and others, the answers will not always be what I hope. And so I smile and wave and when I can, I help food pantries, animal rescues and other groups who do their best to keep our community strong. 

And that helps me be ok, too.

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Photo by Sonika Agarwal on Unsplash

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Venus de Trivia

Posted in Science!, tagged , , , , , on December 13, 2021| Leave a Comment »

The other day I found myself wondering, “Why does Venus spin in a different direction than most other planets?”

Short answer: Something Big Happened. We don’t know what but There Are Theories.

Longer answer, in case you need all the exciting details for trivia night: 

Why does Venus spin the ‘wrong’ way round? – 2 Sisters In STEM

Venus – NASA Solar System Exploration

Bonus fact: The average surface temperature of Venus is 864°, perfect for baking pizza.

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Thanks, but I ordered Canadian bacon. NASA

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Getting There

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , on December 12, 2021| Leave a Comment »

I wrote a thing, didn’t like it. Wrote another thing, didn’t like that either. Thought for a bit. Went off and made a mini version of this cool anti-gravity tensegriity thing. Came back and wrote a couple of new bits but nothing feels right. 

Some days are just like that. Must be time for a quote and a picture.

“So many things are possible just as long as you don’t know they’re impossible.” 

― Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth

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Photo by Charles “Duck” Unitas on Unsplash

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