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Posts Tagged ‘#365Ways2021’

Do My Ancestors Proud

Posted in Likes, Science!, tagged , , , , , , on June 24, 2021| Leave a Comment »

How are stars made? You know, those celestial bodies illuminating the sky, happily burning until they get tired of that and become star dust, the components of which we are made.

“The cosmos is also within us. We’re made of star stuff.”

— Carl Sagan

Check out this simulation of a star forge.

If this is the forge, is dark matter the anvil?

How do stars form? Most form in giant molecular clouds located in the central disk of a galaxy. The process is started, influenced, and limited by the stellar winds, jets, high energy starlight, and supernova explosions of previously existing stars. The featured video shows these complex interactions as computed by the STARFORGE simulation of a gas cloud 20,000 times the mass of our Sun.

— APOD: 2021 June 23 – STARFORGE

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I’m also making today, although nothing as dramatic as stars. More like yogurt, a project that required the sewing machine, and a hack for our leaky dishwasher (yes, another appliance is on the road to obsolescence; they really don’t make them like they used to).

I’m also heading into the workshop to make things out of wood. Well, to remember how to make things. And find my tools. And my respirator. And my wood turning clothes. It’s been a while (thanks, Covid)!

My projects won’t be as dynamic or lovely as a star (or Chopin’s music, for that matter).

I’ll still try.

After all, I want to do my ancestors proud.

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Photo by Evgeni Tcherkasski on Unsplash

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From Imagination to Reality

Posted in Likes, tagged , , , , on June 23, 2021| Leave a Comment »

I love seeing ideas move from imagination to reality, even if I’m not the one doing it. Take this robot mani/pedi machine idea, for example: 

Want Your Nails Done? Let a Robot Do It. – The New York Times

This ideas has been in the back of my mind for some time.

Now, I don’t polish my nails. I think I have a bottle of clear somewhere that I bought for a wedding once (my wedding? Quite possibly, but the fact that I don’t remember tells you something). I keep it around to use in the workshop and the garage.

* * *

So why did I start thinking about an automated mani/pedi machine years ago, and why am I excited to see it now?

Because a lot of things are hard for the elderly, and doing your nails is one of them.

These particular machines aren’t there yet, but the fact that innovators are working on polishing suggests that shaping won’t be far behind. And that means anyone could keep their nails in good condition without having to rely on someone else or popping a hip joint, and stay healthier for it.

If the end result is effective and affordable, it’s good for people, and, as the population continues to age and boost demand for adaptive technologies, good for companies.

And I’m all about win-wins.

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Photo by silviannnm on Unsplash

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That I Can Do

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , on June 22, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Hmm, Tuesday. What to write?

Do I have a draft of anything started?

(checks draft folder) No.

Do I have an idea for an interesting topic? Sure. Time to expand on it? Not so much.

New experiments in food and/or art?

Nothing ready to share.

Cute pictures of the cat?

No. Let’s face it, our cat is more fiend than fluff ball.

…

Inspirational quote about work plus adorable stock imagery?

That I can do.

* * *

I’ve probably used this quote before. Still relevant!

“Try looking at your mind as a wayward puppy that you are trying to paper train. You don’t drop-kick a puppy into the neighbor’s yard every time it piddles on the floor. You just keep bringing it back to the newspaper.” 

― Anne Lamott
Photo by Jairo Alzate on Unsplash

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A Quick Trip to the Public Domain

Posted in Other, Writing, tagged , , , , on June 21, 2021| Leave a Comment »

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In the early twentieth century, Dorothy Levitt, née Elizabeth Levi (1882-1922) was “the premier woman motorist and botorist [motorboat driver] of the world”… The Woman and the Car is a practical, how-to guide for those who wanted to take to the roads, but did not quite know how. 

— On the Road: *The Woman and the Car* (1909) – The Public Domain Review

Have times changed since 1909? Obviously, but not everything. “Many of the extensive recommendations regarding mechanics, etiquette, and the temptations of car culture hold true today.” Also, who wouldn’t like to have this much fun going to the grocery store?

On the Road: *The Woman and the Car* (1909) – The Public Domain Review

I’m off to run an errand, but am I just picking up milk, or am I practicing a little petro-feminism?*

* * *

* And I’m looking forward to the day when I can practice electro-feminism.

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My Favorite Father

Posted in Holidays, Likes, tagged , , , , on June 20, 2021| Leave a Comment »

To my dad, who taught us to read without genres, cook without recipes, and love without limits.

Happy Father’s Day!

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Happy Juneteenth, America!

Posted in Holidays, tagged , , , , on June 19, 2021| 2 Comments »

We’ve taken a lot of steps to be where we are now. The Emancipation Proclamation, issued in 1863 and announced, finally, on June 19, 1865 in Galveston, Texas, was a big one.

Is everything perfect? Of course not. But our path is clear and the goal is righteous. This is a good next step.

Happy Juneteenth, America!*

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Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to change the world.

— Harriet Tubman

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Photo by Casey Horner on Unsplash

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* Is this only a Black American thing? Nope, it’s a “let’s all celebrate a better world” thing:)

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Work Work Work

Posted in Other, tagged , , , , , on June 18, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Today, work work work. 

Did I wake up tired? Did I procrastinate a little too much? Does everything I say or do today seem not quite right? 

Yes.

No matter.

It’s time to work. It may not be the fun kind, but it is the kind worth doing. 

* * *

“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.”

— Jack London

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Photo by Oxana Melis on Unsplash

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Gaslighting, Gremlins & Grammar

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , on June 17, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Dear Apple, thank you for the recent software update. Unfortunately, there is now a problem with the spellcheck gremlins. You appear to be asking too much of them.

Case in point: If I wanted squiggly underlines beneath my homonyms, I would have turned on Grammar checking. I do not. I did not. So why do you (sometimes, periodically, unpredictably) “helpfully” point out that I have used “your” instead of “you’re”? Or “to” instead of “too.” I know, I did it on purpose. Yes, I am sure, and even if I’m wrong, it’s my mistake to make.

Please give your gremlins some time off, and leave my homonyms alone.*

* * *

* Drafted yesterday, edited today to be more polite. Because I’m mostly over it, and it’s not the gremlins’ fault. Probably.

Photo by Amador Loureiro on Unsplash

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Chilling

Posted in Food and..., Other, tagged , , , , on June 16, 2021| 3 Comments »

Today is Fridge Day. As previously mentioned, Mr Man and I were unlucky enough to need a new fridge, but ! fortunate in that we were able to find a replacement that would arrive before Fall.* The replacement is being delivered sometime in the next couple of hours, so we’re getting ready.

Step 1: empty the old fridge

Step 2: marvel at the ancient relics to be found therein!

  • yes, that fish label says 2012!

The old fridge has a very deep deli drawer and things could, and did, obviously, get lost in there. Like these Riviera yogurts from 2016 that somehow (incredibly!) still look 100% edible five years later. How?! (Magic, that’s how.) Or the mint vodka I made lo those many years ago (that’s code for I have no idea how old it is).

It’s true that best before dates are food quality guidelines, rather than “you will absolutely, positively die if you eat this even one minute after this date” warnings, but even so, I’ll skip the decade-old fish.

Everything that can be composted/recycled was. The dining room is full of coolers and insulated bags. Drawers were emptied, shelves cleared, and sacrifices to the Appliance Gods were made in the usual fashion.

Now we wait.

* * *

What I wish I were drinking.
Photo by Whitney Wright on Unsplash

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* I’m not kidding about this timeline, as you will know if you have had to purchase a new appliance lately. Supply chain issues from computer chips to shipping bottlenecks are rampant these days, but it will all get sorted out… eventually.

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Not-Too-Terrible Tuesday

Posted in Likes, tagged , , , on June 15, 2021| Leave a Comment »

I’m tired of Tuesdays, but you know what? I’m also tired of hating Tuesdays. So today let’s take a moment for the fun, the interesting, and the cute with this small selection from the “we can still have nice things” department of the internet:

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Here’s hoping that you too see the light at the end of your particular tunnel.

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Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash

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