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Posts Tagged ‘#365Ways2023’

This morning I realized that, through a combination of tight timing and incomplete record-keeping, I repeated a quote a couple of weeks apart.

These things happen when you are:

  1. writing every day
  2. working out post ideas using a collection of drafts (many, many drafts)
  3. rushing, because sometimes the cat needs his dinner like now, human, now!

The relevant posts are Consulting My Inner Eight and There’s Always A Right Person.

The relevant quote belonged to Richard Osman, writer of the charming Thursday Murder Club series. I’ve replaced the duplicate quote with another quote from the same book.

While I apologize for failing in my self-appointed task of sharing new, interesting and entertaining posts, I’m not sorry for doubling up on Mr. Osman. His work is fun, touching, thoughtful and often witty and I again recommend it if you’re into that sort of thing.

What sort of thing would that be, you may ask? The “octogenarians are clever, interesting people too and also murder murder murder” sort of thing. What’s not to love?

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Photo by Vale Zmeykov on Unsplash

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My timing’s a little off (thanks, International Date Line!), but the 2023 Hugo Awards were announced this weekend at Chengdu Worldcon in China. 

Here is the full list with winners highlighted: 2023 Hugo Awards | The Hugo Awards.

If you’re interested in short fiction, here’s the winning short story, by Samantha Mills:

Rabbit Test – Uncanny Magazine

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Photo by Pedro Gonzalez on Unsplash

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In which I share a snapshot from my creative life, acknowledge that progress isn’t always linear and look forward to funner times.

What is it about avoiding a project that causes it to snowball into its own sort of blockade? 

I’ve talked about creative friction before, and it’s a bit of a process. (I don’t care who you are, the life of an artist is not all productivity and acclaim. Some days are just slow like molasses.)

It’s not just “the project” itself I’m avoiding now, it’s the increasingly large speed bump that has been growing between me and it. At this point, I’m having trouble even seeing the original idea, just the mountain standing between me and the task that’s been haunting my to do list for lo these many weeks.

Avoidance takes on its own power, not replacing but adding to existing barriers to action.

So much of what paralyzes us when we’re stuck isn’t the act we’re supposed to be doing, but rather the questions that hover above the act like a curious vulture. “Why is this so hard?” “Why am I not making more progress?” “Should I be doing something else instead?” “How much longer do I need to spend on this?”

— Adam Alter, Anatomy of a Breakthrough

The good news is that the opposite also holds true. Action dismantles both types of barriers, or allows you to bypass them altogether. 

The other good news is that it helps to remind myself that my key to creative progress has always been to tilt my perspective far enough that “must focus” becomes “must have fun.” 

And that I can do.

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Is that a wall way down there? Photo by Rusty Watson on Unsplash

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Today, a trip to a most excellently named location on Mars, courtesy of the European Space Agency’s Mars Express satellite program.

Fly across Mars’s ‘labyrinth of night’ with Mars Express

The video begins on a rotating full-globe of Mars, with white polar caps and mottled tan surface visible. It then zooms in on the westernmost part of the large Valles Marineris canyon system, a region highlighted by a white box, and swaps to a new Mars Express visualisation of Noctis Labyrinthus. The camera then flies slowly across a landscape that is broken apart by deep intersecting valleys and canyons.

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Photo by Shihao Mei on Unsplash

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I’m a little stuck on a project idea, but I remain optimistic…

“If life ever seems too complicated, if you think no one can help, sometimes the right person to turn to is an eight-year-old.”

― Richard Osman, The Bullet That Missed

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Photo by Patricia Prudente on Unsplash

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My day job requires a good deal of time immersed in the news, and while I’m ok with that, some days it can be a lot. I find that writing helps.

Today, that means a haiku.

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Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash

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“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”

— Thomas Edison

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Photo by Sebastian Knoll on Unsplash

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Today’s post is brought to you by the cat.

Chewbacca: “I’m trying to sleep. Please stop muttering about how you have nothing good to post today. Silly human.”

Me: “Fine, you think you can do better?”

Chewie: “Obviously.”

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Photo by serjan midili on Unsplash

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What’s Needed

If you pay any attention to the news, you don’t need to be told that the world is a sometimes dark and dangerous place, or that humans have the potential for hatred and violence.

But perhaps you also appreciate a reminder that life is not just fearsome, and that humanity has the potential to do an astonishing amount of good.

I know I do.

“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.”

— His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso

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Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

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NASA and the Heavens would like to invite you to a commitment ceremony between the Sun and the Moon!

Join us today for a Ring of Fire ceremony, otherwise known as an annular eclipse, to be celebrated starting at 9:13 PDT today! 

Here’s how you can see Saturday’s ‘ring of fire’ solar eclipse – NPR

The “ring of fire” effect happens when the moon, which appears smaller in the sky because it’s further away from us, passes directly in front of the sun.

For more details, including maps with viewing times and locations, visit 2023 Annular Eclipse: Where & When.

We’ll only have about 20% totality here, but I’m still excited for the happy couple. And remember, safety first!

How to View a Solar Eclipse Safely | Solar Eclipse Across America

The solar eclipse can burn your eyes. Here’s what you need to know | CBC Kids News

Astronomers want you to watch the Oct. 14 ‘ring of fire’ eclipse with a disco ball. No, seriously.

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Photo by Bryan Goff on Unsplash

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