“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”
― Mother Theresa
* * *
Posts Tagged ‘inspiration’
Let’s Begin
Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, creativity, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers on September 9, 2025| Leave a Comment »
From Macaroni to Mona Lisa
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, art, creativity, history, inspiration, painting, Renaissance, Thoughts, Writers, writing on September 6, 2025| Leave a Comment »
One of the best ways to understand art and think about developing your own abilities is to study those who came before. That applies to writers, musicians, painters and more. I’m going to go out on a pretty short limb and say that every master crafter out there had a “see Spot run” or “macaroni and string” phase.
The problem is that we don’t see that, we see their masterpieces. And that can be inspiring but also discouraging. How did they make the leap from macaroni to the Mona Lisa*?
That’s an excellent if somewhat off-base question. Because for most artists, that transition isn’t a leap at all. It’s more of a journey, and anyone can go on one of those. (Consider how often you hear someone being called an overnight success, and they laugh and say, “Yeah, but it took years.”)
Here’s an example from the art world.
Raphael is now considered one of the three great masters from the High Renaissance. (Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo being the other two, so he had a high bar to reach. My point is that he didn’t start out at the top.)
Where did he begin, how did he improve, and what lessons does his progress give to aspiring artists out there?
How Raphael Became A Master – YouTube
This video provides an in-depth look at the what, when and how of it all. Hopefully it can also provide some encouragement to anyone working to improve, regardless of their art form.
And while it’s true that talent helps and that there are child prodigies out there (looking at you, Mozart!), most who achieve excellence do it exactly the way you are doing it: setting goals, studying what works, and practice, practice, practice.
* A note on the title: I know that the Mona Lisa was Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, and Raphael painted a lot of Madonnas, but given that titling this piece “From Macaroni to Madonna” seemed more likely to evoke ’80s pop music rather than classical art, I went with this instead. (Although to be honest, I’m feeling a little bad about this decision and may change it later!)
* * *
Looking Forward, Looking Back
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, #wotf39, Analog, inspiration, Writers, writing on August 25, 2025| Leave a Comment »
I love it when what I’m reading crystallizes my thoughts into something beautiful.
Here’s one such case, where friend and fellow Writer of the Future Arthur H. Manners captured (in Analog, no less!) the essence of a question I have all the time: Even as we look ahead to the future, how will the future see us?
by Arthur H. Manners
When they look back at us,
stumbling on petrified arXiv
in the tombs of the
internet like a
Cretaceous mosquito
trapped in amber,
will they distinguish our
grandest theories of
quantum gravity
from red ochre bison
painted on the walls of
Lascaux caves?
…
Visit Analog to read the rest of the poem, and for more of Arthur’s excellent work, including online shorts and the detailed hard-science Sci-Fi Writer’s Guide to Reality, check out his site!
* * *
And the Winners Are…
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, Hugo Awards, inspiration, sff, speculative fiction, Writers, writing on August 24, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Who won Hugo Awards at this’s year’s Worldcon in Seattle? So glad you asked.
Here’s the final list!
2025 Hugo Awards – The Winners | Pixelated Geek
All nominees are included, with winners in bold. Congratulations to awardees, and to everyone on the roster!
* * *
Joys Remembered
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, inspiration, quoteandaprettypicture, Thoughts on August 19, 2025| Leave a Comment »
“Whatever may be the tensions and the stresses of a particular day, there is always lurking close at hand the trailing beauty of forgotten joy or unremembered peace.”
― Howard Thurman
* * *
To the Explorers
Posted in Other, Science!, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, astronauts, heroes, inspiration, NASA, Thoughts on August 11, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Astronaut James Lovell, Apollo 13 commander, dies at 97
“James Lovell, the commander of Apollo 13 who helped turn a failed moon mission into a triumph of on-the-fly can-do engineering, has died. He was 97.”
(If you’re curious, here’s a quick refresher on the Apollo program.)
And because so many of us know of Lovell from the excellent movie version of his most famous mission, here’s Tom Hanks’ appreciation:
Tom Hanks pays tribute to Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell
“There are people who dare, who dream, and who lead others to the places we would not go on our own. Jim Lovell, who for a long while had gone farther into space and for longer than any other person of our planet, was that kind of guy.”
Here’s to the brave, to the can-do, to the explorers among us. Humanity is the better for you.
* * *
Be Kind, Have Fun
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, fun, inspiration, Saturdays, Thoughts on August 9, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Andromeda Revealed!
Posted in Science!, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, astronomy, inspiration, JWST, NASA, science on August 8, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Sometimes a picture is worth much more than a thousand words:
Andromeda Galaxy Panorama Features Over 200 Million Stars
Stitching together more than 600 overlapping snapshots, the panorama serves as the largest photomosaic ever assembled from Hubble Space Telescope observations. Across its 2.5 billion pixels are a vast and vibrant assortment of 200 million stars, a mere fraction of Andromeda’s entire population. Taken in its entirety, the panorama is not only a technological or photographic achievement, it’s also a critical glimpse into the Andromeda galaxy itself.
And here’s the video version.
Andromeda revealed!
* * *
For Your Inner Child
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, a bit of fun, creativity, fond memories, inspiration, Thoughts on August 5, 2025| 1 Comment »
Have a few minutes to let your inner child run free?
Perhaps you have fond memories of staring up at the sky during summer break, letting clouds drift across your subconscious until “Look! An elephant! An pterodactyl! Jabba the Hutt!”
If so, this site might be just the thing for you:
Cloud Drawing Gallery – Create & Share Cloud Art
* * *
Real Life Dune
Posted in Science!, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, inspiration, ISS, NASA, science, space, technology, Thoughts, Writers on August 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »
I have a folder of interesting articles, quotes, and ideas. When the cicadas are buzzing and the temperature is too hot to think of anything particularly timely, I search that folder for stories that might interest you.
Today, this treasure trove of ideas wants you to know about a critical space station issue: water.
When you’re on a camping trip, you might have to pack your own food and maybe something to filter or treat water that you find. But imagine your campsite is in space, where there’s no water, and packing jugs of water would take up room when every inch of cargo space counts. That’s a key challenge engineers faced when designing the International Space Station.
Real life Dune! Ok, not really, but kind of! And this is exactly the sort of technology that can benefit the Earth-bound among us too.
* * *
-
Recent Posts
She Said, He Said
-
-
Favorite Posts
Archives
Categories
It’s All So Random
What I’m Reading
_-_1512-1513.jpg){kind=link}
You must be logged in to post a comment.