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Posts Tagged ‘inspiration’

The Professor

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , on January 3, 2022| Leave a Comment »

You never know whose life you’re going to touch. I trace a line between my own love of reading and writing to a relatively obscure (at the time) fantasy series read to us by my father, back to his department secretary, and eventually to Oxford professor and World War One veteran JRR Tolkien, born 130 years ago today. 

Tolkien Birthday Toast: raise a glass to the Professor in honour of his 130th birthday

If book sales, movie earnings, popular culture and Peter Jackson’s knighthood are any indication, millions of other people also have a similar connection to an academic whose books were once dismissed as simple tales for children.

They were wrong about that.

Hobbits and hippies: Tolkien and the counterculture – BBC Culture

I’m taking this as a reminder to do my best. As a children’s author, chef, engineer, teacher or whatever else you may be, you never know what impact you may have.

For myself, I hope that impact stirs even a little of the positive impact Middle-Earth had for me.

The Professor!

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Photo by Nikhil Prasad on Unsplash

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Dare Anything

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 30, 2021| Leave a Comment »

I went to bed thinking of New Year possibilities, and woke this morning with a quote stuck in my mind. I may not have the wording quite right and don’t remember the source, but the idea has been following me all day. 

“Dare anything. That is the road.”

Guess I’d better listen:)

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Photo by Theodor Lundqvist on Unsplash

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Map from the Past

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , on December 29, 2021| Leave a Comment »

I am feeling particular affection for my past self today.

Earlier this year I needed to design and print multiple versions of a complicated spreadsheet. It was the sort of project that should have been easy but was a verifiable pain. After more time on it than I want to remember, I had my printouts finalized. Yay. I have a vague memory of thinking, “Self, this is great, you have this covered allllll the way to the end of the year. Go you!” And then I forgot about it.

Yesterday I went to flip December over to the next sheet. You can guess what happened next.

There is no next printout. The stack only went to December and now here I am at the end of the line.

Usually this would mean having to start over from scratch, trying to remember exactly which hoops I had to jump through to get the end result.

Not this time.

This time, Past Me realized that there was no way I’d remember all the annoying details required in each of the multiple applications used. This time, Past Me not only took notes but also clipped them to the last printout in the stack.

I left myself a map.

And so today I am feeling grateful for my past decisions. I’m also asking a question with the potential to make the future a better destination: 

What can I do today to help myself tomorrow?

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Photo by Julentto Photography on Unsplash

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In Case You Were Wondering

Posted in Science!, tagged , , , , , on December 28, 2021| Leave a Comment »

I accumulate a lot of random facts. Here’s one I found interesting: Spiders can’t spidey so well when they’re on drugs.

Just say no, spiders, just say no!*

* Unless you have a constant source of delicious insects supplied by your organization’s graduate students and no pressing engagements, in which case, you do you, spideys.

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NASA Tech Briefs, April 1995 – NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS), file p. 106, document p. 82

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Can’t Be Serious All the Time

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , on December 23, 2021| Leave a Comment »

“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living.”

— Dr. Seuss

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Photo by Darius Bashar 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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Overrun by Adorable

Posted in Likes, Other, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 10, 2021| 1 Comment »

I may have mentioned our adventures in kitten trapping over the past couple of years (short version: hard but rewarding, remote cameras for the win).

Here are two organizations that were great as we tried to keep the neighborhood from being overrun by adorable, yet vulnerable, kittens:

The good people in these groups have done an amazing job even under the stresses of the pandemic, which has increased demand for pets but also restricted a lot of shelters and the vet services they need.

Fortunately, we were able to help our local cat rescue groups get a lot of kittens off the street before winter. Just as an example, take a look at two of the kittens we saved: Comet and Dasher. So cute!

If you’re in the market for an adorable fur friend, check out the adoption pages at these or your local rescue groups. We’re not ready for a new cat just yet but when we are we’ll go through a group like this.

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Cuteness is our superpower. Photo by Ilse Orsel on Unsplash

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Today Days

Posted in Likes, tagged , , , , , , , , , on December 9, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Some days you take a break from the avalanche of news and realize you’ve got Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi stuck in your head. The chorus can feel too true to remember that there are reasons to be cheerful and the world is not, in fact, on a one way trip to Ugh Town. 

But other days? Like today days? With heartfelt respect to Ms. Mitchell,* you realize that the final lines of the song could be rewritten:

“They saved Paradise,

and took out the parking lot.”

And we’re just the people to do it.

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Photo by Bernard Hermant on Unsplash
  • How does one address someone with this level of accomplishment? Award-winner? Multi-Hall of Famer? Fellow Canadian? Doctor (she has three honorary doctorates)? I went with the title that, I hope, conveys fundamental respect across all arenas.

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Raising a Monster

Posted in Food and..., tagged , , , , , , , on December 8, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Here’s a memory that would have been perfect for Halloween or Thanksgiving, but just came to me when I ran across the video below.

The first thing I planted in a garden (aside from myself) was okra. I’d never eaten it but knew that it was a staple in the South by way of some African food traditions. Once grown, I didn’t know how to cook it. The resulting dish was… ok. (If you’re wondering, I recommend using okra in stew or breading and frying the bejeezus out of it. Very good.)

The first thing I grew that I was really proud of was a pumpkin. This was a year or two later and I was still vertically challenged. That may explain why the pumpkin remains a giant in my mind, but maybe not. I’d read Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books and somewhere in there, probably Farmer Boy, they discuss milk-fed pumpkins. Well, who wouldn’t want to try that?

And it worked. Huge, that’s how I remember this pumpkin. Between the vines and the body the plant took up a whole section of the garden. I would ease down the little hill, through the tall grass and into the tilled area, basking in the hot summer sun while hoping to raise a monster.

A strong, bright, delicious monster, of course. A girl’s got to have standards.

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