Posted in Holidays, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, history, inspiration, Remembrance Day, storytelling, Thoughts, Veterans Day on November 11, 2026| Leave a Comment »
Today is Remembrance Day in Canada and Veterans Day in the US. I have to work but Mr Man has the day off and he’s using it to revisit Band of Brothers. At 11:00, we watched the ceremonies on Parliament Hill.
It’s a day to remember those we lost and why. To share who they were, what they accomplished, what they stood for. And how we loved them.
We tell stories to understand, to entertain, to build community, to shape our pasts and our futures.
We tell stories to remember.
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, action for good, better futures, choices, Thoughts on November 7, 2026| Leave a Comment »
“We have innumerable possible futures. What we DO determines the future we get, not what we hope.” — Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, #PeoplePower, democracy, inspiration, Thoughts on November 4, 2026| Leave a Comment »
Here’s to all those who juggled busy schedules, who waited in line, who stood out in the rain, who worked at the polls, and who took the time to vote.
Here’s to The People.
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, #OurFuture, democracy, elections, Thoughts, voting on November 3, 2026| Leave a Comment »
The US midterm elections are today, and I can’t think of a better day to exercise your rights as a citizen! I’ve written about voting before but today, I want to re-share a couple of helpful links in case you have questions about getting to the polls:
Polling Place Locator – Vote.org
If you have more questions or run into issues, there’s also this election protection hotline (complete with memorable phone numbers!): 866ourvote.org
- English 866-OUR-VOTE: 866-687-8683
- Spanish/English 888-VE-Y-VOTA: 888-839-8682
- Asian Languages/English 888-API-VOTE: 888-274-8683
- Arabic/English 844-YALLA-US: 844-925-5287
Because we all deserve a say in our future.
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, children, kindness, Thoughts on November 2, 2026| Leave a Comment »
I am the sort of person who likes setting out basic rules for myself. They make decisions easier when there are a lot of options, yay, but what happens when two rules come in conflict with each other?
Take this weekend, for example. I have a standing rule to support children who come to the door. We’ve donated bottles to girls doing recycling drives for their ringette teams. We buy chocolate from school kids raising money for classroom projects. And of course we buy cookies from Girl Guides. So when two boys came by with rakes asking if we needed some help cleaning up the leaves in our yard, I had a problem.
We don’t clean up the leaves, generally. We mow them so they provide fertilizer and protection for critters over the winter. We just hadn’t gotten around to the mowing part yet, and these budding entrepreneurs had noticed.
So, what to do when my two directives came into conflict? I decided to err on the side of kindness.
The boys did a good job cleaning up the yard. And when the rest of the leaves fall from the trees, we’ll leave them for the winter. That way we support the next generation of kids, and critters too.
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, art, change, creativity, reflection, Thoughts, Writers, writing on November 1, 2026| Leave a Comment »
“The arts aren’t a leisure industry—the arts have always been an imaginative and emotional wrestle with reality—a series of inventions and creations. A capacity to think differently, a willingness to change our understanding of ourselves. To help us to be wiser, more reflective, less frightened people. Artists make something out of nothing every day.” — Jeanette Winterson
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Posted in Entertainment, Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, creativity, inspiration, memories, patrick-stewart, sci-fi, science fiction, star trek, television, Thoughts, Writers, writing on October 30, 2026| Leave a Comment »
If you’re reading this sci-fi curious blog you probably already know that Sir Patrick Stewart has died. I wanted to share two of the pieces I read about his life and career:
Patrick Stewart, star of ‘Star Trek’ and ‘X-Men,’ has died
Sir Patrick Stewart’s most famous characters tackled concepts such as honor, morality and courage…
Patrick Stewart, ‘Star Trek’ Captain and Professor X on ‘X-Men,’ Dies at 86
By the time he became a screen star, Mr. Stewart was a lauded stage veteran in Britain, where he began working with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966. After making his first public stage appearance at 19, he performed in both classical and contemporary works alongside fellow up-and-coming actors like Ben Kingsley, Helen Mirren and Glenda Jackson… To most American film and television fans, however, he was always Picard, even after the “X-Men” movies. And though in terms of substance the character may have been light years removed from his meatier roles with the R.S.C., Mr. Stewart continued to express pride in his work as that resolute ship captain, dismissing theater-world peers who had looked askance at him when he went to Hollywood.
Growing up without a television meant no Star Trek when I was a child; it was a fandom I came to later, and Stewart was a big part of that.
His talent brought gravitas and sincerity to a series that could have been just another show filled with sci-fi shenanigans. I mean, reruns of Knight Rider and Battlestar Galactica and the like were fun, but they didn’t spend a lot of time tackling the critical moral and societal issues of the day. The Next Generation did that and more, and Stewart was a big part of making the show as good as it was.
Of course, he also played Charles Xavier in the X-Men and a whole host of stage characters. Each of his fans will have a favorite role, but for me, it’s Captain Picard.
…
Ok, maybe more than two articles!
I thought this was a terrific call-out to sci-fi in general and Stewart in particular for inspiring humanity to move forward:
As Picard on ‘Star Trek’, Patrick Stewart Impacted Generations of Scientists
Patrick Stewart, who died on Wednesday, was many things to many people: a world-renowned actor, a knight of the realm, a patron of the arts, a tireless fighter for raising awareness of domestic abuse. And for millions, Mr. Stewart will chiefly be remembered as Jean-Luc Picard, the stoic, pacifist captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise who first appeared in “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” Mr. Stewart’s iconic character was also a source of inspiration for thousands of space scientists.
And finally, a heartfelt reaction from Wil Wheaton, who was Stewart’s castmate on TNG:
I wish I really were a Traveler of all of space and time.
I wish I really were a Traveler of all of space and time, so I could go to him, one final time, and tell him how much he means to me. I think he knew, but still.
A lot of the cultural touchstones of the sci-fi community are leaving us (Walter Koenig, who played Ensign Chekov in the original Star Trek, also passed away this week), and that’s hard. But it’s also a touching reminder that their lives changed us, and for the better.
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, brain science, creativity, inspiration, Thoughts, writing on October 25, 2026| Leave a Comment »
“As the cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham has written: ‘Contrary to popular belief, the brain is not designed for thinking. It’s designed to save you from having to think.’ Because the brain is naturally inclined to avoid effortful thinking and to rely instead on familiar patterns, complete freedom tends to lead to unoriginal ideas, simply repeating what is known. Constraints push the brain beyond its default tendencies, forcing it to engage in deeper problem-solving. Total freedom, then, is the enemy of creativity, and constraint its companion.” — David Epstein, Inside the Box
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, adaptations, creativity, inspiration, Narnia, Thoughts, Writers, writing, writing advice on October 23, 2026| Leave a Comment »
I ran across a bit of writing advice from C.S. Lewis, from letters he wrote in the 1950s:
Advice to a Young Writer – The C.S. Lewis Official Substack
1. Always try to use the language so as to make quite clear what you mean and make sure your sentence couldn’t mean anything else.
2. Always prefer the plain direct word to the long, vague one. Don’t implement promises, but keep them.
3. Never use abstract nouns when concrete ones will do. If you mean “more people died,” don’t say “mortality rose.” …
Click through to the full list to see what resonates. Some of these work for me, some don’t (some days background music is very helpful!), but I find them all interesting as ways to think about how to do better as a writer.
I came to this site for the writing link, but also stumbled across an interesting discussion between Stephen Colbert and Greta Gerwig, who talks about her new adaptation of The Magician’s Nephew. This was never my favorite Narnia book, but maybe that will change? Her take on Barbie was an unexpected pleasure, and I look forward to seeing how she reinvents this Lewis story.
Greta Gerwig on The Magician’s Nephew
She talks about when she first encountered the books, how she tapped into C.S. Lewis’s creative instincts, and how she brought his rich imagery to life on the big screen.
Enjoy!
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, autumn, Thoughts, trees on October 19, 2026| Leave a Comment »
“Love the trees until their leaves fall off, then encourage them to try again next year.” ― Chad Sugg
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