I’m in the middle of a last-minute day job project, waiting in my darkening office for external input before I can wrap up and make dinner. So today, a bit of bad haiku:
Darkness and hunger,
Impatience for what comes next.
Expectant and alive.
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Posts Tagged ‘Thoughts’
Work Awaits
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, bad haiku, Thoughts, writing on November 18, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Untapped Opportunities
Posted in Other, Science!, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, healthcare, innovation, science, srslytho, Thoughts on November 17, 2022| Leave a Comment »
This article from 2016 highlights the terahertz spectrometer, which is a technology that can read books without opening them.
This new machine can read book pages without cracking the cover | PBS NewsHour
The machine uses beams of radiation to creep in between pages and scan individual letters. This new tool wasn’t made to create disdain among classic readers or for those too lazy to lift a cover. Rather it may unlock the secrets of old books or ancient texts too fragile to be disturbed by human touch.
Scanning an object layer by layer and deriving meaning from the images? Cool, nifty, amazing, a breakthrough for archaeologists and antiquarians everywhere!
Also, remind me again why mammograms still require what is, in effect, a highly sophisticated panini press?*
And yes, it is exactly as uncomfortable as it sounds.
* I know, I know, living tissue is not the same thing as parchment or an Italian sandwich. Still, it’s hard not to think that the gap between the current and ideal mammogram experience represents an untapped opportunity for innovation. Ladies, can I get an amen?
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Code of the Universe
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, Andrea Kriz, creativity, Fiction, genre fiction, inspiration, Nature's Futures, Thoughts, Writers, writing on November 16, 2022| 1 Comment »
What would you do if you could do anything?
The future will not be any% glitchless by Andrea Kriz in Nature’s Futures
I’m working from home. Or trying to. Since the news broke, it just doesn’t seem like there’s much point. Seeing each other on the screen. Or in person. It’s all the same, right?
Ever since we found out the Universe is a simulation.
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“I Thought I’d Give It A Try”
Posted in Food and..., Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, cooking, creativity, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers, writing on November 14, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Need a bite of encouragement? Ever wonder how gyoza are made, or how an architect might make it into the Michelin guide for his dumplings? All this and more, including dough “as tender as an earlobe” await your edification and enjoyment!
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First Snow of the Season
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, first snow, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers on November 13, 2022| Leave a Comment »
“It’s snowing still,” said Eeyore gloomily.
― A.A. Milne
“So it is.”
“And freezing.”
“Is it?”
“Yes,” said Eeyore. “However,” he said, brightening up a little, “we haven’t had an earthquake lately.”
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Minor Accomplishment
Posted in Science!, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, baking, pie, Thoughts, writing on November 12, 2022| Leave a Comment »
I didn’t get everything done today that I’d planned. I did make apple pie, though, and that’s not nothing.
“If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.”
― Carl Sagan
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Shine Bright
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers, writing on November 11, 2022| Leave a Comment »
It’s easy to feel small when you’re young, old, alone, overworked and overwhelmed, tired or broke. That doesn’t mean you are.
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A Better Way
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, coding, creativity, problem solving, Thoughts, yay on November 10, 2022| Leave a Comment »
There is one part of my day job that is repetitive and annoying. It’s the kind of task that would be much easier if automated, and for a while now every time I have had to do this thing I think, “There has to be a better way.”
Well, this week I found it.
It was a small thing, fixed with a hacky bit of code (my speciality), but figuring it out feels pretty great. Now every time I do the thing that used to annoy me so much, I instead feel a minor but deep-seated sense of satisfaction.
Perhaps you know the feeling? Something was broken and now it is fixed.
When I’m up against a problem like this I always think that there has to be a better way. While I’m not always right I like that approach much better than rolling over and giving up.
So whatever it is you’re working on, keep pushing. If there’s a way to make it better, eventually you’ll find it.
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Making It Happen
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, #CharactersGettingIdeas, creativity, Fiction, genre fiction, Thoughts, Wordle, Writers, writing on November 9, 2022| Leave a Comment »
My Wordle story has run into a minor hiccup: After a couple of weeks, I realized that the main characters should probably be gender swapped. That means going back and reworking what I have so far, and rethinking how the story should move forward. I’ve run a test version past the source of the Wordle story seeds and she approves, so yay.
Now I just need to make it happen.
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Voting Day!
Posted in Likes, Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, democracy, future, history, inspiration, past, Thoughts, vote!, yay on November 8, 2022| Leave a Comment »
One realization I had after studying a bit of history is how little say most people have in it. Traditionally, a limited number of people have been in charge of most things, usually to the detriment of the rest. (We remember the pyramids, for example, but what about those conscripted to build them?)
There’s a reason democracies attract people.
“Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.”
― Winston S. Churchill (often quoted, still true)
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Today is voting day in the United States. Not sure where you need to go or what to bring with you? These sites can help.
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Yes, there are a lot of forces trying to pull us apart, and there are many aspects of our economic and social lives that could be improved.
There are also many elements we agree on. Consider health, safety, education, holding doors for the elderly, giving up a seat for the pregnant, and of course, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
The devil’s in the details, of course, and as anyone with even a passing acquaintance with the news or social media can tell you, we are flooded with examples of what’s broken on a daily basis. But that’s not all that’s happening, or all that is possible.*
There are a lot of ways to live and I happen to think that democracy is one of the best. (Just ask those pyramid builders.) That doesn’t mean the system can’t improve.
How can we make our voices heard? Vote.
How do we build a world that works? Together.
* For a break from doom and gloom, I recommend a visit to David Byrne’s Reasons to be Cheerful.
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