Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Thoughts’

Spoiler Alert

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , on October 24, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Interested in writing advice? Perhaps you’re on the waiting list for Charlie Jane Anders’ new book, Never Say You Can’t Survive, and wondering how long it will be until Tor opens up the ebook to libraries?

Good news! The posts on which the book is based are available on Tor.com’s website. Reading them is a window into the voice of experience, and persistence, and a lot like a call from a friend when you’re not quite sure things are going to work out.

Spoiler alert: They will.

Never Say You Can’t Survive | Series | Tor.com

* * *

Photo by Elena Koycheva on Unsplash

Read Full Post »

Robot, Garden, Flower

Posted in Other, tagged , , , , , on October 23, 2022| Leave a Comment »

System request: An Impressionist painting of a robot in a garden, smelling a flower.

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.

― William Blake

* * *

Robot, garden, flower.
In collaboration with DALL-E.

Read Full Post »

Run, Don’t Walk

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , on October 22, 2022| 1 Comment »

This quote has made the rounds but deserves to be repeated.*

When books are run out of school classrooms and libraries, I’m never much disturbed. Not as a citizen, not as a writer, not even as a schoolteacher … which I used to be.

What I tell kids is, don’t get mad, get even.

Don’t spend time waving signs or carrying petitions around the neighborhood. Instead, run, don’t walk, to the nearest non-school library or the local bookstore and get whatever it was that they banned.

Read whatever they’re trying to keep out of your eyes and your brain, because that’s exactly what you need to know.

— Stephen King

* Although I do still find book banning disturbing, it is quite helpful to get a list of exactly what to read next.

* * *

Photo by matthew Feeney on Unsplash

Read Full Post »

The Answer Is Always Aliens

Posted in Likes, tagged , , , , , on October 20, 2022| Leave a Comment »

It’s fall, a time for leaf peeping, pumpkin everything, and seasonal creations like corn mazes. 

Ever wonder how they make those elaborate maze designs? Check out this explainer on the really complicated examples:

Now that you’ve been introduced to the how, here’s more on the where, when and why: Farmers Create Elaborate Corn Mazes To Bring In Cash.

So next time you spot a corn maze, spare a thought for the effort, planning and artistry that made it possible.

Or you never know, it might be aliens.

* * *

I know this isn’t corn, but you’d be surprised at how hard it is to find good open-source alien corn maze photos. It’s like our visitors have better things to do or something. Feeling corn deprived? See links above. Photo by Sigmar Schnur on Unsplash

Read Full Post »

Guard Well

Posted in Other, tagged , , , , , on October 18, 2022| 1 Comment »

“Guard well within yourself that treasure, kindness. Know how to give without hesitation, how to lose without regret, how to acquire without meanness.” 

― George Sand (Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin, French novelist, memoirist, and journalist)

* * *

Photo by Aditya Saxena on Unsplash

Read Full Post »

Today’s Plug for Sci-Fi

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , on October 17, 2022| Leave a Comment »

What can science fiction do for you? Help you think. Here’s an interview on Marketplace, better known for its discussions with economists, professors and policy wonks, with writer Neal Stephenson.

How sci-fi can make us smart – Marketplace

We’ll talk with Stephenson about how he thinks about big, complex issues like climate change and what this genre can teach us about the future and solving problems in the real world.

* * *

Photo by Daniel K Cheung on Unsplash

Read Full Post »

Metamorphosis

Posted in Other, tagged , , , on October 16, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Good thought for the day.

If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies.
Photo by Diana Schröder-Bode on Unsplash

Read Full Post »

Sticktoitiveness

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , on October 15, 2022| Leave a Comment »

For when you’re stuck on a project and thinking that everyone knows how to do this but you. 

Hallelujah! Leonard Cohen’s almighty struggle with rejected song that became a classic

Hallelujah is one of the most famous songs ever written, yet a new film reveals it took Leonard Cohen 180 attempts over a decade to perfect – only for it to be rejected by his record company. Nearly 20 years went by before an animated ogre, Shrek, turned the song into a monster hit.

Is this a little nuts? Maybe, but you won’t always know what’s “worth it” ahead of time. Tastes change, editors are human, and in the end, you’re the artist. Stick to it.

* * *

Photo by Stephen Leonardi on Unsplash

Read Full Post »

Life of a Writer

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , on October 14, 2022| Leave a Comment »

You know you’re a writer when you look down to see that your sleeve is soaked in blood* and think, “For your next action story, remember the sensation of blood-saturated fabric as it cools against the skin.”

* It was nothing serious, just a Band-Aid failure after a routine blood draw, but it bled. A lot.

* * *

Photo by MontyLov on Unsplash

Read Full Post »

Purr Machine

Posted in Science!, tagged , , , , on October 13, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Thanks to a short night and a long workday I’m feeling sluggish. The cat is helping by following me around and randomly flopping onto his side, then purring up a storm. It’s adorable and quite soothing, the perfect foil to an otherwise deeply average day.

But what if you don’t have a cat, or the cat you do have is severely lacking in chill? Never fear! The internet is here to help.

* * *

Photo by Gaelle Marcel on Unsplash

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »