Do the things you care about to the best of your ability.
— Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Today that’s work. And cake. Cake and work. Mostly cake.
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Posts Tagged ‘Thoughts’
Mostly Cake
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, creativity, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers, writing on June 17, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Whisky War No More
Posted in Likes, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, Canada, inspiration, Thoughts on June 15, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Some days you just need a feel-good story. Let’s hear it for Canada and Denmark, whose “war” over a tiny Arctic island consisted largely of good-natured snark and the swapping of favorite beverages. (As a bonus, Canada will now share a border with the EU. How cool is that?)
Denmark-Canada deal on Hans Island ends 49-year-old feud over Arctic isle
A territorial dispute between Denmark and Canada over a barren and uninhabited rock in the Arctic that has led to decades of friendly friction has come to an end, with the two countries agreeing on Tuesday to divide the tiny island between them.
…
“It sends a clear signal that it is possible to resolve border disputes … in a pragmatic and peaceful way, where the all parties become winners,” said Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod. He said it was “an important signal now that there is much war and unrest in the world.”
The war in Ukraine is very different, obviously, but generally speaking?
Cheers to that.
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Treasure Unending
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, creativity, Fiction, Thoughts, Writers, writing on June 12, 2022| Leave a Comment »
You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.
— Maya Angelou
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How to Predict the Future
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, creativity, Fiction, genre fiction, Thoughts, Writers, writing on June 10, 2022| Leave a Comment »
The title on this post is not quite fair; the actual article I’m sharing with you today is perhaps better categorized as how to think about the future. Still, as a reader and writer of speculative fiction I like the concept.
Will this approach help you to predict the next Stanley Cup winner? Maybe not, but it does seem helpful for building plausible alternate, slipstream and near-future worlds.
Last year, some colleagues and I invited people from around the world to compete in a tournament to predict the future. Over the course of seven months, more than 2,000 participants registered over 20,000 predictions… here are their key principles and practices…
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Finishing
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, creativity, Fiction, Thoughts, Writers, writing on June 8, 2022| Leave a Comment »
George Saunders, celebrated American writer, journalist and teacher, was asked for his thoughts on story endings. Here’s what he had to say:
Ten Ways of Thinking About Endings
I once defined “ending” as “stopping without sucking.” And I’m going to stand by that…
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While We Wait
Posted in Other, Science!, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, birds, Thoughts on June 7, 2022| Leave a Comment »
While I engage in the joy that is Tuesday and also wait for a bit of family news, here’s a window into the happy, hyperactive world of the West Texas hummingbird.
For more live bird cams (including some involving things you shouldn’t do with a squirrel!), visit Cornell Lab Bird Cams.
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History, Today
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, history, inspiration, Thoughts on June 6, 2022| Leave a Comment »
“They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate.”
— From President Franklin D. Roosevelt‘s official address announcing the D-Day invasion
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When the Best Thing Is No Thing
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, #WildBirdOttawa, birds, home, Thoughts on June 5, 2022| Leave a Comment »
I woke to a robin.
First thing this morning, I glanced out the window and frowned. An odd little lump sat by the back tire of Mr Man’s car. My eyes aren’t great on the best of days and less so at 6:30 in the a.m., so I had to squint a little before I understood what I was seeing.
Juvenile robin. Not moving. Or… scratch that. Moving oddly.
Hop, shuffle, hop. Shuffle, hop, shuffle. Not going anywhere fast.
It looked like a wing problem, then I realized that it could be a leg problem and the wing was extended for balance.
I conducted a bit of research via the Ottawa Valley Wild Bird Care Centre, a great place that has been helping birds in the area for decades. They took in a mourning dove that hit our back window about a week after we moved in. (Turns out that spring sun renders the living room windows effectively transparent unless you add little stickers to the panes. The Center even gave us a number so we could track the bird’s progress. You’ll be happy to know that while it had a broken wing and pelvis, after months of treatment it recovered and was released with a flock of other doves. So it wouldn’t be lonely.)
Since we’re on the topic, here’s my related story about birds and window strikes: Things I Learned Today, or, Sometimes They Fly Away
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Fledgling birds, including robins, often find themselves out of the nest and still learning to fly. That is to be expected.
If you are unsure if a fledgling is being cared for by its parents, watch from a distance for at least two hours…
The Center was closed anyway so we waited. The bird moved a little, then a little more. The leg still looked odd, though, so we decided it might be time to try to coax it into a comfortable and well-ventilated box and go visit the doctor.
Um, no.
The bird’s wings were working just fine. It wasn’t flying very far but it was flying, and not at all interested in taking a ride to our friendly neighborhood wildlife rehabbers.
The activity was encouraging, actually. The robin flitted. It hopped. It hid under a giant bush. What to do?
Not much. Short a Wile E. Coyote-style net and lots of dramatic, stress-inducing flailing around, there weren’t a lot of alternatives. I edged a little dish of water under the bush and backed away.
We’ll keep an eye out for the bird and try again if it appears to be in distress, but for now, nothing more.
Sometimes there aren’t many options, and while I lean toward action, sometimes the best thing to do is nothing at all.
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Good Things
Posted in Food and..., tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, creativity, home, inspiration, Thoughts on June 4, 2022| 1 Comment »
Should I have spent my day writing? Maybe.
What did I do instead? I made bread, lemon curd, braided lemon bread and baked milk. Went for a walk. Staked the Joe Pye weed. Stared at the clouds. Deadheaded the dandelions and filled up the bird bath and rooted butterfly weed. In short, good things.
Works for me.
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Family Dinner
Posted in Food and..., tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, home, memories, recipes, Thoughts on June 2, 2022| Leave a Comment »
My father texted the other day to say that he was making a dish from my childhood, Mrs. Chiang’s Eggplant with Chopped Meat. The name brought back memories of hot chili and flavorful meat with rice. I should make that too, I thought. Where is my wok?
Several days later I made the dish with what I had or could get. Two eggplants became one, eight scallions became two huge handfuls from my bag of pre-chopped and frozen, peanut oil became avocado and pork became turkey. Fortunately, the recipe is quite forgiving.
The chili paste stayed the same, as did the complex and satisfying taste. And the fond memories.
I still haven’t found my wok.
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Eggplant with Ground Turkey
(adapted from Mrs. Chiang’s Szechwan Cookbook)
- ½ lb. ground turkey, pork or beef
- 3 Tbsp. soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
- 8 scallions
- 2 medium eggplants
- 8 cloves garlic
- 1-inch piece fresh ginger
- 5 Tbsp. peanut or other high-temperature oil
- 2 Tbsp. hot chili paste
- 1 to 1½ tsp. sugar
- 1½ tsp. salt
- ⅔ cup water
- Put the meat in a bowl and stir in the soy sauce and sesame oil.
- Clean and chop the scallions into small pieces. Mix half the chopped scallions into the meat. Reserve the rest for later use.
- Peel the eggplants and cut into ½-1 inch cubes.
- Smash the garlic, peel, and chop into little pieces, about the size of grains of rice.
- Peel the ginger and chop into pieces the size of match heads.
- Heat the pan on high until the oil just begins to smoke. Add the garlic and ginger and stir-fry for 30 seconds.
- Add the hot chili paste and stir-fry for another 30 seconds.
- Add the chopped meat mixture and cook for 2 minutes, stirring to break up any large lumps.
- Add the eggplant and stir-fry everything for another 4 minutes or so.
- Sprinkle the sugar and salt over the eggplant mixture, stir-fry for another 2 minutes. Stir stir stir stir stir.
- Pour in the water and add the reserved scallions. Wait until the water comes to a boil, then cover the pan without reducing the heat. Cook for another 15 minutes, until the eggplant is soft.
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