Tuesdays are back to their normal busy schedule, but I am having one of those days when I’m more-than-usually aware of the good things. Not only, but also.
And R2 says hello:)
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Posts Tagged ‘Thoughts’
Just Happy to Be Here
Posted in Likes, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, creativity, Thoughts, yay on August 31, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Yippee for Yaupon
Posted in Food and..., Likes, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, caffeine, CatSpring, civilization as we know it, creativity, inspiration, Michael Pollan, Thoughts, yaupon on August 28, 2021| 1 Comment »
I have found a source of caffeine that I can actually drink and I am suuuuperhappyaboutthat!
Ahem.
I gave up coffee voluntarily in grad school (because school was stressful enough and also when you need a giant pot to get through the day that’s your body telling you something) and then had to give up tea a few years later for digestive reasons. So I’ve been living a mostly caffeine free life for too long.
Recently, through a confluence of conversational touch points, I found myself telling my mother about yaupon, the only (known) caffeinated plant native to North America.
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Yaupon (pronounced yō-pon) is a branch of the holly family. The scientific name is terrible (Ilex vomitoria, um, no thanks?) but the plant and tea have nothing to do with regurgitation (ok, that’s fine then!).
Native to the southeastern US, it was used by natives for thousands of years, and traded across North America and the Atlantic.
Yaupon: The rebirth of America’s forgotten tea – BBC Travel
When picked, roasted and boiled, the leaves yield a yellow to dark-orange elixir with a fruity and earthy aroma and a smooth flavour with malty tones. As if orchestrated specifically for the mind and body, yaupon leaves’ perfect ratio of stimulating xanthines such as caffeine, theobromine and theophylline release slowly into the body, providing a jitter-free mental clarity and an ease to the stomach.
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Why am I going on about this tea? Because it’s native, sustainable, and it deserves to be thought of as more than a “pesky weed.” It’s tannin free, so unlike traditional tea from Camellia sinensis, you can steep it multiple times without that unfun bitter, astringent aftertaste.
Also, because I happen to have a bag from one of the more prominent yaupon companies, CatSpring in Texas, and I’m drinking a delicious cup with maple syrup right now.
This caffeine stuff works, y’all;)
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Speaking of, let’s just take a brief moment to appreciate the role of caffeine, “the most widely used psychoactive drug on Earth,” in human history.
Whatever your beverage of choice, may your eyes remain bright and your synapses active!
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No Shame in Shortcuts
Posted in Likes, Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, C-3PO, creativity, design, inspiration, problem solving, Thoughts, Venus de Milo, yay on August 26, 2021| 2 Comments »
So long as you go about it ethically, I don’t see any shame in shortcuts. On a general note, most of what has given us as a species an edge could reasonably be categorized as such. And personally, I am particularly in favor of techniques, tools and strategies that help me fill in gaps of time or talent.
I’ve mentioned drawing, and how I can’t. Oh sure, I used to be able to draw an almost perfect circle freehand and once drew the world’s most beautiful eye while I was supposed to be studying verb conjugations in high school French class, but that’s about the extent of my talents in that department.
That doesn’t stop me from wanting to do more. If only my fellow monkeys had developed some tools that could help me make up for such deficiencies!
Cue computer drawing programs, yes, but then what? There’s still the difference between what I see in my mind and what comes out on the page or screen.
I came across this tool the other day: the Da Vinci Sketch Addon for Photoshop.
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Ooh, I said to the cat (who paid as much attention as usual, which is to say none), that is exactly the sort of art I like, part beauty, part craft, part epistolary exploration. Too bad I had to move away from Photoshop. Now what?
First, despair! Cue gnashing of teeth and rending of garments (just kidding, that’s wasteful and I really hate to shop).
Then it was time to get to work.
I decided to see if I could replicate some version of this technique in Affinity Photo. After forum diving, video watching, and a visit to The notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, I produced this:
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Not bad, aside from the fact that it took forever and could use some real hatching and more dramatic outlines and the shading crashed the program about a dozen times. Still, it was progress I felt ok about.
Working through that puzzle also gave me time to think, and in that time I realized a couple of important things:
- my computer is not the only computer in this house, and while the desktop upstairs has had the tech equivalent of a stroke and can’t be trusted with anything not backed up, I did manage to rebuild it into a functional system and it is now running a deprecated OS,
- six bucks is not a lot of money, and
- don’t I still have the disks for CS5, which includes Photoshop, kicking around somewhere?
True, true, and yes, yes I do.
Cue exciting graphic adventures!
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I may have also sprung for a couple more tools from the same developer. Still affordable, and still worth it. This is what the Da Vinci Photoshop action produced, plus several other versions:
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Have I been having fun? Yes, and here’s my absolute favorite so far:
Shortcuts can be terrific so long as they don’t impede learning. In this case, I got the mental workout of deconstructing and rebuilding an effect, plus the practicality of pre-built actions.
Also C-3PO:)
I Think Two Years is Probably Long Enough
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, CovidHair, prognostication, stupid Covid, Thoughts on August 24, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Our region is doing ok Covid-wise but Delta is starting to make its move and Fall is shaping up to be less than great.
After examining the viral forecast, analyzing daily case counts, counting the weeks since my second vaccination shot, confirming my provider’s vax status, checking my KN95 mask, and consulting a Magic 8 Ball,* this afternoon I am going to get a haircut.
I mean, heck, it’s only been two years;)
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* We do not have a Magic 8 Ball, but sometimes it feels like it might come in handy.
Projects In Progress
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, creativity, design, inspiration, quotes, Thoughts, writing on August 23, 2021| Leave a Comment »
“Just because things hadn’t gone the way I had planned didn’t necessarily mean they had gone wrong.”
― Ann Patchett
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Books Neverending
Posted in Entertainment, Likes, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, Applescript, creativity, Fiction, fun, inspiration, libraries, Thoughts, Writers on August 21, 2021| 1 Comment »
In my roles as a writer and as a person, I read a lot. Some books I purchase, but many I access through my local library. How great is that?*
So I just spent a non-zero amount of time writing a little AppleScript to automagically run a search in any of the four area library systems that share e-book resources.
Was it necessary? No. I could click through my library portal and into each separate library system for every book I want to check, one stodgy button at a time. Ho hum.
Does this script save time and my wrists and open up new worlds of possibilities?
Yes.
Was it fun to make?
Also yes:)
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* I love books, and I’m lucky enough to live in a society that supports public libraries. In fact, I made a modest donation to my local library the other day, and hope it helps bring just a little more literacy and knowledge and enjoyment to my city.
A Silver Lining
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, family, home, Thoughts, weather on August 18, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Thanks to the dynamics of heat, humidity, and Tropical Storm Fred muscling his way up the East Coast, most of my family members down South were under a tornado warning today.
My father texted to say that they were in the basement because tornado. Cue a round of frantic texting to make sure my hard-of-hearing mother had, in fact, heard the warning. Half an hour later the danger had passed and thankfully, everyone was ok.
Those of you living in places like Tornado Alley, the Caribbean, tsunami-prone coastal region, anywhere currently under a fire warning or similar hot spot may not be impressed, but this is one of the first times my family has had to head to the basement for safety, hunkering down like Neolithic ancestors in caves. I doubt it will be the last. Extreme weather and other such events are on the rise. That’s the bad news.
The good news is that unlike our ancestors, we have first responders, health care workers, disaster preparedness centers, and we can see it coming.
- Plan Ahead for Disasters | Ready.gov
- Prepare! Don’t Let Severe Weather Take You by Surprise
- Preparing for dealing with extreme weather – Canada.ca
Stay safe! I’m off to back up my hard drive. And to celebrate with homemade pizza and ice cream, because who doesn’t appreciate a silver lining?
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Monarch Joe
Posted in Likes, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, bees, butterflies, home, inspiration, pollinators, Thoughts on August 16, 2021| Leave a Comment »
The Joe Pye Weed is in full bloom and buzzing with big bees, small bees and not-bees, and look who stopped by!
I only wish we had the space and sun for a dozen more of these plants, plus scads of milkweed for this monarch and all of its friends. Until then, I’ll do what I can with what I have.
Cliché? Yes, but still a pretty good motto!
That Explains A Lot, Actually
Posted in Holidays, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, creativity, Thoughts, vacation on August 13, 2021| 2 Comments »
I’m on vacation today and thought I’d do some cool stuff. Instead, my afternoon looked like this:
- lunch? lunch
- read terrible book, give up on same
- feel v. blah. stupid book. I hate bad books
- think about a new story idea, make less than desired progress
- research random topics of interest (mystery songbird illness, treasure maps, letterlocking methods, software stuff, etc.)
- realize I should have worked out this morning, tired or not
- start three projects, or was it four? nope
- read about temptation bundling
- attempt to learn a thing or two. maybe?
- work on a new project
- have the program crash at the last minute and decide, you know what? I think I’m done for the day
Plus Mr Man just came home with tales of unfortunate events, mysterious machine mishaps, and more.
Aaaaaand, I just realized that it’s Friday the 13th.
That actually explains A Lot.
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On Action
Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, creativity, inspiration, life, quotes, social psychology, Thoughts, writing on August 12, 2021| Leave a Comment »
“When we feel powerful, it leads us to act. When we feel powerless, we don’t act.”
— Amy Cuddy
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