Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, creativity, invention, Thoughts on August 28, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Surely, surely, there must be a better way to mammogram.
Imagine, if you will, a world in which we have all of the current tools and science we have now, but no system to create detailed imagery of mammary tissue. There is an obvious need for such a thing, but how would you do it?
Would you create the medical equivalent of a panini press? I bet you would not!
Seriously, though, it’s like the Dark Ages. We can do better.
* * *
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, Thoughts on August 27, 2024| Leave a Comment »
“We need to remember that we’ve all got our blind spots and contradictions and prejudices; and that if we want to win over those who aren’t yet ready to support our candidate, we need to listen to their concerns – and maybe learn something in the process.”
— Barack Obama
* * *
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, creativity, persistence, Thoughts, Writers, writing on August 26, 2024| Leave a Comment »
“Talent is helpful in writing, but guts are absolutely essential.”
― Jessamyn West
You’ve got this.
* * *
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, persistence, Thoughts, Writers, writing on August 25, 2024| Leave a Comment »
“There is no way around hard work. Embrace it.”
— Roger Federer
* * *
Posted in Holidays, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, creativity, Thoughts, Writers, writing on August 24, 2024| Leave a Comment »
A quick programming note: Mr Man and I have a little time off and we’re hoping to have some fun and be a bit spontaneous with our scheduling. In service of that goal, it’s time for a short series of posts featuring quotes! And pretty pictures!
“What and how much had I lost by trying to do only what was expected of me instead of what I myself had wished to do?”
― Ralph Ellison
No matter where you are or what you do, I hope you can take a moment to enjoy these last days of summer.
* * *
Posted in Other, Science!, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, creativity, science, Thoughts on August 23, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Here’s an interesting puzzle: How Do You Send a Warning 1,000 Years into the Future? – Now I Know
Think back to what the Earth was like a thousand years ago — the year 1,015. Almost everything would be foreign to modern eyes and ears — even the language would be incomprehensible. For all intents and purposes, humanity from a millennium ago may as well be an alien species (culturally, at least) with similar DNA, which simply happens to have lived on the same planet we do now.
How do we communicate with people so far removed from our own language, culture, and assumptions? It’s a great question, whether you’re thinking about the safest approach to nuclear waste disposal or contacting aliens.
In order to keep the people of the future safe from the radioactive goop created today, we need a way to tell them to watch out. And more likely than not, very few aspects of today’s society will be around to do that. Even a sign warning travelers of potential dangers would be insufficient — who among us could translate runes from the Middle Ages?
(My mom, that’s who, but point taken.)
What particularly interests me about these proposed solutions (an Atomic Priesthood dedicated to perpetuating knowledge through myth? color-changing cats?!) is that they seem to have skipped over the most obvious approach. How to conjure the fear of death, to warn people away, and to alert the future not to what is there, but what will happen if it is disturbed?*
This is a plague panel from the early 17th century. If you saw this on a house, would you go in or turn and run the other way?
In the end, the U.S. Department of Energy plan opted to go with warning signs in multiple languages illustrated with images of people in pain. Still, I wondered, what’s wrong with the classics?
Another odd writer thought, brought to you by an odd writer.
* Also, the real problem seems to be the gap between exposure and untimely demise. If you break into a tomb and die immediately, that sends a pretty strong message. And no one has to tell people not to build on an active lava flow, but a peaceful-looking mountain with fertile soil close to the bustling port of Naples and the dynamic town of Pompeii (circa 78 AD)? What’s not to like?
* * *
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, #wotf39, creativity, editing, genre fiction, perfectionism, Thoughts, Writers, Writers of the Future, writing on August 21, 2024| 2 Comments »
Consider this: when you over edit something, you polish off the edges that made it unique and vibrant. A little polish is good, but not too much. Nobody wants a diamond polished into a ball bearing. They want something unique. Something sparkly. The world is full of uniform ball bearings. Be a flawed diamond.
— David Hankins, award-winning writer, author of Death and the Taxman, and all-around good duck
* * *
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, fantasy, genre fiction, history, inspiration, Robin Hood, sword and sorcery, Thoughts on August 19, 2024| Leave a Comment »
So, here’s the thing: I don’t really like the Middle Ages. I feel a little bad about that because if you have a History degree it seems like you are obligated to keep an open mind about even the worst centuries, but it’s true. The Middle Ages are very much middling in my book.
Is this bias a result of the (relative) lack of historical records, the goofy headgear, or the whole Black Death, Inquisition, feudal lords fighting over tiny territories, and “Bad Times All Around” vibe that so many of those centuries have?
Well, maybe.
However! While reading an interesting article on a medieval herb garden (as one does), I realized that the era was into some of the things that I am into: the many uses of plants, bookbinding, woodturning, weaving, dyeing, and a wide variety of handmade hacks designed to moderate the vicissitudes of life. (The fantasy genre also owes a lot to that time period, and to be fair the bycocket, or Robin Hood hat, was pretty cool.)
So, yeah. It’s possible that I might have a touch of the medieval in me. Which goes to show that I shouldn’t rule out whole swaths of history, or people, or things. (Except the Plague, I continue to be very much down on pandemics. For, you know, reasons.)
So while I’m never going to be a fan of petty monarchs, famine, uncertain hygiene or strict class divisions, the next time the topic of the Middle Ages comes up, I’ll do my best to keep an open mind.
* * *
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, creativity, inspiration, persistence, Thoughts on August 18, 2024| Leave a Comment »
“Don’t let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.”
— Earl Nightingale
* * *
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, summer, Thoughts on August 17, 2024| Leave a Comment »
You must be logged in to post a comment.