As it is Tuesday (and even worse, Tuesday after a holiday), my to do list is… extensive. Please enjoy a random post and some entertaining ostriches.
* * *
Roll the dice for a random post: Click this link or the image below.
* * *
Posts Tagged ‘Thoughts’
Random Ostrich
Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, blog posts, creativity, nature, randomness, Thoughts, Writers on May 23, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Excellent In So Many Ways
Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, constraint, creativity, inspiration, making stuff, sheep, Thoughts, Writers, writing, yay on May 22, 2023| Leave a Comment »
I like crafting in general, I like weaving in particular, and I like the freeing nature of creative constraints, so this “sheep to shawl” competition is right up my alley.
In a Sheep to Shawl competition, you have 5 people, 1 sheep, and 3 hours – NPR
Each team is made up of one sheep and five people: one shearer, three spinners, and a weaver. The team has three hours to shear the sheep, card the wool, spin the wool into yarn, and then weave that yarn into an award-winning shawl.
It’s not exactly the same as NaNoWriMo or drabbles or the 24-hour story challenge we recently did at Writers of the Future (crazy, fun, and not nearly as bad as I thought it would be:) but it’s in the same vein.
Here’s to artists exploring boundaries everywhere.
* * *
Wishing You a Special Night
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, Fiction, Thoughts, Writers, writing on May 20, 2023| Leave a Comment »
“It was not really Saturday night, at least it may have been, for they had long lost count of the days; but always if they wanted to do anything special they said this was Saturday night, and then they did it.”
― J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
* * *
Who Needs Libraries? Everyone
Posted in Favorites, Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, choice, freedom, libraries, reading, Thoughts on May 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Like many of you, I love libraries. Like, a lot:
Run, Don’t Walk | J.R. Johnson
Passport to Wonders | J.R. Johnson
Keys to the Universe | J.R. Johnson
Inquiring Minds Want to Know | J.R. Johnson
Books Neverending | J.R. Johnson
Keys to the Universe | J.R. Johnson
I don’t love that some people are trying to control what others can read in libraries. If this is happening in your neighborhood, what can you do?
How to Protect Your Local Library From Book Ban Campaigns – Bloomberg
Library boards, school boards and legislatures are becoming battlegrounds in a push to censor books. Communities are fighting back.
I was also glad to see this policy on Intellectual Freedom And Controversial Material at my childhood library:
The libraries have a responsibility to serve all segments of the county. Materials useful to some may be objectionable to others. Selections are based solely on the merits of the work in relation to building the collections and to serving the interests of readers. The libraries attempt to represent all sides of controversial issues. Their function is to provide information, not to advocate specific points of view.
Reading preferences are a purely individual matter; while anyone is free to personally reject books and other materials, this right cannot be exercised to restrict the freedom to others.
Library materials will not be marked or identified to show approval or disapproval of the contents, and no cataloged item will be placed on closed shelves, except for the express purpose of protecting it from injury or theft. Items may be placed on temporary reserve for specific class assignment or projects.
Responsibility for what children and young adults read and view rests with their parents’ and/or legal guardians. Selections will not be inhibited by the possibility that controversial materials may come into the possession of children or young adults.
* * *
Mothers and Others
Posted in Holidays, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, family, inspiration, Thoughts on May 14, 2023| 1 Comment »
For my mother, and my other mothers, and to all those out there who appreciate flowers, here’s a piece on the history of tulips (one of my mother’s favorite flowers) and their role in art (another of my mom’s favorite things).
Happy Mother’s Day!
There is no other period of art history more closely associated with tulips than the Dutch Golden Age. Marked by economic prosperity, scientific discovery, and flourishing arts and culture, the tulip came to be a hallmark of the Netherland’s successes. There is some disagreement about exactly when and by whom the first tulips were brought to the Dutch Republic, but it is known that they were imported from the Ottoman Empire sometime in the latter half of the 16th century. Already a costly commodity, the demand for specific bulbs of different colors and varieties quickly outpaced the supply of tulips—and thus Tulip Mania, or the Tulip Craze, began. At its height, the price for a rare and prized tulip bulb was on par with a craftsperson’s annual wage.
* * *
E. parma
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, birthdays, family, memories, Thoughts on May 13, 2023| 1 Comment »
Today would have been my grandfather’s 113th birthday. I’ve written about him on this day for the past two years, and I thought it would be nice to keep up the tradition.
My previous birthday posts about Grandpa:
Eleventy-First, with Memories | J.R. Johnson
My grandparents lived in Chicago for most of my life but when they retired they became snowbirds, the kind that fly south for the winter. Later, they moved down there permanently. My grandfather walked the beaches south of Cape Canaveral and found, among other things, the bleached white skeletons of Echinarachnius parma, otherwise known as sand dollars.
I saw live sand dollars for the first time on our recent visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. They resemble their skeletons only in shape, and even that is unexpectedly flipped upright. Check out the images in the article below.
9 Fascinating Facts About Sand Dollars
The sand dollar—or “sea biscuit,” or “sand cake,” in other parts of the world—is purple and hairy in its prime.
Grandpa used to collect sand dollars and give them to us kids, a tiny piece of a magical, tropical land far to the south.
I still keep one on my bookshelf.
Happy birthday, Grandpa.
* * *
Many Times, One Special Place
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, Fiction, genre fiction, inspiration, J.R.R. Tolkien, Middle Earth, Thoughts, Writers on May 10, 2023| Leave a Comment »
This article is for the Tolkien fans among us. Hello all you beautiful hobbits elves dwarves wizards ents
people!
Middle-Earth isn’t a place. It’s a time in (English) history
Although Middle-Earth is most definitely a fictional place, this does not mean it is completely unrelated to reality…. This interpretation argues that the various regions of Middle-Earth visited in The Lord of the Rings were inspired by, and intended to represent, specific moments in English history.
* * *
Snapshot
Posted in Holidays, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, Thoughts on May 9, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Mr Man and I were able to take a couple of days after the writing workshop to visit California. Here’s a snapshot of the beautiful beach in Santa Barbara, complete with some of the millions of superbloom flowers, pelicans, gulls, and the town pier.
* * *
Incremental Improvements
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, home, Thoughts, ugh on May 8, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Still sick, but back to work. Slowly.
“I always wanted to be someone better the next day than I was the day before.”
— Sidney Poitier
* * *
Days Since
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, #stupidcovidisstupid, Thoughts on May 7, 2023| Leave a Comment »
I am sorry to report that it has been 0 days since my positive Covid test. It’s my first positive and I have five shots on board, but so far I will say that the experience has been less than fun. It’s still better than an earthquake, interplanetary shock or solar flare, all of which have also happened in the past week:
* * *
-
Recent Posts
She Said, He Said
-
-
Favorite Posts
Archives
Categories
It’s All So Random
What I’m Reading
You must be logged in to post a comment.