Posted in Likes, Science!, tagged awesome, finishing, Harvard, lightsaber, MIT, science, star wars, yay on September 27, 2013| Leave a Comment »
From Phys.org via the good folks at Tor.com:
MIT and Harvard Just Made a Real Lightsaber. So That’s Done.
Cross another dream off the bucket list, because the Harvard-MIT Center for Ultracold Atoms just created a new form of matter that could potentially be used to create real lightsabers.
… and fine, that place up the street isn’t so bad either:)
And yes, I finished those projects I was working on, thanks for asking.
Posted in Writing, tagged Anne Lamott, creativity, E.L. Doctorow, finishing, inspiration, Motivation, Thoughts, work, writing, yay on September 26, 2013| Leave a Comment »
For a friend who is facing down a challenging project, here’s a quote I like:
“E.L. Doctorow once said that ‘Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.’ You don’t have to see where you’re going, you don’t have to see your destination or everything you will pass along the way. You just have to see two or three feet ahead of you. This is right up there with the best advice on writing, or life, I have ever heard.”
― Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
Who among us couldn’t use a little perspective, and some encouragement? I would add that it’s helpful to remember that whatever the undertaking, the work doesn’t have to be perfect. Heck, I can guarantee that it won’t be perfect, nothing is. That’s not the point.
To my friend, and to myself, and to anyone else confronting a difficult task, I recommend taking a breath, and just making it as good as you can.
It will be good enough.
Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged artists, arts, awesome, bill watterson, calvin and hobbes, creativity, inspiration, Motivation, persistence, tombstone, work, yay on August 31, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Oh, I love this, and it’s just the sort of inspiration I need today. The text is an excerpt from a commencement speech in 1990 by Bill Watterson (of Calvin and Hobbes fame). The art is by Zen Pencils and is a beautifully done tribute to his inspiration, Watterson.
If you have a moment Read the Zen Pencils essay. I always enjoyed Calvin and Hobbes but didn’t know much about Watterson’s challenges as he made the strip or his history. I particularly like the part about persistence.
… Broke, he was forced to move back in with his parents and worked an advertising layout job he hated while he drew comics in his spare time…. Luckily Watterson didn’t quit…
Of all the things that could go on my tombstone, “Luckily, she didn’t quit” is right up there.
Posted in Funny, Likes, tagged arts, awesome, books, Einstein, flash fiction online, good society, inspiration, knowledge, public libraries, smart, Thoughts, yay on August 26, 2013| Leave a Comment »
From Flash Fiction Online’s Facebook page. I can’t even say how much I love this…
Like many other committed readers and writers, I spent a significant part of my time from childhood on in public libraries. People often take them for granted now, but imagine a time (or place) where you couldn’t pop down to the corner for a book, or a consultation with a librarian, or a safe quiet place to read and work, where knowledge wasn’t freely available to all. What a wonderful invention.
Posted in Entertainment, Likes, tagged awesome, entertainment, knights of badassdom, movies, peter dinklage, ryan kwanten, sff, steve zahn, summer glau, yay on July 25, 2013| 1 Comment »
What’s this, what’s this?
Knights of Badassdom Finally Gets Distributor (via Whedonesque.com)
Be still my heart. This movie looks hilarious and has a terrific cast that should be a blast to watch, including (but certainly not limited to) Peter Dinklage, Summer Glau, Ryan Kwanten and Steve Zahn. Thank you, EntertainmentOne. Can’t wait to see it!
Posted in Other, tagged awesome, beautiful, inspiration, national parks, sunrise, usinterior, yay on July 24, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Good morning!
Posted in Likes, Other, tagged artists, awesome, creativity, culture, finishing, inspiration, kids, Motivation, NPR, Thoughts, weirdos, yay on July 19, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Just in time for Comic-Con, Linda Holmes over at NPR’s Monkey See pop-culture column has written a lovely piece today. It’s framed as a letter to “young creative weirdos,” those who may be socially awkward now but who will constitute our next wave of creators, of thinkers, of innovators. Here are a few excerpts, but if you are interested in encouraging young people to do more, do better, do different, I suggest you read the whole thing.
Don’t confuse what people are getting with what people want…. If you had told people [100 years ago], “I am a young person, and I intend to create Superman,” they would have told you, “That’s nice, dear, eat your dinner.” Things change.
Only listen to it if it’s supposed to make you better, not if it’s supposed to make you stop.
Write a lot, paint a lot, shoot a lot of film, take a lot of pictures, dance a lot, sing a lot, whatever the thing you do is, do it a lot.…Keep going.
This is exactly the sort of letter I would have appreciated as a kid. Pass it on.
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