Okay, it’s time for another post about writing (because I like to write about writing, apparently). This one is about story ideas! Story ideas are lots of fun and can feel really precious, but are actually pretty darned easy to come by. This, of course, is not news. It seems like nearly every writer’s blog I’ve read has some variation on the idea that story ideas are the easy part of writing (the actual writing is way more work!), or…
Happy Solstice! The 2024 new year is coming soon, and with it, I’ll be hitting the 1-year mark of having this blog. Therefore, for the final, regular (non-weekly-garden) post of the year, I’d like to do a look-back of what I’ve done with this blog over the course of 2023. When it comes to any sort of hobby, I’m definitely prone to, and enjoy, tabulating the various stuff associated with it. And so, without further ado: General Accomplishments 1. I…
Okay. We’re closing in on the end of the year. Which is the first year I’ve had this blog. Which I started in large part because I wanted a place to be able to talk about my writing (and my garden). You’ve seen my garden, so now, the least I can do is tell you how my writing’s gone this year. The short answer is: Not as great as I was hoping. But, I didn’t do nothing. So, I’ll give…
I just started re-reading a book I really like. Though some people re-read a lot, for me it’s really rare, even with favorite books. Though…perhaps lately it’s been getting less rare? I think this’ll be my third time through this one. The book is called The Wizard Hunters and is the first in a trilogy called The Fall of Ile-Rien by Martha Wells. Like many, I quite like a lot of Martha Wells’ work (Murderbot, anyone?), but I really think…
Okay, friends. I think it is time to tell you about something I call Quick-Chores, which is a house-keeping tactic I’ve been playing with this year, to varying degrees of success. First, I should say that on the spectrum of people, I am the sort of people who neither enjoys housework, nor feels strongly compelled to do very much of it. I think I’m in a lot of pretty good company. Never-the-less, I do prefer a clean house to a…
Okay, so ordinarily outreach astronomy isn’t my jam. I just really don’t have a bent toward teaching, though I am ever grateful for all those out there who do. But this recent Annular Eclipse had an interesting confluence of events for me that made me realize again that, of all of the sciences, I’m grateful my path took me to Astronomy. I do think that Astronomy is super great. It’s also a lot more accessible than you might expect, both…
Now that we’ve reached the end of the season, I wanted to show you a round-up of all my pretty roses. I can’t say that I’m an excellent rose gardener. My primary gardening technique is to keep planting things until some things don’t die, and that’s pretty much the same approach I use with my roses. This means 1) I have kind of a random assortment and 2) I count things as a success even if I get only two…
Anxious Disclaimer: Okay, so this post may likely come off as really self-involved. But, well, this is a blog, and lots of blogs are pretty self-involved, almost by definition. Also, I know perfectly well there will be lots more self-involved blog posts to come. So, I’m hemming and hawing here at the top probably because this has to do with my writing, and writing has been a dream of mine for a really long time, and that makes it lots…
So, I’ve mentioned that woodworking is one of the things on my long list of hobbies, and I thought I might show a little bit of what I’ve done. I’m in the middle of another little woodworking project right now, which as usual I’ve made more complicated than it needs to be, so I can’t tell if it’ll be done soon (what I’d really like), or many months from now (the more usual turn of events). But in the meantime,…
Well, that was traumatic. But – such is the life of an adventurer! – Hilda Okay, that’s kind of how the adventure ended, but let me back up. This year my daughter joined an outdoor club, and one of the planned summer activities was a 2-night backpacking trip in the Mt. Evans wilderness. This sounded like a good opportunity! I don’t spend as much time with my daughter as I’d like. And I don’t get out into the woods nearly…