Pic pleasure

I don’t often get photos of the sun(set) or moon that I’m ever happy with–they never look as gorgeous as what I’m seeing, and in the case of the moon usually just end up looking like bright blobs–but this one from yesterday worked out really well. I’ve added the full size of it to my … Read more

Monarchs are imminent

Somewhere between about 8-15 days, the monarch chrysalis goes from green to blue to finally clear, like in the photo here. That stage means they’re going to emerge as full-on butterflies within a few hours. So cool.

What I read this month

More into the swing of things this month. While I tried a few things out that weren’t to my taste, I got through a fair bit: READThe Adventurers Guild: Twilight of the Elves – Zack Loran Clark and Nick EliopulosThe Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle – Rick RiordanThe Adventurers Guild: Night of Dangers – … Read more

Microfiction contest round two results: Sweeter

I’ve just been informed that I made it through the second round of the NYC Midnight Microfiction contest I updated you on recently and am on to the final round this weekend. As always, it feel good to get the approval of people who vet fiction professionally. Looking forward to the next challenge. Update you … Read more

Lessons learned from children

There’s a lot that grown-ups can learn from kids. Yes, we have bills to pay and jobs to go to (or, even more stressful for many more these days, not), and weighing the pros and cons of getting that root canal… there’s no end of big person responsibilities and issues on our minds. But too … Read more

Summer camps in Covid times

I write this shortly after my nine-year-old has been dropped off at a summer day camp. Your reaction to that line will range from some variation of “Hey, that’s super!” to “What the hell are you thinking?” And as a parent in these pandemic days, I’m rolling up and down through the range of those … Read more

Swimming in new shark (no, alligator!) infested waters

A couple of friends of mine forwarded this post about a deal that a TV and movie production company struck with Netflix, which will see a number of films from unrepresented writers get a solid shot at getting made. In a couple of decades of writing movie scripts and entering contests (or at least keeping … Read more

Monarchs are cool

Off and on for a couple of years, we’ve raised monarch butterflies from eggs to first flight. It’s really cool to see. There’s something satisfying and heartwarming about seeing a monarch that you raised from a tiny egg finally crawl out of its chrysalis, dry out its wings and fly away. We just got some … Read more

Fun with photos

A couple of Christmases back I received a little set of photo lenses that clip onto my cell phone, and while I haven’t used them a ton–a fisheye lens, while cool in its own wonky way, isn’t an everyday kind of photo accessory for me–a recent rainy day offered a great opportunity to give the … Read more

What I read this month

June was no less busy for the household than previous isolation months had been, and in some ways was even more busy. On top of the usual busyness of taking care of household, shopping and cooking duties (while ensuring that my wife had the time and space needed for all her online teaching, and my … Read more