Grab Bag vol. 11
Things I found interesting lately, what I’ve been up to, and whatever else comes to mind.
There are a few blogs I read regularly, both of which resonate with me and are fabulous writers, but they are slightly different “vibes”. And that became more stark after the election; the more cynical writer went hard in that direction, (which I do get), and the other offered a slightly more inspiring view - not “everything is going to be fine” but “it is important that you keep your humanity”, or at least that’s how I took it.
“I suspect that kind of storytelling also requires a turning away from the noisy barrage of the daily (hourly, minutely) news cycle, and the many reactions and responses it inspires. You can’t tell your own stories if you’re too busy refuting the terrible stories told by others. You have to give yourself both the space—and the silence—to dream.”
Ironically, I sit here thinking “wow I’ll never be able to think or write as well as this person” even though that’s exactly what she’s encouraging us all to do - create our own narratives.
And for the more cynical share (I don’t disagree, but what do I do with this?) It did however make me consider my friend Christina (Hi Tina) who works in sciences. One thing I respect is that Christina tries to make communicating about climate and the weather really approachable and more fun. And that’s the answer! More scientists need to be willing to swallow their ego and communicate in the way that people receive information. And possibly the most frustrating thing is that she can be taken less seriously in the eyes of so-called “experts” because turns out there are a bunch of egos in academia, who knew.
In the “what’s new with me” front, not much. I finished another 50K last month and generally felt slow and disappointed in my time which is glazing over the fact that I PR’d by 45 minutes which is not you know too shabby. And now I’m on a slow motion train wreck into a 50-miler coming up in 5 days, so that’s should be “great”.
I’m trying and failing to practice photography more - or just go through existing photos I already have and share them or do something with them. I don’t want to lose what skills I’ve developed, so we’re starting with just learning to SEE again. (So, here’s a starry night from a few months ago)
I guess I’ll, uh, report back on this 50 mile run attempt shortly..