Elizabeth Moon's Blog, page 98

From Twitter 02-25-2010

11:13:03: Snowy 80 acres in sunshine (yesterday morning) pix at http://www.80acresonline.org/blog/ Snow gone by 3 pm.
11:14:06: Thanks to wonderful friends, son was able to attend class in city Tues., stay overnight there, and I fetched him home yesterday.
12:37:53: Note to self: tramping in snow does not mean eating like starving pig won't cause trouble (truffle, pecan-crusted chicken, etc.) Sigh.
12:42:28: ...ELEVATED FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS THIS AFTERNOON AND FRIDAY
AFTERNOON... NWS...

Thursday

Yesterday, besides that early hike around the place to see snow, I drove down to the city to retrieve our son from a friend's house.   He went to his college classes (the last one was canceled, so he very wisely did homework until time for a friend to pick him up) and then stayed the night with another friend.  

I've posted  a lot of snow pictures on the 80 acres blog--one post during the storm, and two of pictures from the sunny morning yesterday.   Dividing them up should make them easier...

From Twitter 02-24-2010

09:18:37: Clear dawn, sunlight on snow, long walk--temp rose from 22F to 32F in course of hour. Supposed to hit 50+F today. Snow will go.
16:29:34: Snow gone except for few patches between 11 am and 3 pm. Shirtsleeve weather.

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From Twitter 02-23-2010

07:33:36: Snow before dawn...sleet & snow after...now waiting for the next wave. Cardinals on snow: pretty. Wheels on snow: not.
12:58:34: SNOW, 3+ inches. Very pretty esp. as around here it melts away in 24 hrs or less. Some pix already taken, more to come.
13:57:36: Snow is coming down strongly again. It's soft, wet, snow, the kind you get when the temp's just low enough. Beautiful, though.
16:22:27: Bliss = real hot cocoa after long walk out in the snow..with a little cinnamon in it.

Head-grabbing time.

So the news media or some parts of them are focused on the sex acts of John Edwards and Tiger Woods--what they did, who they did it with, whether their wives will or will not stay with them, whether their apologies are "enough", ad infinitum ad nauseam...as if sexual misconduct were of world-shattering importance to the nation.

While ignoring the fact that former Vice-President Cheney admitted on national TV (Sunday a week ago) that he had urged the use of illegal torture on foreign...

Tuesday

The forecast was a winter storm warning for our part of our county, 6 am to midnight, but only a winter advisory 50 miles south where our son goes to community college.    So we left for the bus stop 20 miles away at 5:45, and the road was dry...but in about 8-10 miles we started picking up first rain, then freezing rain and sleet.  Dropped him off and headed back carefully through heavier rain/sleet mix, and as we got back to our town it was sleet/snow.  That lasted 45 minutes--the ground...

From Twitter 02-22-2010

10:05:02: Apropos of discussion elsewhere. If my mother had censored my reading, I doubt I'd be a writer.
10:06:03: Snow tomorrow, they say. Sky looks like snow this afternoon. Think I'll start another soup and make more bread.
11:57:13: It's getting colder and darker. I'm about to go pick up new glasses at eye doctor's place.
15:26:41: To self: It is rude to yell troll and administer a sound thrashing on someone else's site. One bad turn does not justify another. Yet.
15:29:22: To troll...

From Twitter 02-21-2010

10:41:31: Washed dishes. Answered email & comments on blogs. Now sky is blue (momentarily) and I'm about to go out on the land.
10:43:56: Everyone who approved waterboarding should experience it, esp. Cheney, Bush, Rumsfeld, those damned attorneys.
13:38:23: Long walk. Windy, dry, sunny, water on land. Needed the wind through my head.
Now to wash hair, take soup & bread to friend.
13:40:08: Bees found the elbowbush--pollen baskets bulging. Happy bees, though not willing to share w/other...

Writer's Block: Arts v. smarts

Given the choice, would you prefer to be a world-class (visual or performing) artist or an intellectual genius? Which, in your opinion, would facilitate a more fulfilling career and social life?

Submitted By numbartist

View 1055 Answers

Yes.  And yes.  As in, why not an intellectual genius painter or violinist?   And why not include all creative arts (speaking as a writer.)    There's no inherent contradiction between intellectual and creative gifts--they often exist together.

From Twitter 02-20-2010

09:26:24: No sun. Need to make bread. Want to write instead. Arvid and Dattur meet woods-folk. Urban Arvid is up to neck in ick, as he sees it.
13:52:41: Stock is in freezer, except the amount in the pot that now has beef, tomatoes, green chilis, black beans, onions and garlic in it.
19:24:43: Eating the soup. Oh...my. I am now ashamed of soups I made years back and considered just fine. Every one is a little different.
22:42:38: When I skip making bread for a week or two, the first loaf...