C. Rene Astle's Blog, page 5

A little knowledge…

What’s that saying? More important that knowing what you know is knowing what you don’t know? Or something like that…I don’t exactly know. Anyway, it’s a sentiment I agree with but that awareness of what we don’t know is often lacking (I include myself in this).

I remember seeing something on four type knowledge (I wish I could find it and link it here):

what we know we know, what we know we don’t know, what we don’t know we don’t know, and what we think we know

And the article or TED talk...

Book review: Linesman

I recently finished Linesman by S. K. Dunstall (the nom de plume for a pair of sisters from Australia). It’s a compelling, character-driven science fiction novel, though I’d almost describe the book as more space opera with a touch of the fantastic than as science fiction, though I’m not much for pigeonholing.

Linesman by S.K. Dunstall

Rather than centering around hard science, the book presents an entirely novel (no pun intended) method of interacting with space-time…I’ve never seen this app...

The backdrop of Wakanda

Black Panther showed up on Netflix recently, meaning I had to re-watch it so I could get into Wakanda again.

I enjoyed the movie the first time, but liked it even more the second time. Partly because I was able to focus more on the backdrop to the story, if you will.

The costumes Apparently the Maasai traditionally clothing inspired the outfits for the Dora Milaje*

There’s a specific character for me where the costumes stood out on the second viewing: Shuri, played by Letitia Wright.

Shuri is...

Under plastic

This summer the city I live in banned single-use, disposable plastics – things like plastic shopping bags. This got me thinking about the plastics in my own life (as did the coincidental National Geographic issue Planet or Plastic).

<< What does that have to do with writing, or reading for that matter? Well, let me tell you…nothing. But I’ve accepted that this blog will occasionally contain posts on other things that get me thinking (like life in Korea or being thankful when I split my head open).>>

Unfortunately, I don’t think the ban will have the impact they hope, since I already know some stores are prepared to be fined. And my initial thought was ‘those aren’t the plastics that fill up my life...

<< What does that have to do with writing, or reading for that matter? Well, let me tell you…nothing. But I’ve accepted that this blog will occasionally contain posts on other things that get me thinking (like

A tempting dragon

If you’re a fan of slightly irreverent fantasy (that happens to be written by a priest) and like your stories filled with griffins, vampires and, of course, dragons, do I have a book review for you.

Last Christmas I participated in a 12 days of Christmas book buying event to support Indie authors set up by Rose Montague (you can check out reviews for a few of the other books here and here). For each of the 12 days leading up to Christmas, I agreed to buy a book by one of the participating aut...

How does my garden grow

As a gardener, I have wide swathes of time where my hands are busy but my brain is not. It’s left to wander down untended paths. On a recent ramble, it decided I should write a blog post on how gardening is like life. Or at least how my life is like my garden.

My allotment garden Thinning is next to godliness

One of the hardest lessons I’ve had to learn as a gardener is that, yes, I do indeed have to thin out my plants. ‘But, but, I…my babies?!’ I know, but if you don’t thin, you end up with...

My first days in Korea: what have I done?

I believe the world is overall a good place, filled with generally good people. Still there’ve been a few times in my travels in foreign lands (and life at home) when I got myself in a situation where I thought afterwards ‘that was stupid’.

This is the second post in a series about my time in Korea (you can check out the first one if you missed it). And going to Korea is not the situation I’m referring to. I’ll let you try to guess what part of this tale about my first few days in Korea I am...

Top 10 words that celebrate the bastard origins of the English language

I’m a bit of a word nerd. Okay, more than a bit. I enjoy finding the right word to communicate a shade of meaning — do I use aroma, scent, odor or reek? And one of the things I love about English is that it’s such a mishmash of other languages (full disclosure, I only know a smattering (or soupçon) of other languages so this is a little bit of linguistic navel gazing).

In no particular order (because how can one choose a favourite), are 10 of my favourite words in English that come from other...

How falling down showed me how lucky I am

A Facebook acquaintance was asking for stories about the best and worst days of people’s lives. I’m not good at bests and worsts — how does one choose a favourite book, a favourite movie, a favourite place, when there are so many that are unique and wonderful in their own way — but it got me thinking. I don’t have a best or worst day, but there was a day that combined aspects of both. Warning: graphic pictures ahead.

Face meet sidewalk…sidewalk, face

At the time, I was running regularly (I al...

My journey to the land of the Red Devils (aka the ROK)

I’m a fan of biography, of small tales from ordinary lives. One day, when I’m retired, I’d like to try my hand at writing biography. In the meantime, I thought I’d practice by telling tales from my life, starting with my time in the land of the Red Devils, the so-called Hermit Kingdom, the ROK  — more commonly known as South Korea.

About a decade ago, I went to Korea to teach English. I re-upped for a second contract, a total of two and a half years. When I came home for a visit, I completely...