kimlajevardi

Another week has come and gone–a very busy week, make that an extremely busy week. I’m back to school, and my head is swimming from trying to get my teacher legs back under me. I think that warrants a shot of music. If you’re so inclined, feel free to break into a random dance break. 🙂

https://youtu.be/y6Sxv-sUYtM 

I may not be happy about the end of summer, but it’s hard to stay tired when jumping around to something that upbeat.

Up next, a treat for your ears. Not necessarily jump up and dance kind of music, but it’s one of my favorite songs. And. Well. Because.

https://youtu.be/bmXumtgwtak

And in Science news, a stinky flower blooms and people line up for hours to smell it. Or, if you’re so inclined, you can watch the live feed. Come hither Carrion beetles–you know you want some.

http://www.livescience.com/51913-denver-corpse-flower-blooms.html

That’s all folks. See you again next Wednesday.

Another week, another chance to regale you with what’s happening in the world. From the beautiful to the funny, and every weird thing in between, I watch and I choose. This week I’ve chosen a few fun nuggets for you, so sit back, click on the links and enjoy at your leisure. If you’re so inclined to compensate me for my work, think coffee–I’m always up for some coffee. 😉

Our first little snippet comes from the other side of the pond – England. It turns out that if you’re a hungry, hungry caterpillar, you simply need to cover a roundabout with webbing. Plants can’t escape if you bind them. Those people freaked about spiders probably had a heart attack.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/roundabout-entirely-covered-gigantic-web-6241482

If that last one was too much for you, don’t even click on this one. Bugs are gross and they can ruin a lot of stuff people care about, but they’re also an integral part of the ecosystem. When you look at these photos, you’ll see how interesting they can be. I give you up close and personal with some of the smallest lifeforms on Earth:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/bugs-life-incredibly-detailed-pictures-6238602

Finally, science that makes you go hmm… and maybe also makes you want to beg me to stop with the creepy crawlies. I just had to, and besides, cool story about spiders. Perhaps the guy who used a blow torch to kill a spider may have been on to something. Or, maybe he was just on something.

http://www.livescience.com/50348-tarantula-temperature-coordination.html

That’ll do it or me today. I meant what I said about the coffee. Anytime.

No? Well… guess I’ll see you in seven anyways. I may be sleepy, though. 😉

It’s time once again for insecure writers, typing out their fears, thoughts, questions or any combination thereof. Join us by going to the home page, or maybe it’s the mother ship (you decide). Here’s the link because my WordPress is acting hinky today: IWSG.

Our awesome co-hosts today are Nancy Gideon, Bob R Milne, Doreen McGettigan, Chrys Fey, Bish Denham, and Pat Garcia!

My current fear, concern,  nervous meandering is related to getting everything done–time. Do I sound like a broken record? I feel like I do. I’m wrapping up another summer break, and I still haven’t completed nearly the amount of writing I wanted to get done. I “finished” the first draft of my second book, and it’s resting, but I’d hoped to already be editing it by now, but I’m still a week or two away. I am revising my first book again, but I’d hoped to be done with that as well. My writing time will be less than half of what I get during the summer and I’m already 1-2 months behind where I’d hoped to be by this time. Argh… Now, I know the deadline is self-imposed, and it’s not the end of the world, but I am super aware of my free times and my busy times based on schedule, and I’m approaching the busiest time of year for a teacher, and I’d rather be writing. Sad face.

What do you guys do to balance your busy times of year with your writing?

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Time for the news–da da da dum. *Giggle* A week or two ago I was feeling all James Earl Jones when I typed that, but now I’m hearing big drums. Dramatic, huh?

First up, AMAZING photos. These are identified as the best travel photographs/photographers of the year, and I so agree. Love, love, love!

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-33682404

Um, serieskiter. Read it, and the translation of that word will become clear. I am such a middle school teacher or maybe it’s a student. *Snort*

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/someones-pooping-in-golf-holes-in-norway_55bbc5e7e4b0d4f33a02c941?utm_hp_ref=weird-news&ir=Weird%2BNews§ion=weird-news&kvcommref=mostpopular

In science news, traveling backwards in time could produce doppelgangers. So cool. Read it through to the ten year example–twins that take each other out, leaving just the original? Mind totally blown.

http://www.livescience.com/51648-how-time-travel-would-work.html

That’ll do it for yet another week. The last full one before I have to go back to work–big inhale. You should feel sympathy for me, but I know that the majority of you do not have summers off, so my whining falls on very deaf ears. I get it. Still sucks, but I get it. See you in seven.

Happy Wednesday. That sounds kind of dull, doesn’t it? Wonderful Wednesday. Nah… Welcome back Wednesday. Better. Hmm…

While I think about it some more–the news.

This first video speaks for itself. Watch. Trust me.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/guy-picks-up-car-bike-lane_55b7a827e4b0a13f9d1a48e2?utm_hp_ref=weird-news

This next video clip has been all over the news, and so normally I’d avoid it, but it’s so cute. I just had to. 😉

http://www.today.com/pets/police-officer-baby-owl-have-cutest-standoff-ever-t34901

And in science news, ancient African huts could teach the world something about the earth’s magnetic field. This article is not just interesting in what they’ve discovered, but I also loved hearing about the South Atlantic Anomaly–I had no idea. Double learning. Yay!

http://www.livescience.com/51688-ancient-huts-earth-magnetic-reversal.html

That’ll do it for another week. It’s time for me to go fight with a computer that thinks it needs to die. Wish me good technical thoughts.

Another week has passed, but not a regular week–one of the last weeks of July. Summer’s going too fast. I need a time-rewinder thingy. Someone help. I’ll pay. In fact, I bet teachers and students throughout the US will cough up a pretty penny to stall the end of summer.

Please.

Crickets. Sad face. Ugh…

All right. I guess it’s time for the news.

First up is yet another stupid criminal story. What can I say? I’m a sucker for stories of criminals who basically give themselves away.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/17/burglar-selfie_n_7820968.html?utm_hp_ref=weird-news

This is for a good cause, and I bet t-shirts are flying off the shelves promoting this thing. Brilliant!

http://www.sfgate.com/news/medical/article/Romanian-music-fest-gives-free-tickets-in-6394384.php

In science news, superheroes are even more super than we realized. Okay, they’re actually men and women with conditions that encumber their lives in ways I can only imagine, but they will be like superheroes to those that are saved by their conditions. Science for the win.

http://www.popsci.com/new-drugs-mimic-mutations-make-humans-more-super

That wraps up another week. Any chance one of you has found a time-rewinder thingy for me? No? Drat. Oh well, gonna go make the best of the few weeks I have left. Good night.

Welcome back for another edition of The Weekly News. Can you hear my booming voice? It’s super cool–Darth Vader style even. Well…maybe that’s just in my own head. A lot of good things happen in my head, but not nearly enough of them make their way out. What’s up with that? 😉

This past week I took some beautiful pictures of the lake near my house, and it has me all atwitter about photography. Here are some other photos that really struck me. The first half dozen display the beauty of Earth and the rest show many faces of people.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/theweekinpictures/11731449/The-week-in-pictures-10-July-2015.html?frame=3370698

Time lapse images of Earth from Japan’s new satellite.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/10/science/An-Image-of-Earth-Every-Ten-Minutes.html?utm_source=loopinsight.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+loopinsight%2FKqJb+(The+Loop)&utm_content=FeedBurner&_r=1

And in science news, Pluto. The New Horizons probe has sent back images that give us information about the dwarf planet, and in doing so, change things for geophysicists. New information brings new understanding. This is why we explore, and why we need to continue funding exploration. Knowledge.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-33543383

That’ll do it for me. Time to curl up on my chair and relax a bit before bed. Ooh…and have my tea. Yum. See you next week.

Well, hello there. Happy hump day!

Why the cheery mood? Dunno. I’m giddy for no specific reason. I could chalk it up to summer and the relaxing time I’ve had lately, but that’s part and parcel of having summers off. So I can’t fully explain it, but then again, good moods are better enjoyed than examined.

While I bask in my grin, some news.

First up, this is cool. I may be a dork, but being able to make a tortilla into a record seems like a great party trick.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/08/tortilla-record-vinyl_n_7751094.html?utm_hp_ref=weird-news

Geez. It started out as a way to point out the insanity of walking with your attention somewhere else, but now they think it’s a good idea that should spread? What is wrong with us?

http://www.sfgate.com/business/technology/article/Utah-school-creates-texting-lane-for-6335753.php

And on deck in the science slot for this week, an ongoing debate about whether time is real or merely a matter of human perspective. Color me intrigued.

http://www.livescience.com/51465-the-illusion-of-time.html

That’ll do it for me once again. Have a great rest of your week–with a smile if you can.

Time for another month of angst-ridden posts from the talented writers of The Insecure Writer’s Support Group. Fear and doubt are just side effects of this gig we writers sign up for, and as such, need to be soothed by commiserating with other jittery messes on a regular basis. You can either join in the nervous camaraderie by clicking on the image above, reading postings from a wide range of talented but quirky messes, or you can throw chocolate and coffee at us. Your choice. 😉

The awesome co-hosts today are Charity Bradford, S.A. Larsen, AJ,Tamara Narayan, Allison Gammons, and Tanya Miranda!

Time for my insecurity this month:

It’s size.

😮

No, not that kind of size. It’s my manuscript. I’m currently writing a fantasy novel that kind of made itself known early on as the first in what I thought was going to be a trilogy. But… it’s feeling bigger.

You can’t see me now, but my head has fallen to the desk and my shaking is nearly record-breaking. Seriously.

A darn character presented himself last week. Someone that the other characters and I all believed was dead–someone that I only started realizing a week prior could still be alive–and he not only showed up alive, but with a damn interesting voice and backstory all his own. Now, the story is growing and I’m questioning my ability to contain and develop it.

What have I gotten myself in to? Am I capable of that level of world building? 

Need coffee. So. Much. Coffee.

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In a slightly less dramatic gesture, head slowly peeling itself from my desktop, here’s the news. See…I can perform a Vanna wave. I’m not shaking at all. Gonna keep it light. Yeah, that’ll help. Light and funny.

Up first, my favorite is the third one. He’s just scratching away taking in the weird people all dressed up when clearly it’s Miller time.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/best-wedding-photobombs-ever-dolphin-5980003

Firefighters rock! Yay for the rescued cow! And um…bulls just wanna have fun. *Snort*

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/watch-randy-bulls-being-hosed-5976955

Last, but never least, science news. Cool discovery that may someday help us understand fear more. Probably late to help me with my current nervous twitterings, but in the future…maybe say by the second or third book. I’m going with it. Yes, definitely by the second or third book. Nothing to fear, right?

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/one-path-fear-takes-brain-discovered?tgt=nr

That’ll do it for me today. For those of you in the U.S., enjoy your fourth! For everyone else, enjoy coffee. Oh, and chocolate. Lots of chocolate.

Welcome back for our regularly scheduled news break. I’m on time this week. Yay! Home and relaxing on my favorite chair with the laptop propped up on my lap–as it should be. Summer is kicking around outside, roasting everything under the sun. But you won’t hear any complaints from me because I’m on break. A little sweat is worth days where I can spend time writing. I’m getting much closer to finishing the first draft of my second novel. Ah… So much closer. That is my own personal news.

Now on to the rest of the world. 🙂

This first story is a ten on the ewwww scale. I don’t eat around my computer very often, but that’s going to change to never. I’m never bringing food around my computer again. So gross. I keep wiping along my arms. Clean work spaces people. I’m looking at you twenty-something gamers. Eww!

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/computer-bug-spine-crawling-video-shows-5943909

Biscuits are good, but… Master criminal he is not. Um… some people make it too easy.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/18/shane-lindsay_n_7613458.html?utm_hp_ref=weird-news

This next science story is super cool, and it shows the benefits of looking to biology for engineering solutions for our machines. Nothing like Terminator, of course. But engineering solutions the way our amazing bodies do. Nice!

http://www.popsci.com/material-could-instantly-repair-airplane-wings-mid-flight

That’ll do it for me tonight. I have more writing to do. See you in a week–seven more days of words on paper. Night.

I’m a little early this week, I know. Confused? Don’t worry–I didn’t lose track of time again. I have to attend a national competition that my students are participating in. School is still over–they couldn’t drag me in during the summer with even the biggest of nets–but National’s are during the summer because students come from many states. Short story long, I won’t be around tomorrow.

So early news it is. 🙂

I’m thinking that the expense of a crane, and the size of what it lifts warrants some measure of experience for use. Call me crazy.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/viral-video-shows-you-how-5893928

As a teacher, this would be so embarrassing.  Printers make mistakes, but, um… maybe checking the diplomas before you give them out would be wise. Ouch.

http://abcnews.go.com/Weird/wireStory/school-districts-diploma-cover-features-wrong-state-seal-31759538

And in science news, attempting to define black holes. This is so cool because it could rewrite our understanding of the universe. I think. And if the rest of the universe is imperfect, then maybe they’re correct about the copies made by black holes. Wouldn’t it be interesting to think of black holes as giant galactic copy machines?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150616155037.htm

That’ll do it for another week. I’m off to pack. Fingers crossed for my team. Have a fantastic week, and I’ll see you next Wednesday.