Part of the difficulty in a long-running blog... ok, there are a lot of difficulties. Those of you who've been around for a while know the last couple of years I've been erratic at best with posting. This coming year looks to be much more, shall we say, predictable? I can't, actually, predict a calm boring 2023 but I'd sure like one.
Anyway, blogging requires you to be witty and erudite on command, and folks, I might achieve one or the other of those things from time to time but rarely together and not as frequently as I might like even separately. As a variation on 'if you haven't anything nice to say, say nothing at all' I tend to default to silence when I feel dull and stupid. Or worse, whiny. This is no way to run a blog.
So, given I'm not feeling with it this morning, have a post of whimsical stuff. I'll dump what's open in my browser tabs out on the desk and sort through it, like a pocket full of treasures. Shiny rocks, shells, there's a feather...
Werner's Nomenclature of Colors, which I found freely available online to use with the 100-day art project I plan to open the New Year on. 100 Pantone postcards, on which I shall paint nature-themed images. I've had the book on my wishlist for years but the online version has the advantage of being free. Or you can access the scans of an original copy.
An 1807 cookbook on Project Gutenberg, courtesy of friend and fellow author Lloyd Behm II, which I am reading less for the recipes and more for the glimpse into everyday life in history.
For my Indie Author friends, this is a good way to generate all the categories your book can fit into, and how to get Amazon to put them there. Very useful!
An article on using lighting and diffusers for macro-photography of insects. I haven't been doing much with my cameras, and am hoping to rectify that soon. My routines being better will help me find some free time for hobbies again.
Debating between an embosser or a self-inking stamp for marking all my books. I used to have a fun ink stamp with a castle, where I could write my name, but for relatively little money, I can get a personalized stamp/embosser. My only concern is marking in books over 100 years old. Some of my old pulps have brittle paper, I'm afraid an embosser would damage pages.
On a silly note, you simply must go scroll through the gallery of the Comedy Wildlife Photography awards. The captions are chuckle-worthy and the photos top-notch.
I plan to make a coconut cream pie live on camera this evening, using this recipe. You can find me on my Youtube channel about 6 pm Central!
That's a longhorn. The aliens are about to experience regrets...