Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, September 6-12, 2015

September 17, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 1 Comment

Making up for last week (!)

And happy Friday (yeah, I’m posting this late . . .)!

Brené Brown writes about the physics of vulnerability and what resilient people have in common. Brainpickings.

How Katrina turned a psychiatrist into a coroner. The Atlantic.

Why some people are left-handed. Brainpickings.

Upworthy presents a comic that accurately sums up depression and anxiety and the uphill battle of living with them.

You are home. The Bloggess offers a lovely video and message in honour of World Suicide Prevention Day.

Bianca Sparacino explores how we ruin our lives without realizing it. Thought Catalog.

Everyday fantasia: the world of synesthesia. The American Psychological Association.

Your brain is particularly vulnerable to trauma at two distinct ages. Quartz.

Brainpickings shares Carl Sagan’s thoughts on the meaning of life.

Tornados on the sun? Yup. As long as they’re plasma tornados 🙂 IFLS.

The Daily Dot presents the twelve best science shows on YouTube. I follow several of these 🙂

Here are a couple of them now.

Is body shaming helpful? ASAP Thought.

And SciShow answers the question, why don’t spiders stick to their own webs?

Why people’s opinions of you aren’t real:

Homo Naledi, a new species in human lineage, is found in a South African cave. The New York Times.

The White Wolf Pack shares ten fascinating facts about ravens.

And my musical find of the week is Iron & Wine – Boy with a coin:

Have fun, and I’ll see you on Saturday.

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, August 30-September 5, 2015

September 10, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 1 Comment

Sorry guys, it was all about the writing this week. Still, I hope you get a few creative ideas from this week’s offerings.

Brainpickings pays tribute to Oliver Sacks: love, lunacy, and a life fully lived.

How kindness became out forbidden pleasure. Brainpickings.

Will the ten worst jobs in history give you any ideas? History Extra.

These ten close-up shots of dragonflies are amazing. Mental Floss.

Tickld shares 30 facts that sound like BS but are actually true.

KLM’s lost and found service:

Thanks for stopping by.

See you on Saturday!

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, August 16-22, 2015

September 3, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 1 Comment

We’re starting out seriously. Such is the nature of thoughty Thursday.

Anna Lovind’s wish for us all: the year without rape.

Amanda Palmer’s open letter to a fan on the topic of the choice to have a child as a working artist. Brainpickings.

Alison Bechdel gives credit where credit is due: please call it the Bechdel-Wallace test, thankyouverymuch. The Mary Sue.

Check out these anti-suffragette post cards from the early 20th century. Brainpickings.

Alan Watts speaks about death, in a beautifully animated short. Brainpickings.

The Canadian Medical Association is still polarized about doctor-assisted death. CBC.

I’ve just spent two and a half weeks in London, a city with the most wonderful, heritage buildings, well preserved by a concerned municipal council. So I wanted to share this post by Studio 123 that looks at how Sudbury is brightening up its downtown. [Mel’s note: The Forken Spoon is now a pizza joint O.o ]

Watch Jeff Bollow’s TED talk on how to expand your imagination:

Amazing photo captures a plane struck by lightning as it flies through a rainbow. What are the chances? IFLS.

Fire rainbows (actually circumhorizontal arcs) seen over South Carolina. ILFS.

The science of six degrees of separation from Veritasium:

An albino humpback whale! IFLS.

An Outlander post in the Thoughty Thursday curation? Yup. Cause its focus is on herbalism.

Tori Amos is one of my all time favourite musical artists. Silent all these years:

Have a fabulous Friday!

See you Saturday.

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, August 16-22, 2015

September 1, 2015 / Melanie Marttila

Blissfully back to normal!

And Mom’s surgery went wonderfully, thanks.

Now, on to the Writerly Goodness:

Are you protagonist and your main character the same person? K.M. Weiland explains how the answer could transform your story.

The Pixar way to think about conflict in your story. Katie’s weekly vlog.

Chuck Wendig shares his writing process and invites us to share ours. Terribleminds.

He also smells our rookie moves . . . and tells us how we can avoid them.

Marcy Kennedy guest posts on Jami Gold’s blog on the topic of internal dialogue and three story problems it can help us address.

How to become a bestselling, full-time novelist—it’s so easy! Dan Blank takes a facetious look at becoming an overnight success as an author on Writer Unboxed.

Stephen Kings asks, can a novelist be too productive? The New York Times.

Jeff Bollow’s how to write FAST. By the way, that’s an acronym. It’s not about speed or productivity.

Leta Blake highlights diversity in the LGBTQ community for Writer Unboxed.

The Rabbit Box: a strange and wonderful storybook for grownups. Brainpickings.

Neil Gaiman explains why our future depends on libraries, reading, and daydreaming. The Guardian.

Dylan Landis shares her experience with grief and how it affected her. The New York Times.

The BBC talks to Verlyn Flieger, who helped to bring J.R.R. Tolkein’s Kullervo to print.

R.F. Foster on Yeats, faeries, and the Irish occult tradition:

Flavorwire shares this list of 50 books for 50 classes—a curriculum on your bookshelf.

Who won the Hugos and why it matters. Wired.

Noah Berlatsky chimes in with this take on women authors in SF and the Hugo controversy for Playboy.

Gary K. Wolfe writes about it in the Chicago Tribune, as well.

Takeaway of the week: It doesn’t matter whether your write fast or slow, full-time or part-time, only that you write. Don’t go comparing your work or process to anyone else’s. You are you and your novel is something only you could have created. Value yourself and your time.

So get writing.

And we’ll see you in two days.

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, August 9-15, 2015

August 20, 2015 / Melanie Marttila

Getting thoughty with it 😉

Anna Lovind shares her thoughts on the self-talk that can make or break you.

Susan Cain is interviewed on the CBC’s Q about the quiet revolution.

The kindness of strangers connects a poet to her grief. NPR.

The touching advice given to a young man in mourning. Tickld.

You’ve got this. On depression and hope. Be brave, and talk.

The science of being happier. Next Avenue.

Mindy Kaling’s guide to killer self-confidence. Glamor.

Jonathan Fields interviews Debbie Millman on what it takes to design a good life. Brainpickings.

Mary Engelbreit started drawing anti-racist illustrations for children’s books and some of her fans took exception. Buzzfeed.

Rose McGowan: Hollywood whistle blower. Buzzfeed.

Wasn’t sure where to put this . . . Irish Central shares some of the advice that was given to 19th century Irish women.

Eleven things introverts want you to know. The Elephant Journal.

How to get more sleep. Brendan Burchard.

Where do we draw the line between appreciation and appropriation? CBC’s Q.

Sudbury cancer researcher makes promising discovery. The Sudbury Star.

Space lettuce! Gizmodo.

How Minority Report predicted the future with surprising accuracy. Outer Places.

Why smart objects might be a dumb idea. The New York Times.

New report scorches Stephen Harper’s democratic record. Rabble.ca

Federal cuts to MD/PhD program will hamstring research. Just another underhanded move by the Conservatives. CBC.

Rick Mercer: Either Harper was in on it, or he’s psychotic.

Harper’s even made The New York Times: The closing of the Canadian mind.

Strandbeests. Strange and wonderful. The New Yorker.

This new New York carousel puts riders in the middle of a swirling school of mechanized fish. The New York Times.

Have a great weekend. I’ll be back next week with more Tipsday and Thoughty Thursday, and then next weekend, I’ll be back to my weekend posting habits. It’s been a long couple of weeks away from home. Looking forward to getting back to my usual, quiet life.

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, August 2-8, 2015

August 13, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 1 Comment

Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot, animated on Brainpickings.

Josh Barro explores the difference between American and Canadian political debates. The New York Times.

Traffic stop:

On consent and victim-bashing. Hrtwarming.

Why women daren’t go grey. The Guardian.

First Nations film maker, Shirley Cheechoo, will become the next Chancellor of Brock University. The Brock News.

Seven forgotten women surrealists who deserve to be remembered. The Huffington Post.

This is for the women who don’t give a fuck.

Anna Lovind writes for The Huffington Post about the life-changing lessons chronic pain has taught her.

Whether you’re healing anxiety or a broken heart, the tools are the same. The Elephant Journal.

How vacation habits can lead to sustainable year-round happiness. The Huffington Post.

The age at which you have your first sexual experience can have far-reaching relationship effects. PsychCentral.

Psychopaths versus sociopaths: what’s the difference? IFLS.

A musician decodes whale song. NPR.

See you next Thursday with more thoughty 🙂

Be well until then.

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, July 26-August 1, 2015

August 6, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

Interesting stuff this week. Veeerrry interesting 😉

Controversial feminist Camille Paglia lectures on Shakespeare’s evil women. CBC’s Ideas.

Don’t know what the ‘vocal fry’ is? Faith Salie demonstrates:

Naomi Wolf advises young women to eschew the ‘vocal fry.’ The Guardian.

In response, Erin Riley calls shenanigans. The dislike of the ‘vocal fry’ is just an excuse to ignore young women’s voices. The Guardian.

Loneliness is on the rise in the age of connectivity. CBC’s The Current.

The Heart and the Bottle is a modern fable about denying difficult emotions. Brainpickings.

The Crossroads of Should and Must, an intelligent illustrated field guide to finding your bliss. Brainpickings.

What the best education systems in the world are doing right. TED.ed

I know I’m usually more about the astronomy than the astrology, but July 31st was the second full moon in the month, also called a blue moon. Apparently, it had astrological significance as well (!)

Brainpickings introduces us to Beatrix Potter, mycologist.

Carbon engineering. IFLS.

There is a two billion year old, natural, nuclear reactor in Africa. IFLS.

The Smithsonian introduces us to the bejewelled skeletons of Catholicism’s forgotten martyrs.

Water intoxication in dogs is another summer hazard to watch out for. The Huffington Post.

Why are dogs so insanely happy to see us when we get home? i09.

Discarded images presents this list of the top ten Medieval butt-licking cats. Thanks to Diana Gabaldon and her daughter for this 🙂

Kawaii! Watch a baby pygmy hippo have a swim. IFLS.

Now . . . since I’m heading out of town on the weekend (for two and a half weeks), I’m going to take me a brief break from the weekend posts. It’s just a bit much while I’m on the road. I will continue to curate Tipsday and Thoughty Thursday, though, so come on back and check it out next week.

Thanks for your understanding.

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, July 26-August 1, 2015

August 4, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 4 Comments

Tipsday is back, full force. Feel the Writerly Goodness 😉

K.M. Weiland shares four ways to write a likeable protagonist at the beginning of the character arc. Helping writers become authors.

Related: Chris Winkle asks (and answers), do characters need to be likeable? Mythcreants.

Here are two ways to make the most of your climactic setting, Katie’s Wednesday vlog.

Writer Unboxed continues its Diversity series with Gabriel Valjan: Import foreign cultures into your fiction.

Jami Gold shines a light on diversity issues.

Kim Bullock gets confessional on Writer Unboxed: The elephant in my living room.

How to write a novel in the dark, by Siobhan Adcock. The Daily Beast.

This is crazy-awesome Writingeekery. MJ Bush decided to live blog her 24 hour write-a-thon to draft her next book.

More Writer Unboxed: Jo Eberhardt shares a personal story about the power of fiction. [Mel’s note: Mary Brown’s The Unlikely Ones was one of the books I latched onto in my university years. Wonderful.]

Jeff Gerke guest posts on C.S. Lakin’s Live, Write, Thrive blog about hacking your reader’s brain.

Callie Oettinger revisits a past post on Steven Pressfield’s blog: Lay a little heavy on the business side.

Your second life starts when life cracks you open. Justine Musk on stepping into the bigger story.

Virginia Woolf believed that the best mind is an androgynous mind. Brainpickings.

Janis Joplin speaks about creativity and rejection in her final, lost interview, rediscovered and animated. Fabulous. Brainpickings.

Portland Monthly features home grown author Ursula K. le Guin. Amazing read.

Ever thought, ‘gee, I’d like to ask Ursula K. le Guin about writing’? Well, now you can! The Book View Cafe.

Neil Gaiman talks in his sleep. His wife, Amanda Palmer, found a forgotten recording of one of their nocturnal conversations and created this whimsical animated short. Brainpickings. [Mel’s note: I take a strange kind of comfort in the fact that I talk in my sleep, too. Phil doesn’t record our conversations, though.]

Fantasy writer N.K. Jemesin upends the racist and sexist status quo. The Guardian.

Haruki Murakami shares the moment he knew he’d be a writer. The Telegraph.

Jill Soloway calls for a matriarchal revolution in film. The Vulture.

How changing your reading habits can improve your health. Fast Company.

Charlie Jane Anders of i09 writes about ten books we pretend to have read and why we really should. For the record, I’ve only read one of these, Dune.

Foz Meadows writes about Sens8 for Tor.com. Just for the record, Phil and I loved the shite out of this Netflix Original.

CBC is now producing webseries: The Riftworld Chronicles. Tamoh Penikett stars 🙂

Buzzfeed presents seventeen (gif) faces that every grammar nerd will relate to.

Authors tweet #tenthingsnottosaytoawriter. Entertainment Weekly.

Interesting stuff coming up on thoughty Thursday, See you then!

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, June 14-20, 2015

June 23, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 3 Comments

Another wonderful week for Writerly Goodness!

What’s the key event and how is it different from the inciting incident and the first plot point? I know I still forget the distinctions. K.M. Weiland’s Helping Writers Become Authors.

And here’s Katie’s Wednesday vlog: How to write a riveting characteristic moment.

Roz Morris shares her experience with repetitive stress injury (RSI).

Kassandra Lamb guests on Jami Gold’s blog: Nine psychology myths you need to avoid.

Tips on picking up the pace from Rebecca LuElla Miller.

Learn about the magic systems of Brandon Sanderson. Tor.com.

Five ways first contact could turn into an epic fail. Veronica Sicoe.

Neil Gaiman offers his thoughts on why stories last. (w/ Podcast) BrainPickings.

Liz Bourke ponders how we speak of strong female characters. This post refers to others I’ve shared in past weeks and takes it in a slightly different direction. Very interesting. Tor.com.

How can you keep readers from hating your characters? Jody Hedlund.

Beth Revis posts on Janice Hardy’s Fiction University: How do you know you’re ready to publish? Agent Carly Watters of P.S. Literary wrote on the same topic last week 🙂

Dave King explores our motivations for writing. Writer Unboxed.

Kameron Hurley asks, why are we self-publishing? Locus.

Porter Anderson takes a look at Hugh Howey’s promotion of self-publishing and what it really means in the context of the continually evolving publishing industry. Thought Catalog.

Amazon changes its terms for KDP select. The Digital Reader.

Why I teach diverse literature. The Toast.

What librarians wish we knew about how to use a library. i09.

Authors share the places that inspire them. FlavorWire.

Ten books you should read before you see the movie. The Huffington Post.

Mark Twain’s advice to little girls. BrainPickings.

This is fun 🙂 Classic novels with clickbait titles. BuzzFeed.

BuzzFeed shares 22 book-themed gifts for readers.

Watch the Scooby Doo crew’s fashion evolve through the last century. i09.

The first set photos of the new all-female Ghostbusters! i09.

Mike Hale states that Game of Thrones the series is going the way of Lost . . . What do you think? The New York Times.

Here are Charlie Jane Anders’s suggestions about how to fix Game of Thrones. Is it even possible? i09.

How Terry Dresbach’s costumes bring history to life on Outlander. Variety.

Orphan Black’s season finale: history yet to be written. It was awesome (IMO). The Wall Street Journal.

See you Thursday 🙂

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, April 19-25, 2015

April 30, 2015 / Melanie Marttila

Not an overwhelming amount of thoughty this Thursday, but quality is the thing.

The tragic news of the week is the earthquake in Tibet. Zee News.

Before and after images of the devastation from Think Progress.

My thoughts and prayers, such as they are.

Last week I shared an article about how there are not enough psychiatrists and too many in need. This week: why Doctors don’t have clients . . . Psychiatric Times.

Your passion isn’t your bliss; nor is it your bitch. Justine Musk.

Sir Ken Robinson on how creative schools can transform education. CBS News.

Cancer research in Sudbury is making progress. Here’s the news article and the interview from Morning North. CBC.

Neil deGrasse Tyson’s ambition is to make science hip. LA Times.

Shedding light on dark matter and dark energy with Patricia Burchat. TED Talk.

Life in the deep ocean, a TED Talk by David Gallo.

North Brother Island: the last unknown place in New York city. Brainpickings.

More abandoned places. This time: Creepy brothels. Scribol.

When cancer in dogs isn’t just a matter of bad luck. Vet Street.

If I fits, I sits! Why cats (of all sizes) love boxes. IFLS.

Watch an octopus catch and eat a crab. Wicked! Geekologie.

Diving giraffes and bouncing elephants. Awesome animation on i09.