BrainPickings

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, June 29-July 5, 2014

/ Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

Heading off to yoga shortly, so getting this week’s offerings up all hasty like.

Despite the title, K.M. Weiland offers writers some comfort: Why every story you write is a guaranteed failure.

C.H. Griffin posts about what Firefly can teach us about writing. Love Joss Whedon and Firefly, so this geek was caught at the title 😉

Infuse your fiction with Donald Maass on Writer Unboxed.

Ruth Harris blew me away with all of these writerly resources, many of them free!

Neuromarketing advises us to forget the fold. Interesting news for those of us who have usually posted loooong.

Roz Morris counsels a young aspirant about what path she should take to become a writer. This is good advice for anyone considering taking a course, workshop, or degree to bolster their “qualifications.”

The CBC’s list of the 100 novels that make us proud to be Canadian.

Brainpickings presents the greatest books of all time, as voted by 125 famous authors.

Why people in the 19th century thought reading fiction was bad for you. The Huffington Post.

A TED Ed video on the art of metaphor by Jane Hirshfield.

Four lessons in creativity from Julie Burstein. A TED Talk.

And that she be it.

Tipsday

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz June 22-28, 2014

/ Melanie Marttila

Another thoughty week runs the gamut from the sublime to the absurd. Just for you, my thoughty friends 🙂

This is from the learning and development side of my life, but, I figured, why not share the love? The social learning blog offers 22 free elearning and graphic design resources.

Author Media created this infographic that gives you ALL the sizes for all images on the most popular social media. Cheat sheet? AWESOME!

New technology for books! Check out the booktrack. Posted by Laurence MacNaughton on Jane Friedman’s blog.

All work and no play makes Johnny . . . crazy? Watch this TED talk and see what you think:

 

Five ways animals suffer from mental illness from ted.ideas.com. Phil and I have always been convinced we raise neurotic pets . . .

From the Telegraph: phobias may be memories passed down in our genes from our ancestors. Whoa, dude.

Brainpickings presents the theology of rest. “Rest, instead of being something passive, is actually an act of resistance.”

Try the Celtic version of the zodiac. The Celtic tree calendar from Irish Central.

A literary travel guide to the UK from ShortList.

Ted.ideas.com asks which country does the most good for the planet?

Six sites gain world heritage site status. Discovery news.

How much room would we need to supply the entire world with solar energy? I Fucking Love Science has the scoop.

Have a closer look at Europa with National Geographic. I love Europa. Wrote a poem about her once 🙂

The Atlantic present more of the entrants in the 2014 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.

Love pugs? How about Game of Thrones? A couple of creative souls decided to put the two together and this is what they came up with:

 

HelloGiggles brings us an ode to sloths.

Wired’s absurd creature of the week: the assassin bug. More like creepy creature. Gives me the wiggins.

The truth about public toilet seats from Lifehacker.

And now that you’re suitably grossed out, I shall bid thee adieu!

The best in edutainment. Nothing’s too good for my writerly friends 🙂

Thoughty Thursday

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz April 27-May 3, 2014

/ Melanie Marttila

Thoughty ThursdayThis week, a recipe for inspiration. For your consideration.

A pinch of introspection. How we know who we are. Joshua Knobe on BrainPickings.

A spoonful of introversion. 30 Problems only introverts will understand from Tickld.

A wee tipple of a comic on what to do when you’re feeling overwhelmed.

A taste of Neil Gaiman’s anti-bullying sentiments. Difference is magic.

A little edumacation on autism. What we know, and what we don’t know. Wendy Chung’s TED talk.

 

A smidgen of imagery. The 2014 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest. The Atlantic.

A fair bit of travel. Distractify’s 25 cities your should visit in your lifetime.

Too much of one place I wouldn’t want to go. The forecast calls for spiders, from I fucking love science.

Some physical activity. Walking leads to increased creativity. The American Psychological Association.

A heaping serving of mortality. I guess I was feeling a little morbid this week.

And … to make it all better, and because I love you, a sweet bit of PUPPY STAMPEDE!

Mix it all together and what do we have? You tell me, folks 😉

It’s all Writerly Goodness.