An e-zine about spaceships, aliens, science, memory, motherhood, magic, and cats.
The 13-year-old has been developing a fear of fear itself, like pointing a mirror at a mirror. So, I’ve decided to start walking them through a carefully curated set of scary movies.
First up was Speed. The kid was terrified to start, but then grinned the whole way through. Continue reading “Horror as an Antidote to Fear”
That feeling of relief when the kitten suddenly considers deciding that framed things hanging on walls are fun to knock down… and just as quickly decides, nah, that seems boring after all, better to find something else to do.
by Mary E. Lowd
Originally published in Daily Science Fiction, September 2014
Marla realized that she’d left the 3-D printer running. She’d been up late synthesizing a chef-bot she’d found the pattern for online. Sure, she could have just baked the damn cake for Leia’s tenth birthday party herself, but the chef-bot would do a better job. And it was programmed with the recipe for homemade hard candy — she could put that in the piñata she’d printed up. Continue reading “Pegacornus Rex”
—acquire a toy she especially loves
—locate a particularly enticing tangle of power cords where you don’t want her playing with above toy
—when she plays with toy in cords, take it away and throw as far as possible
—wait a few moments and repeat
“There’s a difference between things you actually want to do with your life, and things that are aesthetically pleasing to imagine.”
—me, explaining how I was delighted to discover a set of 3 films that go together perfectly, but don’t actually want to do a movie night w/them
Today’s writing related internet searches: “beaver claws” and “types of clouds.”
Me: “What’s the word that’s like nocturnal… except… for water…”
Friend: “Aquatic?” Continue reading “Writing About Aquatic Animals in Clouds”
It’s hard to capture in pictures, because part of the magic of a Sheltie’s grin is how flickering & changeable it is, responding to every detail of the world around… but Cole started the day scared to leave the place he grew up & ended the day ECSTATIC.
Cole was like a kid on his first day at college tonight, blown away by his new freedoms. He could hardly believe that he could be IN the house and ON the couch and stay up until ONE AM! Continue reading “Fluffy Fellow”
I’ve been staring at pictures of this handsome fluffy man for two months, hoping he’d become available, AND NOW HE’S IN MY CAR AND WE’RE TAKING HIM HOME.
My gloriously fine fellow patiently watches the scenery go by as we take him on the long drive to his new home. Continue reading “Cole is Here”
Star Trek: Lower Decks is the first time I’ve uncomplicatedly, straightforwardly just LIKED Star Trek during my adulthood (anything post-DS9). It’s not that I haven’t enjoyed or even loved other parts of Trek… but it’s never a simple relationship.
Lower Decks is just… fun.
The seven-year-old, out of nowhere: “My world is huge.”
Me: “How big is it?”
Seven: “Bigger than this planet…”