Author of the infamous Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut, offers us advice on How to Write With Style:
- Find a subject you care about
- Do not ramble, though
- Keep it simple
- Have guts to cut
- Sound like yourself
- Say what you mean
- Pity the readers
Kurt Vonnegut: Advice to Writers
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52 Proven Stress Reducers
I’m always a bit wary when I see a list such as this, but these 52 Proven Stress Reducers are all worth reading. Common sense, of course, but it’s always nice to be reminded.
Get up fifteen minutes earlier in the morning. The inevitable morning mishaps will be less stressful.
Prepare for the morning the evening before. Set the breakfast table. Make lunches. Put out the clothes you plan to wear, etc.
Do nothing you have to lie about later.
Dr Mezmer’s Dictionary of Bad Psychology
For an amusing take on the A-Z of psychology, Dr Mezmer’s Dictionary of Bad Psychology is close at hand.
Meme: The idea that since ideas reproduce metaphorically like genes, that they must reproduce actually like genes. Thus because ideas spread like the plague, tunes are infectious, and advertising phrases are catchy, this must mean that ideas are selected by the same evolutionary processes that make for feet, eyeballs, and a tendency to accept nonsense such as this. (see evolutionary psychology)
Similar, and worth a read: The Devil’s Dictionary.
via Mind Hacks
Guide to Road Trip Photography
I’ve thought before on how to document a road trip: it’s a tricky area with no perfect solution. Photojojo’s Ultimate Guide to Road Trip Photography has thrown a few more ideas into the mix. I like this suggestion:
Make Your Own Postcards - Before you head out, read our tutorial on three easy ways to make post cards or stock up on some mailable photo frames. Throughout your route, stop by the nearest drug store chain, pop in your memory card and print out some home-made memorabilia to send back home.
Food, Wonderful Food (Cooking Resources)
Recipes and Tips for Healthy, Thrifty Meals is a website created by the US Department of Agriculture’s Centre for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. It contains a wealth of information including: best buys for cost and nutrition; some nice, simple recipes; and food lists for two weeks worth of meals.
If you don’t have all the necessary ingredients, head over to The Cook’s Thesaurus to see if something else you have would make a suitable replacement.
If not, Cooking by Numbers allows you to input what you do have, and will tell you what you can make from it, and how.
Once you know what you’re making, this simple list of Cooking Conversions will come in handy translating those pesky American measurements into British units, or vice-versa.
Also useful is the Encyclopaedia of Spices, Ingredients Guide, and these Cooking Tips.
The Hillbilly Housewife is supposed to be a good resource too, but I haven’t had the time to have a browse.