178 posts
Latest Posts by acatwrites - Page 6
It’s Just Like Ancient Egypt
Bored
This is my week 2 writing prompt. I didn’t quite make it to my 2000 wordcount minimum but I got it done in one day. “If I wanted to work late, I would have applied at a Mini-mart. At least there might have been some activity.”, Ava said, as she thumped her purse on the desk. “Quit your bitching, or you might find yourself there, yet.”, Brie said. She tossed her hair and began to pack her…
View On WordPress
Bored
This is my week 2 writing prompt. I didn’t quite make it to my 2000 wordcount minimum but I got it done in one day. “If I wanted to work late, I would have applied at a Mini-mart. At least there might have been some activity.”, Ava said, as she thumped her purse on the desk. “Quit your bitching, or you might find yourself there, yet.”, Brie said. She tossed her hair and began to pack her…
View On WordPress
Gantry
I’ve started a personal challenge. One short story, not related to my WIP per week. It will be based on a writing prompt, between 2000-5000 words, and be completed in one day. No editing or rewrites(except a quick spellcheck). Critiques of content are encouraged. My week 1 prompt was this fellow here… Gantry stood on the overlook. The sheep in the field behind him, quiet in the early morning.…
View On WordPress
Gantry
I’ve started a personal challenge. One short story, not related to my WIP per week. It will be based on a writing prompt, between 2000-5000 words, and be completed in one day. No editing or rewrites(except a quick spellcheck). Critiques of content are encouraged. My week 1 prompt was this fellow here… Gantry stood on the overlook. The sheep in the field behind him, quiet in the early morning.…
View On WordPress
Pretty accurate..
I believe in free education, one that’s available to everyone; no matter their race, gender, age, wealth, etc… This masterpost was created for every knowledge hungry individual out there. I hope it will serve you well. Enjoy!
FREE ONLINE COURSES (here are listed websites that provide huge variety of courses)
Alison
Coursera
FutureLearn
open2study
Khan Academy
edX
P2P U
Academic Earth
iversity
Stanford Online
MIT Open Courseware
Open Yale Courses
BBC Learning
OpenLearn
Carnegie Mellon University OLI
University of Reddit
Saylor
IDEAS, INSPIRATION & NEWS (websites which deliver educational content meant to entertain you and stimulate your brain)
TED
FORA
Big Think
99u
BBC Future
Seriously Amazing
How Stuff Works
Discovery News
National Geographic
Science News
Popular Science
IFLScience
YouTube Edu
NewScientist
DIY & HOW-TO’S (Don’t know how to do that? Want to learn how to do it yourself? Here are some great websites.)
wikiHow
Wonder How To
instructables
eHow
Howcast
MAKE
Do it yourself
FREE TEXTBOOKS & E-BOOKS
OpenStax CNX
Open Textbooks
Bookboon
Textbook Revolution
E-books Directory
FullBooks
Books Should Be Free
Classic Reader
Read Print
Project Gutenberg
AudioBooks For Free
LibriVox
Poem Hunter
Bartleby
MIT Classics
Many Books
Open Textbooks BCcampus
Open Textbook Library
WikiBooks
SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES & JOURNALS
Directory of Open Access Journals
Scitable
PLOS
Wiley Open Access
Springer Open
Oxford Open
Elsevier Open Access
ArXiv
Open Access Library
LEARN:
1. LANGUAGES
Duolingo
BBC Languages
Learn A Language
101languages
Memrise
Livemocha
Foreign Services Institute
My Languages
Surface Languages
Lingualia
OmniGlot
OpenCulture’s Language links
2. COMPUTER SCIENCE & PROGRAMMING
Codecademy
Programmr
GA Dash
CodeHS
w3schools
Code Avengers
Codelearn
The Code Player
Code School
Code.org
Programming Motherf*?$%#
Bento
Bucky’s room
WiBit
Learn Code the Hard Way
Mozilla Developer Network
Microsoft Virtual Academy
3. YOGA & MEDITATION
Learning Yoga
Learn Meditation
Yome
Free Meditation
Online Meditation
Do Yoga With Me
Yoga Learning Center
4. PHOTOGRAPHY & FILMMAKING
Exposure Guide
The Bastards Book of Photography
Cambridge in Color
Best Photo Lessons
Photography Course
Production Now
nyvs
Learn About Film
Film School Online
5. DRAWING & PAINTING
Enliighten
Ctrl+Paint
ArtGraphica
Google Cultural Institute
Drawspace
DragoArt
WetCanvas
6. INSTRUMENTS & MUSIC THEORY
Music Theory
Teoria
Music Theory Videos
Furmanczyk Academy of Music
Dave Conservatoire
Petrucci Music Library
Justin Guitar
Guitar Lessons
Piano Lessons
Zebra Keys
Play Bass Now
7. OTHER UNCATEGORIZED SKILLS
Investopedia
The Chess Website
Chesscademy
Chess.com
Spreeder
ReadSpeeder
First Aid for Free
First Aid Web
NHS Choices
Wolfram Demonstrations Project
Please feel free to add more learning focused websites.
*There are a lot more learning websites out there, but I picked the ones that are, as far as I’m aware, completely free and in my opinion the best/ most useful.
Learning to Live Dark
Learning to Live Dark
Even as a small child, I was never afraid of the dark. The first time I woke in a coffin, changed that. I opened my eyes in pitch black, the weight of it pressing down and the silence ringing in my ears. I screamed myself, hoarse. All these years later, I’m still not accustomed to it. This night, I startle awake and force myself to breath. I don’t need to but, the feeling is comforting. My…
View On WordPress
25 Life Empowering Life Lessons From Rumi
Rumi, originally born Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī was a 13th-century Persian poet, jurist, and theologian whose wisdom on beauty, love, and life is still appreciated in our contemporary world. His words are inspiring, moving and healing. We have compiled a list of lessons and wise excerpts from Rumi to soothe your soul.
Keep reading
And That’s What Happened to the Folding Chair… A few weeks ago I saw this random chair. It needed a story... “Aren’t sacrifices supposed to be virgins?
#gallery-0-5 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-5 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-0-5 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-5 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */
The yearly ritual began with a simple cup of coffee and the sunrise. Mornings were already feeling a little cooler. The woman breathed the salt air in deep and relaxed, almost meditating. The blue-jays in the nearby sycamore chased each other with a joyous freedom. She wondered if they could feel the change in the air too. Finally ready, she set her mug down and strolled across the deserted street. Her few year round neighbors were all still asleep or already off to work. Leaving her sneakers on the wooden fence, her toes felt sand for the first time in two months. A cool breeze played with her hair. The beach was welcoming her home. She made her way down the worn path that would soon be a memory. Her feet alone weren’t enough to fight off the inevitable build-up of sand. The drooping fence would soon be the only marker to the entrance. Coming over the last dune, she surveyed the unsanctified land. Under the scattered debris, the sand glowed yellow white. The city sent people out to clean the beach but there was always a lot of trash they missed. She didn’t really mind. In fact, there was pride in the growing bag of soda cans and hot dog wrappers she held. Halfway through, she had to shed the light sweater that she’d put on in hopes of it being cooler. It would be soon enough. Her patch of the beach wasn’t large, but it always seemed to attract the messiest people. She made sure to walk the whole thing. Reconsecrating it with her joy alone. It was only after erasing all evidence of the summer people, that she sank onto the warm sand. The ocean sparkled in the sun. Gulls dove into the surf and flew away with the small fish they’d caught. The tide rolled over her bare feet. She accepted the water’s blessing. This moment was what she’d been dreaming of. The ritual complete, she could finally relax. The silence wrapped around her like a blanket. She had only ventured here once during a seasonal siege. The noise had run her off before she could even touch the sand. There was no too loud radios or children playing to break the peace, now. Tomorrow, after the first swim of the season, she would bring her sketchbook and work on her newest masterpiece with her toes buried in the sand. The beach would be her’s until next summer’s invasion.
The Beach The yearly ritual began with a simple cup of coffee and the sunrise. Mornings were already…
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
Let me start by saying I grew up on Beetle Bailey. I’m not criticizing the strip in general. The comic above appeared on May 16. It illustrates a long standing discussion that has been going in our house. On the surface we see a guy surrounded by women who won’t give him the time of day. He goes home depressed. Are we supposed to feel sad for this lonely fellow? What about the girls? They seem to be taking a lot of blame for his woes. “Hey darlin’”, “Honey”, “Sweetie”. Are they really supposed to respond positively?
This strikes a cord with me because I am one of these ladies. I myself have had words like that thrown at me from car windows, in the aisle t the grocery store, or at work. I too am going about my day, not looking or wanting attention. Yet just like these women, I am somehow to blame for not responding appropriately. I am told that this behavior shouldn’t bother me. It’s just harmless flirting. I should be flattered. I am not.
If it makes someone uncomfortable then its not harmless. I have met very few women who are okay with this kind of treatment. They have learned the best way to deal with it, is to just ignore it. Any kind of positive response encourages them. A negative response can make the man aggressive and may lead to violence. Going through the day with your head down and headphones on is no way to live. We girls have learned from our experiences. Now we just have to teach the men.
Our hapless friend needs to learn how very wrong his approach is. Clearly, he wants a relationship. A verbal scattershot isn’t working. Nor would the classic construction worker catcall. I believe it will take someone teaching him, and others of his kind, to be respectful and thoughtful. The more we push for change on a societal level, the more it seems there is resistance. Its time to take it to a more individual level.
Teach him to be nice and kind, he will win the fair maiden’s hand and perhaps he will pass it on to his own sons.
I’m just tired; I just want the world to be quiet for a bit.
Matt Healy (via wordsnquotes)
paraskevidekatriaphobia
(noun) Defined as the fear of Friday the 13th, Paraskevidekatriaphobia was first coined by psychotherapist, Donald Dossey. Possessing an unreasonable fear of this day and date, Dossey says the only way to cure oneself of such paralyzing thoughts is to learn how to pronounce the word and you are cured! Next Friday the 13th will fall on March 2015 and again this November, which makes it a rare occurrence taking place three times in one year! Creepy! Hopefully your verbal acrobatics will help you remedy this fear. (via wordsnquotes)
A Valentine's Story
Just a little story, my roommate pointed out that it would be good for Valentine’s Day
“So, I think I’m ready to start dating again.”
Sitting in the small café with my best friend, felt almost normal. We were sipping cappuccinos out of those tiny cups. Well she was having a cappuccino, I was pretending. Coffee was one of those things that I didn’t do any more. Not since Brad.
“Are you sure about…
View On WordPress
Not another vampire blog
A coworker once stamped her feet and exclaimed, “I was into vampires before Twilight. I bet these kids have never even heard of Buffy.”
I, of course, replied. “I was into vampires long before Buffy.”
She horrified me, by telling me that she had been in middle school when Buffy came out.
I can’t say what got me started. I remember growing up, loving all things vampire and werewolf. Everything from…
View On WordPress
Sword of Heaven and Hell
This is a short story introducing characters for a YA series—
The sun shining through a crack in the blinds, woke Logan out of a sound sleep. The soft whir of the air conditioner, was the only thing that broke the silence. It was summer and he’d done his best to be able to sleep in. He had even stapled the curtains shut but, every morning the sun found a way through. He suspected that his mom had…
View On WordPress
"Weekly" Blog
Actors always say that being themselves, is the hardest role to play. I think the same can be said for me. Fiction comes easy for me, as I slip into the mind of my characters. Getting into my own head however, is a completely different story. Every few months I decide that I really have too many things to say.
So I log into livejournal or wordpress and I try to get my thoughts organized. I sit…
View On WordPress
Here’s the secret to finishing that first book. Don’t rewrite as you go.
Laurell K. Hamilton (via writingquotes)