Seven Years

Potions for Muggles is seven years old! Amazingly, I’m still writing. In the early years, I felt that my writing was improving, but more recently I feel I’ve reached stasis. Perhaps I haven’t stretched myself by trying to learn some new things about the art and craft of writing. This is something I need to ponder.

 

I haven’t spent much time writing about magic and science lately. Although I tried to revive this by reading Terry Pratchett’s original Discworld series parlayed into the Science of Discworld, I ultimately did not find it as interesting. So, I’m on the lookout for some potentially new and interesting fiction that will spark creative themes. I haven’t yet searched in earnest.

 

Quite a number of posts were related to new teaching protocols related to the Covid-19 global pandemic. I did learn some new tricks, but I’ve mostly reverted to the old storehouse of pedagogy I’ve built up over the years. Teaching remotely or masked was not as bad I as anticipated, but I still prefer face-to-face and personally meeting and chatting with my students with as few barriers as possible (masks and Zoom boxes, primarily).

 

There were more posts than usual about my research-related thoughts on non-equilibrium thermodynamics, kinetics, and living systems. Much of this stemmed from reading challenging scientific papers and books that are more obscure, but I think there are some very interesting nuggets that have helped me progress in thinking about the age-old question: “What is life?”

 

And yes, a large portion of my posts are still about books and articles that I’ve read. Going out less because of the pandemic means staying at home and reading more. Not a bad thing, necessarily.

 

As with every new year, I don’t make resolutions or predictions. Maybe I’ve grown old, a little jaded, a little less expectant, but perhaps I’m also more comfortable in my routine and where I am in life. Supposedly I’m a little past the lowest dip in the happiness curve, but I frankly can’t tell.

 

It’s nice to take a moment to reflect when reaching a milestone of sorts. I don’t have anything Halloween-themed to say, but since I just finished Lewis Structures in my G-Chem classes this past week, here’s my Quest for a Stable BOO!