Ivan

“In eastern Washington, the territory around the Hanford reservation is promoted as the last stand of original shrub-sage habitat in the Columbia Basin, yet periodically deer and rabbits wander from the preserve and leave radioactive droppings on Richland’s lawns.”
― Kate Brown, Plutopia: Nuclear Families, Atomic Cities, and the Great Soviet and American Plutonium Disasters

“When scientists ask whether they should blog, they are sometimes paralyzed: "Will I be wasting my time? Narcissistically navel-gazing? What might people say?" It is probably healthy to consider these questions when your reputation is on the line. On the other hand, the safest route is rarely a useful path for anyone who wants to make a difference. When it comes to blogging, researchers should balance skepticism with a clear-eyed assessment of the power and possibilities.”
― Nancy Baron, Escape from the Ivory Tower: A Guide to Making Your Science Matter

“That dawn he officiated at the daily mass of his ablutions with more frenetic severity than usual, trying to purge his body and spirit of twenty years of fruitless wars and the disillusionments of power.”
― Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez, The General in His Labyrinth

“Description is what makes the reader a sensory participant in the story. Good description is a learned skill,one of the prime reasons you cannot succeed unless you read a lot and write a lot. It's not just a question of how-to, you see; it's a question of how much to. Reading will help you answer how much, and only reams of writing will help you with the how. You can learn only by doing.”
― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft