*Geekling's Guide to the Galaxy
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*Geekling's Guide to the Galaxy

Travel with purpose

Explore STEM & Arts in southern california and beyond

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Latest Posts

Geekling's Guide to the Galaxy
Santa Barbara Beaches 41 to 49
Santa Barbara Beaches 41 to 49
Santa Barbara Beaches 31 to 40
Santa Barbara Beaches 31 to 40
Santa Barbara Beaches 21 to 30
Santa Barbara Beaches 21 to 30
Santa Barbara Beach 11 to 20
Santa Barbara Beach 11 to 20
Santa Barbara Beaches 1 To 10
Santa Barbara Beaches 1 To 10
My #sbbeaches2018 Challenge: Visit All Santa Barbara County Public Beaches In One Year!
My #sbbeaches2018 Challenge: Visit All Santa Barbara County Public Beaches In One Year!

I set myself the challenge of visiting all of Santa Barbara county’s public, accessible beaches in 2018…49 in all!

How Do Tides Work
How Do Tides Work

You might remember that tides happen because of the moon, but how? Why? Geeklin’gs Guide to the Galaxy explores the finer details you may have forgotten!

UCLA Meteorite Gallery
UCLA Meteorite Gallery

Explore's UCLA's collection of ROCKS FROM SPACE! Also, learn that not all meteorites are created equal...Holy variety, Batman!

Griffith Observatory (Los Angeles, CA)
Griffith Observatory (Los Angeles, CA)

Whether hiking, exploring, or star gazing, you can't go wrong with the Griffith Observatory.

What Do Pokemon Go and San Francisco Have In Common?
What Do Pokemon Go and San Francisco Have In Common?

Or perhaps most importantly, did you know there are ships buried under San Francisco?

 
 

Make a SMALL impact.

Change the world.

 
 
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Places To Visit

Geekling's Guide to the Galaxy
UCLA Meteorite Gallery
UCLA Meteorite Gallery
Griffith Observatory (Los Angeles, CA)
Griffith Observatory (Los Angeles, CA)
Santa Barbara Museum of Art
Santa Barbara Museum of Art
 

Did you know?

Geekling's Guide to the Galaxy
How Do Tides Work
How Do Tides Work
What Do Pokemon Go and San Francisco Have In Common?
What Do Pokemon Go and San Francisco Have In Common?
What's So Weird About Pineapples? Everything.
What's So Weird About Pineapples? Everything.
 

PRODUCTS Recommendations

Geekling's Guide to the Galaxy
How We Survive Car Trips
How We Survive Car Trips
"Photo Doodles" Wins My Vote for Best Doodle Book
"Photo Doodles" Wins My Vote for Best Doodle Book
 
 
 
 

Have STEAM, will travel.

STEM+Art

FOR A

SMART START

Spoiler: It's about your brain.

TRAVELING MATTERS,

EVEN IF THEY

"WON'T REMEMBER IT"

 
 
 
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See what we've been up to lately...

How do you get your mojo back when your brain starts doubting the value of who you are? This is a feeling that's ubiquitous for writers, but ultimately it happens to everyone at some point. * I went to a seminar on writing with Maggie Stiefvater last weekend and I think I'm having an emotional crisis now. The seminar was great and she's a fantastic speaker. But she's awesome and successful and writes amazing dark, moody books and I wish I could be/do all of those things too. So I came back thinking I just need to practice being more epic. I've been spending the last few days channeling broody thoughts so I could pour my heart into beautiful prose on the page. Alas, I can't make it through two sentences without establishing I'm clearly on team sillypants. It's like I'm aiming for espresso, but all I get is chocolate milk. I've gone through the stages of grief over the death of my shortlived 3-day career as a Serious Writer, but I'm ready to accept that my voice is one that makes people laugh, not cry, and that's okay too.
How do you stay fit to counterbalance all this sit down reading time? Me? Tuesday: Started a new ballet class for adults. Wednesday: Went up and down the (extremely) long staircase to the beach, twice. Thursday + Friday: What are legs anymore?! I only have two wobbly noodles. #bookstagram #middlegradefiction #bookobsessed #booksaremagic #momswhowrite #momswhoread #womenwhoread #seekthesimplicity #smallmoments #smallmomentsofcalm #theartofslowliving #ofquietmoments #capturequiet #mybeautifulsimplicity #simpleandstill #visualcrush #quietinthewild #booksoutofdoors #readingspot #readoutside #beachreading #booksinthewild #booksinnature #booksonthebeach
This is going to be an important question, so watch out... What do you eat for lunch? I'm trying to get away from a default boring sandwich, but that means I often default to boring salads. I'm pretty sure I'm not alone here. I feel like we're letting lunch down, you guys. I tried to spice things up with a smoothie bowl and that was most exciting, but I need more ideas. How do you jazz things up?
Are you a dog or a cat person? I swear, I get up for 15 seconds to get a piece of paper and I come back to this. She's not only sitting on my seat, but she's holding on to that cushion like it's a long-lost friend back from the dead 😒 Where am I supposed to sit now?!
What was the last book that grabbed you by the first line? Honestly, I pick most of my books based on the first line...maybe, MAYBE the first page. But if the first line is killer, I will grab that book no matter what. I just finished Opposite of Always, which I picked up entirely based on the first line: "My face is mashed sideways against the trunk of a police cruiser when Kate dies for the third time." I mean, YES. Why is the police involved? Why is Kate dying? Why is Kate dying FOR THE THIRD TIME?! How can I not read on?!
Can we all stop to appreciate how gorgeous the children's section is at the Los Angeles Central Library? We took a daytrip to L.A. this week to visit an art museum (The Broad) and we stopped by the library while we were there. Because THIS LIBRARY you guys. There are not enough heart-eye emojis. What's on your to-do list when you visit a big city? Food, art museums, science museums, bookstores, and libraries are pretty high on my list!
What are your favorite authors for voice? While a lot of my favorite books are luscious dark fantasies with beautiful prose, my own writing style tends more toward the comical and absurd. My inspirations for voice are Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams on the classical end of things (if you can call them classical??), and more recently Tahereh Mafi's Furthermore and Jaclyn Moriarty's The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone. William Joyce's Guardians of Childhood series, too. I find it helpful to re-read them to get my head in the right gear!
It's officially spring break! Do you have any spring vacation/staycation plans? Do you think adults should get a spring break from work? It's Monday, the husband is at work, the kids are home, and I'm smiling on the outside but on the inside it's more of a "AHHH HOW DO I FILL UP ALL OF THIS FREE TIME STOP JUMPING ON THE COUCH HOW IS IT ONLY 7:30AM?!" The kiddos are still all congested so we'll avoid playdates and playgrounds in order not to share the germs, but thankfully the beach don't care.
Who says breakfast has to be boring? We're starting spring break with two sick kids, but thankfully we didn't have any plans anyway. Looks like it's going to be board games and reading for us today. What do you do with loved ones when they are sick?
When was the last time you felt you won as a parent? (Or a caretaker or a sibling or friend?) While I hate the adjustment of changing the time, I do love having more light in the evenings now. I decided to be impulsive and take advantage of the light by bringing dinner to the beach. I was rewarded with this gorgeous sunset! Plus, my daughter asked to bring her book to read at the beach, so I know I'm doing something right as a parent! She's loving the 5 Worlds graphic novels.
Does noise bother you? I swear my two children sound like bag full of hyenas the second I try to do something. I can tune it out when I read but it’s more of a struggle when I write. That’s one activity I just have to save for school days and late nights!
Happy St Patrick’s Day 🍀 * QOTD: what’s your favorite thing about spring? For us in SoCal, it’s wildflower season! There are fields and fields and fields of these happy little yellow flowers, I wish they stay all year round 😍 * I’ve been on a reading slump, so I put aside all fantasy novels and picked up some contemporary romance candy 😉