This week it’s going to take some intense eye-bleaching and palate cleansing to get the gross taste out of your mouth. So here are some things to hopefully brighten up the rooms and windows of your mind.
Future Imperfect by River Crow
The future may be hopeful. The future may be fearful.
The future will be imperfect.
There is no version of events where the world will wake to a glorious utopia. Likewise, there is no version of events where the world will wake to a post-apocalypse hellscape. These extremes are both as unlikely as the other, and both as unlikely as to be impossible.
It often seems like change comes from Great Men (and why, oh why is it always men?) at the top, or sweeping revolutions and reforms that change everything, all at once.
But change so often isn’t like that. Yes, those big events are momentous and can restore or shatter hope or fear. But change, real change, comes from the small moments in between.
A forest grows at the pace of trees.
A river cuts through rock at the pace of water.
Continents shift and mountains form and fall at the pace of tectonic plates.
Small movements, small changes, working in harmony with each other, create something far greater than the sum of their parts.
Aphex Twin’s Stone in Focus for 10 hours, along with Japanese macaques chilling in a thermal lake
Sloths get rewarded for being exceedingly lazy
“We may think that the sloth, living as it does in a slow-motion, dim, muffled world, is being punished, but it is actually a very successful mammal. Other than the harpy eagle, sloths have few predators. This is partly because they move at a pace that rarely gets them noticed and are therefore hard to spot, and partly because – being little more than a stringy bag of half-digested, fermenting leaves – they don’t make for a very nutritious meal.“
~ Nature Nook
The ancient etymology of the word Otter
Otter is an ancient word that comes to us from Proto-Indo-European. Otter’-word can be reconstructed as udró- and is certainly a #derivative of the word for water. Udro means ‘one belonging to the water’
- Vedic: udrá- ‘an aquatic animal.
- Hindi: ūd
- Proto Germanic: utra
- Old English: otor
- Old High German: ottar
- Old Norse: otr
- Lithuanian: ū́dra
- Latvian: ûdrs
- Old Prussian: udro
- Serbo-Croatian: vȉdra
- Russian: výdra
Hot girls selling computers in Yugoslavia in the 90’s
Mont Saint Michel from a drone
It looks so serene here, almost like a fake video game, there is a surreal quality to it.
Autumn Riders by artist Emily Balivet
Emily Balivet, is an entirely self-taught, freelance artist who has been producing art in the style of figurative realism for over 20 years. Inspired by Art Nouveau, 60’s psychadelia and mythical beings. Read more
Dr Langfeldt’s Dictionary of Animal Language
A quirky way of understanding the murmurs, sighs and squeals of animals. Originally featured in the Boston Glove on the 24th of April 1910
Bruegel: a fall with the Rebel Angels Immersive VR experience
Experiencing a medieval painting by Bruegel dating from the year 1562 like never before!
A recipe for fried pumpkin dating from 1882 by A Dollop of History
Taken from Meals for the Million, the People’s Cookbook by Juliet Corson.
I really liked this recipe! It’s a nice little side dish and a fun way to use pumpkin for something other than decorating. Fried zucchini and acorn squash is a favorite around my house, but this does taste noticeably different. If you like the taste of pumpkin you’ll probably really enjoy it. ~ Sannie B, A Dollop of History
Get the recipe
The Celestial Emporium of Benevolent Knowledge by Jorge Luis Borges
A strange and nonsensical way of categorising animals by Jorge Luis Borges. Found on the amazing and eclectic blog The Generalist Academy, it highlights the arbitrary and silly nature of taxonomy and list-making. Yet it’s still fun to do…
- those belonging to the Emperor
- embalmed ones
- trained ones
- suckling pigs
- mermaids
- fabled ones
- stray dogs
- those included in this classification
- those that tremble as if they were mad
- innumerable ones
- those drawn with a very fine camel hair brush
- et cetera
- those that have just broken the vase
- those that from afar look like flies
Nanny the beautiful grey moggy living her best life with her human in the Colorado Rockies
Apparently the internet loves her back because she has a much-anticipated 2021 calendar coming out.
I hope you enjoyed these picks for the week, let me know what you think below…
Content Catnip 
Balivet’s work is wonderful!
LikeLike
Yes, I agree…each one of them is a masterpiece that takes you into a different world. I hope to interview her on this blog one day. Thanks for reading and your comment 🙂
LikeLike
You are most welcome!! I hope you gt the interview!!!
LikeLike
Thank you me too xxx
LikeLike
Great collection this week. I *do* feel better!
LikeLike
Thank you Jonelle so glad you feel better, I try and keep these collections as uplifting as possible. Big hugs to you xxx
LikeLike
I loved that Bruegel video! A great way to immerse yourself in someone’s vision. I found a similar video of Dali’s work you might like https://miscellaneousdetails.com/2019/10/03/flying-with-dali-and-laurie/
LikeLike
Dreams of Dali, yeah I think it was you who actually introduced me to the whole VR art thing with this post of yours then I went onto Youtube and found Bruegel so thank you
LikeLike
Thank you for including my piece in this, and in the company of macaques, otters and sloths too, I am truly honoured!
LikeLike
You are so welcome River, thank you for posting such inspiring and beautiful word paintings for me to share! xxx
LikeLike
Lots of cool stuff this week, as always! You can’t go wrong with some cute otter content! And thanks so much for referencing The Nature Nook again!
LikeLike
It’s my pleasure I love to share your amazing, high quality posts I always learn a lot about different animals from them 🙂
LikeLike
So THAT’s what they mean by ‘porn on your laptop’: (the semi-naked guy face down on his keyboard!) And the black leather and lace dominatrix adds just the right touch! 🙂
LikeLike
Hahaha Amanda this is exactly what is means you are funny 🙂 glad you enjoyed my weird and quirky picks
LikeLike
The pumpkin recipe had me wondered what the oldest recorded recipe might be…hmmm…
LikeLike
Probably beer…lol
LikeLike
Yeah i would say so…probably beer. I wonder what that beer would taste like?
LikeLike
DB?
LikeLike
Not sure what DB is hehe is it a type of beer?
LikeLike