My Brain, Let Me Show You It

penny-red: ‘We must not confuse democracy with the maintenance...

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 15:49:05 -0400

‘We must not confuse democracy with the maintenance of a particular form of economic or financial system…rather it is a condition which allows for change in the system itself.’ - Ernest Bevin. On Hill Street, Belfast, the day before the 2013 G8 summit.

matociquala: wolvensnothere: theuppitynegras: firstladysexyfin...

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 10:53:35 -0400

matociquala:

wolvensnothere:

theuppitynegras:

firstladysexyfineass:

Where is the otter that looked so disgusted with its watermelon?

here he is

The otter is me.

I will eat the otter’s watermelon. With lime juice. Or as a salsa. Or in sangria. Or as sorbet…

Now anxiously awaiting watermelon season… (I know they’re in stores now, but they’re just not as good as they will be in a couple of months.)

jtotheizzoe: Ever seen the hairy tongue of a nectar-feeding bat...

Wed, 22 May 2013 20:21:35 -0400

jtotheizzoe:

Ever seen the hairy tongue of a nectar-feeding bat lap up its liquid lunch in high-speed video? You’re gonna like it.

It’s the first detailed analysis of these prickly papillae at the tip of bat tongues, showing how they expand to catch the most of their sugary snack. Yet another example of amazing evolution, particularly in a class of life that one can argue was not really intended to hover and fly while they eat (AKA “mammals”)

(via Wired Science)

You guys! Bat tongues! Seriously!

the word studio notebook: Following

Mon, 20 May 2013 10:00:27 -0400

the word studio notebook: Following:

wordstudio:

All right, we get it. Your life is beautiful. Your life takes place in picturesque urban and rural settings. You eat lovely breakfasts on weathered tables adorned with cloth napkins and perfectly chipped plates. You eat at the local dive where the poutine comes in a paper basket with a checkered…

This morning, Timehop reminded me of one of the best things I’ve ever read about Tumblr. Thanks, Will.

I have a little list

Thu, 09 May 2013 12:02:58 -0400

In the back of my mind, I keep a list. It’s a list of industrial designers who never attempted to clean the things that they designed.

At the top of it today is the man (and I’m sure it was a man) who designed my refrigerator, and unaccountably thought it would be a good idea to attach the meat drawer (the meat drawer!) in such a way that I have to use a screwdriver to take it off the shelf it’s attached to before I can put it in the sink to wash it. And since the screws in question are located at the back of the drawer, I have to take the shelf out of the refrigerator first.

There’s a reason we keep most of the meat in the freezer, and save the meat drawer for tortillas, cheese, and bread—you know, things that don’t ooze blood.

Time for a Long Shot (TL;DR Version: I'm Looking for a Job and Would Love Your Help.)

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 21:07:29 -0400

mightyhunter:

Hi.

So.

My latest contract in a long series of contracts is ending in two weeks, which means that I’m going through the “looking for work” dance again. (A point can be made that I’ve ALWAYS been going through the “looking for work” dance, and that I’ll simply be ramping up my efforts in this regard, but that’s not entirely accurate, and anyway, I’m digressing from my point.)

So….

If anyone who reads this has a line on a job, I’d be grateful for the opportunity to chat.

Read More

Tumblr, this is MightyHunter. He’s looking for a job. Maybe you know of one he would enjoy?

matociquala: Bear wins internet. lalulutres: worried that...

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 16:29:56 -0400

matociquala:

Bear wins internet.

lalulutres:

worried that squirrels were eating all the birdseed, so we set up a camera

Best. Bear. Ever.

MIT kids are nothing if not resourceful. Or, this is how you...

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 19:20:45 -0400

MIT kids are nothing if not resourceful. Or, this is how you celebrate a birthday in a public emergency. on Flickr.

matociquala: tastefullyoffensive: A husky dog adjusting to cat...

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 23:52:25 -0400

matociquala:

tastefullyoffensive:

A husky dog adjusting to cat owners.

[via]

He needs to meet http://maddieonthings.com/. They could have arboreal puppies.

I needed this tonight.

A Thousand Angsty Whales, all pumping iron: DO IT NOW: Fairly Quick Guide to Proper Bra Fit and Measuring because Victoria Secret and La Senza and whatever are full...

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 19:56:48 -0400

A Thousand Angsty Whales, all pumping iron: DO IT NOW: Fairly Quick Guide to Proper Bra Fit and Measuring because Victoria Secret and La Senza and whatever are full...:

sameatschildren:

Hi guys I’m obsessed with this shit lately because I don’t want anyone to have unhappy, unsupported boobs like I did. Even if you think your boobs and bras are fine, try it. It will make a big difference in comfort, support, and shape, even if you have small boobs or big boobs. A proper fitting…

This is a funny, foul-mouthed guide to finding a bra that fits.

Take a walk through the Secret Door

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 10:51:39 -0400

The Secret Door is presented by Safestyle UK

I will return to this over and over again, because it makes me...

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 14:23:17 -0500

I will return to this over and over again, because it makes me happy.

Adblock filter for Taboola ads

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 10:47:35 -0500

uristmcdorf:

Just for those of you who use adblocker and have noticed those Taboola ads popping up, that seem impossible to get rid of.

Add this custom filter to your adblock preferences.

||taboolasyndication.com^$third-party

And just like that, I no longer have to see bullshit headlines about the four signs my toaster is trying to kill me. Thank you!

striginesensibilities: WHY ARE OCTOPI SO CUTE?????? AND ALSO...

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 21:42:53 -0500

striginesensibilities:

WHY ARE OCTOPI SO CUTE?????? AND ALSO INCAPABLE OF LIFE-ING..

I don’t know if this has appeared on What Should We Call Grad School, but if it hasn’t, it must.

Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction From the Margins of History

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 13:38:29 -0500

Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction From the Margins of History:

shwetanarayan:

karnythia:

This anthology promises to be amazing. And I am going to submit to it. Think hoodoo, Chicago race riots, & a Hades/Persephone twist all set in 1919.

Signal boost for awesome! I’m hoping it’ll get to its goal & open to general subs, whether or not I have spoons to write a story for it.
(And - Rose Fox is going to be one of the editors, I believe, so noting that that’s someone I know & trust.)

I would love to see this one get funded, whether or not I manage to write anything for it.

Helen Keller, Charlie Chaplin. Charlie Chaplin, meet Helen...

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 09:07:15 -0500

Helen Keller, Charlie Chaplin. Charlie Chaplin, meet Helen Keller.

(via Retronaut | Retronaut - See the past like you wouldn’t believe.)

landofmaps: Anagram map of the MBTA I love living in Dank...

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 10:08:49 -0500

landofmaps:

Anagram map of the MBTA

I love living in Dank Millet, and often visit Carnal Request.

I’ve been hanging on to a copy of Carrion Comfort for years, supposedly because I intended to...

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:27:27 -0500

I’ve been hanging on to a copy of Carrion Comfort for years, supposedly because I intended to read it again, but really because Dan Simmons has written one of the best descriptions of Southeastern Wyoming I’ve ever read.

The area northeast of Cheyenne, Wyoming, was the type of western landscape that made some people rhapsodic and gave others instant agoraphobia. Once the state road left sight of the Interstate, forty miles of driving afforded views of endless grasslands, wind-blown snow fences looking dwarfed and forgotten against expanses of prairie, occasional ranches set back miles from the road, buttes to the north and east rising like massive keeps, and occasional stream huddled about with cottonwood and brush, hesitant clusters of antelope, and small groups of cattle looking unworthy of their millions of acres of grazing land. And the missile silos.

I grew up in that landscape. It’s lonely and wild and beautiful and desperate, and it does induce both rhapsody and agoraphobia—sometimes all at once.

I miss it sometimes—the endless landscape, the thick blanket of stars, the summer thunderstorms and the barbed wire fences. In the 1980s, though, the missile silos were the part of it I couldn’t stop thinking about. They were just over the hill, and we wondered if the mountains would be enough to save us. Almost 20 years after I read this book, that’s the part of it I remember. It’s time to let it go.

I’m really not sure how helpful this is. on Flickr.

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 17:20:10 -0500

I’m really not sure how helpful this is. on Flickr.

When my mom was little, her mother would tell her not to scratch her sister, because her sister...

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 14:27:40 -0500

When my mom was little, her mother would tell her not to scratch her sister, because her sister might get blood poisoning and die.

Of course, this only encouraged her.

It’s easy to forget how recently minor wounds could kill someone.

But then you see this.

In a UK hospital, new drug “penicillin” being used on a human for 1st time: policeman Alex Armstrong, dying from infected rose-bush scratch.
— WW2 Tweets from 1941 (@RealTimeWWII) February 11, 2013

And this.

Penicillin’s effects on humans unknown- Armstrong chosen because infected scratch is certainly fatal; body’s covered in bacterial abscesses.
— WW2 Tweets from 1941 (@RealTimeWWII) February 11, 2013

The man’s name was actually Albert Alexander; I’m not sure where “Alex Armstrong” came from. He was a cop, but the day he got hurt, he hadn’t done anything more dangerous than trimming the rosebushes. A thorn scratched his skin. Two months later, he’d lost an eye to the weeping bacterial abscesses that covered his head and body. Staph and strep weren’t drug-resistant yet. The first injections made an immediate improvement. Sadly, there wasn’t enough of the experimental drug, and a month later, Reserve Constable Alexander was dead.