Love
milhayser | October 20, 2014"Death is the only wise adviser that we have. Whenever you feel, as you always do, that everything is going wrong and you're about to be annihilated, turn to your death and ask if that is so. Your death will tell you that you're wrong; that nothing really matters outside its touch. Your death will tell you, 'I haven't touched you yet'." -Carlos Castaneda
"When a man starts to learn, he is never clear about his objectives. His purpose is faulty; his intent is vague. He hopes for rewards that will never materialize for he knows nothing of the hardships of learning. And his thoughts soon clash.…
esiegel | February 22, 2013"When I say, 'I love you,' it's not because I want you or because I can't have you. It has nothing to do with me. I love what you are, what you do, how you try. I've seen your kindness and your strength. I've seen the best and the worst of you. And I understand with perfect clarity exactly what you are." -Joss Whedon
I bet you love science; practically all of us do, whether we realize it or not. As children, we all live as scientists, born with no knowledge or experience of this world, but with inherent ability to learn and adapt.
Image credit: ©2005-2013 ~cchhrriissttaa, of deviantART.…
sastyk | February 11, 2013I don't think Eric and my eyes have ever met in one of those soppy, romantic looks couples give each other over a puddle of vomit before. Yesterday, however, they did.
We've been battling a nasty, slow moving stomach virus at our house (four down, four still to go ;-P), and one of the children threw up rather spectacularly all over their bed, the rug and (especially helpful) a gigantic pile of library books (I guess we now own a smelly $50 copy of the illustrated Silmarillion. Yay.) I walked in on the scene, yelled for husbandly help, and he set to the rug while I faced the library books…
cevans | February 29, 2012In 1977, NASA sent a pair of unmanned probes named Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 into space. Among the infrared spectrometers and radio receivers included on each probe were identical copies of the same non-scientific object: the Voyager Golden Record.
Sheathed in a protective aluminum jacket, the Record is a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk containing sounds and images chosen to portray the diversity of life on Earth: bird calls, whale songs, the sounds of surf, wind, and thunder, music from human cultures, and some 55 greetings in a range of languages, alive and dead. Like lonely time capsules,…
bioephemera | May 13, 2011
Yes, I cry at everything -- Love Actually, holiday commercials, abandoned furniture on curbs -- so what could I do to resist this little guy? Is he not adorable?
He is also a letterpress card on sale at Blue Barnhouse. I just ordered several of him because I CAN'T HELP IT, he needs to be cuddled! (Fortunately envelopes can do that.)
sastyk | April 17, 2011I'll be offline much of the next few days for the Passover holiday. This is a subject we're talking about in the Adapting-in-Place class, and one that comes up a lot - how do you make environmental changes with a spouse who isn't on board? What happens when this strains your marriage?
I get emails more or less constantly on this subject: "I want to prepare for peak oil/live more sustainably/change my life to deal with climate change and my spouse (and/or the rest of my family) don't want to, or don't think it is important enough."
This is something I've heard over and over - marriages…
sastyk | February 14, 2011"Everyone says I love you, but just what they say it for I never knew. Its just inviting trouble for the poor sucker who says I love you."
sastyk | February 14, 2011I'm a bit short on time today, given that I told my boys that today is "smooch day" and Moms have to kiss their kids as much as possible. Since my boys are all deep in the "ewwww....kissing" phase this means that they are spending every spare minute following me around and daring me to try and kiss them. This is awesome because while they may be starting to outrun me, but I'm still wilier and trickier. So I didn't write a luuuuuvvv post - I'm busy being vewy vewy quiet, and hunting boys.... I have, however, written a few over the years, and I thought I'd put them up here:
You'll note,…
bioephemera | February 14, 2011A classic tale of love and sacrifice, illustrated by Sean Bieri:
While Bieri's artistry technically depicts a Christmas story, it also nicely captures the undying-even-while-decaying-putrefying-and-hemorrhaging-IQ-points nature of true love. What more could you want for Valentine's Day? (And let's face it, we've all had Valentine's Days that would arguably have been improved by a Zombocalypse.)
Speaking of which, I'm working on my review of Daniel Drezner's Theories of International Politics and Zombies. Short version: it's hilarious.
bioephemera | February 9, 2011I get mail with wonderful links in it, but I'm hard pressed to find the time to post them, so my apologizes to those who've sent me things and not heard back. I'm beyond swamped. In the meantime, perhaps you'll enjoy these two nontraditional takes on "mapping." First up, map as music (or is it vice versa?):
"Conductor" by Alexander Chen
Conductor turns the New York subway system into an interactive string instrument. Using the MTA's actual subway schedule, the piece begins in realtime by spawning trains which departed in the last minute, then continues accelerating through a 24 hour loop.…
sastyk | November 9, 2010
Variations on the obligation to love one's neighbor show up across both the religious and secular spectrum. They tend to provoke a range of responses - from those who attempt to sort out what loving people who are not part of your immediate tribe would mean, to those who reject the necessity. This is not an easy idea - and even if you can sort out what it means to love people who you may not know well, or like much, or even trust, or know how to get to knowing, liking and trusting - it is a damned hard thing to put into practice. I want to talk a bit more about why even use the word love,…
sastyk | October 4, 2010
It is pouring down rain - Tropical Storm Nicole is dumping 5 inches on us - and the dogs are barking out of control. I can't see a thing in the storm, but I suddenly realize what they must be barking at - I forgot to put Blackberry in the barn.
Blackberry, you see, is our pet rooster. He's so gentle than my children carry him around. Isaiah, who has a special rapport with animals snuggles him under his arm. In the winter, the children tried to teach him to ski down the plow piles. In the summer, they come running when Blackberry roams into the road, which for some reason, he does daily…
jgoldman | April 26, 2010
"Cooking is like love, it should be entered into with abandon or not at all"
--Harriet van Horne
Science, too, I think.
sastyk | February 24, 2010Note: 1 1/2 feet of snow so far and still falling - we may get more than three by the end (the words "in the higher elevations" are generally the ones you want to listen to when forecasts are made for my area). Power so far, but not expecting it to last. Smaller dog must boing around in snow to keep from being fully submerged. Snowballs are being made. We're getting ready for the arrival of our new buck, Ring Bearer (no, I didn't name him) and for a quantity of baby chicks and ducklings. And it is time to start tomatoes, because despite what it looks like, there will be green stuff out…
bioephemera | February 14, 2010
From the Cold Spring Harbor Archive (click for larger image). From Micklos, The Science of Eugenics, pg 116 (1930).
bioephemera | February 11, 2010
Just in time for Valentine's Day: the "Copulating Earthworm Necklace," from heronadornment on etsy.
Also love her anatomical heart locket.
sastyk | January 20, 2010Nearly all the single readers I've met have told me how hard it is to find someone who starts with the same basic mindset that they do. They talk about going on dates and trying to figure out when to ask someone "so, do you believe that industrial society has a future?" Or "what do you think the odds are that a resource depleted society can continue economic growth and what would you suggest we do about that?" It is a tough row to hoe. For those who are part of minority cultures, the struggle is even greater - finding that hot hispanic woman or Jewish guy with the dream of living offgrid…
bioephemera | January 15, 2010
"A Love Aquatic"
letterpress notecards and posters by Sarah Adler on etsy.
bioephemera | January 13, 2010
Light Writing Proposal, by Derick Childress. Via Good.
Congratulations, Derick and Emily.
bioephemera | January 6, 2010
Boston's fatorangecat studio has a wonderful blog where photographer Li Ward posts some of her most spontaneous work (like the time her furry subject got all tangled up with Cameron Diaz). Ranging from the absurd to the poignant, Li's photos capture what we love best about our pets. (I'm pretty sure the cats above are plotting our demise as a species for subjecting them to years of heinous indignity.)
I'm a kitten person, not a puppy person, but these photos are adorable!
Perhaps the most poignant of all Li's work is this candid shot of Kepler, an aging Weimeraner:
Looking at this photo…