Just when you think anti-gunners couldn’t make themselves sound more obviously stupid. Good reason to get a Finnish passport. 🙂 Four minutes. Four. To crack Obamacare “security.” Eh. No surprise, really. Fools. I became a writer by accident. For two years, I wouldn’t admit I was one because in my experience, they were mostly a bunch of drunken ne’er-do-wells. But maybe that’s a good thing. This focuses on what will trigger the next stock market mess. Implications (about triggering effects) go way beyond that. You’ll see what I mean. How to get rich and stay rich Again, not what you’re…
Category: Arts and Aesthetics
All things creative. All things beautiful, profound, and moving.
Tyger Gilbert is a freedomista and a superb photographer who specializes in nature and especially Arizona landscapes. He has long allowed widespread use of his images without a ton of strings. Now he’s published a gorgeous 2014 scenic calendar. He also has a recent book on the beauty of Arizona. NFI on my part. But he’s a good guy and this is good work, so if you’ve got somebody on your gift list …
Now here’s a charmer. After being closed for 10 years for a major rebuild, the Netherlands’ famous Rijksmuseum announced its reopening last spring in a wonderful way. “Onze helden zijn terug!” “Our heroes are back!” And here’s an interactive explanation of the famous painting. (H/T friend L)
Well, after whining the other day about how tedious the first parts of this project were, the rest went nifty-swifto. And here’s my finished memory necklace: The significant danglies include: door key; diary key; airplane charm; Virgin and child; evergreen tree; several leaves; dolphin charm; two astrological symbols; a Swarovski crystal; several circles; and a couple of stars. The rest are just pretty dangly things, mostly of glass or metal, with a few semi-precious stones. The main colors of the piece (silver and gold) symbolize richness. The clasp is another leaf and is sterling silver. I didn’t have any suitable…
Among the 3,874 reasons I’m not rich and famous is this: I believed in talent and inspiration. Yeah, and I’d have to put that somewhere near the top of thousands of reasons. That is, I thought that to be a really good artist or writer, all I had to do was a) be born with the ability and b) waft gracefully about (preferably wearing black) until Capital-I Inspiration struck. Then — voila! — without effort, the poem would write itself, the art would art itself, the Great American novel would spin itself out with no more than a little typing…
A room floored with pennies. Never heard of such a thing until yesterday, but now I want one. There are various ways to do a penny floor. They all seem to produce gorgeous results and, if you discount the DIY labor of installation, are fairly cheap as floorings go (about $2.88 per square foot in pennies plus some adhesives and coatings). Most of the objections raised here are easily answered. Except the one about … oops, metal being conductive. So, you science-minded types: would a penny floor, well covered with an epoxy coating, threaten life & limb? The phrase “to…
On the darker side It’s just theory and the technology of it is very much over my pretty little head. But Bruce Schneier notes that it’s possible to insert surveillance almost undetectably at the microchip level. More evidence that while the NSA may know what you’re doing, it has no idea what its own people are doing. The ACLU doesn’t come right out and call the FBI America’s secret police. But pretty close. Alas, they still imagine the agency might investigate and reform itself. (Via Sipsey Street) But of course, it’s all just okey-dokey-hunky-dory-nifty-zorch because none of it’s unconstitutional! On…
Rugby, while not as bizarre as cricket, remains a mystery to me. But I’ve always gotten a kick out of the New Zealand AllBlacks and other Pacific Island rugby teams performing fierce, tribal hakas at each other before games. Today I learned from Borepatch that — srsly? — the good Mormons of Brigham Young University also perform a haka before rugby games. Yes. I agree it’s mind-boggling, Borepatch. Mormon haka. But I can do ya one better.* 😉 This is one of several (wouldn’t you know it) Mormon missionary hakas on YouTube: So yes. Mormon haka. Still boggles the mind,…
This song is for Joel. For reasons — really paaaaaainfully — obvious to anyone who’s been following his blog for very long.
This came from C^2 with the title “A Cartoonist’s Advice.” It’s that (words by Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin and Hobbes, art by cartoonist Gavin Aung Than). It’s one heck of a lot more. A deep-breath-taking reminder that no matter what anybody else wants, demands, or expects of us, our life is ours to make. —– Raining this morning. The first really good fall-like rain. Though temps are still summer-mild and there’s not even a breeze to rattle the wind chimes hanging outside the window, it’s another reminder. It reminds me of this. And to live while life lasts (a…