Category Archives: world

Nov10

carry on.

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trying to piece the world back together

Warehouse giant Costco likes to do everything big, from super-sized bottles of ketchup to barrels full of Jack Daniel’s whiskey. Their latest exclusive offering: A jigsaw puzzle with 60,000 pieces that may take up an entire room when it’s finished.

The sprawling What a Wonderful World puzzle is actually 60 interconnected 1000-piece puzzles to make assembly (somewhat) feasible. Each features a painting from the Dowdle Art Studio of a fascinating landmark from different parts of the world, including The Great Wall of China and The Eiffel Tower.

Once each section is completed, it can be connected to the larger canvas. When finished, the puzzle measures 8 feet tall and 29 feet wide. An included legend helps you keep track of which puzzle goes where in the literal bigger picture of things. Costco has declared it the world’s largest jigsaw puzzle, and that’s likely to be true. The What a Wonderful World puzzle retails for $599.

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“the world is like a dropped pie most of the time.

don’t kill yourself trying to put it back together.

just grab a fork and eat some of it off the floor. then carry on.” 

-elizabeth gilbert

 

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credits: penn news, chris hopkins, jake rosin, mental floss,

Dec6

up for a stroll?

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The longest road in the world to walk is from Cape Town (South Africa) to Magadan (Russia).

No need for planes or boats, there are bridges. 

It’s 22,387 km and it takes 4,492 hours to run it.

It would be 187 days walking non-stop, or 561 days walking 8 hours a day.

The route passes through 17 countries, six time zones and all seasons of the year.

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“all walking is discovery, on foot we take the time to see things whole.”

*-hal borland

*Harold “Hal” Glen Borland was an American author, journalist and naturalist. In addition to writing many non-fiction and fiction books about the outdoors, he was a staff writer and editorialist for The New Yorker.

 

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credits: united humanists

Sep9

more dance numbers, please.

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Calvin: They say the world is a stage.

But obviously the play is unrehearsed and everybody is ad-libbing his lines.

Hobbes: Maybe that’s why it’s hard to tell if we’re living in a tragedy or a farce.

Calvin: We need more special effects and dance numbers.

— Calvin and Hobbes, from “Calvin & Hobbes,” on the tragicomedy of life

 

 

 

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image credit: sbs

Jul29

going nowhere.

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thought it might be interesting

to expose the cats to a bit of world geography 

while sipping a refreshing drink.

so far they have refused to take any quizzes

but i’m confident they are learning by osmosis. 

 

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“without geography, you’re nowhere.”

  • -author unknown
Feb21

oh, liectenstein reader, who art thou?

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 i have exactly one blog follower

in the micro country of liectenstein

with so many interesting things about this amazing tiny place

here are just a couple of examples:

 

in 1886 liectenstein had an army of 80 men who fought during the austro-prussian war

they suffered no injuries or deaths

and returned with 81 men because they made a new italian friend from the opposition army.

the army was disbanded soon after and they haven’t had an army since. 

 

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and then there was the accidental invasion which didn’t cause much of a stir:

i really love their approach to life

and i’m guessing my one reader is a pretty laid-back person

and with such a tiny country

perhaps a descendent of that new italian friend they brought back from the war?

here’s to liectenstien!

 

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“be so good they can’t ignore you.”

-steve martin

 

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image credit: expat.com

Apr26

wide world.

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one kinder who has created his own atlas

teaches another

about the world he’s discovered

by reading books.

and the Dinos are standing by too

just taking it all in. 

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“the wide world is all about you:

you can fence yourselves in,

but you cannot forever fence it out.”

-j. r. r. tolkien

Nov16

a good place.

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what a lovely little place

discovered on a walk in the woods

nestled beneath the old trees

resting on a blanket

of the softest pine needles

open to all who happen by

who lives here?

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“when you’re wide open, the world is a good place.”

-sharon salzberg

 

 

 

 

 

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nichols arboretum, ann arbor, mi, usa. november 2018