“hating people is like burning down your own house to get rid of a rat.”
-harry emerson fosdick
happy lunar new year 2020
the year of the rat
—
image credit: Natalie Schloss
Jan25
Jan24
beneath.
Beneath The Sweater And The Skin
How many years of beauty do I have left?
she asks me.
How many more do you want?
Here. Here is 34. Here is 50.
When you are 80 years old
and your beauty rises in ways
your cells cannot even imagine now
and your wild bones grow luminous and ripe,
having carried the weight
of a passionate life.
When your hair is aflame
with winter
and you have decades of
learning and leaving and loving
sewn into
the corners of your eyes
and your children come home
to find their own history
in your face.
When you know what it feels like to fail
ferociously
and have gained the
capacity
to rise and rise and rise again.
When you can make your tea
on a quiet and ridiculously lonely afternoon
and still have a song in your heart
Queen owl wings beating
beneath the cotton of your sweater.
Because your beauty began there
beneath the sweater and the skin,
remember?
This is when I will take you
into my arms and coo
YOU BRAVE AND GLORIOUS THING
you’ve come so far..
I see you.
Your beauty is breathtaking.
—
Credits: Author: Jeannette Encinias, Studio Yuki Photography, Thank you Russ Thomas
Jan23
stardust.
Scanning electron microscope image of one of the clumps of presolar grains, or stardust. Image via Janaína N. Ávila/EurekAlert!
Ancient stardust in meteorite is older than Earth
Grains of stardust – particles left behind by star explosions – in an Australian meteorite are now the oldest known material on Earth. A new study suggests this stardust came to be long before our sun ever existed.
As the saying goes, we are all made of stardust. It’s true. The elements in our bodies – oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, calcium and so on – are made in the thermonuclear furnaces of stars. When scientists speak of stardust, or cosmic dust, they’re speaking of the leftover tiny particles from dead stars that exploded as supernovae. This stardust later goes into forming new stars, planets and moons, including those in our own solar system. It goes into the solar system’s debris, the asteroids and comets, and ultimately meteorites, or rocks from space that find their way to Earth’s surface. Now scientists at the Field Museum in Chicago have found the oldest known samples of stardust in a meteorite that landed in Australia. The meteorite is estimated to be 5 to 7 billion years old. The stardust samples are the oldest material ever discovered on Earth. This dust is even older than our solar system.
The new peer-reviewed study was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on January 13, 2020.
—
credits: SPACE – Paul Scott Anderson, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, Earth Sky, Chicago Field Museum, Phillip Heck
Jan22
grandiloquent.
we all know that person
who uses pretentious words as a means to impress
which generally results in the opposite effect
like when someone uses the word ‘grandiloquent’ in a sentence.
—
GRANDILOQUENT
part of speech: adjective
origin: latin, late 16th century
definition:
speaking or expressed in a lofty style, often to the point of being pompous or bombastic.
related words:
sentence examples:
Even though Rick did not understand the grandiloquent words, he still used them to impress his wealthy friends.
When I heard the salesman’s grandiloquent speech, I knew he was trying to make the car deal sound better than it actually was.
—
“i am trying to impress myself. i have yet to do it.”
-shia labeouf
Jan21
conscience.
Jan20
goal.
Jan19
bread.
one of my dreams this year
is to learn to make bread from scratch
I look forward to
the peace, the poetry, the adventure.
the crust.
—
“peace goes into the making of a poem as flour goes into the making of bread.”
-pablo neruda
—
image credit: lamag.com
Jan18
treasure house.
in 1852 Roget published his thesaurus, a word that means ‘treasure house’ in greek.
JANUARY 18: NATIONAL THESAURUS DAY
British lexicographer Peter Mark Roget—who is most famous for publishing The Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases (a.k.a. Roget’s Thesaurus) in 1852—was born on January 18, 1779. As such, this is a day to honor, celebrate, extol, laud, praise, revere, salute, etc. his contributions.
—
“the man is not wholly evil, he has a thesaurus in his cabin.”
– j.m. barrie, author of Peter Pan, describing the character Captain Hook.
—
Personal note:
I am a huge fan of alphabets, words, and more words, in all languages
the thesaurus is one of my favorite books
and it is indeed a treasure house.
—
image credit: the right word, Roget and his thesaurus by Jen Bryant and Melissa Sweet
Jan17
handwritten.
January 17th is National Send a Handwritten Letter Day.
(one of my favorite things in this world)
Why celebrate on January 17th?
Because it’s the birthday of Benjamin Franklin,
the first Postmaster General of the United States.
The idea is to save the dying art of letter writing
and help the ailing Post Office
by sending a letter to someone you care about.
Who will you surprise with a letter?
Saving the world one letter at a time.
—
“letters are among the most significant memorial a person can leave behind them.”
-johann wolfgang von goethe
—
image credit: Anastasy Yarmolovich
Jan16
making rainbows.
kinder always find a way to make their own rainbows.
—
“a rainbow is the product of physics working for your appreciation of beauty.”
-kyle hill
I didn't have my glasses on.... 