Monday, June 30, 2025
Invasive Sampling
Quest
Plato
Humuhumunukunukuapua`a
"The Humuhumunukunukuapua`a (Rhinecanthus rectangulus) was designated the official state fish of Hawaii; aka the rectangular triggerfish or Hawaiian triggerfish."
image from Wikipedia Commons
Compassionate And Repulsive
Exploring the theme of compassion again, I asked Ai Gemini for examples of famous stories where someone is compassionate, yet is also repulsive. This is Ai Gemini's response:
There are several famous stories and literary characters that fit this description. The archetype of a deeply compassionate individual who, for various reasons (often physical appearance or unusual mannerisms), repulses or is ostracized by others is a powerful and recurring theme in literature.
Here are a few prominent examples:
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Quasimodo) by Victor Hugo: This is perhaps the most iconic example. Quasimodo is physically deformed and feared by the people of Paris, who see him as a monster. However, he possesses immense compassion, especially for Esmeralda, and a profound sense of loyalty. His outward appearance hides a tender and noble heart, creating a stark contrast that is central to the novel's tragedy.
- Frankenstein (The Creature) by Mary Shelley: While often portrayed as a monster, Frankenstein's creature is initially a sentient, intelligent being who longs for connection and understanding. He possesses a capacity for compassion and empathy, but his grotesque appearance terrifies everyone he encounters, leading to rejection and eventually, his own descent into bitterness and violence. The story highlights how societal prejudice and fear can turn a potentially benevolent being into something vengeful.
- The Phantom of the Opera (Erik) by Gaston Leroux: Erik is a musical genius with a disfigured face, forcing him to live in the shadows beneath the Paris Opera House. He is capable of deep love and artistic passion, but his appearance and extreme methods (often violent) repel those he tries to connect with, particularly Christine Daaé. His story explores the tragic consequences of being judged solely on one's appearance and the yearning for acceptance.
- Beauty and the Beast (The Beast): In many versions of this classic fairy tale, the Beast is a cursed prince transformed into a terrifying creature. While his initial demeanor might be gruff, his true nature is often depicted as kind and compassionate, especially towards Belle. His monstrous exterior initially repulses her, but she eventually sees beyond it to his inner goodness.
These stories often explore themes of:
- Prejudice and judgment: How people are quick to judge based on superficial appearances.
- Inner vs. outer beauty: The idea that true beauty lies within a person's character, not their physical form.
- Loneliness and isolation: The profound impact of rejection and ostracism on even the most compassionate souls.
- The nature of humanity: Questioning what truly makes someone a "monster" or a "human."
These characters resonate because they tap into universal fears of being misunderstood and the desire for acceptance, regardless of outward flaws.
Sunday, June 29, 2025
Tardigrade
They typically range from about 0.05 millimeters to 1.2 millimeters in length. While some of the larger species might be barely visible to the naked eye, you'll generally need a microscope to get a good look at these fascinating micro-animals. They are for all intents and purposes, everywhere on the planet especilly if there's some moisture.
1 millimeter = 0.03937008 inches. A Tardigrade is an animal, not an insect.
"Tardigrade, the most resilient animal on Earth, able to survive extreme conditions in temperature, pressure, anoxia, radiation, dehydration, and starvation. Tardigrada in Italian means slow walker. They're also known as water bears." Dr. Philip Domenico
Saturday, June 28, 2025
Tree
Oh, if a tree could wander
and move with foot and wings!
It would not suffer the axe blows
and not the pain of saws!
For would the sun not wander
away in every night?
How could at every morning
the world be lighted up?
And if the ocean's water
would not rise to the sky,
How would the plants be quickened
by streams and gentle rain?
The drop that left its homeland,
the sea, and then returned?
It found an oyster waiting
and grew into a pearl.
Did Yusaf not leave his father,
in grief and tears and despair?
Did he not, by such a journey,
gain kingdom and fortune wide?
Did not the Prophet travel
to far Medina, friend?
And there he found a new kingdom
and ruled a hundred lands.
You lack a foot to travel?
Then journey into yourself!
And like a mine of rubies
receive the sunbeams? print!
Out of yourself? such a journey
will lead you to your self,
It leads to transformation
of dust into pure gold!
Creative
"If your brains were dynamite there wouldn't be enough to blow your hat off." Kurt Vonnegut
"The bottom line is, insults only hurt when they come from someone I respect." Kresley Cole
"You speak an infinite deal of nothing." William Shakespeare
Friday, June 27, 2025
Tuvalu
CNN: More than a third of this country’s population has applied to relocate By Angus Watson,
...under a landmark visa scheme designed to help people escape rising sea levels.
Parrotfish
From Ai Gemini:
Yes, parrotfish do eat coral, but it's part of a complex and beneficial relationship for coral reefs.
Here's a breakdown:
- They primarily eat algae: Parrotfish are primarily herbivorous and their main diet consists of algae that grows on and around coral reefs.
- They scrape coral to get the algae: To get to this algae, they use their strong, beak-like teeth to bite off pieces of stony coral. It's not the hard calcium carbonate skeleton itself that they're after for nourishment, but rather the coral polyps and the symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae) that live within them, as well as other algae growing on the coral surface.
- They "poop" out sand: As they digest the coral, the soft tissues are absorbed, and the indigestible hard coral skeleton is ground down by a second set of teeth in their throats and then excreted as fine white sand. This is a significant source of sand for many tropical beaches!
- They play a vital role in reef health: By grazing on algae, parrotfish prevent it from overgrowing and suffocating corals. They also help to break down dead coral, making room for new coral to settle and grow, thus promoting reef health and diversity.
So, while they do consume coral in the process of feeding, it's generally considered a crucial part of their ecological function in maintaining healthy coral reef ecosystems.
4:06.42 Mile - Faith Kipyegon Sets New World Record In Sub-4 Mile Attempt
Compassion And Patience
It might seem like compassion and patience would always go hand-in-hand, but it's definitely possible for someone to be very compassionate and yet struggle with patience.
Here's why:
- Compassion is about caring and empathy: A compassionate person deeply feels for others' suffering and genuinely wants to help. They might be incredibly understanding of someone's struggles and motivated to alleviate their pain.
- Patience is about tolerance and waiting: Patience, on the other hand, is the ability to endure difficult situations, delays, or annoying behaviors without getting upset.
Someone could have a huge heart and genuinely care, but still find themselves getting frustrated or impatient with:
- Slow progress: They might be compassionate about someone's recovery from an illness, but impatient with the slow pace of their physical therapy.
- Repetitive mistakes: They might empathize with someone struggling with a task, but become impatient if the same mistakes are made repeatedly.
- Inefficiency or bureaucracy: They might be compassionate about people in need, but incredibly impatient with the systems or red tape that prevent quick solutions.
- Their own limitations: They might be compassionate about the struggles of others but impatient with their own inability to fix everything immediately.
Think of a parent who deeply loves their child and is incredibly compassionate when the child is hurt, but might lose patience during a lengthy tantrum or when the child is slow to get ready for school. Their love and care (compassion) are still there, even if their patience wears thin.
So, yes, it's absolutely possible to be a compassionate person who has no patience. The key is that their impatience doesn't stem from a lack of caring, but perhaps from frustration with circumstances, a desire for efficiency, or even a personal struggle with managing their own reactions.
Success
Thursday, June 26, 2025
Alaskan
The Alaskan wood frog (Lithobates sylvaticus) has a remarkable ability to freeze solid in the winter and then thaw out and return to normal in the spring.
Here's how they do it:
- Natural Antifreeze: When temperatures drop, the wood frog's liver produces large amounts of glucose (sugar). This glucose acts like a natural antifreeze, flooding into the cells and preventing them from freezing and becoming damaged.
- Controlled Freezing: While the cells themselves are protected, the water outside the cells and around the organs does freeze. Their eyes can turn white, and ice crystals form between layers of skin and muscle.
- Suspended Animation: During this frozen state, the frog exhibits no signs of life: no muscle movement, no heartbeat, and no breathing. They are essentially in a state of suspended animation.
- Thawing and Revival: In the spring, as temperatures rise, the frog thaws from the inside out. Their heart starts beating again, then the brain activates, and finally, their legs move. They emerge completely undamaged by conditions that would be fatal to most other animals.
This incredible adaptation allows the wood frog to survive in extremely cold environments, including north of the Arctic Circle, and be one of the first amphibians to emerge and breed in the spring. Scientists are even studying this ability to learn more about cryopreservation and its potential applications, such as for organ transplants.
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
Biogenic
Biogenic grains in sand include the parts of both marine plants and animals that use calcium carbonate minerals in their bodies. Whole or broken up, their hard body parts contribute to sand.
Joe Roman wrote, "Most people don't realize that when they stretch out on a beach in Hawaii, they're lying on a bed of animal waste."
Tuesday, June 24, 2025
Make
If I had to pick three things that make a person compassionate, they would be:
1. Empathy
This is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. It's about putting yourself in someone else's shoes and genuinely grasping their emotional state, whether it's joy, sorrow, fear, or frustration. Without empathy, compassion is just theoretical; with it, you truly connect with someone's experience.
2. A Desire to Alleviate Suffering
Compassionate individuals aren't content to simply understand someone's pain; they feel a genuine urge to help lessen it. This doesn't necessarily mean having all the answers or solving every problem, but rather a sincere wish to provide comfort, support, or practical assistance to make a difficult situation better for the other person.
3. Non-Judgment
Compassion thrives in an environment free of judgment. It means approaching others with an open mind, recognizing their inherent worth, and accepting their circumstances without blame or criticism. When you're non-judgmental, you create a safe space for people to be vulnerable, which is essential for true understanding and support.
These three qualities often work together, forming the foundation of a truly compassionate individual.
Limbo - Official Trailer
Rising
Monday, June 23, 2025
Or
vuln - verb - To wound.
Sunday, June 22, 2025
Killer
This honey mustard dressing is deelishioso...
2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons of dijon mustard
1 tablespoon of honey
salt
whisk the above
add in 1/3 cup of olive oil
whisk it all together again and voila!
Laws
"Wilson's Law refers to the principle that prioritizing the acquisition of knowledge and intelligence leads to financial success and personal fulfillment. It emphasizes the importance of continuous learning and intellectual growth in achieving holistic success."
Earth
This is a good thing, it may sound gross to our modern ears. Yet this is possible, doable, helpful, and it's happening in Brattleboro Vermont.
Rich Earth Institute
The Rich Earth Institute recycles human urine into fertilizer. This work supports sustainable agriculture and protects vital water resources.
Saturday, June 21, 2025
Crossword Puzzles For Beginners
I have never done crossword puzzles. As doing them is regarded as one method to help reduce the risks of dementia, I asked Ai Gemini how to start crossword puzzles as a beginner. Here is Gemini's response:
Crossword puzzles are a fantastic choice for cognitive health. Since you're a complete beginner, the key is to start with puzzles that won't be too frustrating. Here are some suggestions for beginner-friendly crossword puzzles:
1. Daily Newspaper Crosswords (Monday/Tuesday Editions):
- Why they're good for beginners: Most major newspapers (like The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, etc.) have a graded difficulty system for their daily crosswords. Mondays are generally the easiest, with difficulty increasing throughout the week to Saturday. Tuesdays are often still very manageable for beginners.
- How to find them: You can buy the newspaper, or many newspapers offer digital subscriptions that include their crossword puzzles online or through an app.
- Recommendation: Start with a Monday puzzle from a well-known paper.
2. Large Print Crossword Puzzle Books:
- Why they're good for beginners: These books are specifically designed for ease of use. They often feature simpler clues and a larger grid, which can be less intimidating.
- How to find them: Check your local bookstore, library, or online retailers like Amazon. Look for titles that explicitly state "beginner," "easy," or "large print."
- Example Publishers: Dover Publications, Sterling Publishing, and various puzzle-specific imprints often have these.
3. Online Crossword Puzzles (Beginner/Easy Categories):
- Why they're good for beginners:** Many websites and apps offer different difficulty levels. Online puzzles often have helpful features like "check clue" or "reveal letter," which you can use if you get stuck (though try not to rely on them too much!).
- How to find them:
- The New York Times Crossword App: While the daily puzzles get hard, their app often has a "mini" crossword that's very quick and easy, perfect for a warm-up. They also offer a subscription service with access to their full archives, where you can find past Monday puzzles.
- AARP.org: The AARP website offers free daily crosswords that are generally on the easier side.
- USA Today Crossword: Another generally accessible daily crossword.
- Websites like Boatload Puzzles or Daily Crossword Puzzles: These sites often have a range of free puzzles, some of which are very simple.
- Recommendation: Try the NYT Mini Crossword for a quick and satisfying win, and then explore other free online options.
Tips for Starting Out:
- Don't be afraid to guess: Part of the fun is trying out words.
- Work on the clues you know: Go through the entire puzzle and fill in all the answers you're confident about first. This will give you more letters to work with for the harder clues.
- Pay attention to plurals and tenses: If the clue is plural, the answer will be plural. If the clue is past tense, the answer will be past tense.
- Look for common crossword "fillers": You'll start to recognize common short words like "ERA," "ORE," "ALE," "PSI," "ETA," etc.
- Use a pencil: Especially when starting, so you can easily erase mistakes.
- It's okay to not finish: The goal is to engage your brain, not necessarily to complete every puzzle perfectly from day one.
- Have fun! The more you enjoy it, the more likely you are to stick with it.
Good luck on your crossword puzzle journey! You'll be amazed at how quickly you improve.
Harmony
Beethoven - Symphony No. 7 - 2nd Movement - Paavo Järvi And The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen
Friday, June 20, 2025
There's A Hawk!
Gemini said: It's a fascinating thing to observe, isn't it? The way your backyard quickly empties when a hawk appears is a testament to the incredible communication networks that exist in the small animal world. It's not a formal language like ours, but rather a system of alarm signals that various species use to warn each other of danger.
Here's how word gets around:
---
Vocal Alarm Calls
This is the most common and noticeable way animals warn each other. When a squirrel, bird, or chipmunk spots a hawk, they'll often emit a distinctive call.
- Birds: Many small birds have very similar "hawking" alarm calls – high-pitched, sharp sounds that are difficult for a predator to pinpoint, but easily heard by other birds. This prompts them to immediately take cover. Some birds can even adjust their calls to signal how urgent the threat is.
- Squirrels: You've probably heard a squirrel "barking" or chattering loudly. These are often alarm calls, letting other squirrels (and potentially other animals) know that a predator has been spotted. They might also flick their tails as a visual signal.
- Chipmunks:Chipmunks have specific calls for different types of predators. A sharp, high-pitched "chip" might signal a ground predator, while a lower-pitched "chuck" indicates a threat from the air, like a hawk.
---
Visual Cues
Beyond sounds, animals also use visual signals.
- Rabbits: When a rabbit senses danger, it might thump its hind legs on the ground, creating a percussive sound that travels through the earth and warns other rabbits in their burrows. They also flash the white underside of their tails as they flee, a clear visual alarm for others.
- Body Language: Many animals adopt alert postures – freezing, looking up, or darting movements – that can signal to others that something is amiss, even without a vocalization.
---
Interspecies Communication ("Eavesdropping")
One of the most remarkable aspects of these alarm systems is that they often cross species boundaries. Animals "eavesdrop" on each other's signals.
- A squirrel hearing a bird's alarm call about an aerial predator will likely react by seeking cover, even if it hasn't seen the hawk itself. - Similarly, birds might react to a squirrel's agitated chatter. This creates a broader network of vigilance, where many eyes and ears are working together to detect threats. It's like having a neighborhood watch where everyone speaks a slightly different dialect, but the urgent "danger!" signal is universally understood.
---
Learning and Instinct
While some alarm responses are instinctive, animals also learn which calls and signals correspond to specific threats. Young animals learn from observing the reactions of older, more experienced individuals. This combination of innate responses and learned behaviors allows them to react quickly and effectively when a predator like a hawk enters the scene.
So, the next time you see that hawk circling, know that your backyard's small inhabitants are likely engaged in a complex, fast-paced dance of communication, ensuring that everyone gets the message to "hide now!"
Thursday, June 19, 2025
Wednesday, June 18, 2025
Catawampus
1. an imaginary fierce wild animal - bogey
catawampus - adjective
1. dialectal : fierce, savage, destructive
2. dialectal : askew, awry, cater-cornered
Inner
Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Sometimes
Monday, June 16, 2025
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The Future
Falter
painting by John Philip Falter 1910-1982 - 'The Visit' ca. 1950
John Philip Falter was known for his many Saturday Evening Post cover paintings.
Ai Video Creation For Beginners
1. Understand the Basics of AI Video Generation:
- Text-to-Video: This is the most common and beginner-friendly method. You input a text prompt describing the video you want, and the AI generates the visuals, often with accompanying audio.
- Image-to-Video: You start with a still image and use AI to animate it or create a video sequence from it. This is great for maintaining character or scene consistency.
- Avatar-based videos: These tools allow you to input a script, and an AI avatar (either pre-built or custom) delivers it in a realistic video. Useful for explainers, tutorials, and presentations.
- Document/Article to Video: Some platforms can take an existing article, blog post, or document and turn it into a video, often with relevant visuals and voiceovers.
2. Choose a Beginner-Friendly AI Video Generator:
Many tools offer free tiers or trials, which are perfect for experimenting and learning. Here are some popular options often recommended for beginners:
- Invideo AI: Known for its user-friendliness and ability to generate videos from simple text prompts, including scriptwriting, visual selection, voiceovers, and music.
- CapCut: Offers a free online AI video generator where you can type in your idea and get a video instantly, with options for background music and further editing.
- Adobe Firefly: A great option for generating videos from text or images, with creative control over style, camera angles, and effects. It has a free tier with limited uses.
- Vidnoz AI: Provides a free text-to-video generator with various AI avatars, realistic voices, and customizable templates.
- VEED.IO: Allows you to create AI videos from text prompts, generating footage, narration, and captions. It also has a built-in video editor for customization.
- Kapwing: Offers an AI toolkit that can generate videos from descriptions, scripts, articles, or documents. It's free to start and has many templates.
- RunwayML: While it can be more advanced, RunwayML offers image-to-video and text-to-video generation and is a powerful tool once you get the hang of it. They often have free credits for testing.
- Synthesia: Excellent for creating studio-quality videos with lifelike digital avatars and multi-language support. While it has a free trial, it's generally a paid service aimed at businesses.
3. Key Steps to Start Creating:
- Define your purpose and audience: What kind of video do you want to create (e.g., social media clip, explainer, short story)? Who is your target audience? This will help you tailor your content.
- Craft your script/prompt: This is crucial. The more detailed and clear your text prompt or script is, the better the AI can generate a relevant video.
- For text-to-video: Describe the scene, characters, actions, camera movements, and desired aesthetic (e.g., "A futuristic city at sunset, with flying cars zipping through towering skyscrapers, cinematic wide shot").
- For avatar-based videos: Write out the dialogue your avatar will speak.
- Choose your visuals and audio:
- Visuals: Most platforms will suggest or automatically generate visuals based on your prompt. You can often customize these by choosing from stock libraries, uploading your own images/videos, or further prompting the AI for specific imagery.
- Audio: Many tools offer AI-generated voiceovers in various languages and accents, and background music. You can usually adjust the tone and pacing.
- Customize and enhance: Experiment with the editing features provided by the tool. This might include:
Adding text overlays, transitions, and effects.
Adjusting color grading.
Changing the aspect ratio for different platforms (e.g., square for Instagram, horizontal for YouTube).
- Preview, edit, and refine: Always watch your generated video carefully. Make any necessary tweaks to the script, visuals, or audio to achieve your desired outcome. Most tools allow for real-time editing.
- Export and share: Once you're happy, export your video in the appropriate format for your chosen platform (YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, etc.).
4. Tips for Beginners:
- Start simple: Don't try to create a feature film on your first attempt. Begin with short, straightforward videos to understand how the tools work.
- Experiment with prompts: Play around with different wording and levels of detail in your prompts to see how the AI responds.
- Utilize free trials: This allows you to explore multiple platforms without commitment and find the one that best suits your needs and workflow.
- Join communities: Look for online communities (e.g., Discord servers, Reddit forums) dedicated to AI art and video. You can learn from others, get feedback, and discover new tools and techniques.
- Be aware of limitations: While AI video generation is powerful, it's still evolving. You might encounter limitations in terms of complex narratives, perfect object permanence, or highly nuanced character emotions. Human editing often helps to polish the AI-generated content.
- Review platform policies: Be mindful of copyright and ethical considerations when creating and sharing AI-generated content, especially if you plan to use it commercially.
Good luck on your AI video creation journey! It's a fascinating space with endless creative possibilities.
Sunday, June 15, 2025
May 2025
Father's Day Origin Story
Here's the origin story of Father's Day:
The idea for Father's Day is largely attributed to Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington. In 1909, while listening to a Mother's Day sermon, she realized that fathers also deserved a day of recognition. Her own father, William Jackson Smart, was a Civil War veteran who had raised six children as a single parent after his wife died in childbirth. Sonora wanted to honor his dedication and sacrifices.
She began a campaign to establish Father's Day, approaching local churches, the YMCA, shopkeepers, and government officials. Her efforts paid off, and the first Father's Day was celebrated in Spokane on June 19, 1910.
While the idea gained traction, it took many years for Father's Day to become an officially recognized national holiday.
- 1913: A bill was introduced in Congress to recognize Father's Day.
- 1916: President Woodrow Wilson approved the idea but did not make it an official proclamation.
- 1924: President Calvin Coolidge recommended that states observe Father's Day.
- 1957: Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Maine introduced a bill to establish Father's Day as a national holiday, chastising Congress for ignoring fathers for so long.
- 1966: President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation honoring fathers, designating the third Sunday in June as Father's Day.
- 1972: President Richard Nixon signed Father's Day into law, making it a permanent national holiday observed on the third Sunday in June.
So, while its roots are in a daughter's desire to honor her own father, it took decades of advocacy and political effort for Father's Day to become the widely celebrated holiday it is today.
Saturday, June 14, 2025
Arbor
“Using ancient grafting techniques and a few basic tools, Richard Reames shapes living trees into furniture and sculpture near his home in Oregon and for clients worldwide.”
Friday, June 13, 2025
Together
"Inosculation is a natural process where the trunks, branches, or roots of two trees grow together and fuse, essentially creating a single, unified structure. This phenomenon can occur between trees of the same or different species."
image from Wikipedia Commons
_DSC00573.jpg)
New
Thursday, June 12, 2025
Berry
It may be that when we no longer know what to do we have come our real work,
and that when we no longer know which way to go we have come to our real journey.
The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.
You
"Keep your face always toward the sunshine, and shadows will fall behind you." Walt Whitman
Wednesday, June 11, 2025
Q
If detective murder mystery series are your thing, check out 'Dept. Q' on Netflix. It's very well written and acted, takes place in Scotland.
imdb.com: Dept. Q episode list
Berry
When despair grows in me
and I wake in the middle of the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting for their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
Woogie
Piet Mondrian, March 7, 1872 to February 1, 1944 - Neoplasticism - 'Broadway Boogie Woogie' 1942-1943
Tuesday, June 10, 2025
Today
Simone de Beauvoir
Monday, June 09, 2025
Heart Beats
To calculate the average number of times a human heart will beat over an average lifespan, we need two pieces of information:
1. Average resting heart rate: A normal resting heart rate for adults ranges from 60 to 100 beats per minute (bpm). A common average used for calculations is 70-80 bpm.
2. Average human lifespan: Global average life expectancy was around 72 years in 2022, while in the United States, it was approximately 77 years. Let's use 75 years as a reasonable average for this calculation.
Now, let's calculate:
- Beats per minute: Let's use 75 bpm as a mid-range average.
- Minutes per hour: 60
- Hours per day: 24
- Days per year: 365 (ignoring leap years for simplicity, as it won't significantly alter the overall estimate)
- Years in a lifespan: 75
The calculation is as follows:
75 beats/minute x 60 minutes/hour x 24 hours/day x 365 days/year x 75 years = approximately 2,956,500,000 beats
So, over the course of an average human lifespan, a heart will beat approximately 3 billion times.
Kinga Głyk - 'Low Blow' - Live In Leverkusen - 2019
'Aftermath'
When the summer fields are mown,
When the birds are fledged and flown,
And the dry leaves strew the path;
With the falling of the snow,
With the cawing of the crow,
Once again the fields we mow
And gather in the aftermath.
Not the sweet, new grass with flowers
Is this harvesting of ours;
Not the upland clover bloom;
But the rowen mixed with weeds,
Tangled tufts from marsh and meads,
Where the poppy drops its seeds
In the silence and the gloom.
Neruda
Untitled By 'TONY"
This painting is by my alter moniker 'TONY'. 3 feet by 3 feet, acrylic paint on canvas.
Sunday, June 08, 2025
Moles
"Most small animals have to watch out for predators even when they are fully grown. Golden moles from southern Africa stay underground all the time because they are just about snack-size as far as a bird of prey or a jackal is concerned. But the moles don't want to have feces all over their homes, so they keep one little chamber in their large burrows just for (bathroom use)." Nicola Davies
photo via Wikimedia Commons
Visual
From Ai Gemini:
When people talk about having a "strong visual imagination," they are referring to their ability to create and experience incredibly vivid, clear, and detailed mental images. This is often referred to as hyperphantasia.
Here's what it means:
- Vividness and Detail: Individuals with a strong visual imagination can "see" things in their mind's eye with almost photorealistic clarity. They can generate intricate details, colors, textures, and even lighting within their mental scenes.
- Multi-sensory Experience: While "visual" is in the name, a strong imagination often extends beyond just sight. People with hyperphantasia may also be able to vividly imagine sounds, smells, tastes, and even physical sensations or movements. For example, they might be able to mentally "hear" a song, "smell" freshly baked bread, or "feel" the sensation of running.
- Ease of Visualization: They can conjure up these mental images quickly and effortlessly, often manipulating them in their minds. They might be able to rotate objects, change perspectives, or explore different scenarios with ease.
- Impact on Cognition: A strong visual imagination can impact various cognitive processes:
- Memory: They may recall past events with rich sensory details.
- Creativity: It can be a powerful tool for artists, writers, and designers, allowing them to fully envision their creations before bringing them to life.
- Problem-solving: They can mentally simulate different solutions to problems or envision various outcomes.
- Planning: It can aid in planning by allowing them to "pre-experience" future events or scenarios.
The Spectrum of Visual Imagination:
It's important to understand that visual imagination exists on a spectrum.
- Hyperphantasia is at one end, representing an extremely vivid and detailed inner world.
- Aphantasia is at the opposite end, where individuals have little to no ability to create voluntary mental images. For them, "seeing with the mind's eye" is more of a conceptual understanding than a literal visual experience.
- Most people fall somewhere in the middle, experiencing varying degrees of vividness in their mental imagery.
In essence, a strong visual imagination means your "mind's eye" is like a high-definition projector, capable of creating immersive and detailed mental experiences.
Bugbear
1. A cause of fear, anxiety, or irritation. "Overcrowding is often a bugbear for train commuters."
2. A difficult or persistent problem.
3. A fearsome imaginary creature, especially one evoked to frighten children.
Saturday, June 07, 2025
Air
Our atmosphere is roughly 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, about 1% argon, and trace amounts of other gases like carbon dioxide.
Here's what happens to the other gases when we breathe:
- Oxygen (O2): This is the gas our bodies are primarily interested in. When you inhale, air enters your lungs and reaches tiny air sacs called alveoli. These alveoli are surrounded by a network of tiny blood vessels called capillaries. Oxygen diffuses across the thin walls of the alveoli and capillaries into your bloodstream, where it binds to hemoglobin in red blood cells. This oxygen-rich blood is then pumped by the heart to all the cells in your body, which use the oxygen for cellular respiration to produce energy.
- Nitrogen (N2): Nitrogen makes up the largest portion of the air we breathe. However, our bodies generally do not utilize nitrogen gas for metabolic processes. It's largely inert. When we inhale, nitrogen enters our lungs, and a very small amount does dissolve into the bloodstream, but most of it is simply exhaled unchanged. Nitrogen acts as a diluent, preventing oxygen from being too concentrated, which could otherwise be harmful to our lung tissues over time. (Note: Under high pressure, like in scuba diving, more nitrogen can dissolve into the blood, leading to conditions like "the bends" if proper decompression isn't followed.)
- Carbon Dioxide (CO2): While we inhale a very small amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, the carbon dioxide that we exhale is a waste product of our body's metabolism. Our cells produce CO2 as they use oxygen for energy. This CO2 is carried by the blood back to the lungs, where it diffuses from the capillaries into the alveoli and is then breathed out.
- Other Trace Gases (e.g., Argon, Helium, Neon): These gases are present in very small amounts in the air. Like nitrogen, they are largely inert and are not utilized by the body. They simply enter the lungs and are exhaled.
In summary, the primary goal of breathing is to bring in oxygen for cellular energy production and to expel carbon dioxide, a metabolic waste product. The other gases in the air are mostly "passengers" that are inhaled and exhaled without being actively used by the body.