Figures...

 

Here Kitty Kitty...

  This gem is from Bored Panda:

Dolph Volker, a wildlife photographer, woke up from a nap under a tree -- and found a sleeping cheetah snuggled up next to him. 

    "Keep petting me, Buddy...or things could get interesting."

This is billed as a true story! Actually, it is... but Dolph was at a cheetah sanctuary, volunteering at the time. That makes a lot more sense.

Ummm...

 

I guess -- but it's still funny!

Monday Stuff on the Way to Other Stuff: Eensy (Not so Weensy) Spider

       A huge spider builds a web over the back deck steps -- then it mostly disappears every morning. Turns out she's an 'orb-weaver'...and eats her web, including its victims, every night! 

     Daughter #2 named her Charlotte. She's high enough that the dogs won't bother her, but Son #1 and the Brick have to be careful not to bump her web's bottom edge. 

     I hope she stays into the fall. 

Charlotte, in all her glory --  at least half-dollar size.

 She's having a real impact on the pesky moths that have been hanging around. 

You go, Charlotte!

Meanwhile:

More than 270 Mozart statuettes stolen in Salzburg!  You and I both are wondering- why?? (I would guess tourists and locals are picking them up as 'souvenirs.')

The best deer-resistent perennials that thrive in sun. Which we get plenty of around here! (You'll also see a link for deer-resistant perennials that prefer shade. Thanks, Frugal Farm Girl.

Homemade food gifts for Christmas. Who says these can't be used for birthdays and other holidays??  (Thanks, Frugal Farm Girl.)

One woman's (Ruth Rogers) life collection.

Fifteen treasures that tell the story of America.

How this print swept the world -- and changed views on Japanese art forever.  

(This print, "The Great Wave" by Hokusai, sold as part of a 36-piece set for 1,646,000 pounds in June this year at a Christie's auction in Paris. You read that right -- more than $2,225,000 USD.)

Random ways people made a fortune. 

'Hyperbolic fiction' -- or making up your life, in hopes that no one else finds out. (The ex-Cambridge professor is in this category. (Sadly, he committed suicide recently.) He's not the first, nor the last -- novelist H.G. Carillo, also a professor, made a lot of his Cuban roots in his book, Loosing My Espanish. After his death from cancer, it turns out, among other falsities,  he was Herman Glenn Carroll -- born in Detroit. But hey, a good writer!

A fun interview with Dan Ackroyd.  I really admire this guy.

"Top 10 simple financial tips" -- from Quora readers. 

Massachusetts joins the growing list of states that allow you to kill your baby up to the moment of birth. Sadly, Colorado is also on this list.

Dance for a minute or so -- and get a discount on your gas?  I'd do it!

Deepfaking -- happening to influencers and celebrities alike.

Have a great week. Stay authentic!

Utagawa Hiroshige

 Utagawa Hiroshige -- 1797-1858. This 19th century Japanese artist is considered one of the premiere woodblock printers -- ever. If you're a fan of Japanese art (as I am), you'll recognize his name. 

A collection of Hiroshige's prints sold at Christie's auction some years ago. Why am I telling you this? Because the prints, estimated value $15,000-25,000 each, mostly sold for a stunning $118,000, instead. Or more.

Now THAT'S a markup. 

Why am I also telling you this? Because a 600-piece collection of Hiroshige woodblock prints is set to auction at Christie's soon. It will be interesting to see if the prints hold their value, appraisal-wise. The first installment auction starts September 15.

Take a look for yourself at the 2020-21 auction, including realized prices.  Meanwhile, here are more of his prints for you to admire. Lovely. 

'Nihonbashi Bridge'

'Ryogoku Fireworks'

(a print of this is part of the Sept. 15 auction)

'Shona'

'53 Stations of the Tokaido' -- selected examples

Makes Sense...

 

More kitty comics here.

For All My Earlybird Friends...

 

Monday Stuff On the Way to Other Stuff: Can We Bear It?

     

We've had a visitor stop by the past few weeks. Not that we've seen him, but our trash can has been dumped over and pawed through. And I'm guessing, from the times the dogs have been Very Concerned, that he's stopped by more than that.

     Our neighbor texted -- we've got a black bear in the neighborhood. Maybe two. 

     The Brick notified the neighborhood chain, just in case. One neighbor thinks that the drought has forced these guys down; another neighbor could care less. But I would hate for Bo, Tiger or our granddog Freya to become the next snack. 

      It's still hot and dull. We've gotten a bit of rain, but the forecast suggests we'll get a lot more this week. Dare I hope?

Meanwhile:

What did Pompeii smell like?

"Love Me, Hate Me, Just Don't Ignore Me:"  What Terrell Owens is doing nowadays.

A new website -- for the original Gee's Bend Quilters. Take a look.

A visit to an old friend:  Brin at Messy Thrilling Life. I just wish she'd post more updates...

Making a home out of an abandoned general store.  I'd love to try this, but the Brick is not a fan.

The best free events in New York City.

Thousands of structures are there, hiding under the rainforest in the Amazon. 

Two of Saint Augustine's sermons discovered -- after 1600 years!  (They were written over by another sermonizer.)

Gee's Bend Quilts, reinterpreted by Ralph Lauren?  At least the collaboration is with people associated with the original quiltmakers. 

One of the stranger commercials I've ever seen:  Mikhail Baryshnikov and Lil Buck shill fashion in this 2015 offering.

Cambridge's youngest professor is no more -- he resigned.  Just in time, ironically, for his memoir to hit the bookstands. One review mentioned all the OTHER Great Accomplishments he did (or didn't?) and called it a piece of "mythic proportions." I'm betting it's full of it, all right.

And finally:

Today's basic advice on Bored Panda:

"If you tuck one pant leg into your sock, people stop expecting much from you."

So there you go.

Have a great week.

Weather We Know or Not...

 Here's the latest prediction for 2026-2027's winter, courtesy of the Old Farmer's Almanac:

(Click on the white space, if the image isn't appearing)

It's difficult to even think of cold and snow right now...does that stuff even exist??

What do you think?

Edmund Fitzgerald

     On Nov. 10, 1975, the tanker Edmund Fitzgerald  sank in a nasty winter storm. The "good ship and true" took 29 crewmen with her. 

The Great Lakes have had many other shipwrecks, but this was one of the most mysterious. One minute she was there, communicating with another ship -- then she was gone. Even after the shipwreck was found -- and she was deep -- there are still conjectures why she went down. (Besides the storm, that is, which was one of the worst ever.) Her captain's last message:  

      "We are holding our own."

Gordon Lightfoot's song about the Fitz is just as deep and mysterious. I would often play it right after I crossed the Michigan state line, on my way to see family in Sparta.

Now one of my favorite groups has brought their version of

"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" 

See what you think.

Maybe Knitting Next?

 

Mew!

 

Monday Stuff on the Way to Other Stuff: A Brief Reprieve

    ...then more of the usual. I'm sweating my brains out while typing this, but didn't know whether I was running a fever again, or truly hot. The Brick brought me an iced tea, and said it was sweltering inside. I've had summer flu most of the week, so it's hard to tell. We did have some rain, and the evenings have been cooler.

     Just not tonight.

Meanwhile:

A professor uses a trick to flush out AI use during a midterm -- 32 out of 35 students fail. Whoa. (One student did get her grade back.)

The tiniest cinema in the world -- playing silent films 24/7!

A visit to Daniel Chester French's studio.  This is the sculptor who 'did' Lincoln for the Memorial. (Thanks, One Hundred Dollars A Month, for the tour.)

What?  Wyoming and "neighboring states" can be trusted to take care of their own wildlife management?  Surely not...after all, we westerners are too busy wearing spurs and sixguns to know what we're up to around here.

A 'time traveller' gives us his predictions for 2028. Check back then to see if he's right -- or just full of...

Gee's Bend Quilts, reinterpreted by Ralph Lauren?  At least the collaboration is with people associated with the original quiltmakers. 

"Soap is cheap..." and so is staying clean and tidy, even in difficult times. (Thanks, Frugal Girl, for the reminder.)

Have a good week. Back to work -- stay cool.

Uh Oh...

Ummm...And Buck Moon

 "My significant other had ridden the train up to visit me in college the first year we dated. My college town, St Augustine, FL, has a reputation for being haunted. We decided to walk to a pub I liked, so we cut through an alley boarded by a private parking lot, and a bank. It was approaching dinner time, but it was Florida, so it was still very bright outside. When we turned into the alley, there was a woman approaching us from the opposite end of the alley wearing 16th century Spanish colonial garb.

This, in itself, wasn’t unusual. It was Halloween, and St. Augustine is home to a lot of reenactors, and tourist attractions that have tour guides that dress in period-appropriate clothing. What was weird is that she was pressed against the side wall of the bank as close to it as she could without physically touching it. She was wearing a wide brimmed hat, and had her head angled down to hide her face from us. She seemed terrified of us. My first thought was, *calm down, lady. It’s Halloween.*

As we walked abreast of her, I ducked down to look under her hat, and make eye contact, and smile. You know, to reassure her we weren’t gonna jump her or anything.

Instead of features, her face was blurry, like a severely out of focus picture.

I stood back up, and kept walking. It took a couple of minutes for my brain to catch up with what I saw. When I turned around to look at her again, she was gone.

I tried to make sense of this in my head. She must have reached the end of the alley, and ducked around the bank, out of sight. The fading light played a trick on my eyes. Etc, etc, etc.

Hesitantly, I asked my SO (who I had just started dating! I didn’t want them to think I was weird!), “Hey. That woman we just passed… Did she have a face?”

They replied. “I don’t know, but she didn’t have any feet.”.

I'm always up for a good ghost story -- and this ranks with the best of them.

More weird stories here. 

P.S. We are now officially in 'Buck Moon' stage -- go here for more.

"The Buck Moon, July's full moon, received its name from the time of year when deer are growing their antlers before the fall rut. It is also referred to as the Thunder Moon, since thunderstorms are common during the summer.

Additional names for this moon are the Feather Moulting Moon and Salmon Moon, a Tlingit term referring to the time when fish returned to the area to be harvested, per the Old Farmer's Almanac. It can also be called the Halfway Summer Moon, referring to the time of year it rises."

It Happens...

 This is a weird one -- 

      The remains of a flying dinosaur eaten by a 23-foot marine monster -- who was eaten in turn by a 40-foot monster.  The jumbled 'Bag o' Bones' was found in the Australian outback in 2019 by fossil hunters. 

Go here for the full explanation. Kewl.

Really!?!!

 From the Department of "Well, you don't see that everyday..."

One wonders if, after reading the Bible, the 14-year-old is still an atheist. 

Hmmmmm.

True Dat...

 The last comment is actually quite accurate.

We Americans are not only 'mutts,' DNA-wise, 

                       but our language borrows from EVERYBODY.

Monday Stuff On the Way to Other Stuff: Hot and Dry (Again)

      I'd love to tell you we've been up to exciting things -- but we haven't, unless you count taking care of the dogs, putting stuff away, washing clothes...and working on reports. It's still hot here -- and for extra fun, hard to breathe. (Too much humidity, Son #1 says.) It just feels 'dull;' I can't explain it any other way.

     A lightning storm is flashing the skies all around us tonight. Hopefully that means rain. P.S. It didn't.

Meanwhile:

He's built a business removing squatters!  Some interesting ideas here.

Here's what Wilt Chamberlin's old warmup jacket went for.

A six-pack of beer changed this 82-year-old pilot's life forever. Now his case is at the Supreme Court. 

A 'lost' 17th century garden plan reappears... thanks to an ongoing drought in Britain.

An excellent 'how I made it through my divorce' twofer from The Frugal Girl:  Part I and Part II.

As you might know, Gentle Readers, I am not a big fan of divorce. Too often, it occurs when the partners could have worked something out -- and come out better for it. But there are times this just isn't going to work, especially when one (or both) partners are unfaithful. The Mama was divorced, and for good reason. It happens.

Lottery winners pestered by their families --

The loud (and sometimes strident) 'Christian' mom/activist -- who was hiding a secret. 

Some ancient royal tombs reveal a surprising secret! I'll give you a hint: think 'higgledy-piggledy.'

What a family needs to live a middle-class lifestyle in San Francisco... according to Financial Samurai, at least. Any guesses? He says $408,000/yr!

Have a good week. Stay cool.

Speechless

 "Hallelujah" by Atticus Blue...and friend.