A Collection Of Things That Bring Joy

You ever have a compliment that just sticks with you for literal years and years? Maybe forever?

For me, it’s when I was working as a figure model for art classes at my university (because it paid well due to being an early-morning thing and was easy to get because nobody else wanted to apply due to the near-nakedness and pervasive body image issues in our culture). There was this one professor who was always so happy when I showed up as the female model for that day because he said that I had a “good sense of motion”, and it was fun to draw. (Which, in itself, was a great compliment because I am a clumsy, self conscious person.)

But what really got me was one day we were doing 15-minute poses, which are harder to do because you need to come up with something interesting and dynamic, but you have to be able to hold it for a quarter of an hour without moving even a little bit. They didn’t have any specific guidance for us, so I just… did something. Idk. But about five minutes into wandering around helping the students and talking to them, he paused and told me that I was doing a good job, and, “What a fun pose. You’re reminding me of Rodin’s ‘Eve,’ there. You always have a very Rodin sort of energy about you. Thanks for waking up early for us.” And then just went back to discussing the use of ink with one of the students like he hadn’t almost reduced me to tears.

Then I went home and looked up Rodin’s ‘Eve’ and was blown away because she actually did look like me? I had ended up in that pose almost exactly just by chance, but she also had a soft, squidgy tummy and the hip dips and weird butt and big feet and thunder thighs and strong calves, just like me.

And I don’t have a great relationship with my body. Very much the opposite. I frequently hate the way I look and fit into it, but then occasionally from the depths of the past comes the voice of an art nerd telling me I’m like a Rodin sculpture, and I feel like, “Yeah, I have Rodin Energy so suck it, brain!” And it helps me reframe the way I’m thinking about myself because I can get outside of my head for a minute and see that while I’m frustrated with my body, it has an art to it just by existing. Soft tummy? Fun to draw, nice curves! Big thighs? Strong lines! Dimples and wrinkles and slopes become a place for light to sit. Bodies are so cool, and that includes mine! Even if it’s not quite what I want it to be, it’s still a work of art that nature sculpted just for me.

And for him it just seemed like such an off-handed, normal, natural thing to say. He thought “Hey, that looks like Rodin,” and so he said it.

Just… Idk. Compliment people. Say what’s on your mind. You have no idea whether it’s going to totally change a person’s life. It’s just words to you but it could be really, deeply important to them.

i need some new insults, the only real ones ive been using are "i'll punt you like a football" and "crush you like a soda can" and yall have heard me say that multiple times now, so im sure thats getting old. i could vary it to "im gonna piss on your front lawn" but i cant really say that about fictional characters because i cant piss on their front lawn hmmm

angel in the haar

follow my instagram !!

equal rights for women will never truly be achieved until we have more female noir detectives

Tron (1982) directed by Steven Lisberger

"but how do you know that twitter is migrating here?"

Acorn - Good luck, personal power, protection and wisdom. Dried acorns are a natural amulet for youthfulness. It's associated with the Sabbat of Litha and the element of water.

Angelica - Also called Archangel. It is a very powerful protection herb, healing, creates harmony and courage and helps in exorcisms. Aids vision. Element Air.

Apple - Garden magic, love, healing and wisdom, also vanity, marriage and beauty. Associated Mabon & Samhain. Element water.

Basil - Also called witches herb. Use in spells for Love, exorcism, wealth, sympathy, and protection. Associated with Imbolc. Aids astral projection. Element Fire.

Bay Leaf - Protection, success, purification, strength, wisdom and healing, also increases psychic powers. Element Fire.

Belladonna - Also Called: Deadly Nightshade. Toxic. Use for forgetting past loves. Protection, beauty and original flying ointments. Adds energy to rituals. Element Water.

Bergamot - Money, prosperity and sleep. Protects from both evil and illness. Good for luck and wealth. Increases magical power. Element Fire.

Black Pepper - Banishing negativity, exorcism, and offers protection and help with inner strength. Element Fire.

Blueberry - Protection of children, keeps evil out, and strengthens the aura. Associated with the Great Spirit. Element Water.

Calendula - Also called Marigold. Attracts success and justice in legal matters. Increases psychic/spiritual powers and aid prophetic dreams. Dispels negativity. Element Fire.

Cardamom - Lust, love, and fidelity. Sweetens the personality Use in handfastings. Element Water.

Chamomile - Love, sleep, protection and purification, also reduce stress. Use for meditation work and to attract money. Solar Magic. Element Water.

Cinnamon - Also called Sweet Wood. Use for Solar magic. Meditation and astral projection. Increases spirituality, success, healing, protection, power, luck, strength, and prosperity. Element Fire.

Clove - Use to protect, banish negative forces, and divination. Also helps with any teeth spells. Aids money and draws love. Element Fire.

Dandelion Root - Magical uses include divination, wishes and calling spirits. It also enhances dreams and works well in astral projection. Element Air.

Evening Primrose - Ideal for moon magic. Also use in love charms and to attract fae. Element Water.

Ginger - Increases magic power. Success, love, money and power. Element Fire.

Hibiscus - Attracting love and lust. Use in divination. Associated with lunar magic. Element Water.

Horsetail - Use for strength and resolve. Protection, cleansing and clearing unwanted emotions. Element Earth.

Jasmine - The herb of attraction. Helps prophetic dreaming, money and love. Element Water.

Lavender - Magical uses include healing, sleep and peace. It also promotes chastity and love. Increases longevity of life, tranquility and happiness. Element Air.

Lemon Balm - Also called Melissa. Love, success and healing. Aids psychic/spiritual development. Supports mental health disorders and compassion. Element Water.

Lemon Grass - Psychic cleansing and opening. Use in lust potions and when using Dragon Magic. Element Air.

Lime Tree Leaf - Healing, calm and love. Aids strength and tranquility, Element Air.

Marjoram - Use for cleansing, purification, and dispelling negativity. Also aids grief and sadness. Element Air.

Mint - Promotes energy, communication and vitality, protection and draws custom. Element Air.

Mugwort - Use for strength, protection and healing. Mugwort amplifies magic. Aids astral projection, and psychic power. Element Earth.

Nettle - Uses include dispelling darkness & fear,and curse breaking. Healing and protection and increases lust in partners. Renewal. Element Fire.

Orange Peel & Flower- Attracts abundance, luck. Love and happiness and strengthens divination. Element Fire.

Passion Flower - Attracts friendship and passion. Caming, peace and instills passion into stale relationships. Good for house blessings too. Element Water.

Patchouli - Used in spells for connecting with spirits. Money attracting, increases fertility and lust. Calming and peaceful. Element Earth.

Peppermint - Use for headaches and other forms of healing. Increases sleep and love. Use for increasing psychic power and divination. Element Air.

Rose - Use for divination, increased psychic power, love, lust and healing. Helps strengthen close friendships. Place around sprains and bruises to help them heal faster. Element Water.

Rosemary - Use in healing poppets and love/lust spells. Improves memory. Increases sleep, mental power and protection. Burn to help purification and removing negativity. Associated with faery magic. Element Fire.

Sage - Used for self purification and cleansing. Helps grief and loss. Healing and protection, also increases wisdom. Element Air.

Strawberry Leaf - Attracts success, good fortune, and favorable circumstances. Increases love and aids pregnancy. Element Water.

Thyme - Attracts loyalty, affection, and love. Increases good luck and psychic power. Drink in tea to aid sleep. Element Air.

Verbena - Psychic protection, peace and purification. Healing and helps depression. Increases beauty and love. Mind opening and clearing. Ideal use for exams. Element Earth.

Willow - is Used for lunar magic, drawing or strengthening love, healing, and overcoming sadness.. Element Water.

From the Herbal Grimoire by the blog The Wiccan Lady. Here's the link to the blog for the complete list and further reading:

w. wait. hold on a second. are. sharks whales????????

Nope! Sharks and whales are VEEERY different. They haven’t shared an ancestor since... well.... since the devonian, I suppose. That was over 450 million years ago!

See, it’s...

Oh, bother. Alright, fine, I’ll do an infographic. It’ll be easier to explain, because there’s a lot of stuff to digest.

Let’s go back in time to.... THE CAMBRIAN!!

Disclaimer: I made this in like an hour while slapping together what I knew about these two animals and decorating it with cute images. It isn’t totally accurate, and I’m simplifying a lot for ease of reading. Please don’t eat me, I’m not a bio major!

Transcript below the cut!

[Transcript start: The image is a simple-looking infographic with a green background and chalk-like white lined drawings of various fish.

The Cambrian Explosion, which took place about 541 million years ago, featured a whole bunch of neat stuff crawling around. This included things like: 

Opabinia - a shrimp-like organism with lots of side-fins and a tuby-like appendage which it used to scoop things into its mouth

Trilobites - the ancestor of arthropods, which we consider ‘bugs’ these days.

Dickinsonia - an organism which looks a lot like a leaf, with a middle section and ray-like parts coming out of it and forming most of its body. 

Andsome of the first fishes - the jawless fish, who were our earliest ancestors. The jawless fish resemble lamprey eels - things which don’t have a moving jaw bone.

During the Devonian period (approximately 490 million years ago), the fish line evolved jaws, which was great for them, because they could now smile winningly. (And eat stuff better.) This was the last common ancestor shared between sharks and whales.

The jawed fish evolved into two groups - one was the cartilaginous fish (or fish which have no bones, only cartilage, except for their teeth) - and the other was bony fish, which had a skeleton. These body fish were technically whale ancestors - because the group eventually evolved the species which first came up on land. These were creatures similar to lungfish, who were able to process oxygen out of water and could move themselves through mud using their flippers.

Meanwhile, the shark ancestors continued their lineage in the oceans and evolved into many more funky shapes, including rays (like stingrays) and skates.

As for the fish on land - they were the ancestors to what we know today as the tetrapods - the things which eventually became the amphibians, lizards, dinosaurs... and mammals! 

One of these mammals was the whale ancestor, which looked quite similar to what we think of as a regular land animal - it had four limbs, and a body plan not dissimilar to dogs, cats, etc. Although it could walk on land, it decided to make an evolutionary U-turn and go back into the water again.

They evolved to be optimized for swimming, and eventually lost their hind limbs. They still needed to breathe air, though, and they are still considered mammals, because they birth and nurse their young! 

This begs the question: If sharks and whales aren’t related to each other that much, why do they look so similar?

That’s a great question! That’s because of something we call Convergent Evolution.

It turns out some shapes just work really well when you’re trying to swim in water. Having fins, flippers, and being fish-shaped just gives you advantage, so many water dwelling creatures end up evolving similar bodyplans - like whales and sharks did.

There’s still a reliable way to tell the two apart, though. Check their tails! See if you can tell the difference.]

i’m only on reddit for r/Kevin

📚 Nineteenth-Century Spiritualism, Séances and Spirit Photography: Resources 📚

Hey, everyone! Here’s the Google Drive link to my beloved archive of +60 PDFs on Nineteenth-Century Spiritualism. Enjoy! :)

Last updated: June 15, 2022.