It's time for my cherished daily ritual that I like to call my "beatles run", it's where I go for a run and listen to the beatles while doing it

It used to be george but then I started running like a bad actress in a shlocky horror movie and giggling and looking over my shoulder and pretending to trip over roots and branches and stuff so I had to change it to paul

Ralph Bakshi is one of my favorite animators. All who come across this should watch all his movies. from the movie “Fire and Ice” 1983

this is actually one of the most important insights for understanding the last 15 years

while my mom was pregnant with me, she was delivering chinese food on bike in new orleans. i like to think that the music she heard in the streets made me the way i am now.

happy new year everyone!

Feminism

Happy Send Me On My Way Sunday

he’s on his way

Personally, I think the best way to burn the Gävle goat would be to infiltrate the security team, play the long game y'know. Join the team and keep the goat safe for 3 or 4 years, maybe even 10 years, make them trust you, maybe marry a fellow security person. Then, when they least expect it, whoosh up goes the goat, your beloved is the first on the scene, you see the devastation in their eyes as they ask 'why? Was it all a con?' And you will sweep your beloved off their feet and dip them in front of the blazing goat as the head crumbles into itself sending up a column of dramatic flames. And you will declare your love for two things: arson, and them. And then you sloppy kiss and run away from the law together.

Eighteen years later, a young person who looks suspiciously like the both of you joins the security team...

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

fish dont know im wet 

recently learned about a horticultural technique called Espalier, it’s the funniest goddamn thing i’ve ever seen.

Espalier allows trees to be trained into 2-dimensions, by tying the branches to a flat surface as the tree grows. They literally flatten the tree. They make the tree flat. Flat tree!!!

Look at this. This is objectively hilarious:

And people get fancy about it. Look at this nonsense:

(the first one’s called a Belgian Fence, and can be used as an actual fence)

Espalier is actually a very useful technique for

Like. this is a legitimately practical gardening method. but it looks like they squished a tree between the pages of a book. just squashed it flat like a sad little dried flower! i could use these trees as a bookmark!!!

But yes, it is also a healthy and clever way to grow lots of fruit in small spaces, in climates they might not otherwise be suited for. I’m still going to make fun of it, but it honestly looks delightful and delicious.

Espalier!

Flat tree/flattery puns GO GO GO

One of the cool things about it is that it allows for growing fruit in more northerly* areas than you’d otherwise be able.

When done against a South facing wall, the wall shelters and warms the plant, extending the growing season and thus the range of some more delicate fruit trees.

*or reverse all this for the southern hemisphere.

2026 !!!!!!!!!!!

we really need to push back on this increasingly common idea that an adult and a child can never have anything in common and should never be interacting outside of very specific, strictly monitored circumstances. growing up my mom would take us to the park and she would also play with the other random kids who were there, I don't think you can do this anymore. I spent most of my 8th grade lunches hanging out alone with my english teacher talking about books and life and culture, I don't think this would be allowed anymore. the potential for someone to exploit a child and do harm will always be there, but I think acting like children can never benefit from a friendship with an adult really just harms children in the long run. as a child/teen who dealt with severe mental illness, to this day I still remember the impact that kind adults had on me growing up.

Peeps like to talk about the importance of cultural exchanges (still absolutely vital) but forget about inner-generational exchanges. I worked in a large salon with so many different types that worked there and would come through. I learned so much being in that environment, having clients in their 80s, working with elder gas tha survived the aids crisis’. Yall are really missin out on people in the best ways.

YOU’LL ♡ THIS PLACE!

A robust clubhook squid (Onykia robusta) washed up at Dutch Harbour, Alaska, USA.

This approximately 10ft long specimen was photographed and then safely relocated back to the ocean, still alive.

by Andrew Bleiman