After a bush fire in the Etosha National Park, the stark colors of these three brothers really stood out.

Subadult lion brothers Etosha National Park, Namibia Photographed by Jandré Germishuizen

fanfic is extremely hard

Write a novel OP

His smile is so radiant

That's the camera flash, I think.

actually that's the light of his pure and noble soul

today Pangur found a rainbow 

American bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus)

when applied to drinks, "dry" means "without sugar". therefore it follows that sugary drinks can be called "wet". the meanings of the terms "hot" and "cold" when applied to drinks are obvious. thus the aspect of any drink can be determined.

for instance, green tea, freshly steeped and served without additives, is hot and dry, and therefore has an aspect of fire.

a mocha, on the other hand, while hot, is sweet, and therefore wet, and thus has an an aspect of air.

lemonade, which is wet and cold, has a water aspect.

finally, the drink which most epitomizes the earth aspect, being both cold and dry, is vodka

Spent the afternoon at the Museum of Sex! It was less substantive than I'd hoped (I may be spoiled by the Chicago Leather Archives), but nevertheless fun and thought-provoking! I enjoyed seeing the objects in their Artifact (XXX) exhibit, which ranged from humorous to disturbing to confounding (the juicer chair pictured above was all three for me, depending on what fruit and orifice I imagined were involved in the juicing process). Superfunland was also an eye-catching part of the museum, delving briefly into the history of sex shows in carnivals before transitioning into a sex carnival of its own!

Their current temporary exhibit is Utopia: Three Centuries of Sexuality in American Cults and Communes, which was particularly interesting for me. I have a knee-jerk disdain response to spiritual communes for reasons I struggle to articulate, likely due to pop culture and sensationalized news about cults and the like. (The only group I enjoyed reading about with no reservations was The Cockettes, through which I leaned the phrase "acid drag.")

On the one hand, I feel strongly that people should be able to seek new modes of living and pursue spiritual fulfillment, even if those pursuits are eclectic, syncretic, and downright weird. I also feel strongly that traditional, prescriptive ideas of sexuality and relationships ought to be interrogated. So why can't I think of these groups attempting these experiments in communal living without sneering? Part of it is, admittedly, an aesthetic aversion. I think white people's rainbow chakra art and pseudo-hieroglyphs and whatnot are, along with appropriatice, incredibly dumb and bad-looking. I'm also deeply skeptical of the idea that someone can just have a revelatory moment and then become qualified as a spiritual leader. (It does not escape me that for many male leaders, revelations of polygamy and mandated sexual availability so often swiftly follow)

But I think there's something to be said about the boldness required to pioneer a new way of living that goes beyond armchair philosophizing into real action. Maybe these kooky people should be-- after inspecting heavily for abuses, corniness, and other crimes against man-- admired, abstractly, for trying to build their visions of utopia.

Maybe.

After a LOT of inspection.

The exhibit is gonna be around until April 12! If you're in the area and able, I highly recommend.

Machli with missing left canines - lost during a deadly fight with a mugger crocodile.

The crocodile killer Ranthambore National Park, India Image shared by Mail Today

Earlier this month, our team received word from Big Life Foundation about a lion caught in a snare. The trapped lion was spotted thanks to footage from a camera trap at a waterhole at Great Plains Ol Donyo Lodge in the Chyulu Hills.

The teams could identify from the video footage that the lion was a young male. One of our previous Guardians, Mokoi (who now works for Big Life Foundation as a lion tracker) immediately began tracking the lion on foot, helping our monitoring team to locate the lion with precision.

[…] The rescue went smoothly. The lion was sedated, allowing the teams to safely remove the snare and treat his wound. Our team identified him as the son of Olamaana, naming him Lewaya - meaning "He of the wire." After his release, Lewaya rejoined his father, Olamaana.

Lewaya, “He of the wire” Amboseli National Park, Maasai Mara, Kenya Images and words by Lion Guardians

i think we need to abolish subscriptions. im tired of remembering passwords and giving out my email. check out as guest, no you may not know my name. die

I need everyone to know that my old neighbor (probably) died or (possibly) went to someplace with permanent medical care because she was a million years old, and she was replaced by (another) old man of similar age and haleness whose children put him into this house to be closer to them. This is significant because the previous neighbor lady hated me AND my birds, and the new guy is delighted by them and comes over to visit Bug.

Today I got to meet his daughter and he insisted she meet Bug too, so after foot dips, I walked them out to the pens. I called for Bug several times, but she did not appear. I don't blame her. it's cold and rainy out. So I went in to find her, and she was absolutely not budging at all. Nestled up with mantis on their heated perch, inside their curtained-off, decorated, insulated coop. I did end up letting the daughter walk through to come see her and give her a little pat, because I want to get along with my neighbors and want them to like the birds (much easier all around if everyone likes the birds).

But like imagine it's the dead of winter in Michigan, and your elderly father insists that his new neighbor has peacocks and you go to see them thinking maybe they're turkeys, or like, one random peacock like some farms have, and instead this is what you find

and you're allowed to pet them

@pangur-and-grim Check out the jowls on this guy Facebook showed to me (despite me not living anywhere near the rescue). If anyone wants this moon-faced king, he’s available at Furkids Animal Rescue and Shelter in Georgia, USA.

lying on the couch stressed as hell, and out of the corner of my eye I can see Belphie dragging boxes out of the recycling container and spreading them across the kitchen. and when he sees me looking he goes "MEEP" because he loves me so much

does anyone wanna hangout someday