Snake Mantis, Kongobatha Diademata, Nanomantidae

Lindy Pollard Oregon, 2022

“Years and years ago, there was a production of The Tempest, out of doors, at an Oxford college on a lawn, which was the stage, and the lawn went back towards the lake in the grounds of the college, and the play began in natural light. But as it developed, and as it became time for Ariel to say his farewell to the world of The Tempest, the evening had started to close in and there was some artificial lighting coming on. And as Ariel uttered his last speech, he turned and he ran across the grass, and he got to the edge of the lake and he just kept running across the top of the water — the producer having thoughtfully provided a kind of walkway an inch beneath the water. And you could see and you could hear the plish, plash as he ran away from you across the top of the lake, until the gloom enveloped him and he disappeared from your view. And as he did so, from the further shore, a firework rocket was ignited, and it went whoosh into the air, and high up there it burst into lots of sparks, and all the sparks went out, and he had gone. When you look up the stage directions, it says, ‘Exit Ariel.’”

— Tom Stoppard, University of Pennsylvania, 1996 (via flameintobeing)

Another version, arranged by Mykola Leontovych. Usually I’m not a big fan of classical arrangements of folk songs but this one’s really pretty:

https://soundcloud.com/vzadorojniy/leontovich_iz-za_gory_snizhok_letit

translated lyrics

(second version mostly, stuff between brackets belongs in the first version)

Snow flies from the mountain

[alt.Fire burns on the mountain]

and in the valley, a cossack lies

{cut and shot,  covered with a red cloth]

with a raven crowing at his head

and his steed pacing at his feet [alt. crying]

Do not pace, my steed, 

do not trample the earth

Run along the road

[alt. Oh my black steed,

my loyal companion

do not cry for me

run along the wide steppe road]

so that the Tatars may not catch you

May not take the saddle off your back

[ when you arrive at my fathers yard

hit the fence

When you arrive at the gates

beat them with your hooves]

My father [alt. My sister] will come out and unsaddle you

My mother will come out and ask you

“Well , black horse, where is my young son?”

[Your son, Mother, served the Khan

the Crimean Tatar

He served so well he got a fine lady for it

A proud and wealthy princess]

Don’t cry mother, don’t be sad

For your son has married

Took a fine young lady for himself

with a pit-house in the open field....

take a handful of sand

[ she rose early with the stars

washed the sand with her tears]

when that sand will sprout

your son will return from the army

the sand doesn’t sprout

the son doesn’t return from the war campaign...

bonus version:

Keep talking about Belarus!

Belarus has been a dictatorship for many, many years, but it was never this gruesome, this... real. In case you didn't know, Lukashenko has been in office since 1994, he changed the constitution to be able to do it. The elections have been widely known to be falsified for years, getting lukashenko 80% or 90% of votes each and every time, although his real support is estimated to be realistically around 3%, and it could be even lower now, since he still denies the very existence (existence, not seriousness!) of coronavirus.

On the 10th of august, another election took place. To no surprise, 3 of his main opponents have suddenly been arrested and disqualified from the election in the last weeks and, as you could expect, he won again with 80% of votes.

So people have gone to the streets. Lukashenko is apparently hiding in Turkey. It's hard to organize, to communicate or to even document what's happening due to all of the internet being completely down.

Rhe police is shooting people, using tear gas and actual grenades on the masses. A cop van drove into the crowd from the behind running multiple people over. There's a lot of blood, ambulances, and possible dead, (UPDATE: one confirmed dead) though it's really impossible to know, as there are little to no news sources available in Belarus, especially with the wifi being down.

The belarussian police, or militia, is an organization working not only obviously unethically, but illegally too - people are mass-arrested without an open cause, beaten, held in arrest for days, and killed. Just yesterday a man's entire arm was ripped off in some kind of explosion. (This is not confirmed, second-hand relation). Nothing quite of this scale happened since the 90s, or possibly ever in the modern history of Belarus. Belarussians are finally demanding change, and really, what can the police do against a whole nation?

I wish I could reffer everyone to some kind of petition, charity organization, anything, but the events are so current that it's hard for me to say how people from other countries could possibly help. All I can do is raise a little awareness of what's happening, so please, keep reading, keep yourselves updated and informed and don't forget belarus.

My conure does exactly the same thing. He even talks to "the void" and gets upset when it doesn't answer.Why does he do that?Does he expect someone to come out?

When my parrot wants pets off someone he’ll go up to them, say hello, and lower his head to expose his neck. Recently, however, he’s been doing this to a pitch black crevice behind the couch, even trying to cajole the darkness with kissy noises and getting sad when the void won’t pet him. How do I explain that dark chasms are not friends?

Kings & Beggars - Breve regnum (15th century student son from Krakow)

Breve regnum erigitur, 

Sublimatum deprimitur 

Et depressum elabitur 

 Transmutato tempore.

Puerilem militiam,

Perargutam peritiam,

Regentium industriam,

Hanc eduxit in opere.

Cracoviensem filium,

Fulgentem velut lilium

Ac de numero milium

Cunctis praeferendum

Octo dierum spatium

Hoc sustinet solatium,

Post hoc regis palatium

Plagis feriendum.

Namque regis electio

 Fit studii neglectio

 Ac desolatur lectio 

 Tota septimana

Anne with an E’s cancellation is damaging to Indigenous viewers

These reactions from Non-Native fans are proof of the effectiveness of the writing and acting, in teaching through storytelling. But here is the thing: Indigenous fans are watching, too. And in the age of politicians throwing around the words Truth and Reconciliation while continuing to walk the same paths their colonial forefathers did, we do not need another story about Indigenous pain and suffering. We need a story about Indigenous resilience and convalescence.

Hi everyone, even if you have never seen the show Anne with an E, I would really appreciate anyone willing to take a few minutes to read why this is not just a matter of cancelling a beloved period drama, but a matter of white corporations making a profit off of Indigenous suffering, without giving Indigenous healing in a betrayal of responsibility.

#SaveAnnWithAnE #RenewAnneWithAnE

(Sincere apologies for the double-post, but as everyone knows, link post types don’t always show up in Tumblr tag searches, so this version is for that.)

if you think misogyny against women you don't like is acceptable, you are a misogynist.

Happy pride month! Please enjoy this rainbow bug~

Rainbow leaf beetle, Chrysolina cerealis, Chrysomelidae

Found throughout Europe

Photos 1-5 by raedwulf68, 6 by Slimguy, and 7-9 by jakob