“Rosemary is usually propagated by cutting. Seeds can be difficult to germinate and often don’t grow true to their parent. It’s much faster to start with a cutting and you will be sure of what type of plant you will get.”
–Marie Iannotti. “Rosemary: You Can Grow the Herb Rosemary.” About.com Guide, Gardening. New York Times Company. Web.
“The Starveling Cat! the Starveling Cat! warm as a lizard! fragrant as a bat!”
–Snippet in Fallen London online game. Web.
Posted in Cool stuff, Quote, Reading
“Growing up, Oakes (Slanted and Enchanted) felt many a dark night of the soul, though at the time she didn’t know to call it such, and rather than turn to God, she turned into an angry, punk-rock, alterna-chick who preferred swearing and ranting over prayer. Yet now, on the cusp of midlife and all its crises, Oakes, a lecturer who teaches writing at UC Berkeley, is still swearing up a storm and taking the Lord’s name in vain, but she’s turned to God and can’t seem to look away. What’s more, she has discovered she is Catholic through and through, despite the Vatican’s politics (which she despises). This memoir tells the story of this unlikely convert—as she sees herself—in all its gory detail. Oakes doesn’t mince words or clean up her language, and doubt, frustration, and anger are frequent companions on her journey. Oakes not only treats readers to gorgeous prose, but manages to provide an overview and history of the best of the Catholic faith, without losing momentum. Fans of Lauren Winner’s Girl Meets God will be happy to meet this Catholic girl who can turn a phrase, too.”
–“Radical Reinvention: An Unlikely Return to the Catholic Church by Kaya Oakes” (Review). Publisher’s Weekly June 18, 2012. Web.
“It was one of those perfect autumn days so common in stories and so rare in the real world. The weather was warm and dry, ideal for ripening a field of wheat or corn. On both sides of the road the trees were changing color. Tall poplars had gone a buttery yellow while the shrubby sumac encroaching on the road was tinged a violent red. Only the old oaks seemed reluctant to give up the summer, and their leaves remained an even mingling of gold and green.
Everything said, you couldn’t hope for a nicer day to have a half dozen ex-soldiers with hunting bows relieve you of everything you owned.”
–Patrick Rothfuss. The Name of the Wind: The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day One. New York: Daw, 2007. Kindle edition. Location 532.
“Art Deco Eleventh Doctor”
–Bill Mudron. “Art Deco Eleventh Doctor.” Print. For sale at http://mudron.bigcartel.com/product/art-deco-eleventh-doctor
Posted in Cool stuff, Quote, Reading
“A lifetime of love with the love of your life. It doesn’t get any better than that.”
–Hallmark greeting card.
“A prestigious group of scientists from around the world is warning that population growth, widespread destruction of natural ecosystems, and climate change may be driving Earth toward an irreversible change in the biosphere, a planet-wide tipping point that would have destructive consequences absent adequate preparation and mitigation.
‘It really will be a new world, biologically, at that point,’ warns Anthony Barnosky, professor of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and lead author of a review paper appearing in the June 7 issue of the journal Nature. ‘The data suggests that there will be a reduction in biodiversity and severe impacts on much of what we depend on to sustain our quality of life, including, for example, fisheries, agriculture, forest products and clean water. This could happen within just a few generations.'”
–“Scientists Uncover Evidence of Impending Tipping Point for Earth.” UC Berkeley News Center. June 6, 2012. Web.
[Sorry about not quoting for a few weeks. Life.]
“Fiat Lux (‘let there be light’) is not only the motto of the University of California. It is also the name of a vast repository of photographs taken of the entire UC system nearly fifty years ago by Ansel Adams, one of the most famous photographers of the 20th Century. This extraordinary time capsule from the UC’s past has been chosen as the centerpiece for the 2012 On the Same Page program. Through our website (and the network of classes, talks, exhibitions, and databases that it weaves together), we invite you to explore the Fiat Lux collection, to look imaginatively and critically at our university’s history, and to participate actively in making its future. We are all stewards of the University of California.”
–“Fiat Lux: The Project.” On the Same Page. June 2012. University of California. Web.
“Bumps on the head:
As usual, the cranial exploration students start taunting the phrenologists, and phrenological manipulation hammers are produced. Mayhem breaks out shortly thereafter, and the porters lead a charge of the hired help to break things up. You are in the thick of things, and suddenly you are surrounded by a coterie of second year students armed with cranial implements. You put up a sterling show of arms, but there are too many and you soon find yourself phrenologically manipulated into unconsciousness. You wake the next day, on an examining table. It seems that you have been studied.”
–Storylet result in Fallen London online game. Web.
Posted in Cool stuff, Quote, Reading
“Joss Whedon loves apocalyptic moments, perhaps because it’s an ideal situation in which to let characters out to play–what Buffy decides during different apocalypses displays her development as a superhero, as a woman. But Whedon seems particularly drawn to the quandary that results when just one person can save the world or kill it. He continually places his characters in the apocalyptic moment with the power to save the world, and both of his movies of this spring–The Avengers and The Cabin in the Woods–feature characters who have to make sacrifices to save the world.”
–Lisa Vox. “Joss Whedon and the End of the World.” Geekstory May 24, 2012. Web.