A Weird Thing is Happening

(I'm going to mention some brand names but this is IN NO WAY an advertisement.)

I have always been a tea person. I first started drinking hot tea when I was about 14 or 15, just common grocery store tea bags at first, then my mom bought a bottle of Lea and Perrin's Worcestershire sauce that had a pack of 5 Twinnings tea bags attached. I can't remember for certain what variety. (It might have been Earl Grey. That was one of my favorites for a number of years. I completely lost my taste for it decades ago though.)

That first taste of Twinnings started me on a lifetime of tea appreciation and snobbery. I tried other varieties of Twinnings and later the Internet opened up a whole world of tea that is not available locally. For the past two decades I have mostly drank loose leaf tea because there are so many more varieties available and I can adjust the amount I use depending on the size mug I'm using.

I just never got started drinking coffee. Sure, I tried a few sips when I was young and hated the taste. But at some point I tried the General Foods International Coffees and found some of them... okay. Just a few years ago I got a little bit hooked on Hill's Brother's White Chocolate Caramel Cappuccino which, based on taste, I figure is about five or ten percent coffee. It's more like a fancy hot chocolate. I also love Land O' Lakes Hot Chocolate so the Hill's Brother's was actually like an alternate hot chocolate for me.

The bad thing about Hill's Brother's though, is that it has twice the calories of General Foods International Coffees. (though a little less than LO'L HC) So this year I decided I would stick with the latter. Just for a little variety, once or twice a week. After all, I'm a tea person. But here's the weird thing, suddenly I find myself actually wanting coffee more than I want tea.

So I've been wondering, "Could I possibly like "real" coffee?" (My other half drinks it.) so last week I bought a container of Coffee Mate Peppermint Mocha creamer to try in genuine brewed coffee and that stuff is heavenly. That's bad because I have been using significantly more than the recommended 35 calorie serving. One tablespoon? Really?! ROTFLMAO!

I have not yet been in a Starbucks. There is not one within 40 miles of me, fortunately for that way lies ruin. Also I'm a little bit scared of Starbucks. Everything I've read about them suggests that I would embarrass myself trying to order and annoy the barista with my utter stupidity.

But here's the thing... I am not happy about this change in myself. I like being a tea person because most Americans are not tea people. I like being different. I also like tea culture better than I like coffee culture. Oh, I do still like tea; I just don't seem to want it as much, if you know what I mean. My current favorite is Lapsang Souchong and I need some more of it. So I'm hoping this is just a passing phase. I am still a tea person. I am. I'm just having a sordid little affair with flavored coffees right now.

Just Some Links

From Planet X - Image on one of my favorite Tumblrs. I like how it looks barely sci-fi at all, almost like just an ordinary wildlife picture, until you really look. And even then it could just be prehistoric art.

Jennie Wilde - "Forgotten" artist.

"Ugly Boxes" - This is hilarious. I love when managers think they know more than everyone.

Weird Inventions - I have seen the solar t-shirt before and that's not so crazy. The rest though are like "Wut?"

19th Century Folding Bathtub - A fascinating piece of furniture.

Weird Retro Bathtubs - Possibly NSFW?

Edible Dresses - ...... Nope, I won't go there.

The Phrontistery - Yes! I'm going to be spending a lot of time on this site.

The World Wide Web is Grown Up Now? Maybe?

I see on Google that the World Wide Web is 30 years old today. When a person turns 30 that is the age at which they have to face the fact that they are actually grown up. So is the WWW grown up? I suppose it has and that's actually a little sad.

Who would have thought that one day we would be nostalgic for the way the Web used to be? Sure, it's a lot better now than it used to be and much of the cool stuff is still out there but these days most of us are like kids in the world's biggest library who just sit in the corner and gossip and taunt the kids at the next table and never even look at a single book. Oh well, you can improve the Web but there's not much you can do about people.

If I had to pick one thing I miss from the "good old days" of the Web - this might seem strange but the thing miss most is badly designed websites. Oh, they still exist but you never just accidentally stumble upon them like you used to. Fortunately, there are lists:

Web Pages That Suck
Top 50 Worst Website Designs
Top 10 Worst Websites

And a single website that proudly calls itself The World's Worst Website Ever

I feel better now. The World Wide Web that we have long known and loved is still alive. We just have to get away from Twitter and Facebook once in a while and look for it.

Entertaining Nonsense

Sometimes I miss the good old days of the Internet, when you always knew immediately when you had come across a lunatic website because they all screamed at you in a variety of large fonts and bright colors. Lunatic websites are still out there though; they're just easier on the eyes. Like this one that I first saw on Twitter: Giant Prehistoric Trees.

Everyone has noticed that Devil's Tower looks like a giant tree stump but most of us, when we hear the real scientific explanation for its shape, immediately realize that it makes much more sense. This individual though, whose command of English strongly suggests that it's not his first language, just couldn't let go of the fantasy of an ancient era when there were trees many kilometers tall - the Silicon Era. He gives many more examples of mountains that he says are the stumps of ancient trees and tells us:

So there are no volcanoes, mountains and rocks they do also not exist. You can delete these terms from the lexicon. ... we are well made out that absolutely all the rocks of our planet – are the bodies of the silicon world.

I also like this bit, which he just sort of throws out there, talking about modern trees, then abandons:

If someone thinks that the forests were cut down just for timber, then I hasten to dispel your naivety. The fact is that old trees work also as information storage, database, hard disks, in modern parlance. Everything that happens on the planet, the trees do record it in its information portal. A person with good enough sensitivity can just go to a forest and easily access any information about the past, just by touching the tree trunk.

So anyway... it goes on and on, we're all naive, scientists are covering up "the truth," and so on and so forth. You know... I not only want to believe that most people are good; I also want to believe that most people are not idiots. (Of course the fact that around one third of Americans still think Donald Trump is doing a good job should be enough to dispel that belief.) So it occurs to me that web pages like this must be the Internet version of performance art, that its creator can't possibly believe such nonsense and it's put out there merely to entertain. But I don't know.

I took a quick look at the rest of the website. Just based on the article headlines you might almost think it wasn't a complete nonsense website if you hadn't read the thing about the Silicon Era trees but I don't think I'll waste any more time exploring. It would be hard to top kilometers tall trees.

And So It Begins?

The AI take-over that is. You may have heard that some Alexa users are being freaked out by random creepy laughter coming from Alexa. Coming so soon after last week's super creepy X-Files episode, it's only natural that one's first thought might be, "Is this how the AI take-over starts?" But even as I was joking about it on Twitter I was thinking hacker. Some pimply-faced little dweeb is sitting in his parents' basement having a good laugh. However, Amazon says Alexa is merely misunderstanding "lights" for "laughs". Some people though, have described it as an evil laugh, not Alexa's normal, pleasant laugh.

I still haven't abandoned my notion that it's caused by a hacker but if this is the beginning of the AI take-over, be it known that I welcome our electronic overlords.

Random Linkage

World Wide Weirdies - Sounds like a take-off on the World Wide Web but these are actually from the 1970s.

Wooden Money - but no wooden nickels

Embroidery Portraits - Wow!

Creative Hyphenation and places your mind goes

Colorful Houses of South India

Customer Stories - I never get tired of these. I just keep reading and going, "What the hell was wrong with that person?" My fantasy is that some of the bad customers will read these, recognize themselves and feel shamed. (More likely they would get angry but I did say it's my fantasy.)

Car in Space - No, not that car. This is another blast from the 70s.

The Secret Teachings of All Ages - Hmmmm... I must explore this sometime.

Henry Darger

After posting the link about the 15,000 page novel yesterday I just couldn't let it go. This is the Internet! Surely someone has posted that whole ridiculous masterpiece online. Well, sadly, so far no luck. Maybe on the Dark Web? [kidding]

I did, however, learn more about Henry Darger himself. Holy crap, people! I felt like I was reading the synopsis of a Criminal Minds episode. And the book, aside from the length, is probably not something I would want to read but I still kind of want to read it anyway. Lost or inaccessible works really stir up my curiosity, not to mention some minor outrage at being denied access to something I'm curious about.

The book by John MacGregor, mentioned in the article, is $200 at Amazon so that's not happening either.

Brains Are Weird...

... but sometimes mine is awesome. Last night (or this morning) I dreamed an entire Star Trek series that never existed. I wish I could remember more of the details. There was an android character named Data but it wasn't Data and that confused us (I was watching with my son) so I grabbed the remote and looked at the "info" and the first aired date on it was 1965 and that confused us even more because the technology and decor was more Next Generation era but I noticed that the uniforms were original series style uniforms except they were all blue. I think the captain was female, which would be wrong for 1965. So, because of all that, at some point I realized I was dreaming.

Like I said, I can't remember many details. There was something going on on a beautiful planet, something involving a river. There was also a spectacular view of an ocean. Wherever it is I kind of want to go there for real. In the dream it was like I was there. Even though I knew I was just watching it on TV I was also in it somehow? You know how dreams are. Anyway... that's what my weird brain came up with last night. I'm really disappointed that I probably won't get to see any more episodes.

Random Linkage

Library of Babel - Weird. I like the minimalist design of this website. If nothing else you could use it as a soothing escape from all flashy, noisy websites that are always trying to get our attention.

Stuff You Do While Sleeping - Nothing surprising; I already knew about all of these but there's a really cute kitten at the top of the page.

Top Films About Time Travel - I have seen several of these. I'm not really a fan of the concept of time travel but sometimes it makes a good story.

33+ Reasons You Should Be Following Nathan Fillion on Twitter and Instagram

Dr Alesha Sivartha’s Book of Life - Illustrations from the 1898 book The Book of Life: The Spiritual and Physical Constitution of Man

The Art and Science of Ernst Haeckel - WANT! But not at that price. (~sigh~ Sometimes being a cheapskate is hard.)

Miniatures - Everyone has been sharing this on Twitter and Facebook so you've probably seen it already but I just have to say, one more time, this is amazing!

Random Linkage

Books in Books - 12 novels that mention lots of other books. I think I want to read Among Others just based on its hidden reading list.

Subway to Nowhere - If this was in the U.S. within a couple of months there would be a 7-11 and half a dozen fast food places nearby. In America if you build it they will come.

Ingo and Friends - Gorgeous photos of a German shepherd and his owl friend. Seriously, I can't tell you how much I LOVE these.

Pizza Forward

Museum Twins

Love and Skeletons - Oh those prudish Victorians! NSFW

And finally, the solution to all problems:

A Few Things

Turkish artist Huseyin Sahin creates beautiful, surreal scenes using photographs.

I just discovered Factinate this morning. As always, be skeptical of any "facts" you read on the Internet but this does look interesting and I noticed that they did get at least one thing right that often misleads people, about life expectancy in ancient times and how it's skewed by the higher number of infant and maternal deaths.

Black and WTF is a Tumblr devoted to odd old black and white photos.

I made this raspberry sour cream pie. I halved the recipe to make only one pie.I wouldn't say it was the best pie I've ever tasted but it was yummy and I will be making again sometime.

Random Linkage

Clouds - This guy says we should spend more time talking about clouds. It does seem like a better topic for conversation than most I have been hearing lately.

Spiritual Perception - A beautiful surreal art Tumblr. Beautiful! I am so in love with this site!

Kawaii Monster Cafe - Not very monstrous. A colorful and fun Japanese cafe.

Ambiguous Abbreviations - Or perhaps one could say, unfortunate.

Food Carving - Artist plays with food

Ted Wilson Reviews the World - A hilarious review of butter.

Russian Fairy Tale Portraits - Beautiful portrait photography.

Real photographs that look like paintings

Village of Flowers - A Polish village with flowers painted on everything. Wonderful!

The Turban Trick - an interesting bit of history

Ambient Geek Sleep Aids - Background noise from science fiction movies and TV shows

Miniature Environments by Song Kang - Fascinating sculptures

Random Linkage

Beautiful Blue Eyes - Believe it or not the photo is real.

Cynthia Mosser Art - Some lovely abstract paintings

105 Year Old Cyclist - You're never too old.

Parallel Dimensions - Interesting old book.

Paul Michael Smith Photography - He makes photos of historic scenes using miniatures.

Dragon Stones - Beautiful paintings of dragons on small stones.

Disney Meets Dali - A forgotten collaboration. I love it.

Studio Soo Flower Shop - More miniatures

Route 66 Then and Now - a series of GIFs, many of Oklahoma

Thomassons - "preserved architectural relics which serve no purpose"

Geeky Valentines Day Cards

Illustrations by Antanas Gudonis - Fascinating. More

This 'n' That

Reader-in-Chief - This is wonderful and it also makes me sad because our next president probably never read anything that didn't tell him how to make more money. I think my tastes in reading probably don't overlap much with President Obama's but I already know I want to read some of these and I will look up reviews of some others. There are two that I have already read: Heart of Darkness, which I didn't care much for, and Moby Dick. Also, I think I read To Kill a Mockingbird when I was just a kid but I can't remember for certain. I might have only seen the movie. And of the children's books, I owned one: Harold and the Purple Crayon, and it makes me so happy that the president recommended a book I loved when I was a child. I won't bother to list those I want to read and might want to read but I will refer to this list later. Oh, and I love the photo at the top of the article - the president wearing jeans and hanging with his daughters at the library like any normal dad.

One of the most beautiful things I've seen recently: A Rosy View is a site devoted to beautiful pictures of roses. It includes names and is organized by color.

Odd. A Tumblr devoted to a curious absence of ears

I recently started following Emergency Kittens on Twitter. (Donald Trump followed then unfollowed Emergency Kittens. Hmmm... so many questions. What does it mean? [/sarcasm] I think it's too bad he unfollowed. A daily kitten might have been good for him.) There's also a website. Keep refreshing the page to see more kittens.

I love this wonderful collection of happy historic photos. The headline says there are "10+". I have looked at the first 40 so far.

Great collection of photos of an old pencil factory in Portugal. I just love everything about this. (Via Messy Nessy Chic)

Artist Suzanne Moxhay creates photo montages of abandoned places and nature. I seem to be using the words "love" and "wonderful" a lot lately but I love these; they're wonderful.

And finally, what the heck is an otomatone? Well, I'm not sure you really want to know but here ya go anyway.

That's actually not entirely bad. In fact, I think, creepy but really pretty good.

Weird Victorian Christmas Cards

You have got to see this collection of Victorian Christmas Cards.. (The headline says "10+" but there are actually more than 50.) Many of them are seriously creepy; most are just sort of like, WTH?! A few are actually really cute. I think maybe some of these were intended to be humorous and we just don't get Victorian humor.

A Useless Extra

Freaky celebrity fact of the day: Carrie Underwood was born with a third nipple. Also interesting is that there's a blog devoted to supernumerary nipples, though, sadly, the last post was in 2012.

Link sent to me by he who (apparently) talks about nipples at work.