Just Some Wildflowers

I Found These Interesting

American Woods - pictures of woodgrain identified by species

Food Art - I love this kind of art (not just food but other botanical art too) but I can never find any prints for sale that are as good as the stuff I find on websites like this.

Stories of Stupid - I'm fortunate that I have very rarely run into people like this. Frankly this level of stupid makes me angry and I know that's not fair. (I have only read up to #30)

National Geographic Photo Contest Winners

Science Fiction Concept Art

437 Complete Issues of Soviet Photo Magazine - I must browse this site sometime.

UFO Earrings - Impatiently waiting for someone to make knockoffs of these.

The Epergne - You say "kitsch," I say beautiful.

Rhiannon Giddens

I recently discovered Rhiannon Giddens and there will very likely be an album purchase in my near future. Give a listen.

Another One

I am fascinated by this particular mushroom. (more than I am usually fascinated by them) It is growing on a stump beside our driveway. Most individual mushrooms I see on our place are only around for a day or two before they shrivel up and die or whatever happens to them. Other than growing very slowly in size, this one has remained unchanged for over a week. And the brown part of it is shiny, which is also unusual.

Fungi Appreciation

We got more than the normal amount of rain last month so we've been seeing a lot of these.

It's like some creepy horror movie stuff when you spot them as they're first emerging from the ground.

Here are a couple more nice ones.

The Internet Will Never Be the Same

I have been thinking for a long time about re-starting this blog. I hate that I'm posting again for this reason. Charles Hill has died as a result of injuries from a car accident.

His blog, Dustbury, is one of the ones I have been reading the longest. He was blogging long before blogging became popular and was one of the most consistent bloggers. Why Dustbury was never considered one of the "A List" blogs is something I will never understand. It was the perfect mix of current events, local (Oklahoma) happenings, pop culture, and ridiculous things found on the Internet.

I never got to meet Charles in person but I have no doubt he would have been a fun person with whom to have a drink and a conversation. And if there are blogs in Heaven you can be absolutely sure Charles is continuing daily posting on the Heavenly version of Dustbury.

The Other Side of Spring

As I commented on Twitter last week, everyone expects the spring of painters and poets. More often spring kind of sucks. Dark cloudy days, rain, storms. There have been years when we didn't see the sun at all for weeks at a time. This year though, we have had many very nice days, truly the spring of painters and poets. So I guess I shouldn't complain too much that this week is going to be the more typical spring of rain and storms.

This was Saturday, looking up from under a tree in my front yard. It doesn't get much better than this.

Smart Move Jack (sarcasm)

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey seems to be preparing to "improve" Twitter by taking away what people like most about it. At the same time he flatly refuses to do anything the users request, such as adding the ability to edit tweets and, more importantly, enforce existing rules in a fair and unbiased manner.

Okay, I know... I was skeptical about the change from 140 characters to 280 and that's worked out well. This though - changing from following people to following topics - really seems like it would destroy Twitter. It's the people I'm interested in, not topics. My favorite people on Twitter each tweet about a variety of topics. I never know what might pop up in my feed - topics that wouldn't occur to me to follow.

So where will I go if Twitter dies? Follow the mass exodus wherever, hoping all my favorite people go to the same site. But I still have a small amount of hope that the massive negative feedback will change Jack's mind. I have not encountered the so-called incivility that some people seem so concerned about. You choose who you follow and you can block or mute anyone who bothers you. I think the people who complain about incivility either are idiots who haven't got the sense to block and unfollow people or they actually enjoy both the drama and complaining about it and in the latter case nothing will prevent them from indulging in said drama and complaining.

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.

This 'n' That

Occasionally I come across a website with a name that I find ridiculously appealing. It's even better, of course, when it turns out to be an excellent website. That is the case with Awkward Botany. Someone on Twitter linked the Seed Oddities article, which was very interesting.

There are several interesting articles on Atlas Obscura. A 1930's House of Tomorrow is for lease, but the new tenant will have to restore it. I would like to see pictures when it's done. And The Exotic Pepper Project! I am low-level excited about this. I hope the Pumpkin Habanero makes its way to my neck o' the woods before too long.

The Public Domain Review is a great history/literary site that I really want to make more time for.

100,000 Stars looks like a fun, scientific thing to play with.

In praise of autochrome. These old color photos are lovely.