In our church store, you can buy socks with saints on them
The Irony of Temporary: Permanence in Transition | June 14 2025, 20:47
there is nothing more permanent than the temporary
Mark Twain’s Century-Old Forbidden Book | June 14 2025, 19:02
This book waited a hundred years, because Mark Twain forbade its publication
Unraveling the Layers of Echidna: From Faust to Mythology | June 13 2025, 04:21
In the second part of Faust, he encountered an echidna and realized that he did not understand
“Oh wonder! The clew turned into an egg,
The egg swelled up — what is within?
Two dreadful twins emerged —
A vampire with an echidna — from the egg.
The echidna writhes here crawling,
The vampire hovers under the ceiling”
It turned out that in the lexicon of the 18th-19th centuries, an echidna was a venomous snake. I mean, sarcastic, spiteful, sharp, cunning, mocking me, of course, I know this word, but that it literally signified a snake, I learned for the first time. And in Greek mythology, the half-woman half-snake Echidna was apparently the mother of Hydra, Sphinx, Chimera, and Cerberus
Heightened Alert: Navigating Uncertainty and Vigilance | June 12 2025, 22:56
“Due to increased regional tensions.” The Consular Affairs office of the State Department in its notice advised U.S. citizens to “exercise increased caution.” Such news always reminds me of this picture.
Why Shiba Inu Training Fails: A Waiting Game for Lisa | June 09 2025, 17:11
This is why the Shiba Inu is difficult to train. He’s not in the mood today, waiting for Lisa. And the cat is waiting for Lisa too. Their daughter is finally moving back from campus, already loaded everything into the truck. Yuki is looking out the window. Trying to feed him boiled chicken fails — food is not much of a motivator for him. He last ate about 15 hours ago, so he should be a bit hungry in theory. No, he’s not sick — this behavior has been observed throughout his four years. Waiting.
Preserving History in Metal: The Story of U.S. Historical Markers | June 08 2025, 13:24
A rather useful thing was invented in the USA. How do you make sure that history is preserved for centuries? Books burn, the internet is obviously a temporary phenomenon. Across the entire US territory stand these signs called Historical Markers. There are already over 220,000 of them. They are practically indestructible — these are raised letters on a thick metal plate. Often there’s a quite wordy paragraph on them, and they are placed not only in recreational areas but often in places where you can neither drive up to them nor easily walk up. For example, you’re driving on a highway where you can’t go under 40 miles per hour, and there’s nowhere to stop, and somewhere off the road in the field there’s a marker for deer about some battle. Well, apparently, they believe that when they will be needed, there won’t be a problem in accessing them.
Discovering Goethe’s Faust at 47 | June 08 2025, 01:57
At 47, I finally got around to Goethe’s “Faust.” Ordered the book on Ozon, but it will only reach me in a month. So, I decided to start with the audiobook. And what a fabulous production it is! I’ve listened to eight out of sixteen hours, covering all of the first part and a bit of the second. Probably will spend another week chewing through the second part. And when the book arrives – I’ll read it all over again after the audio, which should go really well.
Trukhan’s performance is a masterpiece! The cello, the choice of voice actors, the intonations. I could not imagine a better “Faust” than the one voiced by Chonishvili. Highly recommend. Only occasionally there’s a bit too much with the musical numbers, but I need to check the text, maybe you can’t remove words from a song. The end of the first part in the prison is just fire.
A Close Encounter with a Scentless Fawn | June 04 2025, 15:13
I walked with Yuki and he passed by a little deer less than a meter away without noticing. This is a dog that can smell a hare running past the house by scent. It turns out that fawns are born almost odorless, and this saves their lives.
It is precisely because of their nearly complete lack of smell that does leave their young alone for extended periods. Mothers leave fawns for several hours at a time during the first weeks after birth so that their own smell does not transfer to the babies. During this time, the mother returns several times a day to feed her young. Although she may not be continuously near the fawn, she is usually somewhere close by, and surely worried about seeing us around her baby.
However, it’s not only the lack of smell that helps fawns remain hidden from potential predators. The white spots on their fur are another protective measure. When a fawn walks, the spots may seem obvious, but when the mother leaves it to hide in tall grass or other covers, these spots mimic dappled sunlight falling on the forest floor, as noted by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Such spotted coloring, combined with the faint smell, makes it difficult for predators to find fawns. Typically, the spots disappear by winter when young deer are old enough to survive on their own.
It is said that fawns are born in late May-early June. Today is precisely June 4. They’re right on schedule!
Despite the fact that he is lying in the open sun in thirty-degree heat, overall, if necessary, he can move on his own. Fawns are born generally ready for life in the wild and are generally able to run immediately after birth (albeit poorly).
Navigating Color Theory in Untranslated Texts | June 04 2025, 14:03
Forced to read a random book without translation in a foreign language
