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About The Bat

The world’s largest bat is the “flying fox” that lives on islands in the South Pacific. It has a wingspan of up to 6 feet. Can you imagine what that would be like, to have one flying at you? Holy of Holies! On the other hand, the world’s smallest bat is the bumble-bee bat of Thailand, which is smaller than a thumbnail and weighs less than a penny. That fellow would hardly be seen. natureConservancy2natureCons1Bats are gorgeous and quite sweet. They do however get a bad rap from the general public. I’m not entirely sure why that is the case, although most claim it’s the face and the teeth and the very large ears. OK, I guess that’s a bit of a list. Add to that that most of them fly together in (intimidating) hordes. Plus, they do hang out together. And there are those myths…but has anyone actually known someone who had a bat fly into her hair?

And yet bats are needed and do great work keeping the insect and mosquito populations at bay.

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Posted by The Nature Conservancy

OK, I guess this little guy could turn some people off. That’s a shame too, as many of the bat species are in trouble in the United States.

And by-the-way, rest easy—there are no vampire bats in the States.

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Love Struck

I haven’t been this in love with a book or poet since the Moby Dick, Yeats, and Walt Whitman days. My books are friends, I consume them and take them to bed with me. The  books I’ve loved (and still do) are worn and written in. Filled with marginalia. Tattered. They can barely hang unto their bindings. And we have a mutual love for all that.

But not with The Familiar. It’s different. I handle the books carefully. I keep them safe and order more. I have 1 and 2, with 3, 4, and 5 on the way. It doesn’t matter if I ever read them but I will of course. I savor the layout and graphics as much as the prose, the plot, the story. And it’s just darling of Danielewski to include the bookmark ribbon. I love the cleverness of the parts of the whole, the stories within, before, and around the plot. “One Rainy Day in May” and “Into the Forest.” Or is it “wherein the cat is found…” Then “wherein the cat is hungry…”? We’ll find out as we go along and read along and admire and get lost—or found––in the pages where there’s “More than reading.”

Danielewski promises us a total of 27 books in the series. Think on that.

As for the actual plot and story that we follow along, there’s something more, something underneath it all. Maybe something that needs to be put together. Sooner or later I’ll write about that, most likely when I’m done with the reading. I can’t see offering an outline or discription before the end. But I couldn’t wait to talk about the books, love struck as I am. And I can’t see how I could ever be done with these books after I’ve read them. This is a lasting love, even tho it pains me not to write and draw on the pages.

Xanther’s the Zero and Xanther’s the Drain. We’ll see how this all turns out. She (a 12-year-old-epileptic) is our guide throughout the more than 800 pages of each book. At least through the first group of books. We’ll have to wait and see what happens within the next group. I’m not willing to venture a guess.

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The Bath and The Reader

thinkMinds

Posted by Thinking Minds 

How beautiful it is to find someone who asks for nothing but your company. — with Louise Menta

I’m thinking this is a photo created from the book: The Reader, which I believe was also made into a movie. If it isn’t from that, it certainly captures the intent. I’ve tried bathing and reading myself, when I had a large and deep soaking tub. It had one of those wonderful containers that goes side to side across the tub, so that bath needements could be held therein. I propped a book there, filled the tub with lovely bubble bath, and got a glass of red wine in a crystal wine glass.

I got water splashed on the book, kept sliding down into the tub, and the water turned cold, quickly. And I’ll never know if this is a skill that should be practiced or if the magazine photos are pure propaganda. Nonetheless, the photo is exquisite.

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Saying Good Night

This photo of such beautiful flowers makes it so the scent comes through the lens. Purple is the color of royalty. Think of the purple  robes adorned with the leopard and ermine. artisxticNatureI think of the scent of Purple and the window opened wide so I am surrounded by such loveliness. What better way to fall asleep. Good night and sweet dreams. (Dreams maybe of fairies or an inspiration to flow out with creative dazzlement.

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The Streisand Effect

Methinks everyone should be aware of certain laws and theorems, here below is one posited by Mental Floss.

The Streisand Effect

Trying to suppress something, only to have it blow up in the news as a result, is known as the Streisand Effect. It takes its name from singer Barbra Streisand, who, in 2003, sued the California Coastal Records Project over pictures an aerial photographer took of her house, claiming the photos violated her privacy. Few knew about the images before the lawsuit (in fact, they’d only been viewed six times—and two of those were her lawyers); now everyone does. She lost the lawsuit.

Premiere Of Paramount Pictures' "The Guilt Trip" - Arrivals

It’s also rather like, No one is invincible. Sometimes we need to be reminded of that.