Glass Cacti
These Cacti are made entirely of glass! They are part of a 4300 piece collection of glass flowers created by father and son Blaschka, some parts hand blown and some heated and shaped. They were created between 1889 and 1936 with very basic tools. I will say more about them as I post more of them in coming days. On exhibit at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, I recall seeing (and being enchanted with) these flowers as a child.
How delightful to find and see them again recently!
It's all because of Howard Dean!
ReplyDeleteHear, hear!
DeleteWell, I have learned that a Justice of the Peace in town has needed to resign; so the Dems are looking for someone willing to be appointed by the Governor to fill the two-year vacant term which began Feb. 1st.
ReplyDeleteAfter re-reading the JP Handbook, I let the Chair of the Dems know that if they are still looking for someone, I would be willing to have my name considered by next Thursday's caucus.
Truth be told, it would be a simple matter to look at how the town voted and call the person on the list of candidates who got the next most number of votes to see if they are still interested. That would not be me.
It would be a service to the community to have a JP and notary on the library staff, as folks occasionally stop in looking for a notary, especially when the town offices are closed. Also, I understand that not everyone who ran is willing to officiate at a civil union, and since one cannot discriminate, they simply do no weddings. (In Vermont, a JP is not compelled to officiate at weddings and civil unions. There are other mandatory duties.)
So, we'll see.
ReplyDeletelistener--I think it would be a fine idea to have a notary and JP in the library! As for getting hitched, I think it ought to be be civil unions for everyone--with religious ceremonies optional and of no legal consequence. Separation of church and state, and all that.
Re the previous posts about Obama's saber rattling and Syria, I think it is a political blunder. Calvin Coolidge would never get himself into such a pickle--he didn't make a move until he was certain of overwhelming support. I remember my parents scolding me (mildly) for talking just to hear my own voice; acting just to see one's own actions is much the same. Mr. Obama seems to have come unmoored from reason, or at least from realpolitik. Is there something debilitating about the water in DC?
Not a particularly busy day at work today (Thursday); I had a deposition (my 400th appearance as an expert) that took some time, and on the way back to the lab I got casters and a piece of wood I needed to make my "dray" for drying raisins (the Princess grapes are making such great raisins we are going to get another box or two); I also stopped into Costco and ordered a new set of glasses (readers and bifocals) by way of preparation for our vacation in Ontario and Quebec.
I see that Frederick Pohl has passed away.
Re the Amazon Singles, in reading about the effect of same I was reminded of something Marion Zimmer Bradley wrote about the tyranny of the word counts that were acceptable for print publication. It seems to me that if literary works are not subjected to procrustean stretching or amputation that should be little loss to the print industry, since the quality of the works that are deemed of acceptable size for printing should improve. Essentially it creates a market for a new category of product, which should benefit all.
TTFN
--Alan
Not sure I agree that religious weddings should be of no consequence legally, but I do agree that from civil society's point of view, marriage is marriage. It shouldn't matter if you are a heterosexual couple or a homosexual couple. Civil marriage is a civil right that must needs be open to all. I'm continually surprised that the marriage equality folks don't put more emphasis on the Loving case. It seems like a very useful parallel.
DeleteSeems to me I read somewhere that Agatha Christie had difficulties with her required word count, hence second and third murders. Word count requirements can certainly be confining.
I'm *very* vague on the details and must google, but as I recall the situation with the kittens ran something like this:
ReplyDeleteThree little kittens
lost their mittens
and they began to cry
"Oh Mother dear,
we greatly fear
our mittens we have lost!"
"What, lost your mittens?
You naughty kittens!
Then you shall have no pie!"
The three little kittens
they found their mittens
and hung them up to dry
"Oh Mother dear,
something, something, something
our mittens we have found!"
"What, found your mittens?
You good little kittens!
Then you may have some pie."
I agree with Renee, though, that Mamma Cat's parenting style leaves a lot to be desired.
Come to think of it...
DeleteThe three little kittens
put on their mittens
and soon ate up the pie
"You soiled your mittens,
you bad little kittens!"
Ahem, need to google to find how the story ends, seeing as I haven't thought of it in over forty years.
Here we are, courtesy of the Poetry Foundation:
DeleteThe Three Little Kittens
"see here, see here"
DeleteI can see why the glass flowers fascinated you. I think they'd be a little frightening to handle. Double fear, breakage or wounds!
ReplyDeleteEspecially the spiny one! OUCH! At the same time, they're very interesting to look at.
DeleteAh, they are all inside glass cases, no chance to handle them...far too delicate! The curators had to move ALL the cases out of the space for two months in 2008 while the space was being renovated, then move them all back. It must have been an extremely difficult operation! Imagine the flowers being shipped from Germany in the late 1800's and early 1900's! To even pick a flower up requires the use of strands of thin cord, and they are moved a little like the stringing of a marionette.
DeletePretty much exhaustified. Stayed up till 7:00 this morning finishing a book, the last of the R.A. Salvatore series about the Dark Elf, Drizzt Do'urdin I mentioned aa while back. It was a silly thing to do, but then I constantly prove myself to be a silly woman. Sorry the series is over - I liked Drizzt very much. Think I'm going to feel a bit at a loss for a while. OTOH I'm almost finished with the September Asimov's.
ReplyDeleteTruth be told, I think it as unfair to chastise Mother Cat for her parenting skills, described as they were in The Three Little Kittens in 1833, given that the psychological needs of children as we understand them today were not generally comprehended at the average kitchen table, at that time.
ReplyDeleteIt's a little like chastising the authors of hymns written in the late 1800's for not using inclusive language!
Well, that is true, of course.
DeleteSomehow, I 'spect that good parents have *always* existed. As have bad ones. . . .
ReplyDelete