Music I heard with you was more than music,

And bread I broke with you was more than bread;

Now that I am without you, all is desolate;

All that was once so beautiful is dead.

Your hands once touched this table and this silver,

And I have seen your fingers hold this glass.

These things do not remember you, beloved,

And yet your touch upon them will not pass.

For it was in my heart that you moved among them,

And blessed them with your hands and with your eyes;

And in my heart they will remember always,

—They knew you once, O beautiful and wise.

-Conrad Potter Aiken

Reading Maureen Ryan’s incisive “Burn It Down”. This passage reads like a direct interpretation of the S1E3 scene.

“Many Hollywood companies and film and TV sets were, or are, controlled by narcissistic abusers who do not care about anything but what they can compel or extract from the relatively powerless people around them. … The fact that the industry is filled with vulnerable, empathic artists…is actually helpful for abusers. After all, wherever they operate, malignant narcissists tend to pick victims who are kind, caring, and trusting, exploiting these noble qualities to their advantage. Once they’ve spotted these potential targets, its time for the clever, manipulative authority figure to tear down whatever self-esteem these victims have…. If they are to remain in touch with the source of their storytelling power and inspiration, actors and other creative people must remain open and vulnerable to the world. On emotional and psychological levels, they can’t shut down and armor up completely, even though so much of the industry seems designed to make them do so. The entertainment industry has long reinforced tremendously harmful norms and it has told countless aspiring artists that having boundaries—not giving their all to the creative struggle—is bad. And then it unleashes monsters into that mix. I no longer wonder why there are so many tales of addiction, mental health struggles, body image issues, and worse all over the industry. It’s no longer strange or surprising to me that so many creative people have melt downs, issues, breakdowns…. Avoiding the trap set by an unforgiving industry just looks unbelievably difficult…. That so many remain so kind, inspired, and giving is nothing short of a miracle.”

“Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal

Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,

There is music in the midst of desolation

And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,

Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.

They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;

They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.”

From Laurence Binyon’s “For the Fallen”

“It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellowmen, and travel far and wide….[A]ges of incessant labour, by immortal creatures, for this earth must pass into eternity before the good of which it is susceptible is all developed.  [A]ny…spirit working kindly in its little sphere, whatever it may be, will find its mortal life too short for its vast means of usefulness….Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!” –Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

“A life full of laughter is a life well lived.” V.C. Birlidis

I don’t tell you this so that you think of me as a victim. I am not a victim. I tell you this because my story has value. My story has value. I tell you this because I want you know—I need you to know—what I know. To be rendered powerless does not destroy your humanity. Your resilience is your humanity. The only people who lose their humanity are those who believe they have the right to render another human being powerless. They are the weak. To yield and not break? That is incredible strength. You destroy the woman, you destroy the past she represents. I will not allow my story to be destroyed.

Hannah Gadsby: Nanette

“The earth will never be the same again.

Rock, water, tree, iron, share this grief

As distant stars participate in pain.

A candle snuffed, a falling star or leaf,

A [loved one’s] death, O this particular loss

Is Heaven-mourned; for if no angel cried,

If this [beloved] one was tossed away as dross,

The very galaxies then would have lied.

How shall we sing our love’s song now

In this strange land where all are born to die?

Each tree and leaf and star show how

The universe is part of this one cry

That every life is noted and is cherished

And nothing loved is ever lost or perished.”

–Madeleine L’Engle A Ring of Endless Light, modified

Kick Drum Heart by The Avett Brothers

The footprints over the snow
the fabric of all the lonely
C-Covering only
the fables and hands
the rest is out in the cold
holding the last of the season
F-F-F freezin’ Yeah My my my heart like a kick drum
My my heart like a kick drum
My my heart like a kick drum
My love like a voice We’re walkin’ in to the fields.
We’re walkin in to the forest.
The moon is before us.
Up above
We’re holdin’ hands in the rain
S-sayin’ words like I love you
D-d-d’you love me? Yeah My my heart like a kick drum
My my heart like a kick drum
My my heart like a kick drum
My my love like a voice Mother Mary heard us approaching her door
Although we didn’t make a sound. There’s nothing like finding gold
within the rocks hard and cold
I’m so surprised to find more
Always surprised to find more I won’t look back anymore
I left the people that do
Its not the chase that I love
Its me following you  JustJared/giraffeswithwings.tumblr  bonniedunefans.tumblr

This least tern chick at Cape Hatteras National Seashore is very sleepy, but ready to rally for International Migratory Bird Day! 

From sandpipers and cranes to vultures and hummingbirds, to fluffy tired smol chicks, we are dedicated to bird conservation and preserving the environments they need to live.

Photo by National Park Service

 Egyptian faience hippopotami

"When placed in tombs, they were meant to supply the deceased with regenerative power and to guarantee his or her rebirth. Since the ancient Egyptians also feared these animals and believed that depictions of them could magically come alive, the legs of many such statuettes were probably broken off deliberately, thus eliminating the animal’s destructive potential."

Hippopotami in Ancient Egypt

Isabel Stünkel

Department of Egyptian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Also:

Get tested routinely yourself; rapid tests only take 20 minutes.

Make HIV testing part of your regular health care.

Learn how HIV is, and is NOT, transmitted.

Learn about U=U: Undetectable = Untransmissible. Continued, daily use of antiretroviral medicines can control HIV so well that it is effectively undetectable. When it is undetectable in our bodies, it cannot be transmitted by sex.

See #4 above: educate yourself about HIV and about how effectively it can be controlled by modern medicine.

Take all the knowledge you gain and use it to fight HIV stigma.

Learn about PEP and PrEP; take control of your own sexual wellness; spread the word to others.

Everyone can support someone living with HIV. There is no cure, but HIV treatment  means people can live longer, healthier lives. Questions? Healthcare  providers have answers. You can also visit HelpStopTheVirus.com

“For those who have done something they consider worthwhile, communication to the future is an almost irresistible temptation, and it has been attempted in virtually every human culture. In the best of cases, it is an optimistic and far-seeing act; it expresses great hope about the future; it time-binds the human community; it gives us a perspective on the significance of our own actions at this moment in the long historical journey of our species.”

Carl Sagan, ‘Murmers of Earth: The Voyager Interstellar Record’ (1978)

The strangeland bird life: the book of Antarctic birds - Roy Judson Snell  - 1924 - via Internet Archive

Joss Whedon’s work was once considered feminist for the same reason that when you are starving the dollar menu feels like a feast.

Recurring 

“Our very life depends on everything’s Recurring till we answer from within. The thousandth time may prove the charm.” ― Robert Frost

Jan Tarasin（Polish, 1926-2009）

Mountains II  1994  gouache on paper  73 x 55,5 cm   via   more