ring out, Solstice bells

Is it possible to bring back ancient sounds? Musician Stef Connor thinks so, and she's going to do it on a reproduction of an ancient golden lyre. I can't wait to hear what she comes up with.

While we're on the New Scientist site, have a phenomenal picture of the Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park. It's apparently the third largest hot springs in the world, after Boiling Lake in Dominica, and Frying Pan Lake in New Zealand, which is the world's largest.

In other news, people will always find a way to be short-sighted. The newest astronomical craze is something called the CubeSat, which are tiny, cheap, box-shaped satellites, easier to launch than larger satellites, with a (supposedly) planned obsolescence factor which will bring them down in twenty-five years. However, with no oversight committee on design, some of the tiny satellites have been launched with no built-in decay, resulting in cube-shaped disaster potentials overhead. Some collisions have already occurred; and no one knows quite what to do from here, with literally hundreds launched by universities and hobbyists every year.

No space in a small apartment? No problem. Hang your bed from the ceiling.

Have some sour cream cut-out cookies. Also some flourless chocolate cookies. And while we're here, for the white chocolate fans, I found white chocolate-dipped ginger cookies and white chocolate-dipped cranberry/oatmeal cookies. I also found a pretty good gluten-free gingerbread cookie recipe. And to round things out, why not try some eggnog sugar cookies?

Tragically, Stella Young is no longer with us--she died earlier this week--but this excerpt from her TED talk is genius. "I'm not your inspiration, thank you very much." And it's true--disability is not there just to inspire the able-bodied. Disability is a condition, not a motivational effort. Bodies come in all shapes and sizes, and often, our bodies need support to continue to exist. These are medical aids, not badges of honor.



I saw this today at the Arcade gacha event, when I went back to pick up the rest of the gifts under the tree. Fantastic reflections on this ornament, and the absolute beauty of it? If you have Materials enabled, it's probably even better--this is just flat SL photography, no Windlight, no special settings of any kind.

(I also really adore the token "A" on the tree. Pity they're not selling those, though I may hunt around for a similar mesh alphabet set, because that would be kind of awesome as wall art, too.)



Sad but true. More later!