Hello darkness my old friend

It's so nice and sunny today. I'm writing one of those old-fashioned stream-of-consciousness posts to celebrate!

Lately the sun doesn't set until nine o'clock in the evening. Taylor told me it stays light out so late because we're further north than California, like Alaskan summers where the sun never sets. Which is fine by me. More than fine. Springtime in the northern hemisphere is wonderful, and if I seem overly excited it's because the sudden explosion in sunshine and flowers makes me inexplicably happy.

The hours linger in the sunlight and I, perched on my desk with my cheek against the warm window, munch happily on honey puffs while the Gilmore girls gab away on the tiny screen at my feet. I'm in bed as soon as the sky darkens and up once more with the sun. At last my circadian clock decides -

Shhhhhhh oh my god is that the PotC soundtrack

oh god it is

I'm in the computer lab at school and someone has their music up really loud and it's leaking through their headphones and what an instant badass for studying to the PotC soundtrack.

Better yet, it's from At World's End. So much respect.

Calm yourself. Anyway, I am happy to announce I'm no longer living according to California time, because I have my blinds up all the way as soon as I get home and who wants to waste precious daylight - especially when it's actual daylight and not the sad winter excuse for it - sleeping in?

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Prodigal Sun

After the frenzy of a paper due at noon, I was blissfully free on Friday and whiled the afternoon away at the park. The sun is finally back in full force after a long and evil winter (never thought I'd say I am glad to be a waterfall of sweat again) and the birds are singing - I missed birdsong more than I thought. 

But it also means the creepy crawlies and wiggly wormy things are back too. I've been seeing these huge black buzzing insects on my walk to school and assuming they were scarab beetles like the ones back home - terrifying, but ultimately harmless. It wasn't until the day at the park that I realized with growing horror that French bees are the size of your thumb. 

I spotted one gathering daisy pollen and wanted to take a photo of it, so I said (to the general vicinity, mostly, because who talks to bees?), "Come closer, bee!" Again, to my horror, it meandered over towards me, lingering near my back, then my foot, and then under my legs...and then it savored a few minutes near my friend, who, like a sensible person, froze in terror and self-defense (some of us, on the other hand, prefer flailing). This is when I realized...I had summoned the bee. No more schooling for me. No more worrying in my room, weighing the law in one hand and cinema in the other like Lady Justice. My destiny has made itself clear: I am a bee whisperer. 

This all happened before I saw the squirrel. I jumped up and went to stalk it in hopes of getting a good photo. Returning to the sunny spot where I had been reading before all of this nature stuff started happening (In a park? What a surprise!), I noticed that we had been sitting in the middle of a perfect ring of sticks, convenient for summoning all sorts of dark creatures.

New (and logical) conclusion: I am a Disney princess.

Prodigal Sun

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Mindbomb #1

Maybe you don't need more distractions in your life. God knows I do, sitting through day two of an intensive week of ten-hour foreign policy lectures. As daylight savings time happened this weekend while I wasn't looking, I don't think from dawn til dusk applies anymore but it sure feels that way. 

I've passed the time link-picking, you guys. These are the fruits of my labor. 

Osedax worms eat bones. And mate in them too. All together now: ewwwwwwwww.

Notify Harry Potter - this fish has his invisibility cloak.

The accidental birth of Colorado wetlands.

Scientific Fashion. 

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Did you do this optical illusion as a kid? It's called the Franz Müller-Lyers test, and it turns out the way you answer it is cultural.

Two thought-provoking pieces about period dramas by S.E. Smith and Hila Shachar.

Paris, then and now.

Syrians hide out from ongoing violence in ancient Roman caves. 

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Make an iphone case with pressed flowers.

The worst part of the zoo was always the butterfly atrium - I would power-walk through that thing, flinching repeatedly as another butterfly nearly crashed into my face. (Is it the butterfly wrecking my face or my face wrecking the butterfly if it's the one that throws itself at me?) But I think I could allow these bobby pin butterflies near my face.

1. Photo courtesy of Noria Miyamoto/Naturwissenschaften
2. Photo courtesy of The Penguin Press
3. Photo courtesy of Clare McGibbon

Mindbomb #1

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Chocolate Creatures

In celebration of Easter, the boulangerie across the street gave out little packets of chocolates with each purchase. It was such a sweet gesture that brightened my day. 

The best part is that they're adorable chocolate creatures. My friend and I would sneak chocolate fish into our mouths in between stints of writing our sociology essays at the library.

And it's perfect for April Fool's Day too, because in France people celebrate by sticking paper fish on the backs of unsuspecting friends.

Chocolate Creatures

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