1. Ponies! In my wardrobe‘s defense, it was the 70s.
2. Working with a new foal at the rescue - so much fun.
3. Readings in Philosophy and Cognitive Science. What?
4. I have a fear of elevators, but I‘m taking steps to deal with it.
5. Less than I‘d like, more than I should.
#humpdaypost

I recently bought a McClellan M1904 saddle to train my palomino mare in mounted combat techniques. It‘s from 1912, in museum quality condition, and it‘s by far the finest saddle I‘ve ever ridden, historical context entirely to one side.

#postarandomfactaboutyourself

Time to give this one a go. Clearly, the cat approves.

Proof that not only can you fall for a dolphin, but a dolphin can fall for you.

Miss you, little one. #elele #amorfati

Acrostic is a poem form
Containing a device
Rhyming‘s not essential, no it
Only makes it nice
Sometimes it is difficult
To write acrostic muse
It took a lot of patience
Composing this for youse

#phil5 - Who helped you build your worldview?

From top left, clockwise:

- Sherwin Wine
- Mark Twain
- Carl Sagan
- Laozi
- Auguste Comte

As always, tagging anyone who wants to play along.

Another good one. My dead poet‘s society: from top left, clockwise:

- Lord Byron
- Edgar Allan Poe
- Emily Dickenson
- Robert Frost
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Tagging... well, anyone who wants to join in.

#dps5

When I was 19, I had the privilege of working with a respected psychologist as a volunteer dolphin trainer. Like many 19 year-olds, my head was scattered and my feelings confused. That summer, those dolphins set me on the path to become who I am today, by being nothing more than who they were.

Until I found this tale, I was unable to properly explain how.

A dolphin‘s friendship is forever.

#elele #hiapo #phoenix #akeakamai #amorfati

“Its face is permanently engraved with this subtle, potent smile,
As if a smile were the only facial gesture worth making,
And it had therefore settled into a genetic trait.”

Teacher: “Always live life to the fullest, as best you know how and circumstances permit.”

Student: “What if you don‘t know how and circumstances don‘t permit?”

Teacher: “That‘s life.”

-from the section entitled, appropriately, “Yep”

(happy Monday - cc)

“Now all four horses have come closer,
are bending their faces toward me
as if they have secrets to tell.
I don‘t expect them to talk, and they don‘t.” - from “Franz Marc‘s Blue Horses”

(I note with some small pleasure that just because they haven‘t spoken, that doesn‘t necessarily mean they haven‘t shared their secrets - cc)

1. @ColleenLindsay pointed me at the front door.
2. I was 5. We won‘t discuss how long ago that was, k?
3. Verne. 20,000 leagues was my first love.
4. Tough question. Probably Paris in the 20th Century.
5. Horses, cognitive science, behavioral science and neurophysiology. All at once if possible.
6. Mr. Robot, binge in progress.
7. La Morte D‘Arthur. Beardsley *drool*
8. Nope.
9. Nope.
10. My first grade teacher. Miss ya Mrs. Q.

#10questions

I read this once, a long time ago now. I hadn‘t read him before, hadn‘t discovered my own love for semantics or semiotics: all I knew is the cover looked cool and the writing style intrigued me.

I read it in a day. All of it. Woke up thinking I‘d get a chapter in, called in sick, barely remembered to eat. By the end I was as frazzled and unsure of reality as the protagonists were, and it was amazing. Eco at his playful, insane best. #rainydayread

#5fordinner is a thing now eh? Good deal, here‘s mine.
.
From top left, clockwise: Umberto Eco, Agatha Christie, James Morrow, Madeleine L‘Engel, and Buck Brannaman.

Inspiring and heartwarming welcome today from an immensely interesting band of Littens. Thanks to all for the welcome - I don‘t think I even have room to name everyone, but a friendly yelp to @RaimeyGallant for organizing the ambush. Looks like a place I might settle into for a while.

As a thank you gesture, have a picture of my very silly yearling.

I love Verne. I love dystopians. But as I read, I had to admit that I found the story deeply, profoundly boring. Verne, boring? How?! I puzzled for days over it.

Then it hit me: Verne's battle has already been lost. His nightmare is my home. I'm a natural-born Winston Smith, and I'm so far removed from the world Verne once loved I can feel no grief at its passing.

The book is boring, but now I get chills thinking about it.
#dystopian #classics

This is the bloodiest, saddest, most absurd, most haunting, and most stunning satire it's ever been my privilege to read. It's Lewis Carroll meets St. John the Divine; it's Monty Python performing Hamlet; it's how Ansel Adams would have shot the nuclear winter: horror, loss, laughter and beauty in perfect juxtaposition.

In 2017, we're certain of our own extinction, again. Morrow is more relevant than ever.
#satire #apocalypse #mustread #uninvited