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Saturday, May 02, 2020

Study on “accidents involving flowers” is the most beautiful thing I’ve read during the pandemic

It nearly cancels my fear of death, my dearest said, 
When I think of cremation. To rot in the earth 
Is a loathsome end, but to roar up in flame—besides, I am used to it. 
I have flamed with love or fury so often in my life, 
No wonder my body is tired, no wonder it is dying. 
We had great joy of my body. Scatter the ashes.


~ Robinson Jeffers, “Cremation”


Seed sales are soaring, as pandemic prompts people to grow their own ...



Why florists are selling out of flowers during coronavirus pandemic


The coronavirus crisis has ground many Australian industries to a halt – but this one is thriving thanks to some surprising reasons.

Daniel M. Gerstein – Domestic Preparedness – Wed, April 15, 2020 – “If necessity is the mother of invention, the new coronavirus is quickly birthing a lot of innovations. Parts of U.S. society may be forever changed by this pandemic. As of 13 April 2020, the United States had over 550,000 confirmed cases and nearly 22,000 deaths, with emergency preparedness and response agencies preparing for much more to come


The Virtual World Is Awash In Streaming Film Services


Aside from drive-ins, we can’t go to the movies. A trickle are coming out online, but “if you thought choosing a film at the multiplex was difficult, finding that same new movie in the current hodgepodge is potentially paralyzing.” – The New York Times



The Touching Story Of Maria Abramovic And Ulay’s Walk On The Great Wall Of China


To the Chinese who encountered the artists, they were of great curiosity. Having originally believed themselves to be the sole players and audience for their walk, they found everything they did was witnessed as if a performance. – The Guardian
Ashley Mears - Wikipedia:

Ashley Mears is an American writer, sociologist, and former fashion model. She is currently an associate professor of sociology at Boston University. Mears is the author of Pricing Beauty: The Making of a Fashion Model, and is regularly quoted in media as an academic expert in the culture and economics of fashion.

So what should I ask her?  Here is more about Ashley on Google.
In the years after his death, Andy Warhol’s art was seen skeptically. Now the cultural fog has cleared, and we can see him for what he was: an American Picasso Andy Warhol's  



IT’S HARD TO FIND A GOOD CLOVIS RESTAURANT ANYMORE: Hunter-gatherers developed culturally distinct cuisines 7,000 years ago.





In the years after his death, Andy Warhol’s art was seen skeptically. Now the cultural fog has cleared, and we can see him for what he was: an American Picasso  

Being friends with Philip Roth. He possessed the terrible gift of intimacy, causing people to tell him things they told no one else 

So what does Kierkegaard have to tell our age? A lot. First, we should stop thinking of ourselves as occupying an age at  all 


Anne Case and Angus Deaton first recognized “deaths of despair.” As economic hardships swell, their work may be more relevant than ever  
Surf 20 channels dedicated to nature, music, and things that fascinate. Updated daily: https://surf.city [this is a blast – just click through the channels and watch what you like – do not waste time on what you do not like and enjoy!]
This study on “accidents involving flowers” is the most beautiful thing I’ve read during the pandemic -Vox – “…I saw a new study, published in the journal New Phytologist, about the beautiful, ordinary, and profound things flowers do after suffering an injury. That is: When many flower species get knocked down, they right themselves. The individual flowers on the stalk will rotate back, as best they can, into a position ideal for pollination. Like me watching my little roots growing at home, the scientists here made a small — and, one might say, obvious — observation. The difference, though, is that this paper is perhaps the first time this has been documented in the scientific literature, the result of a decade of work. “Plants just stay their entire life in one space and have to survive from there,” Lopresti says. That’s not so different from many of us right now. The paper is also a window into the balancing act of evolution. It’s reassuring to read it now, in springtime, as flowers are blooming and many of us feel like we are not. Look at blossoms, which may seem frail at first glance, and discover resilience. It’s not often I find the text of an academic article to be riveting and even beautiful. Here, I was hooked: “Virtually no research has addressed response to accidents involving flowers,” ecologists Scott Armbruster and Nathan Muchhala write. “Yet flowering stalks are often subject to accidental collapse, as when a scape blows down in the wind or coarse litter falls onto a stem …” Great Darwin’s ghost! This is a scientific oversight. Armbruster and Muchhala wanted to know what happens when a flower is put in peril. Their research here also speaks to the message: Life yearns for more…”