A list of beautiful things #31

'the seasons are not a metaphor'

Richard Thorn, “Summer Begins,” 2011. Watercolor.

• A different take on the Polly Pocket.

• A call to rethink how you might feel about fake flowers. “They express something deep and common and sad and sweet: our inability to fully face losing what we love.” (Gift article)

• “What does it mean to be so frightened by beauty’s power that it must then be plundered and removed, caged?” Photos from Cig Harvey’s book, “Emerald Drifters.”

• “What I learn from the hall of experience is that you are my vine” Lovely poetry from Prageeta Sharma (Gift article)

• Digital models of Frank Lloyd Wright’s unrealized buildings.

• Always pay attention to the chairs.

• Stayed up an hour past my bedtime watching these videos.

• Ambient music made from moths. “Moth data collected by scientists at UKCEH has been sonified into immersive soundscapes, with each moth assigned a different sound.” You can listen to the full version at hour 1:20 here.

• Why Japan counts 72 microseasons. (Gift article) “Here the seasons are not a metaphor. They are something to be lived through, and with.”

And some little things from me

• I’m teaching a virtual class on July 9 on how to write and draw a graphic memoir. Don’t miss it — I don’t do these often!

• If you live in Nashville, come see my TedX talk. I’m talking about how I accidentally changed my personal narrative … for the better.

• A little zine on a recent kindness that floored me.