Thoughts and Things

skinny people please reblog this one

Spotted on some driftwood on the beach, gamely holding on despite the howling gale.

"Different from Clinops", and Albert Edmund Brookes (1879–1968), a prominent New Zealand entomologist and beetle specialist who amassed a massive collection of New Zealand Coleoptera. The species was described and the genus erected by Scottish-born soldier, farmer, teacher and entomologist Thomas Broun (1838 – 1919) and published after his death, in 1921.

However, Broun's taxonomic work leaves a lot to be desired - he described the ground beetle Megadromus meritus under fifteen different names, for example, and this Broun Effect is probably the reason why the list of NZ beetles is so much longer than that of say, Great Britain. Not including illustrations of most of his purported species, and listing others only by number, didn't help.

A Wedge-shaped Beetle (Rhipiphoridae) in a genus endemic to Aotearoa. The larvae of Wedge-shaped Beetles are parasitoids of other insects, targeting bees and wasps, cockroaches, or beetles, depending on which subfamily they're in. This one is known to target Oemona hirta, the lemon tree borer (AKA whistling beetle or singing beetle) a longicorn that feeds inside a wide range of native and introduced trees, shrubs and herbs.

[VIDEO AND PHOTOS TAKEN: MAY 23RD, 2026 | Video and Image IDs: A video and two photos of a relatively large light yellow and black bee mimicking robber fly on a green grass leaf, just perching and occasionally looking around /End IDs.]

true north aid (an organization aimed at providing support to remote/northern indigenous people in canada)

canadian red cross wildfire fund

ontario spca and humane society (links to their donate page specifically aimed at supporting pets and animals in areas impacted by the fires)

Blue-banded Pitta (Erythropitta arquata), family Pittidae, order Passeriformes, endemic to Borneo

A very tiny percentage of creators go on to be famous, but that doesn’t mean that people don’t remember little things you did for years and years. Who came up with most of the world’s most famous jump rope rhymes? Who coined some of the famous idioms we use in daily speech? Who made up ‘Jingle Bells, Batman Smells?” Somehow, all of these things stuck and spread around.

When I was a small child, I saw a high school put on a production of the musical HONK. In one song, the mother duck describes various dangers that her baby should avoid in the water, including fishing line, which could strangle him. A member of the ensemble played the role of fishing line, doing a maniacal laugh and over-the-top strangling motions, and I found it hilarious– and to this day, that’s an example I often think of when talking about how ensemble members can still stand out in theatre. The guy who played the role might not even remember that he did that, but I do.

I took Suzuki violin lessons as a kid. The teacher made up lyrics to some of the songs, and she let her students make some up, too. Now whenever I hear the instrumental of one of those pieces, I always remember these ridiculous lyrics about a skunk that we sang in violin class. I don’t even know which student invented them!

In middle school, I found a video about atoms parodying Bill Nye made by some kids for a school product. It probably had less than 1,000 views, but I think of quotes from that video all the time. They had a parody of “We Will Rock You” with the chorus, “Protons, neutrons, electrons” that I think about a lot.

so me and the besties have turned our sonas into aliens and we keep calling them our glorpsonas and making up lore for them its really fun. playing eeby deeby toys. 🛸

only one who isn't eeby deeby is Bo he's our alien experiment friend

Miriam Margolyes for British Vogue’s July 2023 pride themed issue: “I wouldn’t want to be straight for anything.”