Cute and Small and Ready to Brawl

lindy hop at a rent party from the all-black film, boy! what a girl! (1947) directed by arthur h. leonard.

rent parties were social events where tenants hired musicians and charged admission as a way to pay their rent. originating in harlem, new york city, it gave black americans a way to have fun, eat a good meal, and escape the hardships and discrimination of the time.

It's choosing to be kind to people when you're in a bad mood, or when they're being annoying.

It's choosing to be kind to people who your friends don't like.

It's choosing to be kind to people who you don't particularly like.

It's choosing to be kind to people who you envy.

I'm not saying that you can't be a kind person and stand up for yourself, or tell someone to fuck off when they're doing something genuinely harmful, but there are a million petty reasons people use to justify treating people badly.

But that's exactly what kindness is. It's making the effort to treat people well when you don't feel like it.

Tutururu or Polynesian Ground Dove (Pampusana erythroptera), family Columbidae, order Columbiformes, Teneraro Atoll, Tuamotu Islands, French Polynesia

CRITICALLY ENDANGERED.

Decline is due to habitat loss and introduced species.

Extirpated from much of its range.

Approx. 100 - 120 individuals left.

Rat eradication projects are helping the species recover in some parts of its range.

Pintado Petrel (Daption capense), family Procellariidae, order Procellariiformes, off the coast of South Africa

The only member of this genus.

Snowcap (Microchera albocoronata), male, family Trochilidae, order Apodiformes, Costa Rica

Above a few photos from a Saturday morning bike ride on the Mon River Trail. The milkweed is now in bloom, including butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa), whose incandescent orange flowers are a beacon to many pollinators. Along the shady, moist banks of the trail, smooth hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens) and purple-flowered raspberry (Rubus odoratus) are at peak bloom, descending from the slopes in cascading tiers, often intermixed. And then there is the local wildlife, including on this late spring day a hefty common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina), likely a female looking for a spot to lay her eggs. I also rescued a juvenile version from the trail - a tiny (armored) tyke that posed a much lower risk to my fingers.

ceramic wip

art for @poketcg-art's hoenn redraw collab! i did corphish! this is a bit of a new one for me, since i rarely do more painterly-style scenery

based on art by Sekio (original under the cut)

New video! It's 47 minutes and I make some fancy aprons.

My main inspiration was this lovely illustration from a 1916 book.

Plus that style of 18th-19th c. workman's apron that buttons onto the waistcoat.