Oaks Bones

Live life as if today may be your last

Be kind

Be sweet

Be you

Be friendly

Do unto others as you want done to you

Be a man or woman of good intentions

Be stern

But be fair

Live full

Live free

Live good

For time is a precious commodity

Don’t be afraid to take new paths

Don’t be afraid to start a new

Because in the end we all regret only the choices we have not made in our lives

Live life full always,

Firstly they're so thin? Like most things you see in Old Navy or even department stores might as well be tissue paper?? Even some branded sports t-shirts I've bought in recent years (that are supposed to be 'official apparel' and allegedly decent quality) are definitely not going to hold up more than a year or two without getting little holes from wear.

This side of even two hundred years ago fabrics were made to be used for YEARS, and that's with wearing them way more often because you only owned like three sets of clothes. They were thick and well made and most importantly made to LAST. And they were gorgeous?? Some of the weaves were so fine and the drape so buttery we still don't entirely know how these people managed to make them BY HAND. Not to mention intricate patterning and details that turned even some simple garments into freaking ART.

I know this is not news, the fast fashion phenomenon is well documented. Reading so much about the amazing fabrics we used to create and how we cherished and valued them, though, is making it hard not to mourn what we lost to mass production and capitalism. Not just the quality of the clothing and fabrics themselves, but the generations of knowledge and techniques that are just gone. It makes me what to cry.

What each Mike Flanagan horror series represents: The Haunting of Hill House (2018) The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020) Midnight Mass (2021) The Midnight Club (2022) The Fall of The House of Usher (2023)

It was at The Studio inside the Opera House in the year of 2010 - a venue that I had not been in before (The Concert Hall was where I’d frequented for - you guessed it - concerts).

I shall be honest at this point; I hadn’t heard the entirety of her album prior to the concert. In fact, it was only this song, Waves, that I’d listened to, before departing for the concert. I wanted - you see, I wanted to be surprised.

If the concert were to end up being dull, I would’ve just shrugged and found solace in the fact that, at the very least, I got to visit a new part of the Opera House.

Folks, it was anything but boring, in the best possible way.

I’m truly glad that I got to see and listen to her music Live in that cozy venue - for some reason, if memory serves, I remember us - myself and the audience, sitting on the floor? (Please correct me if I’m wrong, folks).

I can’t recall her setlist clearly, but I do remember being particularly glad for being able to sing along when I recognized the beginning of the song, Waves

(while my ‘strategy’ to be surprised might’ve worked here, it would’ve been much better, in retrospect, if I had been able to recognize all the songs that she played that night.).

The darkness within the venue, a spectrum of blue and purple lights around, the acoustics. It really was how I’d hoped her concert would be - magical.

As the concert ended, on the way home, I remember walking along the Harbour (or was it called the Wharf? It was definitely on the way to the Circular Quay station), thinking; ‘The Night is calm and quiet.

The Music was subliminal taste of wonder that painted the stars with bright lights.

I wish this Night could last till the end of time.’

A lot has happened in the last 13 years. - I’ve graduated from uni, moved back ‘home’ across the planet. Blizzards, wars, earthquakes, tsunamis and pandemic (still ongoing) happened. Also, Holly Miranda’s 5th album is out this year.

See? A whole lot has happened and times will continue to change and masses of memories will be formed and forgotten.

But I can still feel my footsteps along the steps of Sydney Opera House that night; I can still hear the magic that was in the air as I sat in that venue, listening to a brilliant artist; I let go, and the waves come back.

Sometimes, the Night never ends.

Boo! Did we get you? 🎃

This solar jack-o-lantern, captured by our Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) in October 2014, gets its ghoulish grin from active regions on the Sun, which emit more light and energy than the surrounding dark areas. Active regions are markers of an intense and complex set of magnetic fields hovering in the sun’s atmosphere.

The SDO has kept an unblinking eye on the Sun since 2010, recording phenomena like solar flares and coronal loops. It measures the Sun’s interior, atmosphere, magnetic field, and energy output, helping us understand our nearest star.

Grab the high-resolution version here.