I spend no small amount of time looking at paintings unhappy women in Western art. Women pursued by undesirable men, women forced to listen to lute-players in an enclosed space, women trapped in a web of inescapable male conversation, women desperate for the release only death can bring them. So it brought me no end of joy to discover a portrait of what I believe to be perfect female happiness during a routine reconnaissance through Wikimedia Commons.
It’s “The Merchant’s Wife At Tea” by Boris Kustodiev, and it represents the highest form of contentment available to women in this imperfect world.
Let us pause and set aside a moment to take stock of just what makes this painting so supremely satisfying.
The woman is alone. Do you know how rare finding a moment’s peace has been for women throughout human history? If you spent the rest of your days alone in a cottage on a solitary Alp, it would not begin to make up for the years your foremothers spent having to listen to men as a profession. (You can tell that this woman is happy because there are no men in this picture.) A woman alone is a beautiful thing.
There is a small beast making itself pleasant to her. You may prefer dogs to cats but surely you can appreciate the pleasure of a small, contented animal leaning slightly against you as it perches on a red balcony.
Her bare shoulders slope elegantly downwards, much like a glacier does when it reaches the sea.
This woman is surrounded by food and fine linens. She is drinking her tea out of a saucer, which is the height of fanciness. She has set before her fruits, charmingly arranged, and panettone, with little pots of jam and cream and an assortment of hard rolls, to be selected and eaten at her leisure. This is a woman whose eyes nor stomach will go hungry today.
The woman is wearing an elaborate headwrap and a gown the color of self-satisfaction. She has dressed up for her own appreciation. She has the greatest dining companion in the world – herself.
aries: approved an expedition to the center of the earth because he believed the earth was hollow and that there was a civilization of mole people who lived in the center of the earth
taurus: woke up early in the morning to read in the library which scared guests leading to a new hallway being built just for him
gemini: the corrupt bargain
cancer: kept an alligator from marquis de lafayette in the east room bathroom to scare off guests
leo: argued against slavery despite the gag rule against talking about slavery in the house of representatives
virgo: "the four most miserable years of my life were my four years in the presidency.”
libra: became the first president to wear trousers
scorpio: wore the same hat for 10 years
sagittarius: his horrible fashion sense
capricorn: had a stroke in the house of representatives debating and then died
aquarius: one time when he went skinny dipping, reporter ann royall stole his clothes until he would have an interview with her. in the end he did.
pisces: he was nicknamed "old eloquent" because he was terribly socially awkward and couldn't small talk for his life
A cane toad [Rhinella marina] judging visitors to a NABA butterfly garden in Mission, Texas. Note the prominent lips on this toad; the subgenus Rhinella encompasses specimens known commonly as “beaked toads” due to this feature. Images by Melody Lytle
we’re doing a mock senate in history (which is why i havent been active, this thing is sucking out my soul) and everything is unnecessarily slow, there is way more personal motivation than anyone actually caring, and people are making decisions on things they barely know about i hope 2 god its not like real life but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ it probably is
it took me 3 times reading this post to realized that (wild) meant living in the wild and wasn’t just a casual remark on the longevity of these organisms
ellievsbear
vaporwave
germansingergirl
annaxmalina
stormborns
tangentwithtanner
dededos
prguitarman
