[fragrantblossoms]

Eliot Porter. Coyote Gulch. Escalante River, August 17, 1971.

[pellinni-photo]

sunset over landscape with coniferous forest in summer. scenic view of mountain landscape in poland. spruce trees on a grassy alpine meadow. cloudy sky above the ridge. weather with rainbow

[shamebats]

I watched a tiktok by a school teacher who hasn't assigned any homework in 12 years a few days ago and I'm still thinking about it because she made some great points. I'll link it here but it's in German.

I'll go ahead and summarize the arguments she made as to why she thinks homework sucks:

It doesn't actually promote self-sufficiency. Kids who don't struggle with organization and discipline at school will also not struggle with their homework, but kids who do struggle at school and need more help will also struggle while trying to get anything done at home.

It's inherently unfair/unequal. Children's home situations are so very different, some kids have their own desk and computer in a quiet room and at least one parent around who has the time & knowledge to help them plus the financial means to hire a tutor, while some children don't even have their own room and their parents might not be around or lack the education and means to be of any help at all.

AI exists and can be used to do almost all homework and most kids use it.

Assigning and checking homework and enforcing consequences when students don't do it is a waste of class time and creates an unpleasant atmosphere.

And also a very important point that many people in the comments made based on their experiences as both students & parents of students:

In addition to being a huge stressor for children and bad for their mental health, it also puts a lot of strain on the parent-child relationship. In cases where a parent already has a tendency to be abusive, conflicts over homework can quickly escalate and lead to abuse, which can then cause trauma around learning itself.

[lithobatess]

Random bee behavior fact for those who wish to read, just because I feel like it and because it’s late and I’m stalling on sleeping:

Bumblebees look like passive, cuddly, and docile creatures; and they generally are- but they won’t hesitate to defend themselves if they feel their warnings aren’t being seen!

I.e. below, when a bumblebee feels threatened they will raise one or more of their legs into the air, signaling to whatever or whomever may be bothering them as a message essentiality saying: “hey, back off, too close!”

species: top, bombus pascuorum / bottom, bombus impatiens

If their defensive posture goes unnoticed or ignored, they may be pushed into defending themselves by stinging (which is an all around sucky experience for not only you, but also for the bee. (Note that bumblebees do not die after stinging, but it is still stressful for them.) If you ever find yourself getting close to a bumblebee while taking pictures, trying to move them, or just admiring them, remember this posture! If they do this, it is simply asking you to take a step back because it feels it is being threatened! You might get stung.

Now you can understand and use this knowledge to your advantage if you ever come across one in the future. (Of course, because it’s very hard not to anthropomorphize animals, I do admit that they look cute when doing it. Just remember to respect their space!)

[official-bee-posts]

Official back off post! 🐝

[expressions-of-nature]

by Chironius

[jilli1205]

[reading-writing-revolution]

Eventually people are going to die from this. But, on the brighter side, when you burn the data center down, there will be no water to put the fire out.

[oakleifsblog]

If you want to watch the entire speech, here’s a link https://www.techradar.com/ai-platforms-assistants/an-ex-programmers-devastating-take-on-ai-data-centers-is-going-viral-and-its-hard-to-ignore

If you prefer to read it: https://www.democraticunderground.com/100221174703

[lucidloving]

Joan Didion, We Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live // Carlos Fuentes // Tim O'Brien // Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried // Imtiaz Dharker, "Tissue" // Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind // Doctor Who (2010) // Brandon Sanderson, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter // Sing Shong, Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint // @jomeimei421

[spicymochi]

they are sitting and pondering

[7pleiades7]

The Three Graces (1813-1816) by Antonio Canova (Italian, 1757 – 1822), marble, h: 1.8 m, Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg

[thelostcanyon]

Looking beyond the Columbia River (at bottom) toward Mount Adams, a massive stratovolcano located in the Cascade Range, Washington.

[stuckinapril]

Always always always tell people you love they are so smart and capable. I will die on this hill. More often than not people are raised in unforgiving environments that tell them they are inherently “stupid” and not good enough for things, whether that be parents or cruel bosses or unsupportive friends. An underrated way of supporting people is reminding them they are brilliant no matter what anyone has ever said about their intellect and potential. People can do wonders when it’s affirmed to them their limiting beliefs are just that: limiting beliefs.

[beaft]

the phrase "but i didn't mean to!" in the context of causing harm is kind of redundant to me, because almost nobody means to cause harm. most of us just want to do the right thing. and i don't mean that in a wishy-washy "oh, we're all good deep down" way, i mean that even people who regularly do the most heinous shit imaginable will have a way of justifying it to themselves. the world is not populated by hollywood sadists and psychopaths.

[beaft]

actually i have been thinking about this some more and i want to add on to it:

abuse in caregiving professions (like teaching or nursing) is not solely a result of power dynamics. it's also because people who go into those professions tend to have a idea of themselves as Good People. recognising or acknowledging their own capacity for harm contradicts that idea. so they mentally put 'people who have inconvenienced me' into the 'Bad People' box (which conveniently doubles up as the 'People I Am Allowed to Hurt' box), and just like that, the world is made simple again.

i read ross greene a lot when i was working with 'difficult' or 'behaviourally challenged' children. his refrain is kids do well if they can - meaning, in short, that most kids act out only when the demands of a situation exceed their capabilities. punishing them for this is not only cruel but also completely pointless, because they also don't want to be doing what they are doing.

a teacher who believes that there are two categories of people - Good People who Mean Well, and Bad People who Cause Problems on Purpose - is not going to see it that way. they're gonna put themselves in the first category, and the misbehaving kid in the second category. and once they have effectively depersoned the kid and placed themselves on a pedestal, they can treat that kid however they want while still maintaining a moral high ground. because abuse is something that only Bad People do.

[fuckyeahchinesegarden]

Plum blossoms in quyuanfenghe, west lake, hangzhou, china (photos by 炎真，Eclare）

[earthbitlab]

The Jungle Volcano Crater.

[flameskissedsoul]

Madakaripura Waterfall, located in East Java, Indonesia.

[handweavers]

having institutional access never stops feeling sort of crazy to me because you can literally type in any country and time period and find at least a handful of peer reviewed articles somewhere that discuss a specific aspect of people's lives in depth and at length like "what was considered pop culture in late imperial russia" or "how did the textile trade work in northern mali in the 1600s" or "children's toys in pre-colonial philippines" and it's just sitting there but the majority of people on planet earth aren't allowed to read any of it

[mutant-distraction]

📷 Nguyễn Trọng Quyết

A close-up photograph of a jumping spider pouncing on a fly clearly shows its face, large eyes, and colorful fur, its jaws gripping the prey, while the fly's eyes have black and yellow spots, and its transparent wings have prominent veins.

[mutant-distraction]

Arizona Society

The moment you know your day is about to go sideways in Arizona is when you spot a javelina standing somewhere it absolutely shouldn’t be.

Not in the desert.

Not out in the brush.

Right in the middle of your driveway like it owns the deed.

In Arizona, this isn’t an animal.

This is a desert tank with attitude and zero fear.

You slow down, hoping it’ll move. It doesn’t.

You tap your horn gently. It ignores you.

You inch the car forward. It takes one slow step toward you like, “Go ahead. Try me.”

You consider calling in late to work. Suddenly your schedule feels flexible.

The javelina just stands there. Silent. Still. Calculating.

Like it knows you pay property taxes and it does not — yet somehow you’re the guest.

And then it happens — the warning signs.

That stiff body posture.

The slow turn of the head.

The “I might charge just because I can” energy.

That’s when you understand: you’re not backing out anymore. You’re in a standoff. A javelina has decided this is its territory, and you are a minor inconvenience.

Tourists think Arizona wildlife means rattlesnakes.

Locals know better.

Snakes usually mind their business.

Coyotes keep moving.

But a javelina will square up with you in your own driveway like you owe it money.

They don’t rush at you like an animal.

They walk.

Confident.

Unbothered.

Powered by pure audacity and zero consequences.

So you do what every Arizonan does in this situation:

You put the car in park.

You wait it out.

You accept that you are not the apex species in this neighborhood.

Because the truth is simple:

In Arizona,

the javelina doesn’t move for you.

You move for the javelina.