Kimberly Budd

[amnhnyc]

A giant sequoia tree (Sequoiadendron giganteum), a species found only in forests along the Sierra Nevada’s western slope, can grow over 300 feet (91.4 meters) tall and live as long as 3,000 years or more. But even this long-lived species is not invulnerable to climate change. Mature, more deeply-rooted sequoias stand a better chance of surviving more frequent extreme weather events, including floods, droughts, and wildfires, but seedlings and saplings can struggle to establish their roots. And over the past 10 years, scientists have observed that intense, multi-year droughts have contributed to the deaths of dozens of giant sequoia trees, suggesting that they are not as resilient to a changing climate as once thought.

📣This feature is part of our #ClimateAndNature series, where we highlight how climate change is affecting species on our planet.

🌱See this and other species in the Spectrum of Life in the Museum’s Hall of Biodiversity.

🌏Join us tomorrow, April 22, for EarthFest! Learn more about conservation & climate change at this family-friendly online festival in honor of Earth Day. #linkinbio

Photo: Laura Camp, CC BY-NC 2.0, flickr (at American Museum of Natural History) https://www.instagram.com/p/CN7juJPAOrP/?igshid=1j0o1y4sad3zg

[kimberlybudd]

Happy belated Earth Day!

[weplaydots]

I know what I’m doing today. 

[popculturebrain]

“Sonic Screwdriver” is Officially in the Oxford English Dictionary

Whovians are quite familiar with the Doctor’s trusty tool, the sonic screwdriver. A device able to tackle just about any problem the Doctor is presented with—except for wood, it’s rubbish on wood—the sonic is a vital part of the Doctor’s wild, intergalactic success.

[kimberlybudd]

Motivation Sighted!

04/12/2017 After doing the cancelled meeting dance, I started doing dishes. In less than 20 minutes, I'd cleared the dishwasher and created a pile of clean dishes. Volunteer commitments were ticked off the list. Yoga was attended and the knot in my shoulder was loosened. Let's not talk about lunch.

[kimberlybudd]

How unexpected exercise made both my attitude and my dinner better.

[kimberlybudd]

Most of this month I've been flat out on the couch, watching old episodes of 3rd Rock from the Sun. I'll play games on my phone, and only make mere motions towards sorting the piles on the floor or doing something with my computer.

This week has been slightly better, with some movement towards assembling the shelves that have been taking up space on my chair. I have one half assembled, the other still sits in its flat-pack, underneath the bike cover that I need to pop on my bike so I can throw it outside. And before I know it, I find another dried puddle of cranberry juice on the floor, or decide that it's imperative that I teach myself to crochet properly at that minute.

And as the temperatures dip even lower outside my windows, the only motivation I have is to throw on my marshmallow fleece blanket and tell Netflix that yes, I'm still watching.

But I have goals. As I was on the bus home on Tuesday, I kept myself busy by trying to remember what my six goals for the month are. Eat better and get more exercise are always on the list. And this month I want to be more creative and wear more makeup.  Re-vision my bedroom. And the last one was to celebrate St. Valentine's Day somehow. Remembering all six goals without opening the list I had them written on was almost a miracle.

So the couch is the enemy of most of my goals. I did not include More Two Dots! on my list of things that needed to be done.  Nor did I include more Netflix (But Riverdale!) There have been flashes of intention. I will get this done. I will go to the gym and cross this off my volunteer work to do list.

There is no reason for me not having things together. There are even people who believe I have my act together. Maybe its in the way I crop most of the pictures I post online.  If I share a picture taken inside my house, it represents no more than one square foot of space. Maybe it's the way I fumble with authority when I speak. It's just afterwards that I wonder what I got myself into.

Now that I've recognized this trend, I need to act. My seventh goal will be to get my act 10% more together. I wonder what that will look like, in practical terms.  Is this across the board, or could I put 30% more into one area and 8% in another. Math is a fun toy.

However I measure it, I need to start closing the appearances versus reality gap.

[thegetty]

gorgon:

noun | gor·gon | ɡôrɡən

In ancient Greek mythology, a hideous female demon with snake hair. Medusa, the most famous gorgon, was capable of turning anyone who gazed at her into stone. 

Art History Glossary: A helpful list of art and architecture terms to support curious rookies this back to school season.

[kimberlybudd]

I've been on another Medusa kick lately...

[kimberlybudd]

Provisional Blog - Post 2

It’s day five of my stay-cation, and all of the things that I haven’t done around the house were staring at me this morning.  How had I done nothing in 4 days?

So this morning, I’m trying something new.  I gave myself four tasks and four hours. The big catch is that I’m not allowed to use my phone for anything other than a timer in that time.  I’m an hour in and I have laundry in the dryer, garbage is out, and the dishwasher is running. I have until noon to clean the kitchen, bathroom, and finish the work that I started on the balcony.  And finish the laundry of course.

The one thing that twigged in my head today was that upon waking, I had absolutely no momentum.  I needed to do something small to build momentum, and that was sorting my clothes for about three minutes, then I tidied for two songs.  That was it, but it cleared away enough space to let me get to the next thing.  

My other tiny productivity hack that I used today was asking Siri to set an alarm for me so that I didn’t have to touch my phone, which can be a bit of a rabbit hole.  And whatever I do, I’m not turning on the TV at all today!

[kimberlybudd]

Provisional Blog - Day 1

It is the Tuesday morning after the long weekend and I’m here at my desk with an Earl Grey tea, feeling sunburnt and bleary eyed.  I’m trying to feel guilty about eating bacon for breakfast, but my arms are still too tired for any self-flagellation.

I was supposed to have my new blog up and running yesterday. I was supposed to be up and running yesterday. I could barely walk because I hadn’t taken the time to stretch out my legs (and walking around in three-inch heels on Sunday didn’t help matters.) Don’t ask what things are like in my house.  Only 40 percent of the “pile of shame” is left in my kitchen, so I’m counting that as a win. I added complexity to my tea cupboard and living room.

But I can’t feel too bad about the state of affairs given how good the weekend was. Spent three days at festivals. Sold sno-cones. Saw one of my all-time favourite bands. Saw some of my all-time favourite friends and family members.  Watched Gaelic football.  

So I didn’t get to my blog or take a bite out of any of the other goals, apart from writing 74 words of my short story.  I could have used some of the time I spent texting people I didn’t want to talk to or playing Dots & Co to either work on my goals, or clear some of the known obstacles I have in getting to my goals.  That’s the essence of what my new blog will be about – moving from inaction to action on all the cool things I want to achieve.

In lieu of movement on the blog, I’ll be posting here.

[snacktimecartoon]

See more crunchy munchy goodness on our channel! 

[theparisreview]

The Hatred of Poetry: An Interview with Ben Lerner

What do we want from poetry? To read a poem is, on some level, to loathe it—both poem and poet aspire to fulfill a set of impossible expectations from the culture. In his new book. Read More »

[theparisreview]

From tiny experiences we build cathedrals.

Orhan Pamuk, The Art of Fiction No. 187 (via theparisreview)

[theparisreview]

I swapped a story for a canoe at one point.

Annie Proulx, The Art of Fiction No. 199 (via theparisreview)

I would totally make that swap. I'd also take a kayak too

[nprbooks]

Image via Beth Gwinn/Courtesy of Naomi Novik

Author Naomi Novik is a world builder. She writes books about dragons, witches and dark woods — and she’s also designed computer games. “I’m an engineer and a writer,” she says, “and I find that those two things are not uncomplimentary.”

Weekend Edition’s Ravenna Koenig profiled Novik (whose latest book, Uprooted, was one of our First Reads). Check out the piece here … while I seethe quietly with envy.

– Petra

[penguinrandomhouse]

Naomi, you queen!

[kimberlybudd]

Novels and cake make the world go round....

[huntingtonlibrary]

(Something went haywire when we posted this earlier, so we’re posting again now.)

It’s Saint Patrick’s Day! For the occasion, we’ve GIFed the earliest known image of the saint, in which he has accidentally run his staff through the High King’s foot.

This fantastic little portrait comes from a 13th-century manuscript in our collections. Read more about it—and see the pre-GIF version—over on Verso, our blog.

[huntingtonlibrary]

It’s Saint Patrick’s Day, which seems like a great excuse to send this gif around again.

[thegetty]

Important GIF 

[kimberlybudd]

Ah, medieval art and St Patrick's Day. Two of my favourite things...

[kimberlybudd]

After two 20/10's, the kitchen was a bit less chaotic. Cleaning the juicer was a separate endeavor.

[kimberlybudd]

I thought this would work...Hollyhocks in #yeg (this summer, of course) (Taken with instagram)