skinny dip inside your mind

pragn || 20 || science and literature (this was supposed to be a study blog but it derailed. now its a life & learning appreciation blog)

[beaucolics]

oh my god there are so many books to read and instruments to learn and languages to speak and poems to write and oranges to eat and ideologies to study and songs to sing and films to watch and people to kiss and

[minotauri]

ocean sounds for those of you who need it

[itmightbehere]

Art done by Isabella Watling, shared by Rian Johnson

[girls4losers]

i gotta remember this

[forthegothicheroine]

I don't want to be a teacher but I do like the idea of having a big book of Short Stories to Fuck You Up on a high shelf, secured with a chain, which I get down and dust off and unlock and read from on special request, and then a group of young people go away from it forever shaken.

Some of the stories would be...

Give Me Your Heart by Joyce Carol Oates

The Chaser by John Collier

The Veldt by Ray Bradbury

The Teacher by Paul Tremblay

Feed by Richard Matheson

Hand in Glove by Elizabeth Bowen

From A to Z, The Chocolate Alphabet by Harlan Ellison

Monster by Kelly Link

In the Hills, The Cities by Clive Barker

The Werewolf by Angela Carter

The Dream Detective by Lisa Tuttle

Sardonicus by Ray Russell

The Gospel According to Mark by Jorge Luis Borges

The Vampire Lovers by Tanith Lee

The Picture in the House by H. P. Lovecraft

The Story-Teller by Saki

[forthegothicheroine]

Some more stories I've been reminded of in the comments, and others I've thought of:

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Leguin

To Build a Fire by Jack London

Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

The Swimmer by John Cheever

A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner

The Life You Save May Be Your Own by Flannery O'Connor

The Donner Party by Dale Bailey

His Face All Red by Emily Carroll

Bring the Moon to Me by Amelia Gorman

The Prayer of Ninety Cats by Caitlin R. Kiernan

Especially Heinous by Carmen Maria Machado

The Screwfly Solution by James Tiptree

Hell is the Absence of God by Ted Chiang

The Judge's House by Bram Stoker

The Room in the Tower by E. F. Benson

Harry by Rosemary Timperley

The Tears of Squonk, and What Happened Thereafter by Glen David Gold

Phosphorous by Veronica Schanoes

The Dead Line by Dennis Etchison

Need by Gary Braunbeck

I could always get a fancy blank journal, print these out and glue them in, but I would still need to find a way to lure people into asking to read one...

[why-bless-your-heart]

Today I cried a little bit because I remembered that when Beethoven conducted his ninth symphony for the first time he got a standing ovation and one of the sopranos had to turn him around to see the audience. 

[why-bless-your-heart]

I have never recovered from this illustration by Scott Cameron for Barbara Nichol’s “Beethoven Lives Upstairs.”

[malglories]

😭😭😭

[sweaterkittensahoy]

trust the sopranos to claim credit for the work of a contralto.

[the-haiku-bot]

trust the sopranos

to claim credit for the work

of a contralto.

Beep boop! I look for accidental haiku posts. Sometimes I mess up.

[kosmogrl]

this is so cool!!

[kosmogrl]

[thatswhywelovegermany]

Honestly, as a German I can not quite understand the obsession of the English speaking world with the question whether a word exists or not. If you have to express something for which there is no word, you have to make a new one, preferably by combining well-known words, and in the very same moment it starts to exist. Agree?

[latveriansnailmail]

Deutsche Freunde, could you please create for me a word for the extreme depression I feel when I bend down to pick up a piece of litter and discover two more pieces of litter?

[thatswhywelovegermany]

um = around

die Welt = world

die Umwelt = environment

ver = prefix to indicate something difficult or negative, a change that leads to deterioration or even destruction that is difficult to reverse or to undo, or a strong negative change of the mental state of a person

der Müll = garbage, trash, rubbish, litter

-ung = -ing

die Vermüllung = littering

ver- = see before

zweifeln = to doubt

-ung = see before

die Verzweiflung = despair, exasperation, desperation

die Umweltvermüllungsverzweiflung = …

[serhumfreysbrokencollarbone]

This is a german compound on the spot master class and I am LIVING

[thatswhywelovegermany]

#my german is still too basic for this but I desperately want a compound word for how much these compound words piss me off

das Monster = monster

das Wort = word

der Groll = grudge, anger, malice, rancor

der Monsterwortgroll = …

[linguistikforum]

Monsterwortbildungsimitationsunfähigkeitsverzweiflungsgroll

[thatswhywelovegermany]

die Bildung = formation

die Imitation = imitation

un- = un-, in-

fähig = able

-keit = -ility

die Unfähigkeit = inability

der Monsterwortbildungsimitationsunfähigkeitsverzweiflungsgroll = anger about the inability to imitate the formation of monster words

[wildflower182]

Linguistikfehdenhandschuhwurf

[thatswhywelovegermany]

die Linguistik = linguistics

die Fehde = feud

der Handschuh = glove

der Fehdehandschuh = gauntlet

der Wurf = throw

der Linguistikfehdenhandschuhwurf = throwing down the linguistic gauntlet

[shiplocks-of-love]

*slowly backs in fear*

[meetinginsamarra]

@shiplocks-of-love, @thatswhywelovegermany

Monsterwortbildungsunfähigkeitsangstverzweiflungsrückzugsecke

Monster=monster // wort=word // bildung(s)=formation

unfähigkeit (s)=incabability  // angst=anxiety

verzweiflung(s)=desperation  // rückzug(s)=retreat // ecke=corner

=the corner in which you retreat when you´re desperate because of your fear when being unable to form monster words

[shiplocks-of-love]

*eye twitch*

But what I want to see now is two germans arguing over the construction of one of these monster words.

[melmey]

@shiplocks-of-love I don’t think that will happen. The words make perfect sense. I think if German is your mother tongue you get a feeling for combining words, like a 

Monsterwortbildungsgespür

Monster = monster 

Wort = word 

Bildung(s) = formation

Gespür = intuition

;-)

[a-german-learning-clown]

🤡

[dewdropbonnet]

Sprachirrgartenbelustigungsbeitrag

[thatswhywelovegermany]

die Sprache = language

• irren = to become lost (also: to err, to be mistaken; to wander, to stray)

• der Garten = garden

der Irrgarten = maze, knot garden

• be- = prefix with a variety of functions: ¹as part of a compound word, it denotes a processing or change of state; ²as part of a compound word, it denotes a touch; ³as part of a compound word, it denotes a more intensive preoccupation with or thematization of something; ⁴it forms from a noun an adjective with a pseudo-participle form because the corresponding verb does not exist; ⁵as a prefix, it forms a transitive verb from a previously intransitive verb; ⁶as a prefix of a verb, it shifts the focus and thus changes the sentence structure

• lustig = funny

• -ung = suffix turning an adjective/adverb into a noun

die Belustigung = amusement, entertainment, merriment

der Beitrag = contribution, article in a newspaper or magazine, posting on social media, input to a discussion

[linguistness]

Bloody love this language <3<3<3

[randomgerman]

The thing is, since in German you have to decline/conjugate many words in relation to the noun they are refering to those monster words actually serve a purpose of making the language simpler. A common example is a (as in any) red wine (ein roter Wein) as compaired to the compound a red wine (ein Rotwein). If rot is an adjective it has to be conjugated: der rote Wein - des roten Weins - die roten Weine - and many more. But it if rot is part of the noun you only have to decline Wein: der Rotwein - des Rotweins - die Rotweine. So, die Verzweiflung über die Vermüllung der Umwelt is way longer than Umweltvermüllungsverzweiflung and you would have to know three grammatical genders and the words’ respective declinations. Whereas for Umweltvermüllungsverzweiflung you only need to know that Verzweiflung is grammatically feminine (die) and its deklinations.

[mareebrittenford]

Ok, now I want to see Germans playing Scrabble

[thatswhywelovegermany]

[the-lax-disciple]

Doomscrollaufhellungsrepost

Doom scroll // self explanatory

auf- // lit.: „up“ indicates rising, or something becoming bigger, better, healthier

hell // bright

aufhellen // to brighten something up

-ung // makes a verb a noun

-s- // the glue that keeps german compound words together

repost // self explanatory

Doomscrollaufhellungsrepost // a repost to brighten up your doom scroll

You‘re Welcome!

[allthingslinguistic]

The thing that I always want to point out to English speakers marvelling at German compounds is that we do this too! It’s a thing that Germanic languages are especially prone to!

It’s just conventional in English to keep writing spaces in between larger compounds, whereas in German it’s conventional to remove them. But they sound the same! Grammatically, they’re identical!

You could call it the…

English-German compound word space omission overadmiration fallacy

[coldboreshooter]

[malunadean]

[ouijabride-deactivated20240919]

(via erupted, malunadean)

[starlightandtears]

Wow wtf HIV/AIDS was discovered by Flossie Wong-Staal, an Chinese-American woman, and she’s the reason the HIV test even exists. AND THEN she invented the molecular knife that lead to treatments for HIV/AIDS. And she’s STILL ALIVE. We don’t hear about the contributions of Women of Color enough, my word. Madness.

[vodcar]

Flossie Wong-Staal - Wikipedia

Flossie Wong-Staal - Wikipedia

https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flossie_Wong-Staal

[yungcrybby-anonymousbosch666]

you can always tell a major breakthrough is made by a woman, a woc or any poc because it’s either completely ignored or never credited like it just happened by itself

[cosmovain]

how is it mario day and no one posted the essay

[cosmovain]

[macleod]

Happy MAR10 day, how is this paper only a year old?

[did-i-mention-the-shirt]

He wrote another

[terracotta7]

The Mammal and the Reptile is a literary masterpiece.

[fairycosmos]

doing a little is better than doing nothing doing a little is better than doing nothing doing a little is better than doing nothing doing a little is better than doing nothing doing a little is better than doing nothing

[viktor-sbor]

A 50-kilogram anvil floats perfectly on the surface of mercury, because the density of the steel from which it is made is almost half the density of mercury.

[e-102]

damn that shit is light lmfao

[telltaletypist]

[vienna1954]

Fun fact! Many lighthouses with especially large fresnel lenses would have huge fucking tubs of liquid mercury in the lantern room because it’s a super easy way to make these giant lenses rotate quickly!

Shockingly, however, spending most of your time in close proximity to 500 pounds of liquid mercury is Not Great For One’s Health and tons of lighthouse keepers started to go crazy from the whole. Mercury poisoning thing. Hence why there are a lot of “haunted” lighthouses or wickies that lose it and maybe do a bit of manslaughter.

Anyway, people saw a bunch of lighthouse keepers go crazy and get sick and got empirical evidence that it was in fact related to the 500 pound mercury bath they have to visit every day and then they decided nah it’s fine actually. So we’ve kept the liquid mercury thing and I think that’s beautiful

[ben-the-hyena]

I love how it is so dense it does not "wet" the anvil, the drops all run and leave with nothing behind them unlike water, oil, sauce... it's super satisfying it's like in cartoons

[macleod]

In a letter written on April 19, 1825, Augustin Fresnel proposed the use of mercury to reduce the friction in revolving lenses. His statement follows: “I propose to float our rotating devices, of the first order, in a bath of mercury, instead of placing them on rollers. This project won't present many difficulties; nevertheless, as I have not put it into execution, I won't require you to adopt it for your first lighthouse.”

Fresnel’s plan for mercury flotation was not put into practice until 1890 when Monsieur Leon Bourdelles, Chief Engineer of the French Lighthouse Service, designed and built a workable mercury flotation system. The mercury bath allowed the lens to operate in an almost frictionless environment and, additionally, allowed the speed of rotation to be dramatically increased.

Lens Rotation by Thomas Tag | United States Lighthouse Society

[sashaforthewin]

Ah to be a sailor in 1890 who has to turn to his fellow men and ask "is it just me or are the lighthouses flashing faster?"

[asteroidtroglodyte]

They had been slowly getting faster for decades.

It mattered for optics reasons.

Under less-than-ideal conditions, you can only see the beam when it’s pointed more or less directly at you. In-between beams you would not be able to see anything. One solution to this was to create multiple beams, and the lenses Mr Fresnel designed usually created 8 beams. But, even still, duration between flashes could be as long as one minute in the old mechanical roller systems.

The nearly frictionless operation of the Mercury suspension system allowed the lenses (large pieces of precisely ground glass weighing several hundred pounds in some cases) to rotate fast enough that they could be redesigned to create fewer (usually 3) beams. Fewer beams from a similar light source will be proportionally brighter, and the gains in speed were sufficient that duration between flashes could still be reduced to as little as 10 seconds.

This was a big upgrade. It didn’t just make the lighthouse signal faster, it allowed them to completely overhaul the lens and derive more visibility from a light source.

What’s a little Madness, in the face of Progress?

[myth-myth-yeth]

mods are asleep, post the fresnel lens

[prophetic-writer]

“What if I write it and it’s bad-”

WHAT IF YOU WRITE IT AND ITS GOOD? WHAT IF YOU WRITE IT AND ITS EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANTED? WHAT THEN????

[tothearkz-deactivated20260414]

exactlyy!!! i remember myself activating the writing talent when i was on chai back then writing a whole ass essay like Shakespeare possessed me, lol. yes IT IS that deep and it WILL BE ALRIGHT !!!!

[books-bread-and-brigandage]

ok worst case if you write it and its bad? If you still want to have sritten it but be good, you can rewrite, you can add chapters, drop chapters, reorder them! You can come back and reword things, even change whole paragraphs. Say this with me please, with your whole chest "This need not be my final draft!" Greatness belongs to those who do the work.

[theinternetarchive]

from 'bird by bird: some instructions on writing and life,' anne lamott, pub. 1994.

[going2hell4everythingbutbeingbi]

honestly yall just gotta be comfortable reading books that make you feel stupid

[going2hell4everythingbutbeingbi]

read books that you don't understand. read books where you have to pay attention. read books that make you reread a page eight times to figure it out. read books that you need to take notes on. read books with words you have to google. read books that don't make sense without research on the setting. read books that make you feel stupid because otherwise you'll just be stupid.