romanticism at its finest

2am thoughts socially unacceptable to share with the bulk of my acquaintance -- an ungodly love of Romanticism, slavic culture, and incorrect quotes -- and yes, i did use (source-cited) screenshots in my images, fight me

[slavicromanticismhoe]

today is really one of those days that I’m just in shock I actually got to touch the pillar with chopins heart. like damn I did that

[academicssay]

[crazy-brazilian]

[redhatmeg]

I wonder how many Westerners who use the “pondering jester” image as their avatar picture - you know, this one: 

…know that it’s a painting of Stańczyk by Jan Matejko… and that Stańczyk has major significance in Polish history and literature.

[alamuts-lair-of-madness]

Or that it shows Stańczyk (real name Staś Gąska) as the only one concerned over the news about the loss of Smolensk to the Russians in 1514, while the rest of the royal court holds an opulent ball in the background.

[redhatmeg]

THAT TOO!

[ewa-jednak-chce-spac]

Or that when it comes to the symbolism of this painting, the loss of Smoleńsk is not just the lost of some territory - it foreshadows the further Russian expansion at the cost of Poland and - at the end - partitions. [Matejko painted Stańczyk in 1862, when Poland wasn’t independent for 67 years, divided between Russia, Prussia and Austria]

[gunner-93]

Stanislaw Szukalski. (1893-1987)

Polish sculptor

[vizuart]

Octavian Smigelschi - Young Man Reading (1892)

[glumshoe]

my favorite scene in LotR as a kid was when Sam started miserably freestyling in the tower of Cirith Ungol and the only reason he ever found Frodo was because he deliriously tried to join in

[mantis-lizbian]

…i did read some of the novels, but i couldn’t get through them entirely…

…and so i genuinely have no idea whether or not this is serious. coz i mean, obviously, it could be a joke. but it could also have legitimately happened. people who have only seen the films underestimate the amount of random things that happen in the books that could come off as utterly silly and ridiculous if removed from their context.

[glumshoe]

Haha, well, it is pretty much what happens. Sam is looking for Frodo in the tower of Cirith Ungol and is despairing that he will ever find him. He sits down and does what any self-respecting Tolkien character does during their moments of hopelessness and bursts into song.

It’s a really good song (ten year old Ship had it memorized) and as he begins the refrain a second time, he hears Frodo’s voice answering weakly from above. Frodo is poisoned and despairing and beaten but he is still a Hobbit and cannot resist a singalong even while on the brink of death.

[glowingghosty]

[viejospellejos]

[that-house]

little man you are straight up going nowhere

[forkeepsblog]

Could I just say something real quick? 

It’s all coming. Whatever you’re starving for, whatever that ache is that stings your bones, it’s coming. The love, the happiness, the adventures, and the creativity that you are seeking, it is all coming for you. Here’s the thing, don’t let your right now get away. The things you find mundane, keep them. Store them in the pocket of your favorite coat like found pennies. They aren’t futile. Do not let them cause you to feel empty and hollow. They are going to be worthwhile. Keep the hunger for what is coming, but please, keep a tight grip on these little ordinary moments that are happening right now, because they – these tiny pieces of this ordinary affair you find yourself in – are the foundation to your extraordinary. And I promise you, if you begin to recognize your right now, you’ll see your extraordinary coming.  

[rustingbridges]

I like to fuck around and waste time for at least ~6-10 hours per day, and let me tell you, that really puts some pressure on your schedule. you have no idea how busy I am

[rabbitmotifs]

[cheezewhis]

Every time I hear classical music I think damn. This is great. Do people know about this?!

[bespectacled-grackle]

Okay, entomology brain is annoyed by a Tumblr ad

Specifically, this one. First, Albert Einstein never said that.

Secondly, and more importantly, that is NOT a honey bee, or even a bee at all. That is a bee fly, a very important, very cute pollinator. However! They have parasitoid larvae! This means that they lay their eggs in the larvae of other bugs. Those eggs hatch, and those larvae eat the bug they’re in from the inside out. Sounds horrible, but it’s the way of things and I cannot understate how important these guys are.

The reason I’m annoyed about the picture of choice isn’t even that they didn’t picture a bee (not even in the right order- bees are hymenopterans. Flies are diptera.) What’s really grinding my absolute gears about the choice here? Bee flies parasitize bee larva.

If you’re going to use the wrong picture, at least don’t use the picture of something that actively kills what you’re trying to protect instead of the animal you’re protecting.

Also, honeybees, Apis mellifera, don’t need protection. They’re fine. They’re invasive in North America, even. Humans take care of them just fine. I’m a beekeeper, and I love them, but that’s not where our efforts should be. We should be trying to protect native bees, there are a whole bunch that I bet you’ve never heard of that need help.

Anyway, rant over. Sorry, I just could not let that one go.

[luvjunqi]

Reblogging this one more time to tag @onenicebugperday because I think they would like this

[onenicebugperday]

Yeah, the money from Project Honey Bees apparently goes to Cornell University’s research on honey bees in respect to pollinating agricultrual crops. If you want to “save the bees,” this is not it.

If you’d like to support native bee conservation, give a donation to the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation instead.

[boudicca]

opening my followers every day and blocking the pornbots like a humble farmer pulling weeds from the vegetable garden. wiping my brow of sweat at my labours in the sweltering sun

[vintage-ukraine]

Kyiv by Oleksandr Hubarev, 1984

[vintage-ukraine]

Odesa. Square near the Station by Serhiy Ryabchenko, 1976

[vintage-ukraine]

The Sun and the Moon. Kyiv Yard by Samuel Kaplan, 1978