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Foretold by the stars
The Eta Aquariid meteor shower was described as "one of the best shows of the year" and I'd been looking for it during the week.
It was cloudy around 4am but improved by 5am, when I saw a brief red streak after standing outside for around 10 minutes.
Thankfully the weather has been warmer this week.
As I peed in the bushes I was impressed to see more than a dozen lights, each as bright as a planet, almost evenly spaced apart as they flew from the south to the northeast.
A dotted line across the stars.
It gave me a sense of wonder that I haven't felt in a while.
They weren't flying in the path that I usually see planes but that's how I described them.
I went inside and typed about the experience on Facebook.
On reflection I realised there hadn't been the flashing lights one sees under planes.
This morning I went and looked for the meteors again.
It's cloudy but I'm think I've identified that sense of wonder.
I'm reminded of a morning back in 2007, when I woke early and read the streamed descriptions of Steve Jobs launching the iPhone.
It gave me a sense of wonder of technological progress and a feeling that something remarkable has happened.
The comparison has been on my mind since.
For a while I had iPhones for work and found them almost irresistible, particularly for Words With Friends.
I've observed the way people will abruptly lose interest mid-conversation to look at their device and I still find it rude.
These days I sometimes get a surprised response when I tell people I don't have a mobile phone.
I see the impact the iPhone has had on lives and am now wondering about those satellites.
Is Starlink going to change the way I enjoy spending time with the night sky?
Mint and yarrow beer
There’s a lot of mugwort in the garden, so I thought I should brew
However, I’m short of bottles because there’s a huge stockpile from previous experiments.
Can’t remember when I brewed this one, which is marked as mint and yarrow.
Might’ve been 2018 and it tastes really good.
Dry bubbles with a mild refreshing tang.
Alcohol seems moderate.
Thinking I should brew with mint more often.
However, I’m short of bottles because there’s a huge stockpile from previous experiments.
Might’ve been 2018 and it tastes really good.
Dry bubbles with a mild refreshing tang.
Alcohol seems moderate.
Thinking I should brew with mint more often.
Butterflies love my mint
Some years ago I returned home from Burning Seed with a terrarium made from a plastic bottle and in it was a little mint plant
I’d built the terrarium at a workshop run by Di and Daryl at Mint Country Club, where they articulated the ten principles of Burning Man for an audience of mostly first-time Burners.
Di and Daryl are better known outside the Burner community for their attendance at country shows as First Light stilt walkers and they performed at Leeton’s show in 2019.
Anyway, I’ll cut a long story short, years later the mint now occupies a corner of my yard and is popular with a variety of insects.
As autumn begins the mint flowers are attended by bees, moths and an assortment of butterflies.
It’s surprised me how many types of butterflies flutter around.
At first I thought there were a few species, but after comparing my photos to Google’s search results, I think I’m up to around half a dozen now.
A photograph gives me the opportunity to identify their characteristics, like the spotted body on the Plain Tiger — which seems a misnomer.
And I didn’t know these small, bright yellow creatures are also butterflies.
I’ve said that nothing sorts out introverts and extraverts quicker than someone pointing a camera at them, and this seems to be true of butterflies.
The older-looking ones with faded and rough-edged wings will seem oblivious as I move increasingly closer to take photographs; while the pale ones are skittish and fly up over my head, sometimes circling around behind me to get back to the mint but other times continuing up over my house.
Another plant that seems to be popular with some insects is the basil I bought a supermarket
It’s worth getting a little punnet of living basil during spring, because if you treat it right it’ll supply you with fresh herb throughout the warmer months.
I found a caterpillar under one of the leaves this week, while picking the remaining leaves after the basil had flowered.
I’d built the terrarium at a workshop run by Di and Daryl at Mint Country Club, where they articulated the ten principles of Burning Man for an audience of mostly first-time Burners.
Anyway, I’ll cut a long story short, years later the mint now occupies a corner of my yard and is popular with a variety of insects.
As autumn begins the mint flowers are attended by bees, moths and an assortment of butterflies.
It’s surprised me how many types of butterflies flutter around.
At first I thought there were a few species, but after comparing my photos to Google’s search results, I think I’m up to around half a dozen now.
I’ve said that nothing sorts out introverts and extraverts quicker than someone pointing a camera at them, and this seems to be true of butterflies.
Another plant that seems to be popular with some insects is the basil I bought a supermarket
It’s worth getting a little punnet of living basil during spring, because if you treat it right it’ll supply you with fresh herb throughout the warmer months.
Love in the time of Corona
What will romance look like as social-distancing becomes part of life?
The impact of Covid-19 follows the conversation stirred by the #metoo movement about bodily sovereignty, which might be seen as a new beginning in recognising the negotiation of intimacy in western societies.
Now personal boundaries extend to within coughing distance of someone and a kiss might be construed as a serious form of assault.
Will flirtations retreat to the digital realm?
Now personal boundaries extend to within coughing distance of someone and a kiss might be construed as a serious form of assault.
More weird dreams
Woke from a dream where I interviewed Kid Koala ahead of his tour of regional Australia
Eric was showing his website analytics that demonstrated spikes in searches for the towns on the tour as they were announced.
When asked why he wanted to visit these smaller locations, I saw the venues would be golf courses and the events were less like a concert and more like a picnic with an Easter egg hunt.
Except, instead of finding chocolate, the audience were playing golf with balls that broadcast drum breaks as they flew threw the air to seek out samples for the performance as they landed.
When asked why he wanted to visit these smaller locations, I saw the venues would be golf courses and the events were less like a concert and more like a picnic with an Easter egg hunt.
Except, instead of finding chocolate, the audience were playing golf with balls that broadcast drum breaks as they flew threw the air to seek out samples for the performance as they landed.
We have to be careful now
Watched Rams today, a documentary about influential industrial designer Dieter Rams
One poignant moment showed him standing in a crowd as the voiceover shared his reflection that no one would meet his eye in the streets these days.
He was commenting on the proliferation of mobile phones occupying people's attention, and it led to the observation shown in the screenshot here.
He was commenting on the proliferation of mobile phones occupying people's attention, and it led to the observation shown in the screenshot here.
April Fools Day
Only spotted one post so far, which is a lot less than usual
Wonder how many will appear from the northern hemisphere later today and tomorrow.
Like the closed playground below, playfulness is vanishing from public -- even without the restrictions that have been placed on movement.
Like the closed playground below, playfulness is vanishing from public -- even without the restrictions that have been placed on movement.
Playground closed
The playground at the end of my street was closed this week
It's an image I wouldn't have imagined, maybe even a week ago.
I can understand that Council's duty of care to maintain safe equipment poses an impossible burden, since they have dozens of playgrounds that would need to be cleaned regularly.
However, I realised that I needed to take a photo to document the impact of Covid-19.
I can understand that Council's duty of care to maintain safe equipment poses an impossible burden, since they have dozens of playgrounds that would need to be cleaned regularly.
However, I realised that I needed to take a photo to document the impact of Covid-19.
Dreams are weird
Woke from a dream in which Prince had written a book about sexuality for teens
It was written in that conversational style of his ‘Raspberry Beret’ lyrics and had scenes about people dealing with relationship issues.
One scene recounted his father as a younger man taking two girlfriends to the swimming pool.
They differed in a funny way, with one having large breasts and the other having a pronounced arse.
The young man overheard them fighting in the pool and realised he could avoid having to deal with their jealousy by staying in the change room.
Later in the dream I was sitting down to watch a TV adaptation of Prince’s book with my kids.
I was confronted to find that the lessons about recognising sexual energy were being told by characters in ’80s-style leather outfits with headbands, who walked around with their hands on their erect (but clothed) body parts.
Then, in a plot twist, I realised the Prince character was a young woman.
Dreams are weird.
One scene recounted his father as a younger man taking two girlfriends to the swimming pool.
They differed in a funny way, with one having large breasts and the other having a pronounced arse.
The young man overheard them fighting in the pool and realised he could avoid having to deal with their jealousy by staying in the change room.
Later in the dream I was sitting down to watch a TV adaptation of Prince’s book with my kids.
I was confronted to find that the lessons about recognising sexual energy were being told by characters in ’80s-style leather outfits with headbands, who walked around with their hands on their erect (but clothed) body parts.
Then, in a plot twist, I realised the Prince character was a young woman.
Dreams are weird.
Dream are eternal
My friend Nick posted an interesting observation about dreams:
Another reality filter.
We're all eternal beings, and our dreams are the experience of that eternity.
Eternity is living a life where everything is possible, as in a dream.
Being 'awake' is when a tiny subset of those possibilities are acted out in cooperation with other eternal beings - it takes effort.
Death returns us to eternal dreaming, to 'resting in peace'.
Pictures like this are so misleading, you don't dream 'in your head'.
Dreams are a full reality, they're eternity.
In our 'waking lives' little parcels of eternity still appear - our memories, colours etc., what some philosophers call 'eternal objects'.
Krautchi
Since wombok are currently $19 each, I'm hoping the result will be tasty and will use fennel and horseradish again.
Cabbage requires weight as well as salt to squeeze the water out of the leaves, so I'm using myself and possibly contributing microflora in the process.
Tortilla toasties
The result is tasty and easy to prepare.
I expect I'll make a video in coming weeks, but currently I need to make a song for the soundtrack.
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