“Watch the trailer for an exciting series of videos documenting the comprehensive restoration and conservation process in the Hall of North American Mammals that took place from the spring of 2011 to the Fall of 2012.
The 16-part series was recognized as an Official Honoree for the 2013 Webby Awards in the Documentary: Series category”
Fantastic.
ORANGE ALERT A rubber glove, used as a marker, bobs in floodwaters in Fox Lake, Illinois. More snow and rain threaten to exacerbate flooding conditions in the Midwest from Oklahoma through Michigan, which has led to at least three deaths. (Photo: Jim Young / Reuters via The Telegraph)
Spring floods. Bad urban planning. Nothing ever changes…
Enter Promo Code: BangBangShootShoot and receive 25% off any painting until
AprilMay 1st. Reblog or Like for a chance to win a free painting of your own. The randomly selected winner will be announcedAprilMay 1st.
Big fan of Carty Sewill’s work. In fact, I have “Dammit Hand” right above my desk!
Appropriate.
He was shortish. And oldish.
And brownish. And mossy.
And he spoke with a voice
that was sharpish and bossy.
“Mister!” he said with a sawdusty sneeze,
“I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees.
I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.
And I’m asking you, sir, at the top if my lungs”-
he was very upset as he shouted and puffed-
“What’s that THING you’ve made out of my Truffula tuft?”
“Look, Lorax,” I said.”There’s no cause for alarm.
I chopped just one tree. I am doing no harm.
I’m being quite useful. This thing is a Thneed.
A Thneed’s a Fine-Something-That-All-People-Need!
It’s a shirt. It’s a sock. It’s a glove, It’s a hat.
But it has other uses. Yes, far beyond that.
You can use it for carpets. For pillows! For sheets!
Or curtains! Or covers for bicycle seats!”
The Lorax said,
“Sir! You are crazy with greed.
There is no one on earth
who would buy that fool Thneed!”
But the very next minute I proved he was wrong.
For, just at that minute, a chap came along,
and he thought the Thneed I had knitted was great.
He happily bought it for three ninety-eight
I laughed at the Lorax, “You poor stupid guy!
You never can tell what some people will buy.”
“I repeat,” cried the Lorax,
“I speak for the trees!”
“I’m busy,” I told him.
“Shut up, if you please.”
I rushed ‘cross the room, and in no time at all,
built a radio-phone. I put in a quick call.
I called all my brothers and uncles and aunts
and I said, “Listen here! Here’s a wonderful chance
for the whole Once-ler Family to get mighty rich!
Get over here fast! Take the road to North Nitch.
Turn left at Weehawken. Sharp right at South Stitch.”
And, in no time at all,
in the factory I built,
the whole Once-ler Family
was working full tilt.
We were all knitting Thneeds
just as busy as bees,
to the sound of the chopping
of Truffula Trees.
I’m sorry. I have neglected you. Over the past 2.whatever years on tumblr, I have ignored two of your most asked questions: Where can I find resources on climate change adaptation? and Where can I find resources to improve my writing?
I am blown away at how often I am asked these. And am equally blown away at how successful I have been at ignoring answering them both.
Since I believe in preservation of traditions, I will continue to ignore the first most asked question (because wow procrastination is fantastic). Instead, I’ll tackle the second most asked question:
Dear Michael, What are good resources to improve my writing?
The best way to learn how to write better is to write more. There is no substitute for practice. In fact, you’ll find that nugget of wisdom contained in every (good) book on writing. “Write more” is at the heart of every writing educator’s repertoire. If you want to learn to write, just start writing. Learn from failure. Ask all your friends for feedback ad nauseum. Thank them with sincerity. Avoid the trap of getting defensive upon receiving feedback (after all, you did ask for their edits).
But guidance is still valuable. So here is a selection of books and resources I use most often.
I have on my book shelf about three dozen books on how to write mo beddah. I won’t list them all, but here is a sampling of popular books by famous authors on how to write: E.M. Forster’s must have Aspects of the Novel; Geoff Nunberg’s unreadable Going Nucular; John Jerome’s amusing The Writing Trade; Patricia O’Conner’s visually painful (comic sans!?) but useful Woe Is I; Norman Mailer’s indisputable The Spooky Art; Anne Lamott’s student friendly Bird by Bird; the decent The Elements of Journalism; and of course Stephen King’s epic On Writing.
The above are books will, in the end, help you understand structure and context creation. They are good books to own, but take much dedication to actually read. It takes even more effort to incorporate their advice into your writings, so take ‘em with a heavy dose of salt and, I suppose, a libationational shot of bourbon.
There are more important books, in my opinion, that will tangibly help your writing. I have about 20 or so books on style, research, and reference guidance that I reach for often. Here’s a sampling of the most used: The Associate Press Stylebook (incidentally, my 2006 copy was donated to me by a journalist at the AP); the painful, hellish, and evil The Blue Book, A Uniform System of Citation; Black’s Law Dictionary; Chicago Manual of Style is my preferred guide for major report writing; MLA Handbook is often quite useful for citation style in a pinch; Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style has no equal.
I’m surprised by how often I flip through Eugene Volokh’s Academic Legal Writing: Law Review Articles, Student Notes, Seminar Papers, and Getting on Law Review; and Legal Writing in Plain English: A Text with Examples is a must if you read a lot of cases and need to learn to summarize quickly.
I also pick up more often than not, Legal Method and Writing; Writing Empirical Research Reports; and Persuasive Writing for Lawyers and the Legal Profession,
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s Making Your Case was an enjoyable surprise, and I am convinced Scalia did not write a single sentence in that book.
I found The Chicago Guide for Communicating Science and A Field Guide for Science Writers rather late in my career, and I regret it because these are excellent guides with solid examples by actual science writers in the field.
To round this list out, there are a ton of sources for writing online. Poynter is, hands down, one of the best resources on the planet; PBS’s Media Shift is fun; Jay Rosen’s PressThink is for serious writers; the WordCount blog is a good place to hang out (there are dozens of blogs like WordCount, so google around for your niche); and you may want to join the National Association of Science Writers. A google search for “Science Communication” returns nearly 1.5 million hits, so there’s that. Also, all the J-Schools have their own writerly blogs.
My all time favorite book on writing is not really a book at all. It’s a rare and odd monograph called “Lawyer as Artist: Using Significant Moments and Obtuse Objects to Enhance Advocacy.” It was written by James Parry Eyster for the Legal Writing Institute’s Legal Writing Journal and hard copies are about as rare as a rattlesnake in Canada (they exist, but good luck finding one). It’s available free at SSRN. It is not easy to read! But I refer to it often when I need to push the limits of my writing, or need inspiration and justification to take a risk.
Again, all of these things are utterly valueless unless and until you sit down and write.
Of all the photographs I’ve taken, I think this is my favorite. I know it needs to be touched up and cropped, but man what an interesting situation in a weird part of NYC…
Gorgeous painting of a shantytown. Strong technique.Did not know the word “bidonville” until today.
Florent Espana, Bidonville d’Afrique, oil on canvas, 2011
Paola Antonelli, MoMA’s senior curator of architecture and design, talks to Stephen Colbert about the evolving definition and scope of design. Complement with Antonelli on what makes good design and her fantastic book Talk to Me: Design and the Communication Between People and Objects.
Surprisingly good interview. I’ve soured on both Colbert and Stewart, but when I saw Antonelli’s name had to watch. Colbert hardly speaks in this interview (how rare!), so Antonelli has lots of time to explain some of her design ideas. Two of them, the Land Mine Dandelion, and the Earthquake School Desk (not official names) are both practical and beautiful objects. You can see her excitement and why MoMA chose her as curator. Good stuff!
Put a bird on it! It, in this case, being art. We love Portlandia’s all-encompassing interpretation of conceptual art. What does conceptual art look (or feel) like from your vantage point?
This is pretty damn funny.
Melting glaciers as art. Lovely project that documents the beauty of Greenland’s destruction.
Nele Azevedo’s ice people, via Flavorwire
Brazilian artist Nele Azevedo’s ice people: 1,000 small sitting figures made from ice. The Berlin installation, intended to draw attention to climate change in the Arctic, lasted until his last figure melted in the heat of the day.
Red iceberg causes a stir in Greenland
An artist with 780 gallons of red paint, three fire hoses and a 20-member crew at his disposal went to Greenland in search of a blank canvas large enough to accommodate his creative impulse.
The result is a blood-red iceberg now sitting off the country’s western coast.
Urban Prototyping is a global movement exploring how rapidly-prototyped design, art, and technology projects can improve cities. UP Festivals are being held around the world to inspire and showcase the next generation of creative projects that address local issues.
Captures a novel trend in art and urban planning. Can’t help wonder of the longevity. These things require maintenance, advocates, and cash money…
I want to punch climate change in the face.
A blog about the interactions between the built environment, people, and nature.
I'm a Washington, DC-based climate adaptation specialist. I help governments and stakeholders around the world increase their capacity to deal with climate impacts.
In addition to traveling and hiking, I research, publish, and lecture on how cities can adapt to climate change.
"Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt." - John Updike
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