Link Loves and Must-Reads 1/18

I'd told myself I'd write this on Monday (aka two days ago), but it just didn't happen.  Happy post- post- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!  I spent most of the holiday running up and down a rainy street trying to locate an apartment building, doing work for school, and feeding pets.  One positive development from this weekend is that my hermit crab has stopped climbing upside-down on the roof of her little house. She's finally seemed to realize (hopefully) how dangerous that is. . . .

Hermit crab antics aside, though, here are some shares for the day:

• The Truth About Change by Heather Waxman
• I love Heather's kind, holistic approach to living and connecting with our inner "soul sisters" (or brothers, etc.).  Her post on change is full of so much truth, and it always makes me feel a bit better to consider how change isn't something to be fought but rather a force we can work with.
• This Superbug Is Resistant to All Antibiotics -- and Has Killed Its First American Victim by Tom Philpott
• Okay, this one is very sad and upsetting and scary, but I think it's important to read anyway because it gets into the conversation about antibiotic-resistant bacteria and their relationship to factory farming. Factory farms are a a major user of antibiotics, and they're also responsible for massive animal cruelty.  My prayers are with the family of the woman who died, and also with animals in factory farms all over the world.
• 5 Things I've Learned Living with 500 Plants by Summer Rayne Oakes 
•  We may not all be able to afford nice Brooklyn apartments filled with plants, but this is a quirky reminder of how beneficial time in nature is.  And it's an inspiration to start an indoor garden. We have lots of little plants around our tiny apartment, and some of them have been around since I was a baby, so I often think of them as siblings. Looking at the pictures of Summer Rayne Oake's plant-filled abode is fun because all the green is so refreshing.  It's amazing how much I want to go hug a plant right now.

Best Wednesday wishes!
<3 Frances 

NASA's Space Garden

Well, NASA's done it.  There are now officially space flowers that can grow "from seed to maturity" (CBC) outside our atmosphere.  One of my resolutions this year is to get better at gardening/gardening-related things, and while I'm super excited that there are space flowers, I'm also realizing that their existence renders any excuses I have for garden fails significantly less legitimate.

Anyway, about the space flowers.  They're beautiful orange zinnias, and they mark a brilliant success following several very sad plant deaths :(.  Of course, plants have been grown in space before, but, as I mentioned above, these ones grew from seed to adulthood entirely in space.  It's pretty poetic, isn't it?  I mean, space flowers! Space. Flowers.  I just keep thinking about it over and over again, like the existence of a "space garden" somehow means everything's going to be alright.  Flowers (and all plants in general) are very impressive and inspiring, aren't they? I mean, they die every winter and come back every spring, and now they live in space, too.  If you're feeling down today, remember that.  There are flowers in space.  They're up there, watching over you.

<3 Frances

Supermoons, Sweaters, Stockings

This Christmas marked the first Christmas full moon in 38 years, and it brought with it heightened intuition and emotion.  In other words, if you were having major #feels on Friday, the lunar cycle may be partially responsible (read more in this article). In addition to this, the weather has been kind of crazy (it's really warm here, which is really weird, but it's supposed to get seasonal soon), and there were even some big storms in the southern and central U.S. that led to losses.  I'm sending the force to everyone there (and anywhere else in the world) who experienced any suffering in recent days <3.  The holidays are about togetherness and oneness, and we need to extend our support to those who need it most as we head towards 2016. 

Someone captured the moon with Christmas lights!

On a personal note, I'm still sort of pretending Christmas is still going on.  I know technically the 25th is over, but I just love the comforting music and the presence of my little faux tree and all the pretty twinkling lights so much that I don't want to move on from the season.  Fortunately, the Twelve Days of Christmas technically start the day after Christmas, so it's okay that I still have Darlene Love ad Bruce Springsteen playing on repeat....

<3 Frances

Cuteness to Make You Feel Better

There are a lot of difficult things going on in the world, but in order to help make the planet a better place for everyone, it's important that we not forget about the good things, like fennec foxes and babies laughing hysterically at ripping paper.  Here's some cuteness to bring a little light to your Friday. 

That baby doll's expression just makes me so happy!

<3 Frances

Piglet is Steampunk

Having been raised by a teacher, I consider myself something of an expert on the characters of Winnie the Pooh.  That said, though, I'd never known all that much about the inspiration behind the characters until yesterday.  I knew they were based on actual stuffed animals, but I hadn't seen them before, and I was SO EXCITED when my mum sent me the link to the Winnie the Pooh exhibit at the New York Public Library.  The exhibit houses the original dolls, which came from London's famed Harrods store in the 1920s.  Being almost 100 years old, they're worn and in some places a bit threadbare, but their antiquity only makes them all the more awesome--and cool (they've got a bit of a Tim Burton-esque look to them now).

My favorite part?  Piglet is totally steampunk!

<3 Frances 

Martian Sunset

Curiosity, one of NASA's adorable little Mars Rovers, got a picture of the Martian sunset.  It's bluish and beautiful and perfect.

<3 Frances

Sadness, Light, Hope

When I read about the Germanwings crash yesterday during lunch at school, my head started spinning and I became terribly nauseated.  It was like that crash was the culmination of all the other horrible flight accidents that have happened in the last year--MH370 and MH17, just to name two of them--and it was difficult to wrap my mind around it all without succumbing to the devastating power of it.  It feels like there are so many sad things (not that sad is at all an adequate word for any of them) happening every day.  If we were aware of all of them, it would be too much to handle, wouldn't it?  

Yet despite the sadness, the pain, the horror, there's also this overwhelming feeling of hope everywhere, like it's going to be okay even when it seems that "okay" is impossible.  And though I always must acknowledge the melancholy, I can't help but to see the hope, too, because without it, what do we have?  I don't quite know where this post is going, but I suppose what I'm trying to get at is that I hope everyone lets hope exist inside of them.  

www.zazzle.com

thewowstyle.com

<3 Frances 

Icy Dwarf Planets & Losing One Hour

I know that we technically turned our clocks forward yesterday, but I think that the whole time-loss thing has really hit me more so now that it's Monday.  Waking up at 5:15 just feels so wrong when it should only be 4:15.  Sigh.  I hope everyone else is coping well enough with the time change.  I wish we could have it when it was actually spring or summer because then it would at least be warm outside....
In other news, NASA's Dawn probe has arrived at Ceres, an icy dwarf planet between Mars and Jupiter.  Dawn has been travelling for almost eight years (!) to get to Ceres, and now she's finally there!  I may just be being a stereotypical romantic idealist/writer/dreamer, but I like to see personalities in planets and in things like spacecrafts, the Mars rovers, etc., and I'm very excited.

nbcnews.com


usatoday.com


pbs.org

Also...I have a sunshine-related song dedication for the hour that we lost yesterday.  I know that it's technically sunnier now in the evening, but I feel like my morning sunshine has been stolen.  

Len: "Steal My Sunshine"

<3 Frances 

Snowed In

We got more snow!  It's like Jack Frost is trying to make up for the lack of winter here, and it's exciting to open the window and see the ground covered in white. Walking outside this morning was a bit difficult, though--it was more like skating, to be honest, and I"m not the most elegant skater thanks to my pigeon toes.  Warmest thoughts go out to anyone in the New England area who's still trying to dig themselves out!
So, if you're snowed in, what are you plans for the day?  You could....

• Clean.  Okay, this sounds really not fun at all, but imagine how good you'll feel when it's done.
• Dance around the house. This is a personal favorite.
• Try out that new workout DVD you haven't gotten the chance to use yet.
• Finish your novel.
• Do a giveaway.  (More space=less stress.)
• Watch a movie.  
• Play a board game.  For anyone who hasn't played it, Scattergories is really, really fun!
• Get caught up on work.  I did a lot of homework over the break so I don't have as much now (knock on wood).
• Go sledding and build a snowman!  
• Watch the news.  
• Give yourself a facial.  
• Etc, etc, etc!

Because it seems like winter isn't going away anytime soon, here's some inspiration for #PajamaStyle.  Being indoors doesn't mean you can't feel adorable, too.

wwwtempodemoda.climatetempo.com.br

 

www.aliexpress.com

wwww.fashionablethings.com

www.easydailybuy.com

www.refinery29.com

<3 Frances

Snowfall...and Lack Thereof

The snow that I was hoping would earn us another day off from school today has apparently been delayed until tomorrow (that means we're doing the snow dance tonight, by the way), and I'm both  excited about the possibility of some local wintry weather and hopeful that those experiencing the Nor'easter are going to be okay.  

www.topwalls.net 

Weather is so dynamic...in one part of the country, everything's fine and people are almost wishing there would be some snow, and a few states up people are being blasted with blizzard conditions.  And don't even get me started about all the horrors of global warming...maybe we'll save more of that for another post.....

63 years of climate change, according to NASA.  Image from www.bgr.com.  

On a less traumatizing note, it's the last week of January 2015.  That means we'd better start writing "2015" instead of "2014" on everything because, whether we like it or not, the year is sticking around for the next eleven months.  Has anyone lived up to their resolution yet?  Has anyone forgotten their resolution yet?  Has anyone changed theirs?  I'm not entirely sure what mine was--it keeps changing every time I think about it--so I've decided that I perhaps promised myself to just work hard, do well, etc.  Yes, very vague, very broad, very simple.
I hope you have a happy Monday!  Stay warm!

<3 Frances

Meet the Quokka

You've made it through Monday.  It's uphill from here, right?  In case you're struggling, though, here's a dose of adorableness to make your Tuesday more bearable.  It comes in the form of a quokka.

quok·ka

   \ˈkwä-kə\

     noun

1. :  a stocky herbivorous marsupial (Setonix brachyurus of the family Macropodidae) of southwestern Australia that has a short tail

-From Merriam-Webster

According to Buzzfeed, 2015 is the "Year of the Quokka."  They even give 17 reasons why, which I think is pretty awesome.  Seriously, though--seeing this article makes the world seem like a better place.

buzzfeed.com

imgur.com

<3 Frances 

Old Tjikko & Music

I have a thing for history and all things historical, and Old Tjikko has just topped my list of some of the coolest things ever.  This Norway Spruce tree lives in Sweden is 9,550 years old.  9,550!  That's crazy awesome, isn't it?

 

Also....here's some Scottish electropop to get you started today.

<3 Frances

Back to Reality (and Layers)

Yesterday was the last day of Thanksgiving break, which makes this morning the first morning back in reality.  As much as I would love to be writing this post from home, I'm actually at school right now (it just hasn't started yet), and, for the purpose of comfort, I've brought with me a way-too-big-for-me raincoat that I can hide myself completely in if circumstances demand that I do so.  I'm like an introverted turtle.   #win

Ready to hide at any moment

By the way, happy December 1st!  It's the last month of the year (and arguably the most festive). Depending on where you are in the world, the weather may or may not be cold.  Personally, I'd love to get a little snow this year, but our temperatures have sort of been all over the place (30 degrees F one day, 65 degrees F the next).  Crazy, right?  Such temperature fluctuations call for layers.

Me, in air conditioning....

<3 Frances

For the Sake of Cute Baby Animals

I saw part of a documentary about animal friendships, and I'm just going to go right out and say that I, without a doubt, strongly believe that animals have feelings.  I also strongly believe that pictures of cute baby animals improve productivity....

 

So, yeah.  Be productive!

<3 Frances

 

"Normal Barbie" Has Acne, Too!

As someone with recurrent breakouts, pigeon toes, and all the other qualities that come along with not being airbrushed, I was really excited to read about the new "normal Barbie," Lammily, who--believe it or not--comes with stick-on acne as opposed to glitter dust.  I'm a doll-person, and, while I love my childhood Barbie dolls (who, by the way, I gave "real problems"--debt, loss, heartache, etc.) to death, it's refreshing to see a doll who's proportioned based on the CDC standards for the average 19 year-old girl.  

 Lammily, the brainchild of artist Nickolay Lamm, would, if she were a human, by 5'4" and have a waist almost double the width of physically impossible human Barbie.  Something else that is awesome?  "Lammily Stickers," the accessory set that can be purchased for Lammily, include not only butterfly tattoos but also everything that is edited off of celebrities.  Acne!  Scars!  Stretch marks! Cellulite!  Bruises!  #real&proud

OMG!  She has acne, too!  TWINSIES!

<3 Frances

Another Week Down

Congratulations, you've made it through another workweek!  Between assignments, upcoming tests, and general societal anxieties, this week feels like it's been rather long.  The next 48 hours for me will probably not be all that restful, but it's going to be okay because Halloween is in exactly two weeks (on a Friday!).

Another Week....

It's Monday, but we can do it!

Saturday

Yet another week has come and gone, and we're officially four days into the crisp autumn days of October.  That means 27 days left until Halloween, and I'm a little bit too excited about that....
Today I wanted to share a picture that will make your life better.
Meet the "Office Kitties."  They, too, love weekends.



<3 Frances

Septemberness

It's officially September now, I suppose, given that it's been a week.  Between assignments and tests (oh, dear!), it's been difficult to find time to do much other than study, but we've managed to delve into a bit of artwork, writing, and music.  Escapism in its purest forms, right?  But we've also discovered a new acne product (Kate Somerville's Anti Bac) and good herbal remedies that can be taken as preventative measures against the illnesses we're all being exposed to now that the summer is over.  Old Indian Wild Cherry Bark Syrup is a miracle-worker during flu season.   Oh, and happy Manatee Day!

 

<3 Frances

Mondays

In anticipation of another Monday morning, I share with you this:  Morning Kitty.
We feel you, Morning Kitty.