Merry Wanderer of the Night [Search results for birds] 

National Stadium in Beijing which in the people is called “the birds nest”, has received prestigious Lubetkin Prize, founded Royal Institute of British Architects, RIBA, as the most outstanding architectural work outside of the European Union.

VIA «Lubetkin Prize has got to the bird's nest»

Joining us now we have Bonnie from A Backwards Story interviewing Sarah Porter, author of the 2011 debut Lost Voices.
Check it out!

Sara Porter’s debut novel, Lost Voices, is the first in a trilogy... about MERMAIDS. While not directly re-telling any single tale, Porter weaves together mermaid lore from several places while creating her own world. The most creative twist is the fact that mermaids were once human girls, reincarnated after “dying” and have siren-like tendencies. For a teaser of Lost Voices and to learn more about the novel, please visit A Backwards Story. A full review is scheduled to post on ABS June 21th to celebrate the first day of summer. Lost Voices comes out two weeks later on July 4, 2011, so please add it to Goodreads and your TBR now!

1) What were your favorite fairy tales growing up? What drew you to them?
I grew up with this old book of Russian fairy tales that someone gave my mom’s dad when he was a kid back in 1911, and I adored them. They were long and dark and complicated and painful, and I think they’re very true to life. A lot of them follow a storyline where the protagonist betrays his or her magical beloved and has to go through a long journey and a series of ordeals to win that lost love back. In fact many of us do have to undertake a long (emotional) journey before we’re ready to truly love.
Those stories are embedded in my mind. I still see life through the lens they revealed to me.

2) What made you decide to write Lost Voices? What brought everything together for you?
It’s hard for me to say where it all came from. One source was a talk I had with a friend on the beach, where we improvised a story about a punk mermaid who lived apart from the others. And I wrote an earlier story in graduate school that used some of the same ideas as Lost Voices. In it, mermaids were orphaned girls who could swim through the earth and steal other girl-children away. When I actually started writing Lost Voices, I was unemployed and stuck on another book, and the story just kind of picked me up and carried me. I wrote a draft in four months.

3) Was it hard coming up with your own lore when you began world-building? How did you bring everything together? The mermaids felt so real!
Thank you. They feel real to me, too. The mermaid lore actually develops a lot more in the second volume of the trilogy, Waking Storms, when my heroine Luce begins to learn about the history of the mermaids and why they’re so driven to kill.
But I wouldn’t say it’s hard to come up with the lore or the world. The hardest part of becoming a writer is getting yourself to the place where the stories come to you by themselves. Once you’re finally there, it’s all a lot easier. I knew from the beginning that the mermaids were the lost girls who’d flowed away to sea.

4) Can you tell us more about your overall goals for the trilogy?
That’s hard to do without giving too much away! But Luce has a long way to go, and things will get much worse for her before they can start to get better. The trilogy is really about a choice we all face: we can stay stuck in our pain and keep repeating the same reactions to that pain, the way the mermaids keep sinking ships. Or we can look for creative ways to break the cycle and move on. It’s an incredibly difficult thing to do, but ultimately that’s what Luce has to accomplish.

5) What other ideas are you working on right now?
I only work on one idea at a time, because I can only live in one imaginary world at a time! But I do have a novel for adults sitting around half-finished; it’s sort of a horror novel about sentient objects, called Boudoir, and as soon as I complete The Lost Voices Trilogy, I want to get back to it. And I’m playing with the idea of a young adult novel based on some of those old Russian fairy tales, too.

6) What are some of your favorite fairy tale inspired novels and/or authors?
Well, it’s not YA at all, but I really love Ingeborg Bachmann’s Malina. It starts out seeming realistic and then gets creepier and more fairy-talish as it goes along. The heroine’s boyfriend gives her a hairy black dress that eats into her skin, and that she can’t take it off. And Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell was fantastic and really captured the odd logic of the fairy world. That’s a book I think a lot of YA fans would adore! Most of my favorite books have kind of a fairy tale quality about them even if they’re not directly inspired.

7) If you could live out any fairy tale, what would it be and why?
Hmm. Maybe I’d like to be the Frog Princess. She’s such a badass.
In fact I think we all live out fairy tales all the time, whether we want to or not. Not necessarily the happily-ever-after parts, but the struggling-to-make-our-way-through-forces-that-are-bigger-than-we-are parts.

8) What's your favorite Disney rendition of a fairy tale? What makes it so special?
Dumbodoesn’t count, does it? Then I think I’ll go with “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” section of Fantasia. It conveys so much of the feeling of being overwhelmed by magic, caught up in a dream.

9) Rapunzel is named after lettuce; what odd thing would you be named after if you were in a fairy tale?
Sparrow. I totally identify with little hoppy, dust-colored birds.

Since Weekly Geeks and The 24 Hour Read-a-thon (which is coming up next week) are both Dewey created events, and therefore technically sisters, I thought for this week's assignment we could join forces just a bit and post our read-a-thon plans.

Sometime this next week, write a post that tells us:

* if you are participating in the read-a-thon or not.
* and if not, why not. (timing isn't right, you didn't know about it, life won't allow it, it's not your thing, etc.)
* if you are, do you have a strategy?
* do you have a stack of books prepared to read from?
* will you try to read as many books as you can or as many pages as you can?
* do you have special food and snacks planned?
* do you have a special spot all set up for reading?
* will you get your Saturday things done on Friday so you can read guilt free?
* if you have others living in your household, do you have to work around their schedules too?

Basically, let us know how you plan to approach the event.

My guess is that there will be a link up for a similar sort of post over a the Read-a-thon blog too. If so, just link your post up both here and there and kill two birds with one stone!

VIA An Evening with Amon Amarth in Times Square

A glass dome 10 meters high and 20 meters in diameter is being built to cover ancient rock engravings that have been at risk of significant erosion on the island of Kamenny in northwest Russia.

The petroglyphs can now only be seen by organized tours and scientists. In the meantime archaeologists will continue searching for the answer to the main riddle posed by the rock engravings: Why did prehistoric man create them?

The Kanozero petroglyphs in Murmansk Region were discovered relatively recently. In the summer of 1997, researchers from a local museum found carvings on the rocks on the island of Kamenny. The ancient artists depicted animals, birds, fish, household items, religious symbols and scenes from life such as a love triangle, a hunt and a family. The scientists have also discovered several even more enigmatic sketches including a bird of prey with five-talon feet, a large figure of a sorcerer and a flying crane.

The paradox of the situation is that scientists had been visiting the island since the 1960s, yet none of them were aware that it was a major prehistoric site. Researchers simply thought that the carvings were contemporary, made by tourists visiting the island.

“It took a certain courage to declare that these engravings were ancient,” recalls Vadim Likhachev, one of the first scientists to study the Kanozero petroglyphs. “We took it upon ourselves to substantiate that theory. A radiocarbon analysis of a nearby fire site showed that the carvings were made no later than 3,000-4,000 B.C.”

There is one more reason why it took so long to discover the carvings: most of them were covered with moss and turf. Once it was removed, scientists discovered an additional 100 carvings. However, in just 15 years, these unique petroglyphs that had been preserved by nature for thousands of years were pushed to the brink of obliteration. Each spring, ice melting from the surface of the rocks was gradually erasing the images.

The situation was further exacerbated by tourists wearing running shoes. Even a tiny stone stuck in the sole of a sneaker could damage the carvings. The engravings were carved on soft rocks. It is easy to make carvings on them, but it is equally simple to erase them, too. Some visitors to the site tried to leave their imprint by adding their signatures and pictures to the petroglyphs.

In 2012, the site was visited by Dmitry Medvedev, the president of Russia at the time. He was so impressed by the ancient carvings that he promised to allocate 15 million rubles of his own money towards their preservation. The dome to protect the petroglyphs was built in fall 2014. It consists of a metal frame and polycarbonate, the same material that roofs for swimming pools and greenhouses are made of.

“It was very hard work,” says Vladimir Perevalov, director of the Kanozero Petroglyphs Museum. “The island is surrounded by water and it was impossible to get a crane there as the rocky shores are seven meters high. The builders had to get heavy metal frames and glass all the way up there.”

The dome may have to be further reinforced in the summer. According to Perevalov, there is a risk that it may cave in with time as lichen may spread underneath it. For the time being, experts are monitoring how the dome will survive the winter.

The ancient petroglyphs can now be seen by appointment only. Tourists come to Kanozero despite the fact that most of the carvings are not available for viewing and can be seen only in restricted lighting.

The scientists have not yet been able to ascertain why the prehistoric inhabitants of the North made these rock carvings. Earlier they thought they were a depiction of scenes from everyday life. However, recently another theory has been gaining currency: that the petroglyphs had a spiritual character.

“The carvings may depict the rituals of prehistoric people,” says Likhachev. “The locations where there are many engravings may have been ancient open-air shrines.”

The petroglyphs may have been used to communicate with the spirits of ancestors or in healing rituals. Archeologists are now collecting data to try and recreate what may have been an ancient religious system.

Author: Yelena Bozhkova | Source: Russia Beyond the Headlines [January 06, 2015]

“You can see green grass just 50 meters away from it,” Gamal said, explaining that the limestone of which the sphinx is made has a high percentage of calcium in it.

“Add to that the sewage problem that officials are not addressing."

Gamal said birds enjoy calcium, which is why many of them are seen perched on the sphinx. “Their waste eats away at the body of the sphinx,” he said. “It will be a serious problem when the perforations [on the body of the sphinx caused by the acidic waste] widen with time.”

Source: Egypt Indepedent [February 03, 2015]

Shirtless frolick: Simon took off his shirt and revealed his well-defined six pack as she chased Maria around the park
The Eurovision hopeful, who will join his Blue boy band mates in Saturday’s grand final, has even convinced Kouka and her Greek friends and family to vote for him.
Simon, 32, told the Daily Star Sunday: ‘Maria and I have been together since February and she’s been really supportive since I’ve been busy preparing with Blue for this Saturday’s competition.
New love: Simon and Maria have been dating since February and she he has convinced her and her Greek friends and family to vote for Blue in the Eurovision contest
‘She’s even asked her friends and family back home in Greece to vote as they are eligible to vote for our UK entry from over there.’
And by the looks of their park affection, there’s no doubt that Maria will be voting for her new beau.
The pair were even wearing matching outfits of jeans and army-green vests on their day out, alongside Simon’s British bulldog.
The ex files: Simon Webbe with his former girlfriend of six years Layla Manoochenri (left), who dumped him last year and Maria Kouka with Jersey Shore star Pauly D (right)

Rehearsals: Boy band Blue have been practising their routine to represent the UK in the Eurovsion Song Contest this Saturday night
He will join his band mates Lee Ryan, Antony Costa and Duncan James on stage to represent the UK this week in Eurovision’s Song Contest.
source :dailymail

VIA Take your shirt off and kiss me! Simon Webbe gets a good luck

America: Our Better History is showing this weekend at the E.C. Mabie Theatre in the University of Iowa theatre building. If you haven't seen the posters around campus then become informed.

It all starts on election night in the not so distant past. Six gay men in Minnesota are watching President Barack Obama become elected. There is Martin (Kjai Block) who is hosting the party but is constantly in and out fighting with his former Iraqi soldier boyfriend Aden (David Hoffman). While Aden was in Iraq Martin had an affair with his Obama campaign partner (Chase Bottorff) which he thinks is hidden from Aden, but it turns out he has known all along. Inside is Scott (David Wheeler), the youngest gay man of the group, Harold (Andrew Clancey), and Harold's life partner Charles (Soren Olsen). Harold and Charles are a middle aged gay couple that act as the "teachers" of the group, although their attempts are often ignored. While they feel they know more because they survived events such as Stonewall and Harvey Milk, Scott disagrees and says that his generation is dealing with the same hatred every day.

The play mostly functions around the love triangle of Martin, Aden, and Robert. Aden feels that he is excluded from the group because he went to Iraq, something Martin's liberal gay friends cannot understand. He spends the majority of his time outside listening to the birds and feeding ducks until Scott shoots himself in the arm by accident and needs Aden's help. In the same scene Charles get a concussion from a fall (he is a afraid of blood) and Aden punches Martin during a fight. As Charles says, "It's a real hate crime."

The second half of the play takes place during the inauguration of President Barack Obama. Scott and Robert are fighting and Harold and Charles are trying to convince Robert to get over Martin, while Scott is trying to convince Martin to share his true feelings with Aden. There are several references to Aretha Franklin's unforgettable hat which calm the scene as Aden and Martin are fighting to save their relationship. Then Martin discovers that Aden has been reactivated and has known for three weeks. Aden says he has been trying to push Martin away so that it would be easier when he dies at war.

An amazing portrayal of an unforgettable night, one that was specifically important to the gay community. They succeeded in electing a black Democrat into office, but as we all remember (and if we don't I will remind you) that at the same time Prop 8 passed and gay marriage was banned in three states. The characters were balanced and I felt that each was truly contributing something to the plot. It was dark at times and humorous, but very real.

Written by Justin Dewey and directed by Tony Meneses.
E.C. Mabie Theatre October 30-31 8 p.m. November 1 2 p.m.
$5 or FREE with a University of Iowa student ID
Running Time: 2 hrs.

Conservationists have reintroduced the gibbons as part of an ambitious project for the "re-wilding" of Angkor Wat, a vast "temple city" that was once surrounded by forests teeming with deer, monkeys, birds and big cats before the arrival of commercial hunters with guns, traps and an appetite for money.

The re-wilding is being led by Nick Marx, a conservationist who believes the project could become a model for other parts of Southeast Asia hit by the trade in endangered wildlife.

Angkor Wat, the largest religious monument on earth, was made a World Heritage Site to protect its sprawling network of temples. Now conservationists want to restore the surrounding forests of Angkor Archaeological Park to their former glory, Marx said.

"The area of forest is beautiful and mature. It's a unique site but it's devoid of wildlife now," he said. "We want to introduce different species that would be appropriate, such as a cross-selection of small carnivores, herbivores, primates and deer, to try to get a build-up of wildlife populations with sufficient genetic diversity."

Cambodia, like many countries in southeast Asia, has suffered from the illegal trade in wildlife. Large numbers of animals have been shot, trapped, butchered and skinned, or sold alive in one of the many Cambodian food markets.

Spiralling demand for traditional Chinese "medicine" has driven the trade to new heights.

"China has done a pretty good job of decimating its own wildlife and now it is moving into other countries," he said. "There is a certain amount of consumption within Cambodia, but most of the valuable items that can bring a high price such as pangolins and cat skins would be going out either to Vietnam or to China," he said. "With the opening of borders and trade, things are getting worse globally. That means we have to work harder to stop it."

Marx is director of a wildlife rescue service funded by Wildlife Alliance, a New York-based non-governmental organisation that specialises in protecting forests and wildlife. He runs Cambodia's Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team which tackles animal trafficking with undercover operations, armed raids on restaurants and markets, and a network of paid informants willing to provide tip-offs on illegal shipments of live animals and body parts.

"We are known throughout Cambodia. We are feared by wildlife traders. It would be foolish to say there is no risk. We're pissing people off and we are rescuing things like cobras, which often have their mouths stitched up and we have to unstitch them," he said.

Why cobras? "They cut their throats to drink their blood with wine and then eat the flesh. People eat everything, from spiders and grasshoppers up."

Many recovered animals are alive and the aim is to return them to the wild if possible.

"Almost everything we confiscate, about 90 per cent of it - provided it is in recent captivity and is fit and healthy, and of an age it can look after itself - is released back into a safe habitat," Marx said. "If they cannot take care of themselves, we look after them at a rescue centre."

Having established Cambodia's official task force to tackle wildlife crime, Marx said it was time to think about reintroducing species to areas where they once thrived such as Angkor Wat. "We were given permission to release animals back into Angkor last year and we released the first pair of pileated gibbons into this forest last December. This has gone really well. The pair had a baby in September. We've taken up another pair of gibbons and a trio of silver langurs, which are a kind of leaf-eating monkey, which we hope to release later."

Author: Steve Connor | Source: Independent via The New Zealand Herald [December 29, 2014]

Yesterday I came back to Iowa City (finally!) and I must admit I'm actually excited about starting classes again. I'm not really looking forward to the homework but I am looking forward to learning and having stuff to do. I came back to ten packages last night! All of which were books. Pretty sure the full time desk clerk was wondering what the heck I was doing ordering all of that stuff. I also attempted to put together the new bookshelf I bought over break for my birthday. Unsuccessful. Thankfully my boyfriend came to the rescue. This is what it looks like:

I also thought I would brag a little bit about my awesome new bookends! I also bought these for my birthday even though they were hella expensive. But trees and birds are my favorite things and they match the bookshelves my boyfriend and I made over the summer.

Pretty right?
So this week I didn't post any reviews (I know I was bad) because I wanted to save some up. I'm not going to get to read three books a week anymore because I'm going to be at school. I might be able to do two on a good week though. Instead I wrapped up my 19 Going on 20 Challenge and alerted everyone of my awards. Finally I shared my thoughts on textbooks with my other college blogging friends. This week I'm going to start actually following my fancy schedule that I have in the right hand column. Books that I'm going to review in the upcoming weeks are Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, The Virgin Queen's Daughter by Ella March Chase, and Rumors by Anna Godbersen. I really enjoyed all of these books and hope you all enjoy my review of them!

Today, our Memory Monday guest is Jennifer Sommersby. I've been chatting with Jenn on Twitter for a while now, I absolutely love reading her blog and she is just so much fun to talk to. I was so excited when she told me that she liked my Memory Monday posts and that she would be willing to participate! So, her she is folks! Here's Jenn!

Bio: Jennifer Sommersby's first book, a YA urban fantasy about a circus-dwelling, 17-year-old girl who learns that she is heir to a 3000-year-old magical book, is called Sleight: Book One of the AVRA-K. An American ex-pat, she lives in the Great White North (western Canada) with her family and collection of pets.
Memories: When Ashley so graciously invited me to write a piece for Memory Mondays, my mind was set aflutter. Talk about a book that made an impact on me as a kid? There were so many! I decided, rather than to break it down to just one, that I would cover a few with relating anecdotes to illuminate the joy that books brought to me as a wee, word-hungry ankle biter.

We all love Dr. Seuss (and if you don’t, you might want to see someone about that). Who doesn’t have a special place for the man who was first credited with use of the word nerd? I mean, GENIUS, people! Despite the fact that Seuss had a decades-long affair outside of his marriage, a tryst that eventually led to his wife’s suicide and his nuptials to his lover a year following his wife’s death, Seuss was a wordsmith of unmatched prowess. He understood words and sounds in a way that has revolutionized the learning-to-read process for generations of kids. My favorites? The Lorax and The Sneetches. And for my thirty-eighth birthday, my BFF bought me Oh! The Places You’ll Go. Perfect present for ALL occasions, especially for
high school and college graduates. Oh, and people turning thirty-eight. It’s so inspiring, though be warned—it can trigger wanderlust.

My mom bought me the coolest set of science books (nerd alert!), the series called “Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science.” Did you guys have those? I don’t know how many were published, but I had at least a dozen—and I still have them on the shelf in my son’s bedroom. Titles such as A Drop of Blood, Flash Crash Rumble and Roll, and Your Skin and Mine survived through my childhood, that of my little sister (who is now twenty-seven), and all of my kids, inviting us to investigate topics that aren’t otherwise covered in novels or TV shows or, nowadays, video games. I spent endless hours going through these books, feeling very smart because I learned how a scab formed and about the mechanics of thunderstorms and why some kids had darker skin than me (not tough considering I have had a sickly pall to my skin pretty much my entire life). I was a know-it-all as a kid. That continues until today, thanks to these books.

And on to fiction. I seem to have an affinity for it. But it’s sort of funny how it started, beyond my obsession with my sister’s sky-blue Smith-Corona electric typewriter. (“Clickity-clicky — click!” went the keys…). I had this thing for small books. Not the page count, necessarily, but the actual physical size of the book. The smaller, the better. I liked small things: closets that could be made into hideouts, picnic tables covered in blankets to make my own house, that cabin Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer stays in with Yukon Cornelius and the elf who wants to be a dentist. The Audubon Field Guide to North American Birds, Western Region, while not fiction, was narrow and thin and fit in a pocket, perfect for field work. Did I read it? No. Did the size make me happy? Yes. Well, that and its awesome orange vinyl cover.

Sorry. Digressing again. My mom—she was never stingy with buying me books—picked up a series of classics in paperback form, and the dimensions of the books themselves couldn’t have been more than 4x4 inches. They were these little squares of literary history, and I read them because…I liked their shape. Around the World in Eighty Days was my favorite, although Little Women came in close second. (Oh, don’t even get me started on how my BFF Beth Ann and I would act out the parts from Louisa May Alcott’s ageless tale—she was Meg, the well-mannered, polite, always proper young lady; I was, and am to this day, Jo—feisty, word — loving, dreamy Jo.) I read Gulliver’s Travels and Treasure Island and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and all as a side effect of my attachment to the shape of the books. Weird, I know. If anyone’s good with past-life regression or Jungian psychology, perhaps you have a theory about my affection for small things.

No discussion of influential childhood books would be complete without a shout-out to Beverly Cleary. The elementary school I went to, Alameda Grade, in Portland, Oregon, was situated in the very neighborhood where some of Cleary’s stories were set. I used to ride my bike and roller skate up and down Klickitat Street, just like Henry Huggins, as my house was only a few blocks away. I must’ve been nine or ten when Cleary visited our school for Literacy Day (Ezra Jack Keats of The Snowy Day fame visited one year, as well). The whole school dressed up as characters from any one of Cleary’s novels and marched through the
neighborhood with Mrs. Cleary our Mistress of Ceremonies for the day’s events. It was a big to-do, obviously. Thirty-odd years later, I’m still talking about it. Thank you, Beverly, for being such a big part of my childhood!

And my last mention for Memory Monday—I would feel disloyal if I didn’t pay homage— Judy Blume. Need I say more? For those of you born in the late ’80s or the ’90s, maybe you haven’t discovered Blume’s genius. She wrote whimsical, fun stories for younger readers: Superfudge, Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Freckle Juice. Her books for older readers (Deenie, Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret, Blubber, Forever) told stories in which the characters asked and answered questions I was too embarrassed or afraid to address. Her protagonists faced real-world hardships that were engrossing and often heartrending. I read and re-read many of her titles as I went from that tomboy climbing trees and riding BMX bikes to the pre-teen and teenager who cared about Guess jeans and what Mickey S. thought of her new haircut.

It is still amazing to me, the influence that books have had on my life. They’re like a good friend, always there waiting to be called upon, and as cliché as that sounds, books don’t care how bitchy I am or if my hair is a mess and in need of a color, or if I’ve filed the taxes for the year or unloaded the dishwasher. Books don’t judge if I didn’t donate enough to the food drive or if I screamed at that stupid woman in traffic (she totally deserved it…just sayin’). The consumption of books, and now the creation of my own books, are constants in a life that is forever in a state of flux. Life won’t be nearly long enough for me to get my fill of good
stories. I’m guessing you feel the same way, or you wouldn’t be here visiting Ashley’s terrific blog. Thanks for the chat. Now, go READ something!
Thank you so much Jenn! I loved this post! So much! If any of you readers are interested in guest posting for Memory Monday, in my blog!

At the far end of town where the Grickle-grass grows and the wind smells slow-and-sour when it blows and no birds ever sing excepting old crows... is the Street of the Lifted Lorax. I recently bought The Lorax at Kohl's because they had a deal where you could get one book and a matching plush for $5 each. Dr. Seuss was one of my favorites when I was a child so I jumped at this. When I started reading The Lorax again though I couldn't how big the message was! A lot of Dr. Seuss is like that, you don't realize the message as a kid but when you go back as an adult you realize how amazing it is.

The Lorax's home was once a beautiful and colorful place, but now it is sad and gray. What happened? The Lorax is a story about what happens when we don't pay attention to our surroundings. We lose the beauty that is all around us. With all the "go green" business out right now The Lorax is even more pertinent than it once was. Beyond the message though I really enjoyed the creepiness of the town after it's been torn apart compared to the bright quality the town had before. This is a really fun book to read, and as soon as I got it I was reading and rhyming. I have yet to use this with a student but my experience with Dr. Seuss is that it works best if you read the book to the child first and then have them join in for some choral reading.

I read a up a little about this book and in 1988 (two years before I was born) it sparked a huge controversy in California because the logging industry thought it was an unfair attack on them. Whatever you think about that, I still think the book's message is an important one for children and adults!

And this is my Lorax plush. Isn't he cute?!?

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

Do you guys all know about Lauren Leto? If you're a college student you probably do. She is the creator of Texts From Last Night. I saw a link to her blog on Facebook today and she has a great post about Stereotyping Readers by Author. It's hilarious and you should all go check it out. One that applies to me:

Nick Hornby
Guys who wear skinny jeans and the girls that love them.

And a great TFLN for good measure:

(319): I brought red and green boonsfarm to the white elephant party. classy and festive. I think this is what people are referring to when they talk about killing two birds with one stone.

The international team of researchers warns that localized issues, such as declining water quality from nutrient pollution or deforestation, can exacerbate the effects of climatic extremes, such as heat waves and droughts. This reduces the ability of ecosystems to cope with the impacts of climate change.

"We show that managing local pressures can expand the 'safe operating space' for these ecosystems. Poor local management makes an ecosystem less tolerant to climate change and erodes its capacity to keep functioning effectively," says the study's lead author Marten Scheffer, chair of the Department of Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management at the Netherlands' Wageningen University.

The authors examined three UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Spain's Doñana wetlands, the Amazon rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef. While many ecosystems are important to their local people, these ecosystems have a global importance--hence their designation as World Heritage Sites. For instance, the Amazon rainforest is a globally important climate regulator.

Like coral reefs, rainforests and wetlands around the world, these sites are all under increasing pressure from both climate change and local threats.

For example, the Doñana wetlands in southern Spain are Europe's most important wintering site for waterfowl, hosting over half a million birds, and home to numerous unique invertebrate and plant species. Nutrient runoff from the use of agricultural fertilizers and urban wastewater is degrading water quality in the wetlands, causing toxic algal blooms, which endanger the ecosystem's biodiversity. A warming climate could encourage more severe blooms, causing losses of native plants and animals, say the researchers.

"Local managers could lessen this risk and therefore boost the wetlands' climate resilience by reducing nutrient runoff," says co-author Andy Green, a professor at the Doñana Biological Station. He added that nutrient control measures could include reducing fertilizer use, improving water treatment plants and closing illegal wells that are decreasing inputs of clean water to the wetlands.

Rising temperatures and severe dry spells threaten the Amazon rainforest and, in combination with deforestation, could turn the ecosystem into a drier, fire-prone and species-poor woodland. Curtailing deforestation and canopy damage from logging and quickening forest regeneration could protect the forest from fire, maintain regional rainfall and thus prevent a drastic ecosystem transformation.

"A combination of bold policy interventions and voluntary agreements has slowed deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon to one fourth of its historical rate. The stage is now set to build on this success by ramping up efforts to tame logging and inhibit fire," says Daniel Nepstad, executive director of Earth Innovation Institute.

The Great Barrier Reef is threatened by ocean acidification and coral bleaching, both induced by carbon dioxide emissions. Local threats such as overfishing, nutrient runoff and unprecedented amounts of dredging will reduce the reef's resilience to acidification and bleaching.

"It's an unfolding disaster. The reef needs less pollution from agricultural runoff and port dredging, less carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels, and less fishing pressure. Ironically, Australia is still planning to develop new coal mines and expand coal ports, despite global efforts to transition quickly towards renewable energy," says co-author Terry Hughes, director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies.

"As a wealthy country, Australia has the capability and responsibility to improve its management of the reef," adds Hughes.

"All three examples play a critical role in maintaining global biodiversity. If these systems collapse, it could mean the irreversible extinction of species," says Scheffer.

The authors suggest their evidence places responsibility on governments and society to manage local threats to iconic ecosystems, and such efforts will complement the growing momentum to control global greenhouse gases.

Yet, in the three cases they examined, they found local governance trends are worrisome.

"UNESCO is concerned that Australia isn't doing enough to protect the Great Barrier Reef. It would be disastrous for the $6 billion reef tourism industry and Australia's reputation if they list the GBR as 'in danger.' We need to put science into action to prevent this from happening," urges Hughes.

According to co-author Scott Barrett, the problem is one of incentives.

"These ecosystems are of value to the whole world, not only to the countries that have jurisdiction over them. It may be necessary for other countries to bring pressure to bear on these 'host' countries or to offer them assistance, to ensure that these iconic ecosystems are protected for the benefit of all of humanity," says Barrett, who is also a professor at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs.

Above all, the paper raises awareness of the great opportunities for enhanced local action.

"Local management options are well understood and not too expensive. So there is really no excuse for countries to let this slip away, especially when it comes to ecosystems that are of vital importance for maintaining global biodiversity," says Scheffer.

Source: University of Wisconsin-Madison [March 19, 2015]

Last week Suey challenged Weekly Geekers to give us a self-portrait. She wrote:

I think it would be fun if you all took a picture of yourself (or have someone help you most likely) reading your current book (so we can see what it is) in your favorite reading spot. Then post it! It can be a Wordless Weekly Geek if you want!
Darren and Meaghan gave us just a glimpse of themselves behind the book they were currently reading.

Corey showed us a little more of herself - and even less of her book - but I loved the starkness of this shot.

Vasilly chose to share her favorite reading spot - it looks inviting, especially that mug of hot chocolate!

A shadowy photo of Melanie seemed to fit the darkness of the book she was reading which opened with Hamlet, having killed Polonius.

Suey's portrait gave us a lot to look out - a great shot of the book she was enjoying, a nice glimpse of the comfy room she in which she was reading, and of course, her contented face!

I loved Naida's self portrait which gave us a glimpse of her great library, but also included her adorable reading partner Diego (who sported a nice sweater for the photo!)

Nicki showed us a birds eye view of her book - and also included her reading buddy and a pair of colorful socks! I must admit, her photo made me want to grab my nearest quilt and a cup of tea and cuddle up to read.

Florinda looked very studious in her photo - and that book she's reading looks like it could fit the Chunkster challenge guidelines without a problem!

It looks a little chilly where Gautami is reading - but she has her mom nearby to keep her company!!

And last, but certainly not least, Care is enjoying Tim O'Brien and gives us a glimpse of her forehead behind the book!

This was a fun Weekly Geeks - if you haven't dropped by and looked at these creative self-portraits, what are you waiting for!?!??

I have a treat for you today!! Here I have a sneak peek of a book that is going to be a part of Fairy Tale Fortnight! What is Fairy Tale Fortnight you ask?! Well — It's awesome.:) I'll have my post about that up soon (check out The Book Rat for a post RIGHT NOW)

Anyway — There is this book coming out soon that is pretty much amazing sounding — Ever wonder about that generic "Prince Charming" in all the fairy tales? Well, Christopher Healy has taken those generic and uninteresting princes and decided to tell their story in, The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom (coming May 2012). And like all great fairy tales, it has a witch. Take a look at this creepy and sinister looking castle. Seriously. Love.

Seeing a castle like that makes one wonder about the witch who lives inside, no? Well, allow me to introduce you to, Zaubera.
_________________________

The only thing left was to figure out the best way to inform the world about it all. Whatever method she chose, it had to really grab people’s attention. It had to be spectacular. Zaubera sat down at her desk in the center of the large round observatory. The dark stone pillars that ringed the room and the bloodred roof above had a way of making her feel extra evil. The witch moved her cage of tarantulas and human skull candleholder out of the way and unrolled a yellowing parchment. She dipped her vulture-feather quill into an inkwell and began to brainstorm.

Notes tied to rabid bats?

Release wild boars with message shaved into fur too time consuming

Learn telepathy

Carve into side of mountain maybe

Teach birds to say “Cinderella must die!”
______________________________

Artwork copyright © 2012 by Todd Harris

Brilliant! Be on the look out for more about this novel and Christopher soon!

*Coming to a Fairy Tale Fortnight near you*

“The Meidum Geese,” which has been compared to Leonardo DaVinci’s  “Giaconda,” commonly known as the Mona Lisa for its importance in Egyptian painting tradition, “seems to be painted over another painting, parts of which can still be seen,” Francesco Tiradritti, Professor of Egyptology at the Kore University of Enna told The Cairo Post Tuesday.

“After months of study, I came to the conclusion that there are few doubts on the falsification of the ‘Meidum Geese,'” Tiradritti said adding that its background was repainted in a blue hue of grey and that “the original had a more cream shade and it is still visible on some areas of the painting, especially on the right-top corner and at the two sides of the goose to the right.”

Tiradritti’s theory suggesting the painting is fake is based on several clues including that the species of two out of six birds portrayed on it were unlikely to have been present in Egypt.

His other clue is related to some of the portrayal’s colors which were not common in ancient Egyptian art.

Beige colors are unusual in Egyptian art, Tiraditti told livescience.com previously, adding “even the shades of more common colors, like orange and red, are not even comparable with the same colors used in other fragments of painting coming from the same tomb,” Tiradritti was quoted as saying by Livescience.

The similarity in size of the six geese is also another clue to support the theory, said Tiradritti adding that the size of animals and people in ancient Egyptian art have often varied according to their importance.

The portrayal was discovered in 1871 in a tomb nearby Meidum Pyramid, which was built by the founder of the 4th Dynasty Pharaoh Snefru (2610B.C.-2590B.C). The tomb, discovered by Italian scholar Luigi Vassalli, belonged to Snefru’s son, Nefermaat, said Tiradritti.

Tiradritti has suggested a more thorough non-invasive scan of the painting.

“It is highly likely that Vassalli has to be considered the real author of ‘the Geese,'” Tiradritti said citing that Vassalli never published a word about his discovery, “which is unusual given that he loved to talk about his discoveries in Egypt.”

The reason why Vassali may have forged the painting remains a mystery, said Tiradritti, adding that while he was examining the remains from the tomb where the painting was discovered, he noticed “a fragment of painting that Vassalli supposedly found.”

Author: Rany Mostafa | Source: The Cairo Post [April 01, 2015]

Today I also have Kristin Tracy vising the blog. She is the author of Sharks and Boys, which I reviewed a short time ago (click to read review). I gave her a list of 15 pairings and asked her,

This or That

Spring or Fall Fall: I like leaves. But I’m allergic to leaf mold. When I visit New England, this is a real problem.

Past or Future: I can smell a trick question a mile away. PRESENT.

Paperback or Hardcover: If I’m mobile, I want paperback. If I’m adding it to my library or having an author sign it, I want hardback.

Pen or Pencil Pen: I am a permanent kind of person.

Hot Dogs or Hamburgers: Neither. I like fruit salad. And falafel.

Marvel or DC Comics: I cannot choose.

Black or Brown: Brown boots. Black dress. But not together.

Tweety Bird or Woodstock: I like real-life falcons. They are my new favorite. I now consider cartoon birds inadequate.

Legos or Lincoln Logs: Legos.

Detailed planning or spontaneous decisions: BOTH. Because my detailed planning usually leads me right into bizarre conditions that require spontaneous decisions.

A one room library or Books in every room in the house: One central place. But smaller bookcases throughout house.

Ocean or Mountains: Both. It’s called Maine. Or Ireland. Or Big Sur.

Painting or Sculpture: I only buy paintings at this point. But this could all change. Because I really want to buy a totem pole.

Gum or Breath Mints: I chew gum. And sometimes I add a breath mint to it.

Snow White's Evil Queen or Sleeping Beauty's Malificent: Ooh. I don’t like evil, robed women. They terrify me.

Thank you so much Kristin! I loved your answers! Robed women are definitely terrifying!