RIP lady slipper

This experience began in the middle of November. Check the Nov and Dec archives if you didn't see its emergence and growth. In the night, the lady slipper bloom finally wilted and fell off. Here it is. Last bloom lasted only one week. This one lasted so long I stopped counting the weeks. 

Hugo Minor found my match

OMG! Look at this book Hugo found on Amazon.

collecting dead birds

I woke up at 4 am today, hungry. While I sat in the dark eating a bowl of cereal, I thought about collecting the dead birds I see. I've seen two in the last two months, and I imagine that if I look for them, they're really everywhere.

I envisioned carrying around: latex gloves (I'm not allergic), baggies of various sizes, a metal scooping device, and a Tupperware container of about 5" x 5" x 3".

I'd like to bring them home, organize their feathers and limbs, and take portraits of them against a solid background. I'd like to have a dead bird series even if I don't know how to taxidermy.

death maps

There are some utterly fascinating maps on National Geographic's website depicting the various mortality causes around the world and their disproportionality to population numbers. The information is really fascinating, but even more I was enthralled by the graphics. Whoever did these is a very effective visual communicator.

Here's just one example. The top shows deaths related to war combat and landmines and the bottom compares it to world population: