Sorry, Fritz!

Living stone

Japanese artist Akie Nakata brings found stones to remarkable life with a little paint and a lot of imagination. She chooses stones that speak to her with the voice of a particular character.

“I feel the breath of a life inside each stone,” she says, and sometimes speaks to a stone as she holds it in her hand.

The animals she brings to life look like they could talk back!

To see more of Akie’s amazing art, check our her Instagram.

And listen to her story on boredpanda.

Celebrate and remember

Small wonder

Paedophryne amauensis, a species of frog from Papua New Guinea, is the smallest known animal with a backbone. With an average body length of 7.7 mm, it lives in the leaf debris on the tropical forest floor. It’s nocturnal, so you won’t see it in the daytime. You probably won’t spot it at nighttime, either!

Happy New Year!

It’s brand new…

It’s never been seen before…

2019 is here!

No need to save the wrapping. Just open it up and have the best year ever!

Holiday blessings

Share the love.

Spread the wealth.

Keep on truckin’.

Christmas Gorey

American author and illustrator Edward Gorey’s pen-and-ink stylings perfectly capture the odd angles of all his subjects, including the Yuletide. I raise a glass of foamy nog to him!

Celebrate more of E. G.’s inimitable art here.

A holiday letter

This is my second cousin once removed, composer Cornelius Power.

Composer Cornelius Power (April 1, 1821 – July 4, 1915)

Cornelius loved writing letters, and every year at holiday time, the Power family turns to one of them in particular, which has been handed down through the generations. It is dated December 17, 1856, and I’d like to share it with you.

Greetings, Holiday People!

You’ll never guess what I’m doing right now. I am actually dashing through the snow in a one-horse open sleigh. Contrary to expectations, I am not laughing all the way. It is far too cold here in this winter wonderland for that. As it is, I am bundled up from head to toe in warm clothing, but I think I’ll burrow down deep into the cozy quilts and blankets that my sleigh driver has so thoughtfully provided.

Sleigh driver? Ha! It is my BFF, James Lord Pierpont, the famous organist and composer and my comradely rival in all musical endeavors. James has got a thing about one-horse open sleighs. The only thing he cares more about than composing catchy songs is dashing through the snow. He is working on a new song about it now, but I can’t see it going anywhere. He calls it “Jingle Bells,” and it’s fairly simpleminded, not at all up to the high standard he set with “Ring the Bell, Fanny.”

How I long for a cup of hot cocoa! We brought a whole lake of it in a thermos, but it spilled all over the floor of the sleigh thanks to James’s erratic driving. He’s up there now on the absolute edge of his seat, cracking the whip and singing at the top of his lungs. I’m burrowing further into the blankets and quilts. It’s a well-known fact in these parts that survivors of sleigh crashes are nearly always found closest to the floor of the vehicle.

I can only imagine how wondrous one-horse sleighs will be one hundred and fifty or so years from now, but I daresay holiday wishes will have remained exactly the same. By then, no doubt poor James’s simpleminded ditty “Jingle Bells” will have been long relegated to the dustbin and some other songwriter will have come along to better describe how fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh. I am far too humble to be referring to myself, of course, although some say my sleigh song “Horsey Snow Ride” is the catchiest number they’ve ever heard.

Darn it, James! That turn was much too sharp. Ohhhhhhhh!!!!

(At this point the letter ends in a series of jagged marks.)

Of course, as history shows, Cousin Cornelius was wrong about “Jingle Bells.” James Lord Pierpont’s sleigh-ride song went on to become one of the best known and most commonly sung winter songs in the world, whereas, sadly, Cornelius’s own sleigh song “Horsey Snow Ride” has been completely ignored. But he was right about holiday wishes. They’ve remained exactly the same.

Give thanks for blessings.

Say a prayer for peace.

Give a donation where it’s needed.

Resolve to be a little more patient, a little more forgiving, and a lot more helpful.

Amen to that!

Snowperson goals

Helpful advice

Timeless words of wisdom from Roald Dahl, illustrated by Quentin Blake.