Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

"A year ago I boarded a train in Istanbul to investigate one scientist's claim of rediscovering Silphion, a legendary herb thought to have gone extinct 2,000 years ago.

"It still grows in the heart of Turkey-and it's delicious."

-- Taras Grescoe (lostsupper), 2022-09-23, on Twitter

"Unlike classical medical texts, which tend to be vague on details, the cookbooks that survive from antiquity are often explicit about quantities and techniques. [...]

"For Sally Grainger, a researcher who co-edited the authoritative English translation of Apicius, 'finding the original silphion, and experiencing ancient recipes afresh with it, is a kind of Holy Grail.'

[...]

"'It's intense and delightful,' said Grainger. 'When you smell it, your saliva flows.'

[...]

"'There are only 600 individual plants we know of in the whole world,' [Mahmut Miski] pointed out. Three hundred of them grow in the wild. An equal number are now being grown from seed in the botanical gardens, though it will take several years before any of them are mature enough to produce fruiting bodies. 'You'd have to grow a thousand times as many plants to produce a commercial supply.'"

-- Taras Grescoe (lostsupper), "This miracle plant was eaten into extinction 2,000 years ago—or was it?", National Geographic, 2022-09-23

"Not to boast, but I do believe that I was the first person from west of the Bosphorus Straits to have tasted Silphion in 2,000 or so years when I chewed on the (pleasantly bitter) resin from the root-ball in Oct. 2021.

"OK, kind of boasting..."

-- Taras Grescoe (lostsupper), 2022-09-23, on Twitter

"What surprises you? What startles you, by its beauty or innocence or awe inspiring presence, so that you suddenly find yourself stopped short? Think for a moment about what surprises you. I hope you didn't say 'nothing,' because - sorry, I don't believe you. I don't know if you believe you, either. We are all capable of surprise, even if we sometimes forget how. We may even think it is frivolous; but it is not. Surprise is a first step to gratitude. And gratitude leads to joy. Surprise does not necessarily mean 'unexpected.' We can be utterly surprised by things that are totally predictable: a sunset, a crocus pushing up through the snow, the visual symphony in the turning of the leaves. Surprise can come in a moment of kindness, or the smile of a child. Surprise makes you stop and realize that you didn't deserve this moment - it was not earned or due to you. In fact, it has nothing to do with you. This surprise was a gift. And a gift, a true gift, makes us grateful. And gratitude, that feeling of appreciation for the undeserved gift, gratitude can save the world.

[...]

"And this is where I think gratitude is so important. To be grateful you must be humble. To be grateful, you must step out of yourself and your grievances and your annoyance. Even, for a moment, to step away from your outrage. We are grateful when we recognize that we have been given a gift - one we did not expect or deserve. When we are humble we can say with simple sincerity: Mode Ani L'fanecha - for the surprise of an unearned gift, I am grateful to you, Oh G-d."

-- Rabbi Michael Z. Cahana, "Gratitude", 2018-09-10

[Hoping all my Jewish friends who celebrate are having a good Rosh Hashnah! And to my fellow Christians who are tempted to appropriation -- since I've been reminmded there seem to be more than usual this year -- a reminder: we have our own New Year, with its own religious significance, plus it happens about halfway through Christmas, shich most of us celebrate already. You can even celebrate it twice if you want to use both the Julian and Gregorian calendars to do so. We can share our Jewish friends' joy as they celebrate, without trying to copy their holidays for ourselves. Rosh Hashanah is cool, but it is not ours.]

Today is
Gregorian: 2022 September 26
Julian: 2022 September 13
Hebrew: 5783 Tishri 01 -- Rosh Hashana (new year) 5783!
Islamic: 1444 Safar 29
Roman: 2775 6th day before the October kalends
Persian: 1401 Mehr 04
Mayan: 0.0.0.13.0.9.16.6
Indian (civil): 1944 Asvina 04
Coptic: 1739 Thout 15
Discordian: 3188 Bureaucracy 50

"Today, as we celebrate the creation of the world, we are called also to work to protect it, so that our children will know that we did the work to leave it for them, so that we uphold our status as a ledor vador people! At the end of our Shofar service, we proclaim: 'Hayom Harat Olam,' today is the day of the world's creation, jubilantly and with literal fanfare from our Shofarot! As we celebrate and express our gratitude to God for creation, we ought to be cognizant that we are also acting less than gratefully to God by neglecting the commands that we have to be stewards of this earth, caretakers for the next generation.

[...]

"In the second chapter of the book of Genesis, after God creates Adam, God creates Eden and places Adam therein, but with purpose. 'The Eternal God took Adam and placed him in the garden of Eden, to till it and protect it.' The Hebrew for protect in that verse is from the root shamor, the same word God uses when teaching us about keeping Shabbat. We protect things that are important and Holy, worthy of our protection, worthy of our partnering with God in the endeavor. God intended that humanity always be stewards of the earth, to help it provide for humanity. Even before God creates Eve, God reminds Adam that his responsibility, and therefore humanity's, generation after generation, dor lador, is to watch over the earth."

-- Rabbi Daniel Bar-Nahum, 2019-09-30 (Rosh HaShanah, 5780)

[Shanah tovah to everyone celebrating Rosh Hashanah tonight and tomorrow! May the new year, 5783, be one of sweetness.]

"We're constantly being asked all sorts of very profound questions. But we're not very profound people. People say, 'What do you think of the H-bomb, of religion, of fan worship?' But we didn't really start thinking about these things until people asked us. And even then we didn't get much time to consider them. What do I think of the H-bomb? Well, here's an answer with the full weight of five O levels and one A level behind it: I don't agree with it. " -- Sir Paul McCartney (b. 1942-06-18)

Jay Hulme (JayHulmePoet), 2022-09-22:

Me, at the end of a talk about queer sacred spaces: "if you want to stay for tea you are more than welcome. Because this church is queer we have lots of herbal options."

A bisexual, from the pews: "but you don't have oat milk! What bi erasure! On this! Bisexual awareness week!'

[Happy Bi Visibility Day!]

"Dreamers with empty hands
 May sigh for exotic lands
 It's autumn in New York
 It's good to live it again"
  -- from "Autumn in New York" (1934) by Vernon Duke (b. 1903-09-27, d. 1969-01-16) -- performed or recorded by J. Harold Murray (1934), Frank Sinatra (1949), and many others.

[For folks who care, astronomical autumn begins at 21:03 EDT tonight, which is to say 1:04 tomorrow in UTC, or 2:04 BST.]

[On this date: Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation (1862), President Garfield died (1881).]

"Random mental health fact: the reason singing is good for our mental health (besides being enjoyable) is that when we sing, our exhale is significantly longer than our inhale. This sends a signal to our nervous system that we're not in danger.

"When we're stressed or under threat, our breathing changes. We take shorter exhales & inhale more vigorously. This is to help us mobilize to fight or flee the threat. When we're safe & relaxed, our exhale lengthens. Singing also creates this effect.

"This is especially helpful knowledge for parents of young children. As you've undoubtedly noticed, it's hard to calm an upset child when we're also upset. Singing can help keep us calm as we soothe them. Even if we're not 'good' at singing, it still helps everyone involved."

-- Iris McAlpin (irismcalpin), 2022-09-06

[I have not tracked down research or other people saying this. But it sounds plausible. Especially since I can think of a similar but opposite effect (medication that ramps up the same physiological effects as fear does, producing feelings of fear and anxiety without other triggers present).]

"It is so weird to be so frequently put in a position by friends, organizations, even strangers, to explain why I don't want to get sick. Yes, I'm willing to take some very small, simple, easy precautions to avoid getting sick. On account of not wanting to get sick." -- Katie Mack (AstroKatie), 2022-09-18

"The 'it's over' peer pressure is 'if they all jumped off a cliff' in real life." -- Cap'n Peanut B. Crunch is The Magic Pudding (Peanut_Crunch), 2022-09-18

This is Banned Books Week. Here are selections from replies to, and quote tweets of, Katelyn Burns' observation (2022-02-05) re: what media were and weren't mentioning about the conspicuous push to take books out of schools at the start of this year (that, yes, did include a lot of history mislabeled as CRT, but was much more):

Katelyn Burns (transscribe):

Noticing a lot of "banned book list" graphics going around that don't name many of the trans-related books that helped initiate this moral panic and yeah, I see what that is.

Frances_Larina (Frances_Larina):

If a banned books table (or photo of the same) has J.K.R. but doesn't have at least one of these, it's very likely not by accident:

Five, Six, Seven, Nate! - Tim Federle
Gender Queer - Maia Kobabe
The Breakaways - Cathy G. Johnson
Beyond Magenta - Susan Kuklin
Melissa - Alex Gino (also sold as George)
I Am Jazz - Jazz Jennings
Call Me Max - Kyle Lukoff

The Queen of Fuck Mountain (LesbianLaMaupin):

Just like people always talk about the nazis burning books, but never mention what those books were, or why they were being burned

Eileen Andrews (ThatEileenEnby):

Seriously. Books like NIGHT, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD and 1984 will always survive a local school district ban. The literature they're really targeting will be successfully eliminated in their shadow.

AvilionAMillion (AvilionAMillion):

Reminder that the most banned book today in the US is about a transgender child coming out through a school play

From jon drake (DrakeGatsby), 2022-09-15:

Me: What about that time I saw 11 sets of footprints in the sand
Jesus: Look it's a public beach

"good night, umami prince
 (goodnight, salty prince)
 (goodnight, sour prince)
 (good night, bitter prince)"
  -- bred menace (charles_they), 2018-07-01

"I've talked around this idea before but I'm realizing that if your politic centers around care work in any fashion, you have to starting integrating mass #LongCovid disability into your thinking and work.

"Entire family and community networks are becoming debilitated/ disabled.

[...]

"So when I hear from providers, 'can your partner help you with that?', they're clearly not seeing the full picture.

[...]

"So if my household is all (becoming) disabled or at least slowed down by multiple Covid infections... who is supposed to care for me? for us? for my parents or my spouse's parents as they age (and also are disabled by #LongCovid)?

"How do we reconceptualize care work when the majority of those both needing and providing care are becoming disabled?

[...]

"In my own life, my spouse is chronically ill and become more debilitated. My parents are aging and also didn't bounce back from Covid well. My spouse's parents, too. My friends and comrades are disabled and/or already do TONS of care provision.

"Who is left to ask for help?

"The arriving future requires us to

"1) reconceptualize care and care work

"2) reorganize how care is provided and compensated

"3) expand our ideas about whom we provide care for or are responsible to

"4) slow the fuck down to the speed of sustainability (disability justice).

[...]

"I just... people still don't grasp what's happening and the scale it's happening at."

-- Rachel Bean, dauer formation (colocha_rachel), 2022-08-29

From "Exclusive: Rachel Maddow Gives Her First Interview as She Steps Back From the Nightly Grind and Revs Up for Her Next Act" by Joe Pompeo, Vanity Fair, 2022-08-07:

In this new multiplatform realm, the measure of success for someone like Maddow is not as cut and dried as in the traditional cable universe, where you know how successful you are based on how many people watch your show every night, which is in turn a measure of how many brands want to advertise during your commercial breaks. For years, millions of people tuned in to The Rachel Maddow Show as nightly appointment viewing. Will her future projects inspire the same loyalty? What will success look like for, say, a long-form Rachel Maddow podcast, or limited series, or film adaptation? Is it the number of streams? Critical acclaim? Box office numbers? "This is gonna be a disappointing answer," she says. "But for me, success is doing work that I'm proud of. It's about feeling like I am free to do what I want, and to say what I want, and to talk about things that I think are important, and to contribute something that wouldn't necessarily have been contributed had I not been the one working on it."

"[...] not only are our lives at risk, but we weren't doing all that great to begin with. But instead of having the platforms and space to advance our own needs, people seeking our destruction get to define what issues are addressed.

"I'll defend trans athletes all day, but it was hardly at the top of anyone's list of priorities for what trans people need. If trans people were at the center of the public conversation about us, you'd hear a lot more about housing, health care, safe schools and communities."

-- Gillian Branstetter (GBBranstetter), 2022-09-10

"I'm on an advisory board here in Mpls that did a suggestion box at Pride this year of issues the trans community needs addressed). Sports was listed on one. Everything else was housing and discrimination protections." -- Mx. D. E. Anderson (diannaeanderson), in reply

"Do you ever wonder if maybe there's a ghost going out of its goddamned mind because you're just too accepting of your own stupidity to haunt? Like it's moving things around while you're not looking but you lack the awareness of your own surroundings to notice?

"Me: 'This thing that's very important to me isn't in the place I was very, very careful to put it! That... sounds just like me, yep.'

"The ghost haunting me: 'ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH WORK I PUT IN TO"

-- BEREFT IN DEATHLY GLOOM (popeguilty), 2022-09-12 [yes, that's where it cuts off]

"[...] one thing that's always irritated me is someone lionizing 'the center.' The 'center' continually drifts rightward. That's why 'the center' is displeased that progressives are trying to pull 'the center' somewhat back leftward. Given several years of effort (ok, it might take well over 10 years or longer) we might get to where we can see where 'the center' should actually be." -- DKos user bfbayha, 2022-07-24

"My favorite thing to say to religious folks who comment on my 'lifestyle' is that I've 'witnessed miracles' that 'assure me I'm on the right path.'

"They never know how to argue with miracles."

-- Sam Dylan Finch (samdylanfinch), 2022-08-20

Today is
Gregorian: 2022 September 11
Julian: 2022 August 29
Roman: 2275 third day before Ides of September
Hebrew: 5782 Elul 15
Islamic: 1444 Safar 14
Persian: 1401 Shahrivar 20
Mayan: 0.0.0.13.0.9.15.11
Indian (Civil): 1944 Bhadra 20
Coptic: 1739 Thout 01 -- New Year 1739
Ethiopian: 2015 Meskerem 01 -- New Year 2015
Discordian: 3188 Bureaucracy 35

From Freefall by Mark Stanley, 2022-08-31:

Sam: Did you find anything interesting?

Helix: I found a tribe of lost robots.

Sam: That's frightening, though I suppose frightening is a subset of interesting.

"You know ... no matter what you do, people are going to expect you to be someone you're not. But if you're clever and lucky and work your butt off, then you get to be surrounded by people who expect you to be the person you wish you were." -- Laurence, in All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders (2016, Tor Books)

"'oh so everything is ableist now? [eyeroll emoji]'

"i mean, a lot of stuff is, yeah

"and it's not that stuff is just NOW ableist, it's that disabled & neurodivergent folks have been hidden away in homes and institutions or on the streets for decades

"bc of social media, the conversations we were already having with each other in private are now on public display"

-- Reluctant MSW (she/her) (mjmarrom), 2022-09-03