Ramblings of a Menopausal Broad

Tag: Astronomy

Seven Things I Love (8-1-2022)

August 2, 2022 / / 0 Comments

Celebrate accordingly!

1. This Street Art in Louisiana – This stunning piece of art was created by Seth GlobePainter and is located in Baton Rouge.

[Found on the Intermission App]

2. This Service Offered by NASA – A few days ago the International Space Station (ISS) few over my hometown. Unfortunately I didn’t hear about it until after it had happened, as I read all my neighbors commenting about how cool it was on Next Door. Bummer!

The International Space Station is pictured from the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour during a fly around of the orbiting lab that took place following its undocking from the Harmony module’s space-facing port on Nov. 8, 2021.

That’s when I discovered that you can sign up to be notified whenever the ISS flies over your zip code. It’s called “Spot the Station” and it’s simple to do. Choose whether you want to be notified via email or text and enter your zip code (be sure to select the actual community you live in on the map) Once you sign up they will send you a confirmation code. Enter that and you’re good to go.

This is what one of the text notifications look like (I got my first one already!)

3. This Collaboration Between Kellogg’s and Penguin Random House – I’m not a big fan of sugary cereals (well, truthfully I am a big fan, but everyone knows they’re unhealthy, especially for us menopausal broads.) I am, however, an ENORMOUS fan of promoting summer reading and I love that Kellogg’s is healing kids (and adults) get free books just for eating cereal. I mean, the kids can read these books for the Summer Reading programs that they’ve signed up for at the LOCAL PUBLIC LIBRARIES.

The Kellogg’s Feeding Reading program is in its fourth year. It’s odd that I’ve never heard of it before now.

[Discovered in a Commercial on TV]

4. This “Ballet Gone Bad” – HILARIOUS!

5. This Bold Kindergarten Teacher – On November 9, 1938 Mrs. Helen (Hurlick) Beebe was called to testify in court as a witness to a burglary. Judge Arthur S. Guerin, noticing that Mrs. Beebe was wearing trousers, reprimanded her for wearing something that was so distracting. To everyone’s amazement, Judge Guerin rescheduled the proceeding so that Mrs. Beebe could return in what he deemed a more “acceptable outfit.” In other words, he wanted her to put on a dress.

Well, Helen wasn’t going to have any of this jerk’s misogynistic bullshit. And she showed up at the rescheduled hearing once again wearing slacks. The judge rescheduled the hearing again, this time warning Helen that if she showed up in slacks she would be held in Contempt of Court.

After the second postponed hearing, Helen was interviewed and quoted as saying”

“Listen, I’ve worn slacks since I was 15,” She said, “I don’t own a dress except a formal. If he wants me to appear in a formal gown that’s okay with me. I’ll come back in slacks and if he puts me in jail I hope it will help to free women forever of anti-slackism.”

Helen Hurlick Beebe

Anti-slackism – I LOVE IT!

Sure enough, when she showed up in slacks a third time, the judge threw her in jail for contempt. Her sentence was five days. And just to add salt to the wound, the judge made her wear a denim dress while she was incarcerated.

Helen was released early and her case went to the Appellate Court. They overturned Judge Guerlin’s ridiculous ruling, giving her carte blanche to wear whatever she wanted to the next hearing. She chose to wear a formal evening gown. Sassy.

By the way, Mrs. Beebe went on to be a pioneer in speech and speech pathology. Quite the illustrious career!

[Found on All That’s Interesting]

6. This Sunday Morning Story on Refrigerators – now I want one. And I want to remodel my kitchen…. Mostly though I love that this is a long-time Fitchburg, Wisconsin company that is still going strong AND manufacturing here.

7. This Upcoming Hallmark Movie – Hallmark has really been upping its game on diversity. They’ve aired several LGBTQ+ movies (not just ones with peripheral characters who are LGBTQ+ but actual movies ABOUT LBGTQ+ love stories); they have a line of Mahogany cards & ornaments targeted for African-American customers and now they’re adding a series of Mahogany movies; and just a few days ago I saw a trailer for this movie…

Romance in Style is all about BODY POSITIVITY! Yippee. You can see the trailer HERE.

Word of the Day

Quote of the Day

Song of the Day

Seven Things I Love (7-18-2022)

July 19, 2022 / / 0 Comments

1. This Cartoon – Fight Extremism and Save Democracy!

GIRL POWER!

2. These Mini-Histories – These beautiful little videos (I feel like they should be called filmlets) about specific cathedrals and castles in the UK include a brief history narrated by Evelyn Edwards.

You can see the entire series here.

@evelyn.edwards1

Game of Thrones- the brothers Seymour edition. The Tudor Era has so many characters and stories! #tudors #henryviii #janeseymour #castle #castletok #history #historytime #historytiktok #historybuff #elizabethi

♬ original sound – Castles, History, Ruins

[Found by my friend Jeta, thanks Jeta!]

3. These Photos of the Stars – You’ve probably already seen these photos someplace but I’m including them nevertheless. The first photos were released from the James Webb Space Telescope and they are freaking amazing!

To really see how incredible these photos are you can visit this interactive webpage that NBC created where they have side-by-side comparisons of photos taken by Hubble vs. Webb.

This is the most spectacular of the photos…

This landscape of “mountains” and “valleys” speckled with glittering stars is actually the edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region called NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula. Captured in infrared light by NASA’s new James Webb Space Telescope, this image reveals for the first time previously invisible areas of star birth.
Called the Cosmic Cliffs, Webb’s seemingly three-dimensional picture looks like craggy mountains on a moonlit evening. In reality, it is the edge of the giant, gaseous cavity within NGC 3324, and the tallest “peaks” in this image are about 7 light-years high. The cavernous area has been carved from the nebula by the intense ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds from extremely massive, hot, young stars located in the center of the bubble, above the area shown in this image.

And these are pretty damned impressive (especially when you look at the NBC interactive site.)

This side-by-side comparison shows observations of the Southern Ring Nebula in near-infrared light, at left, and mid-infrared light, at right, from NASA’s Webb Telescope. This scene was created by a white dwarf star – the remains of a star like our Sun after it shed its outer layers and stopped burning fuel though nuclear fusion. Those outer layers now form the ejected shells all along this view. In the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) image, the white dwarf appears to the lower left of the bright, central star, partially hidden by a diffraction spike. The same star appears – but brighter, larger, and redder – in the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) image. This white dwarf star is cloaked in thick layers of dust, which make it appear larger.

One last thing, as usual the twitter-verse has had some fun with something that went viral. Here’s an article from Hyperallergic that has compiled some of the best memes about the James Webb Space Telescope but here’s one just to lure you in…

[Found on NASA.gov]

4. This Drink Tip – I saw this video on the Milwaukee Journal Facebook Page about summer mocktail drink tips (I LOVE Kristopher!) One of his suggestions was to use frozen fruit to keep drinks cold. Genius! Who likes a watered down drink and as Kristopher mentions, you get a healthy snack to boot.

The only draw back is that there may be a limitation on which fruits you can use based on size.

Somehow I ended up finding these and I think they are an equally good solution if there are any fruits that you like that may not work as well frozen by themselves.

Here are the instructions on how to make them.

[Found on Feel Good Foodie.net]

5. This Dad Joke – Everything about this, Wil Wheaton, the facial expressions, the Golden Girls mug – I love him.

6. These Limited Edition Japanese KitKats – Let’s have a tea party!

7. This Book Wheel – Titled “Good as Gold” and created by artist Donald Lipski, this sculpture is located in the Kansas City Public Library.

Word of the Week

Quote of the Week

Song of the Week

Seven Things I Love (5-9-2022)

May 10, 2022 / / 0 Comments

1. This Outfit for the Met Gala 2022 – People have a lot of strong opinions about the Met Gala. Some say it’s an ostentatious event full of self-absorbed, pretentious individuals who have too much money. (After all, tickets are $35,000* a piece.)

Others say it’s a pretentious event full of ostentatious, self-absorbed individuals who have too much money. (Just kidding.)

They see it as an opportunity to showcase creativity in the areas of fashion and the performing arts.

Whatever side you fall on, you can’t deny, it’s a spectacle.

My interest is dependent upon the theme. This year I was excited about the theme – Gilded Glamour – because I love Victorian and Edwardian era clothing. I expected people to use fashion of the “Gilded Age” as inspiration for their gowns/ensembles. There were a number of incredible designers of that period (Charles Frederick Worth, Paul Poiret, Jeanne Paquin, Madeleine Chériut, and John Redfern to name a few) as well as a few modern designers who use fashion of the era for inspiration (Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, Christian Lacroix.)

For the most part I was disappointed.

But then I saw Emma Corrin, wearing this outfit by Miu Miu, and, well, at least the Met Gala gave us this. Corrin did her homework (or her designer did her homework) and IMHO she won the Met Gala.

Emma’s outfit is a modern take on one worn by Mr. Evander Berry, known as “The King of the Dudes,” in 1888. He was a Gilded Age fashion icon and once changed his clothes FORTY times between breakfast and lunch. (You can click on his photo below to read more.)

There were three other dresses that I think did the theme justice – Nicola Coughlan, Cardi B., and Billie Eilish.

*Did you know that the Met Gala is a benefit for the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art? The Costume Institute, which is self funded, will be receiving $17.4 million from the 2022 gala – a record amount.

[Seen at the Met Gala and found in Vogue]

2. This Barbie Doll – It’s sold out, but if you click on the photo below you’ll be sent to the Mattel page with all the close-up photos. The amount of detail is incredible. The original cost was $75. They’re already selling on eBay for $200-$500.

[Found by Jeannie and found on the Modern Met]

Also this Barbie Doll…

Part of a quartet of Star Wars Barbies. In addition to C-3PO Barbie I also love Stormtrooper Barbie but honestly, they’re all fabulous. They were released in 2020. At that time they cost $100 each. Amazingly you can actually still find them. C-3PO appears to be the one most available. It currently costs around $150. Stormtrooper Barbie is harder to find and is priced between $225 and $450. Chewbacca is running minimally for $500. And Rey is $200+.

3. This Guy, Perfectly Copying How Specific Actors Run – no words necessary.

[Found by my “little” bro, Chuck. Thanks Charlie!]

4. This Amazon Commercial – I abhor Jeff Bezos which means, by association, I hate all things Amazon. I stopped my Amazon Prime membership from renewing and I only order from Amazon when I absolutely have to. (I always try to buy from small, local businesses.)

Having said that, even greedy corporations can do good things once in a while. And I think that is the case with the all-female delivery services they have set up in South India. Giving women employment opportunities in Kerala, Chennai, Kadi, and Gujarat is a big deal.

One thing I’ve learned in my years of supporting charities that help women: when you help women there is a much higher chance for success (i.e personal growth & advancement, health & education of their children, safety & security, etc.)

(If the video isn’t showing above click on the image below to go to YouTube.)

5. This Shel Silverstein Stamp – I don’t think that there are many people in the U.S. under the age of 60 who aren’t, at the very least, familiar with Mr. Silverstein’s book The Giving Tree, or who haven’t chuckled while reading/hearing one of his poems from Where the Sidewalk Ends.

I, along with so many other GenXers, have been a huge fan, so when I saw these stamps I knew that I had to get some. And I did, three sheets.

Being a children’s librarian for twelve years (before becoming a library director for another dozen years) I’ve read more Silverstein than the average person.

One poem that I (and pretty much every other librarian in the world) really love is his poem “Overdues” from ‘A Light in the Attic.’ Course as most libraries are now eliminating fines, some day it will be completely “dated.” Still, probably not in my lifetime, so I’m not going to worry about it!

But it seems that more people are now seeing the message of ‘The Giving Tree’ as being negative. I sort of get that. As a kid ‘The Giving Tree’ wasn’t one of my favorite books. I didn’t like that the kid used up every little bit of the tree. I thought the kid should have let the tree thrive and grow. (My favorite book was actually Mrs. Twiggley’s Tree.)

Still, the majority of Silverstein’s iconic books were only in black and white. I’m sure they wanted a picture that everyone would recognize but that also had color.

[Found on USPS]

6. This Perfectly Aligned Telescope – If you click on the picture below you can get all the scientific details but ultimately you can see, the photo on the left is the normal shot they’ve gotten in the past, and the photo on the right is with the new perfectly aligned telescope. MAGNIFICENT!

[Found on Gizmodo]

7. This Frank Lloyd Wright “Preserve” – When FLW designed homes he took every little detail into consideration. This is why most of the homes he designed included FLW furniture made especially for the house. He also was very aware of environment, making sure that whatever he constructed blended well and since he often used nature for inspiration his homes were located in green, woodsy spaces.

A couple who were trying to sell their FLW house couldn’t find a buyer. Urban creep was threatening to overtaken one of FLW’s creations. So a very remarkable solution was found.

This story made me weepy (happy weepy.)

[Seen on Sunday Morning – obviously.]

Word of the Week

Quote of the Week

Song of the Week

What to Watch This Week

Seven Things I Love (3-29-2021)

March 30, 2021 / / 0 Comments
  1. 1. This Incredible Photo of Astronaut Bruce McCandless II – Honestly, when I first saw this I thought it must be photoshopped by the person who posted it sent me to this link on the NASA website.

The photo was taken on February 12, 1984. Are you surprised, I was! I actually thought it would have been more recent. According to the website, it was the first ever untethered space walk. “Astronaut Bruce McCandless, ventured further away from the confines and safety of his ship than any previous astronaut had ever been. This space first was made possible by a nitrogen jet propelled backpack, previously known at NASA as the Manned Manuevering Unit or MMU.”

The photo below, which I discovered on social media, is a little more photographic/dramatic than the one found on NASA. I’m not sure if that is because there was more than one camera taking photos and this took them at a higher resolution or if someone has tweaked the “original” version, either way, the photo is amazing.

Here’s a few more photos…

2. This Door that Converts into a Ping Pong Table – Genius, no? There’s only one eensy weensy problem. It costs nearly $15,000!!!

3. This AWESOME Tweet that Includes a Video of the Celebration that Ensued After the Ship Stuck in the Suez Canal Finally Started Moving – EPIC! It brings tears to my eyes.

4. THIS Seven-year-old Boy Who Dressed Up as Amanda Gorman for “Dress as Your Idol Day” – well done!

Poet AMANDA GORMAN at the Inauguration of President Joseph Biden on January 20, 2021

5. This SNL Video from this Past Weekend – People who actually think of themselves as the “greatest generation” are NOT the greatest generation. Just sayin’.

Man, Boomers suck! Please God, don’t let us turn into them! Too late, it’s already happening…

6. This Gorgeous Apartment in Covent Garden that you Can RENT – it’s about $900 per night but if you shared it with two other people it would be completely worth it!

7. This WONDERFUL Art Teacher – EDUCATORS ROCK!

Word of the Day

Quote of the Day

Five Things I Love (7-13-2020)

July 13, 2020 / / 0 Comments

1. Hamilton Mask-Up! by the Holderness Family – Do you have Disney+? Did you get it just so you could watch the new Hamilton movie? I actually already had Disney+ (got it for The Mandalorian) so I watched Hamilton on the day it premiered, July 3rd*. SO GOOD! I was lucky enough to see Hamilton on stage. Went last year with a good friend. The theater experience itself was exciting and completely worth it but being able to see the original cast and notice the expressions on their faces and hear the words so clearly, it was equally exciting.

2. Mask Lanyards (or chain or cords or keepers or whatever you want to call them.) I saw one of these advertised in an article about mask accessories. Most everything in the article was crazy expensive but I thought the mask “chain” was cute and it was only $4.99. But I wasn’t sure about the clips so I browsed around until I found exactly what I wanted. There are a ZILLION options. I have already used this several times and I only got it last week. I think it will really come in handy going out to dinner (which I’m not doing yet.)

3. This video, Le Mythe Dior – the House of Dior dresses “creatures” from mythology. It’s mesmerizing.

4. This photo taken by the Hubble Telescope (you can see more photos at this article)

5. This new children’s book, ‘First Day Critter Jitters,’ illustrated by one of my favorite artists Liz Climo and written by Jory John – it really makes me wish I was still a children’s librarian so I could read this for storytime (when there wasn’t a global pandemic of course.)

[Bonus] The York Museum Trust’s twitter thread comparing Judi Dench to items in their collection (not quite as good as the thread comparing Angela Lansbury to teapots but pretty dang close)…

[Another Bonus] Gary Larson is BACK!!! Who isn’t a huge fan of Gary Larson’s cartoons? After a 25 year hiatus, Mr. Larson has gifted the world with three brand new cartoons and there is the possibility of more because he says that working in a new digital format has reinvigorated him, sparking his creativity. WHOO HOO! To see the new cartoons you’ll need to visit his website.

I’d like to thank my friend Ann for contributing the
Dior and York Museum Trust items this week!

*I’m sure that Disney+ chose July 3rd to premiere ‘Hamilton’ simply because it was the Friday before Independence Day but there is something also very apt about the movie premiering on that date (or rather not on July 4th.) July 3rd is the day between the day we now celebrate as our Independence Day and the day that independence was formally declared and that John Adams said would call “the most memorable epocha in the history of America.” It appears that we all celebrate our nation’s birthday on a date that was written on the back of the Declaration of Independence by an unknown person.

Despite conspiracy theories and movies, there isn’t a secret map or code on the back of the Declaration of Independence. There are words, however. An unknown person wrote “Original Declaration of Independence dated 4th July 1776” on the back. It’s believed that was added as a label when the document was rolled up for storage.

Thomas Jefferson is often called the “author” of the Declaration of Independence, but he wasn’t the only person who contributed important ideas. Jefferson was a member of a five-person committee appointed by the Continental Congress to write the Declaration. The committee included Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman.

The Declaration of Independence wasn’t signed on July 4, 1776. In fact, independence was formally declared on July 2, 1776, a date that John Adams believed would be “the most memorable epocha in the history of America.” On July 4, 1776, Congress approved the final text of the Declaration. It wasn’t signed until August 2, 1776.

From the article Why do we celebrate the 4th of July? Independence Day facts, history by Leada Gore

Five Things I Love (6-22-2020)

June 23, 2020 / / 0 Comments

1. This Doritos commercial with Lil Nas X and Sam Elliott – Sam Elliott is 75 years old and still sexy as hell. (And yes, I know that isn’t actually him dancing, but I don’t care. I’m going to believe it is.) Yowzah – I like dancing cowboys!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OpuHa2vwdk

2. Sam Barsky – oh to have even an ounce of this guy’s talent, and his patience! So Sam has a fantastic back story which you can read about in the article here, but long story short, this guy knits sweaters of places he’s going to go visit and then has photos taken of himself wearing the sweater in front of the place… well, you get the idea. It’s just so very meta. I love things that are meta (and not just because I have a friend named Meta.) Sam has a Facebook page too.

Also, this particular item is especially for my friend Kathy. Cuz I know you’ll love it.

3. This video on how to incorporate art into your home. The video is of my friend (and interior designer) Emily Winters of Peabody’s Interiors.

4. SistaStrings singing ‘Lift Every Voice‘ – this recording was made at Silver City Studios in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Just glorious. It makes my heart ache, but in a good way.

5. Last, but definitely NOT least, this AMAZING video of People Looking at the Moon. It sounds simple enough. This guy, Alex Gorosh, brought his high-powered telescope outside one night because he was bored and it resulted in a video that will bring tears to your eyes. The reactions are all the same – truly genuine and pure. It makes it even more obvious that people in our country, in the world, have many more similarities than differences.

I’ve been collecting quotes for ages so it occurred to me that I should start ending my ‘5 Things’ with one of these little nuggets of wisdom (or humor). Here’s the first one.

Five Things I Love (5-11-2020)

May 11, 2020 / / 0 Comments
  1. Kimmy Schmidt is coming back, couldn’t happen at a better time!!!

2. Angela Lansbury – a friend of mine told me about this marvelous twitter thread – Angela Lansbury as Teapots. Ms. @Pandamoanimum (I’m assuming this is a woman, which is completely sexist I know, but I feel fairly confident that I am correct) is super clever & creative. She’s taken a series of fabulous photographs of Angela Lansbury, some from her later Murder, She Wrote days, some from her early film career, and paired them up with perfectly matching teapots. The result is, well, see for yourself.

After looking through all the wonderfully imaginative match-ups I felt challenged and decided I had to give it a whirl myself. Here is my first attempt, what do you think? (The photo of Angela is from the film, Samson & Delilah – was she a babe or what?)

While searching for photos of Ms. Lansbury to use to pair with teapots I ran across this fabulous article – Living My Life Like Angela Lansbury. The author of the article, a HUGE fan of Murder, She Wrote, decided to spend a solid day following the advice found in Angela’s book (photo below.) I was astonished to see that what Lansbury recommended in a book nearly thirty years old is exactly what health experts are telling people to do today. It’s no wonder she’s lived so long! SO, I found a used copy and ordered one for myself.

3. Elephant Feet – truth be told I am generally grossed out by anything anatomical but sometimes the wow factor overcomes my squeamishness.

Elephants foot compared to humans foot from woahdude

4. Corgi-butt buns – this Japanese bakery, the Utiwapayna bakery, creates all sorts of delightfully designed treats but these custard or apple jelly filled buns are by far my favorites. How cute are these???? If you have been to Mitsuwa Marketplace in Arlington Heights, they have a Japanese bakery, the Pastry House Hippo, that makes some adorable delicacies.

5. Composite Photos of the Moon by astrophysicist Andrew McCarthy (not to be confused with the actor.) These images are AMAZING. McCarthy has given the world the most extraordinary and clearest photos of the moon ever seen.

And remember, wear masks, stay home, and practice physical distancing. Here’s a wonderful drawing from another favorite artist of mine, Linzie Hunter.

© 2023 Ramblings of a Menopausal Broad

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑