Motley Stories

The context of how we view events in our lives may be viewed differently in the past, or in the future. Why was this painting was so scandalous at the time? How does context alter how people view your photos, or vintage photos from the past? shorturl.at/hrORZ

'climate scientists shouldn’t have to exile themselves from academia to publish the most useful versions of their research. We need a culture change across academia and elite media' thetimes.co.uk/article/groupt…

This week I have written about the danger of all our writing disappearing down a digital dark hole motleystories.substack.com/p/writing-lett…. And about some of the fun ways to write a #journal outside the digital world. Do you keep a journal?

@FlyinscotJim @dr_forte @Tesco @Shitlawns We have a wee lawn 'area' and sowed wild flower seeds, whose flowers have attracted a great number of bees and butterflies. The window boxes nearby with bedding plants have not had one bee or butterfly! It is like all their naturalness has been removed.

How many photos do you need to take to remember an event? It turns out to be none! To read more in my article this week, click on this link motleystories.substack.com/p/photo-memory #photo #motleystories #photomemory #memory #Henkel

What is one story that you would like friends & family to tell about you? My grandfather (in the photo) told about the time he survived a direct hit on the police station he was in, during World War II. Click here for more shorturl.at/aos06 #stories #ancestry

Do you ever wish you had photos of a special time in your life, but for whatever reason, there are none? Read my article to find ways of replacing the missing photos motleystories.substack.com/p/missing-phot… #photos #missingphotos #earrings #nicefrance

2024 will be 70 years since Terry’s discontinued its ‘chocolate apple’ - the counterpart to its ‘chocolate orange’. I’m so curious to find out how it tasted. Come on @Carambar_France, limited edition anniversary run!? 1/-

@TonyRoddUK When we were little a friend visited about once a year. Every time she came she bought a huge (to us) bag filled with sweets. One for each kid. The kids will remember you forever. If in doubt check with the parents first but keep it a secret from the kids.

Seeing friends in a week who have a 1 and 4 year old. Taking wine for the folks...what should I bring for the kids? Any suggestions welcome, I'm terrible at stuff like this.

You don’t have to be a writer to tell your stories. Just tell the story as you know it, for friends, family and #futuregenerations. Read the story about our family's 'Lady Chatterley' here: shorturl.at/fgMQ9 #tellingstories #tellingstoriesinphotos #ladychatterleyslover

You know how archives have that really distinctive smell. That's the smell of the paper dying.

Use the 321 method to save your photos and files securely. I write more about it here motleystories.substack.com/p/saving-photo…

In 1960, David Latimer planted a spiderwort sprout inside of a large glass bottle, added a quarter pint of water, and then sealed it shut. He opened the bottle 12 years later in 1972 to add some water and then sealed it for good. The self-contained ecosystem has flourished for more than 60 years. The garden is a perfectly balanced and self-sufficient ecosystem. The bacteria in the compost eat the dead plants and break down the oxygen that is released by the plants, turning it into carbon dioxide, which is needed for photosynthesis. The bottle is essentially a microcosm of Earth.

We live in an a time when technology can do amazing things. But we are also in danger of being misled by photographs that are not all they seem, even if they are not manipulated. Read more here: motleystories.substack.com/p/is-what-you-… #fakephotos #ArtificialIntelligence #photoshop

Man's best friend, being man's most awesome friend. 🤣 Credit: Jukin Media

Happy birthday to this account. A year ago, I created it because there were no accounts about 🇺🇦art at all. I didn't expect there would be more than 24 thousand of you! Ukrainian art worth to be knowing. Thank you. Tymofiy Boichuk "Women near the tree," 1921

As the world gets crazier by the day, I retreat more and more to the quiet company of trees. I hope there will always be country paths to walk along, and I hope they will always bring peace to everyone who seeks their solace. If you need me, I’ll be curled up in the branches.

Pale Blue Dot is a photo of Earth that was taken by the Voyager 1 space probe in 1990 from a distance of about 6 billion kilometers (3.7 billion miles) as it was leaving our solar system. This is what Carl Sagan said about the photo: "Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it, everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor, and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every 'superstar,' every 'supreme leader,' every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there — on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand. It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.”

A brief reminder this morning of the expression 'hingum-tringum' (19th-century): barely presentable and just about hanging together.