Another type of post to add to the rotay, so I don’t run out of birdposts and dreamposts and discposts: Thunks I Stole from My Husband, aka Brainjackin’. These won’t necessarily all be original thoughts or observations of his, run thru the filter of my misunderstanding. Sometimes it will just be Things I Wouldn’t Know About if It Weren’t for Him. Like this post, about Abbott Handerson Thayer’s hot idea.
OK, this idea might have crossed my horizon before, but it didn’t take root in my memory until my husband mentioned it to me one random evening. Early 20th century painter Abbott Handerson Thayer was very successful in his own time, a man of letters as well as visual art. Seems like everybody had to have big opinions about everything, and he put forth an idea on the topic of zoology, which may have been a good example of people talking outside their expertise. According to Thayer, even boldly colored animals were actually adapted for camouflage. After all, predator or prey, you have good reasons to wish to remain unseen.
In support of this idea, he used his exceptional painting skills to illustrate a book. Very beautiful pictures of not-at-all cryptic (camouflaged) animals, in just the right circumstance that they could fade into a background. Por ejemplo,
I think this guy was more famous for paintings of pretty girls, but this stuff is a lil more memorable in the scheme of things. At least, to me. Were peacocks adapted to blend in with bushes and trees? Probably not, but the idea was at least good for producing some very cool art. Thank you, Hander Thaybotson Randers. Aw shit, I’m losing it already…
–
“Were peacocks adapted to blend in with bushes and trees?”
Not in the slightest, for the males. I seen ’em IRL, and the very point is to stand out as much as possible.
Blending in, not so much. Super-spectacular, but.
The blokes this is, of course. Sheilas are plainer, don’t need to pose.
i am rather fond of peafowl, be they peabruce or peasheila. saw one pretty close, roaming free at the zoo, trying to scare a squirrel by rattling its tail.
off topic, i need to get cherries, 2 loaves of bread, chicken noodle soup, green beans, olives, vodka sauce, distilled water, 48 cans of coke, some microwave dinners, a dozen eggs, milk, sweet tea, and cat food.
the cherry packaging was slathered in fascist propaganda so i got an apple. i forgot the olives but we probably have enough til next week.
I wish my weekly shopping list was so short. I’ve got plenty of olives though.
Black olives,
Garlic stuffed olives,
Pimento stuffed olives,
Almond stuffed olives,
Habanero Stuffed olives,
And the ones I use the most, Anchovy stuffed olives for my martinis.
flex, back when, anchovy-stuffed olives were a thing; these days, even product from Spain (well, what I can find here) contain anchovy paste. I’ve taken to using good canned anchovies and pitted olives that I fix for myself. For real.
(Kinda pricey, but)
u also drankin vodkers with those thangs, john?
Beer. More of a summer treat. But, you know…