Long pound

“Some features of the pound stones were quite plain to see. Others required a closer look. When viewed from above, the stones appeared to be round, although in fact some of them were not—some had five sides, but sides that were sufficiently chamfered to give the stone, on cursory inspection, a circular appearance. Then again, the pound stones, whether they were actually round or five-sided, were about four inches across. In cross-section the rounded ones were slightly flattened at the top and bottom, os that each stone would sit on the weighing scale without any inclination to roll off. The dairymaids like this feature: a weighing stone that would stay where it was put.

But whether the stones were flat or indented, round or pentagonal, the Oxfordshire dairymaids found then useful also because they were remarkably uniform in both dimension and mass. Almost all of them weighed in at about twenty-two ounces—which just happened to be what the local dairy managers, in measuring out freshly churned butter for their customers, called a ‘long pound.’”

-The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology, Simon Winchester

The Oxfordshire pound stone.

Multiverse

About.

Cross-posting from FriendFace because I am nothing

….if not lazy into recycling. What are you doing?

A bakers dozen about me.

Write 13 things about yourself and tag 13 people including the person who tagged you. The tagged people post a note with their own 13 things, and so on.

I’m not tagging anyone with this.

Here goes:

1. I wish people would stop saying, “Plain Jane.” Y’all say it all the time and it gets really old.
2. I’m currently hunting the perfect image to overwrite the (small) tattoo on my back. It isn’t bad or wrong or anything; it’s just boring. I am contemplating an image of a cephalopod right now but something else could win out in the end. Stay tuned.
3. Men who dismiss and ignore my interest in sports will be the first against the wall when the revolution comes. Likewise, men who take it seriously will be saved.
4. I am much more impatient than you know.
5. People who are “all about the journey” exhaust me. People who are “all about Journey” frighten me.
6. Please stop filling the perfectly comfortable silence with inane comments and poorly executed jokes.
7. Apparently I am using this list to grind some axes. Let us all proceed with caution.
8. Being unemployed for 8 months was the most depressing and defeating time in my life. It has set me back in every way imaginable. I’m climbing my way out of it but it isn’t easy. Shit. I hate how melodramatic this sounds. I don’t mean it that way at all. Just pretend I am telling you this in my standard matter-of-fact manner. If you’ve never heard me speak, imagine it with someone else’s matter-of-fact delivery. That should help offset the drama. If all else fails, imagine Bugs Bunny is saying it.
9. As hard as this seems to be to believe, I do not want any children. I know! And me unmarried and almost 40, to boot. Look, I like kids; what’s not to like? I just don’t want any. Never have.
10. I write significantly more than I talk. I miss the days of actual letter writing, but email is acceptable as you know if you’ve ever corresponded with me. Sorry my typing is so terrible. I can’t proofread my own writing either.
11. I’m compiling this list in a coffee shop. In a journal. Using a Sharpie. While wearing a scarf (but no beret). I’m pretty sure I need my ass kicked for this.
12. I don’t drink coffee.
13. I love geology and cartography. Maybe I should get a map tattooed on my back. See #2.

*

Irrelevant

Relevant

I do not recommend this.

I’ve got this on a continuous loop in my head this morning, along with some random samples from this.

It’s ugly. Really ugly.

So what kind of camera do you have?

I have come to dread conversations about photography.

The universal truths are as follows:

1. My photography is consistently deemed awfully good.
2. Therefore I must us a DSLR.
3. And since I must use a  DSLR, it must be either a Nikon or Canon. Apparently Jesus uses one brand and God uses the other or something.
4. That I not only do not use a DSLR but also do not use a Nikon or Canon, is a serious violation of some kind if not an outright crime.
5. So I must be really gifted or possess some amazing post-processing skills. In fact, fully half the people I have this conversation with are AMAZED that I do my own post-processing and don’t have “the professionals” do it. Am I missing something here? Where does this misapprehension come from? And this pisses me off for two reasons: it denigrates both me and my camera. (That’s right: you can’t win.)
6. No, I do not own a tripod.
7. No, I don’t have a standing army of magnificent lenses.
8. No, I do not own a light meter. Actually, that’s a lie. I picked up one at a flea market but never with the intention of actually using it. It was a couple of dollars and I like gadgets. Besides, I have eyes and knows some stuff about light. Why do I need a meter?

So from now on, when people get all intense and excited and ask me what kind of camera I use, I am going to expedite their disappointment and say, “The wrong kind, okay?”

Enhancing my brand: Scratch and Smif

At first, I was horrified with where I thought this was going:

…but now I’m just baffled.

Google Earth to Gaboon Viper

“Within weeks they had discovered three new species of Lepidoptera butterfly and a new member of the Gaboon viper family of snakes that can kill a human in a single bite. There were also blue duiker antelope, samango monkeys, elephant shrews, almost 200 different types of butterflies and thousands of tropical plants.”

[via]

Actually via @scifri, which you should probably be following on Twitter.

Boid

I like this despite the reflection.