Every Stone a Story

Amazing what can surface years or even centuries after it seemed to be dead and gone.

Lost Leonardo drawing identified by his fingerprints. The gallery owner who had it for two years—then sold it t for $19,000—doesn't believe it's a Leonardo.

Service records for 250,000 late-medieval English soldiers. It's searchable by first name, surname, rank, and more (although the search field keeps defaulting, annoyingly, to First Name--not terribly useful unless you're studying the prevalence of the name John in medieval soldiers). Link from oursin

You think banning DDT and similar destructive compounds got rid of them? Think again. Melting glaciers are releasing old pollutants locked in their ice. It's affecting some Alpine lakes. Another side effect of global warming.

A Regency romance in 2 minutes. OK, it's not the real past. It's the past as we fantasize it could have been.

Gender Across Borders looks at the remarkably modern practice of Victorian photocollage. Interestingly surreal.

Evidence of Viking trade with the predecessors of the Inuit in Arctic Canada.

Some things I love, and what to do with/to/about them:

Independent bookstores: Buy some SF from Dream Haven Books, which was recently robbed and trashed by complete idiots. Link courtesy nihilistic_kid

The Bay Area: Celebrate Valentine’s Day with a pillow fight.

Life: Love things, and people, and places. Animals, too, they’re very important, and also trees, the sun and moon, the smell of good earth, and art in all its manifestations. Love them hard. Love them even when you want to strangle them or pitch them into the bin or set fire to them. Love them anyway.

Science: Badges Badges Badges! I’ve earned these: rejected by the New Yorker (But with an encouraging note from Roger Angell!); gladly will kick sexual harassers’ asses; and experienced with electrical shock, LEVEL II, In which the recipient has had experience with the electrical shocking of a human. (Link courtesy renoir_girl)

Gorgeous fat women: In Heather's Name - Love your body.

Good writing: ( Save the date: March 4 fundraiser for Octavia Butler scholarship! )

Baseball: Pitchers and catchers, report to spring training!