Lydia Schoch

You were born in the sea.

You didn’t call it that, of course. Everyone knew the waves have no beginning or end.

Occasionally someone would swim in from somewhere far away with fantastical stories about warm, sweet water in the south, icy saltwater to the north.

One of you even claimed that she’d seen water so salty you couldn’t swim inside of it.

No one really believed her, though. She must have eaten too much algae before bed.

A storm rumbled across the sky. You were floating next to her when the first flash of lightening scratched through the clouds. You reached out to hold her hand (as was the custom).

When it ended you both were in unfamiliar waters…some of which was curiously un water-like.

“See?” she said, standing up with a wobble. “It’s too salty to swim in. Only my toes are covered now.”

“Strange,” you replied.

“It gets saltier the further you swim,” she said. “A little farther in and even my feet float.”

“What happens then?”

“I don’t know.”

You decide to find out. She stands over the salty water, waving as you swim on to saltier waters. Some are as hard as bone, others as sharp as fins.

Perplexing.

When you return the others are waiting. No one believes you about the bone-water. They wouldn’t believe her stories, either, except that a few brave souls have tested the saltier waters for themselves.

She leaves with them. You stay. There must be a reason why this water behaves so strangely.

(to be continued…)

Here is this week’s list of blog posts, pictures and other tidbits from my favourite corners of the web.

This picture was snapped in 1928 on a field trip taken by Waterdown Public School students and teachers. Old photographs always make me wonder what happened to the subjects in the years that followed.

The Male Explorer Who Was Actually Female. I wonder how many other stories like this have been long-since forgotten?

100 Most Powerless New Yorkers. We need more lists like this one.

What Slippery Slope? Good stuff.

From Helping the Homeless at the S.F. Public Library:

What started as a tough situation – staff members worried about people washing up in the bathrooms, or acting badly – turned into an opportunity. The library, which has always thought of itself as a resource, found it had nothing to offer people who came in asking for help finding housing or places to sleep.

Thomas Grant Wynn’s How to Think Like a Neandertal condenses all of our current knowledge about neanderthal* physiology, culture, diet and religion into a book that’s accessible even for people who know little about the subject.

Several times while reading it, though, I’ve wondered how accurate even our most educated guesses actually are – if only we could interact with living, breathing members of this species!

*Apparently either spelling is acceptable. 🙂

What have you been reading?

Here is this week’s list of blog posts, paintings and other tidbits from my favourite corners of the web.

Mary Cassatt’s The Bath has always been one of my favourite nineteenth century paintings:

Heart Potato, Face Potato. A surprisingly shaped vegetable.

A House Divided: Science Fiction vs. Fantasy. This doesn’t only happen between literary genres – I’ve seen people argue (and misinterpret one another) about everything from religion to the best way to do the laundry.

Ten 100-Year Predictions That Came True. Many of John Elfreth Watkins’ predictions did not come true…but some of the ones that did were eerily prescient. Click here to read John’s original article.

From January Blues? Or As Good a Month As Any Other?

It’s a popular myth that one particular “Blue Monday” in January tops all others for being the most depressing day of the year. This year it’s tipped to be…16th January. It makes some sense on the face of it – in the UK at least it is cold and dark; people may be in debt from Christmas excess; and who likes Monday mornings at the best of times?

Kaye Gibbons’ Ellen Foster tells the story of an eleven-year-old orphan’s journey through several foster homes.

What have you been reading?

Originally published on December 30, 2010. I have not been feeling well this week and am taking a short writing break while I recover.

Commander Locke: Damnit, Morpheus, not everyone believes what you believe.Morpheus: My beliefs don’t require them to.– The Matrix Reloaded

Here’s something to consider as we slip through last few days of 2010:

What if you are wrong?

What if your most strongly held beliefs or codes – religious, political, philosophical, ethical, moral – are false?

This is a question to which I return from time to time not because I seriously doubt my own beliefs but because there is always the possibility that I could be mistaken. In the past I have been known to switch opinions on a variety of topics after thoughtfully considering new ideas. It isn’t something I expect to happen again but I also never thought it would occur in the first place.

Everything that I’ve experienced so far has led to my current beliefs but I’m not omniscient. Religiously speaking, for example, there could be something that I’ve missed that obviously points to the:

• Muslims
• Christians
• Neopagans
• Atheists
• Buddhists
• Hindus
• Jews
• Taoists
• Sikhs

having the corner on the truth.

Ultimately it is as important to know what one believes and why we believe it as it is to hold those convictions with a gentle reminder that I, you, we could be wrong.

My Rule of Thumb:

If someone cannot admit that there’s a possibility, as slim as it may be, that they don’t have the unadulterated truth I will take everything they say from that moment on with a few teaspoons of salt. One blind spot has already been uncovered. Of how many others are they also unaware?

There is a deep, quiet strength in ambiguity-flecked beliefs, in following hunches, assumptions or even convictions without the zeal of absolutism. Grey is not always a cobbled road between the black and white villages of truth and fairy stories; sometimes it is its own destination.

Here is this week’s list of blog posts, paintings and other tidbits from my favourite corners of the web.

This is What Happens When You Give Thousands of Stickers to Thousands of Kids. I have one question about this art exhibit – who scraped all of those stickers away when it was finished? 🙂

Protocell Shoe Mends Itself. The design isn’t great but what an idea! Imagine only having to buy shoes once.

Dear Customer Who Stuck Up for His Little Brother. The world would be a better place if there were more people like this big brother in it.

From How Does the Brain Perceive Art? 

We want to believe that pleasure is simple, that our delight in a fine painting or bottle of wine is due entirely to the thing itself. But that’s not the way reality works…We only see the beauty because we are looking for it.

What have you been reading?