#amateur naturalist

[sunflowersareonfire]

Nature Memo #1

I decided to go on a little adventure over the weekend since I had three days off (I generally work on the weekends and am almost always on-call for crisis situations). I picked up a new journal so that I could collect plant samples and press them. I've been intending to do this for way too long (2011) but have not gotten around to doing it until now.

I find nature to be mesmerizing and way too often taken for granted. Parks are great, and those with unpaved nature trails are even better. But even then, they are taken for granted.

In any event, below are the list of observations that I made. This is incomplete because I did not include the trees and shrubs that were observed. Of the 29 listed items below, 10 were ones that I had not previously recorded, so I'm pretty excited about that. The total number of living species (plants, insects, birds, reptiles, fungi, arachnids, mammals, fish, mollusks, amphibians, and other species) that I have recorded (as in, photographed, dated, and confirmed the species of) is now 276.

Plants observed (all pressed!)

Oxalis triangularis, False Shamrock

Narcissus poeticus, Poet’s Narcissus

Achillea millefolium, Common Yarrow

Muscari neglectum, Grape Hyacinth

Galium aparine, Catchweed Bedstraw

Stellaria media, Common Chickweed

Oxalis violacea, Violet Woodsorrel

Vinca minor, Lesser Periwinkle

Bowlesia incana, Hoary Bowlesia

Narcissus tazetta, Bunch-flowered Daffodil

Veronica persica, Bird’s-eye Speedwell

Valerianella locusta, Common Cornsalad

Allium vineale, Wild Garlic

Cardamine hirsuta, Hairy Bittercress

Ranunculus hispidus, Bristly Buttercup

Ornithogalum umbellatum, Common Star-of-Bethlehem

Houstonia pusilla, Tiny Bluet

Viola bicolor, American Field Pansy

Claytonia virginica, Virginia Spring Beauty

Insects observed

Camponotus pennsylvanicus, Black Carpenter Ant

Papilio rutulus, Western Tiger Swallowtail (Butterfly)

Coleomegilla maculata, Spotted Pink Ladybeetle

Polistes Carolina, Red Wasp

Eurema lisa, Little Yellow (Butterfly)

Celastrina ladon, Spring Azure (Butterfly)

Amphibians observed

Pseudacris crucifer, Spring Pepper (Frog)

Fungi observed

Trametes versicolor, Turkey-tail

Cladonia evansii, Evan’s Deer Moss

Arachnids observed

Oxyopes salticus, Striped Lynx Spider

Next step is to let the pressed plans dry, followed by labeling, dating, notes on GPS coordinates for each sample, as well as information on whether it it is edible, seasonal growth, and if I am feeling particularly brave I will attempt to draw them.

All of these samples were taken in Arkansas between Siloam Springs, Pea Ridge National Battlefield, and Bella Vista.

[carlopicenni]

[aroaessidhe]

faves of 2023: historical sff/horror or historical fiction

The Misadventures of an Amateur Naturalist

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth

Before The Devil Knows You’re Here

Our Hideous Progeny

Winter Tide

Sailing By Carina’s Star (ok this is the only non-sff one lol)

[haveyoureadthispoll]

Aspiring young naturalist Celeste Rossan is determined to live a life of adventure and scientific discovery. But when her father loses everything, Celeste’s hopes of ever leaving her home town are dashed… until she sees a narrow opportunity to escape to Paris and attend the 1867 Exposition Universelle. Celeste seizes her chance, but the elements overwhelm her before she can make it five miles. In desperation, she seeks refuge in an abandoned chateau only to find herself trapped inside the den of an unknown species: a predator with an intelligence that rivals any human. It’s the discovery of a lifetime. Or, it will be, if Celeste can earn the beast’s trust without losing her nerve – or her heart – to her in the process.

[lionraeart]

sketches as consumed by the fire, by Celeste Rossan, winter 1867

[haveyoureadthisfantasybook]

vote yes if you have finished the entire book.

vote no if you have not finished the entire book.

(faq · submit a book)

[amentainsularis]

As strong winds blow and pots fall off balconies, I like to rescue plants and try to resuscitate them.

It’s the first time I’m taking care of cyclamens, the soil I used is not optimal but I’ll do my best to keep it alive and thriving!

[mid-nighttiger]

fictional media that do not accurately represent real wildlife:

the silt verses (great crested shrike)

malevolent (great horned owl)

dishonored (hagfish)

fictional media that accurately represent real wildlife:

dishonored (pied avocet)

fictional media that represent real wildlife way too accurately:

jedi: fallen order (that's a whole entire brown pelican my dude)

[nellasbookplanet]

I'm gonna start keeping a running list of historical france-inspired fantasy books, ranked by how well they handle themes of colonialism and othering;

1. A+ aka very well but you'll probably be uncomfortable reading it because it shows it all from the inside

The Unbroken

The Moon and the Sun

2. Colonialism? What’s that? aka we're just going to pretend that’s all Not A Thing so we can focus on romance and won’t have to think about the uncomfortable implications of the setting

The Misadventures of an Amateur Naturalist

3. Yikes

Serpent & Dove

[oneidiotwithasword]

it’s always so nice when you find a sapphic fantasy written by a local author and it hits just right

[astralforests]

copying some bits of my park service resume to make a new regular resume and found typos and a sentence i forgot to finish 👍 this is good though. makes me lower my expectations. "who else are they gonna hire to be a glorified cashier in tupelo" someone who doesn't leave one of their actually relevant skills list items half finished, probably

[carlopicenni]

[aroaessidhe]

2023 reads // twitter thread    

The Misadventures of an Amateur Naturalist

YA sapphic historical fantasy

a girl in 1867 France wishes to become a Naturalist, but when her father looses everything, she’s forced to make hard decisions

she tries to escape into the forest, but gets stuck in an abandoned chateau with an unknown predator

beauty & the beast retelling

[readtilyoudie]

I ran a fond hand through the pony’s mane as I unhooked his reins from a low branch.

The squat, storm-coloured creature was an object of some ridicule amongst some of my peers. I’d heard Madeline De Villiers and Édith Gassion giggling about it once in town, whispering loudly enough within earshot to ensure I’d heard them.  ‘She could have anything in the world, and she chose that queer little thing? It’s practically a mule.’

‘It seems only appropriate. A queer little horse for a queer little girl.’ 

I hitched my skirt, setting a boot in the pony’s stirrup and pulled myself up into the saddle in one easy movement. Madeline had been right. I could have had any horse I wanted, and I had chosen one I could mount without a stool or a stablehand to help me. I had chosen independence, and they had chosen to be insufferable. 

My God, I wish I’d thought to say that at the time. 

The Misadventures of an Amateur Naturalist (Celeste Rossan, #1) by Ceinwen Langley

[ao-ihinata]

so I'm around half way through the book and I'm slightly losing interest but I'm not sure if it's because it's turning out to be a "beauty and the beast" adaptation or because it's probably going to be a F/F relationship ...

I used to think that beauty and the beast was my favorite Disney movie but I seem to not be interested in any adaptation of the original fairytale(possibly because they all seem to lean into furry porn) so acotar is the closest thing that I was actually able to finish and that took me over 2years

aesthetically I find women attractive but unlike M/M relationships I've never really had any interest so I do wonder if I'll eventually get in to it... then again I've been in to yaoi for a couple of years so it'll be a slow progress

[olderthannetfic]

Hey. Maybe not the place. But people treat your ask box like a forum so 🙏 I thought I was ace because porn does nothing for me and I only like erotica/doujinshi if I like the characters. But I recently discovered watching wrestling does something for me. Is this really weird? How do I know where I fit?

--

I will gleefully embrace the identity of basement-dwelling gremlin who prefers horny fiction to actually dating or having sex with other people.

But porn tastes aren't what defines sexual orientation.

Neither is willingness to get off the couch.

Are you attracted to people, anon? That's usually how people define the various identities on that spectrum: no attraction, very occasional attraction way below what's seen as commonplace, attraction only when you know someone well, etc. (Which, of course, brings up the question of what level is "normal" and whether someone's judging based on Hollywood nonsense or on what's actually typical.)

For me personally, mainstream porno movies have actors I find un-hot wearing clothing I find libido-killing in ugly environments with bad lighting and camerawork. The scenarios lack the psychological depth needed to interest me, and there's little sense of intimacy.

This has nothing to do with orientation and everything to do with film craft.

Doujinshi of characters I'm already familiar with have a lot more context for what's going on, and this can add a lot of zing to kinks or increase the apparent intimacy.

Wrestling has plotlines. It has deeply charismatic stars. It has different body types than a lot of porn. There's nothing odd about finding it hot but not liking the porno movies you've been exposed to.

Plenty of people prefer all of the horny film festival favorites of the 90s to actual porno movies. It seems like funding dried up for those kinds of movies for a decade or two, but they used to be common.

I preferred the kinkier ones. Crash, for example, was a staple of my teenage viewing. Not the cringey one that won too many awards: the pervert one with the eight billion scenes of people licking each other's scars like they were performing oral.

It really digs into the psychology of kink... in addition to being far more visually beautiful and starring far hotter people than most of the commercial porn I've seen. Same deal with The Pillow Book or ¡Átame! or Maurice or Bound.

I've been seeing articles lately talking about a return to 90s levels of sex in arty movies. People point to the likes of Call Me By Your Name and Saltburn.

Live action commercial porno movies do vary, obviously, but it's just so, so, so common to find them tacky or boring while liking other forms of porn, even other live action sex scenes.

Hell, even for poorly shot stuff, I've never seen even amateur porn capture the vibes of this one long-deleted youtube video of a guy giving a lecture on anal massage and treating his subject like a prop while lecturing to a big group of onlookers.

--

Sometimes, people just aren't very into casual sex, and horny art where they can fantasize about people who actually know each other is better than horny art about the pizza delivery guy. Sure, there are pornos that try to have more plot, but porn stars are generally good at being porn stars, not at subtle and naturalistic acting.

Wrestlers are hardly subtle, but they do do different acting from your average porno, and there's more continuing plotline. Unless you mean... like... college wrestling? (In which case, Kink.com has or had some series where people wrestle to decide who gets to top. Wrestling is hardly a niche interest.)

For kinksters, the context and psychology often matter a lot. Showing an object with a lot of cultural baggage, like shiny black leather, can be hot, but the viewer might need more, and your average porno isn't geared up to provide that.

--

Anyway, if you want to determine your own orientation, your interest in art isn't necessarily going to help that much.

If you're only rarely attracted to people, and you have to know them well first, you could be demisexual, but you could equally well be shy or nervous or depressed or repressed or too busy and stressed to spend much time noticing your own feelings—or just surrounded by people who aren't your type. Only your personal interpretation of your internal experience can determine which it is.

But no, being horny for wrestling is not weird.