#european blog

[critter-creature-or-beast]

The third one looks cool

[have-you-seen-this-animal]

How about Xylocopa violacea (violet carpenter bee)?

Of course!

Photos thanks to the John Russel Honey Company & Steven Falk.

[dailymanners]

Bear with me because I am about to rant about something not blog related that's been grating on me ever since this blog gained more traction

USAmericans being Americancentric vs. Europeans every single time someone says something they don't like or don't agree with or is just coming from a place of different experiences than them assuming you MUST be a USAmerican coming from a place of Americancentrism: fight

For context, I do not live in the U.S., and do not base my posts off of experiences in the U.S., and as much as I find it annoying that sometimes USAmericans reply to my posts with assumptions that their experiences are universal, for example USAmericans replying to my post about closing the lid before you flush with "but public toilets don't have lids!" when they do in my country, I find it equally annoying if not even more annoying with how much Europeans assume that every time I post something they disagree with or is a different experience than them that I must be USAmerican and coming from a place of Americancentrism

For example when I made a post saying "use excuse me if you have to get into someone else's personal space" I had a bunch of British people replying to it something along the lines of "Are you Americans so uncivilized that you're not taught basic manners like this? Good thing us civilized Brits know to use excuse me!" when, again, I do not live in the U.S., the post was based on experiences I had here in my country and again, not in the U.S.

Or when I made a post just saying "don't be rude to people who got you a present you don't like" because I've had experiences here in my country of people sneering at and tossing aside presents they didn't live or even yelling at or scolding the gift giver just because it wasn't a color that they like, I did not say that you have to pretend to like it, just don't be rude and sneer at them or yell at the gift giver, but I still had a bunch of Germans replying something like "well you Americans may think you have to pretend to like gifts you don't actually like but us Germans believe in being honest!" (even though that's not even what I was saying) when again, I am not in the U.S., I have never said that I am in the U.S., this was based on experiences in my country which is not the U.S., but Europeans had to go and assume everyone who says something they don't fully like or agree with must be USAmerican.

And I know it's not just me, I've seen a lot of posts from people here on Tumblr in South American or Asia saying that Europeans are always assuming they're USAmerican and coming from a place of Americancentrism when they talk about their experiences in South American or Asia.

I saw a quote one time that was something like "USAmericans believe the entire world is the U.S. while Europeans believe the entire world is Europe + the U.S."

but the thing is that I DO live in Europe, my country is a small northern European country, but of course my experiences are going to be different than someone who is British or German or Swedish, but it's like people from those countries so often assume their experiences are universal to everyone in their country + the rest of Europe, so if a British person experiences being taught to use excuse me that MUST be universal to Europe, and that apparently nobody outside of Europe and the U.S. is on Tumblr, so if I experience being shoved by people who don't use excuse me (in my tiny northern European country) that MUST mean I live in the U.S. and MUST be USAmerican since their British experiences MUST be universal to everyone else on this website who isn't USAmerican

[collectionstilllife]

Josef Schuster (Austrian, 1812-1890) • Still life of Alpine flowers in a landscape • Unknown date

[lichozestudni]

to lubię

[thepaintedroom]

Marie-Desiree Bourgoin (French, 1839–1912) • Sarah Bernhardt Sculpting in Her Studio • 1879 • Watercolor and gouache over graphite • Metropolitan Museum of Art

[thewolfnessphotography]

Ostallgäu Alps

Bavaria. Germany

[asofterepilogue]

thank you to mother earth for making me a horrible unkind immoral person just so I can without guilt say this tonight

[life-on-our-planet]

The European mole is well adapted to its fossorial lifestyle. It has small recessed eyes, a cylindrical body, and prominent sensory whiskers. Their front limbs have five extremely strong claws that are angled outward. Although gardeners have traditionally hated the sight of a mole hill, their presence indicates a thriving garden with a healthy ecosystem.

©The British Mammal Guide

[canvasmirror]

Anna Bilińska-Bohdanowicz (Polish, 1854–1893) • Self-Portrait with Apron and Brushes • 1887

[have-you-seen-this-animal]

Can i request the olm? I love those funky little dudes

[inumbrapugnabimus-maybe]

a little chap

[collectionstilllife]

Barbara Dietzsch (German, 1706-1783) • A Dandelion with a Tiger Moth, a Snail, a Beetle, and a Butterfly • 1750 • Gouache on vellum • De Young Museum, San Francisco, California, U.S.

[thepaintedroom]

Georg Friedrich Kersting (German, 1785–1847) • Embroidery Woman • 1817

[thewolfnessphotography]

Slovakia