Happy 22nd Birthday to the Hubble!!
On April 24th, the Hubble Space Telescope marks its 22nd year in orbit. That means its mission has lasted longer than many of your lives, and it’s still churning out amazing work (no pressure though). Sources say that the Hubble promises that it’s not get all crazy like it did last year on its birthday.
To celebrate, the Hubble folks have released this beautiful image of 30 Dor, a star factory in the Large Magellenic Cloud full of high-energy glowing gas. A fine piece of #starporn to decorate your dashboard with.
But why stop there? We can do better than this picture.
How about a super-huge 4,000 x 3,200 pixel version? Is that big enough for ya?
No? Then how about an amazing zoomable version so you can dig deep down into the onion-like layers, a virtual rabbit hole of awesomeness?
Still not enough? If you really must go bigger, I have to warn you … this is a pretty hefty link, and it probably won’t open in your browser. Better to right-click and save. Here is an image that laughs in the face of any adjective I try to place before it. Behold a 267-Mb 20,323 x 16,259 pixel smorgasbord of starry goodness, over 300 million pixels of HOLY CRAP.
BONUS: How these amazing images are created and edited by master star pornagraphers.
(Source: obliteratedheart, via bearinwolfsfur)
Daily inspirations… barely keeping the panic attacks at bay. but sufficiently beautiful for this world…
“When you are real, you don’t mind being hurt…”
My friend Mike died a few months ago. Maybe more like 6 or so… He died of a drug overdose, and he was with people who couldnt or wouldnt be honest with doctors and EMT professionals, to help save him….
At his funeral, a female friend quoted the Velveteen Rabbit… and talked about the following passage….
It came to me today in another form, and I immediately started crying. I want to share the feeling with all those who have lost someone in a tragic accident paired with a life-altering disease of addiction…. It is an uphill climb for some people, and if you love them, you will help them climb the steep parts when they have trouble.
Miss ya Mike. Miss ya Devin… Miss them all… Just know that I am extending a virtual hand out into the universe, if anyone needs to hold it…
“What is REAL?” asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. “Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?”
“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.”
“Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit.
“Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”
“Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”
“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”
— from The Velveteen Rabbit, 1922.
A Moment Of Clarity, Tom Bagshaw
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Follow Tom Bagshaw on Tumblr HERE!
(via artforadults)
Sand Paintings by Andres Amador
San Francisco-area landscape artist Andres Amador etches massive sand drawings onto beaches during full moons when his canvas reaches its largest potential. Using only a rake and often several helpers the geometric and organic shapes are slowly carved into the sand, often interacting with the physical topography like the stones in a zen garden. The works exist for only a few moments, just long enough to snap a few photographs before being completely engulfed by the encroaching tide. Amador has also collaborated on a number of killer marriage proposals, the question popped as part of his elaborate drawings viewable from an elevated distance. You can see much more on his website, and he also sells prints. If you liked this, also see the works of Sonja Hinrichsen and Jim Denevan. (architizer, raymond tham, and the artist’s blog)
source. Colossal
