Jocelyn Beard, Author

Finished up the Detective Agency book nook! Inspired by the extremely well-known "Detective Famous" agency. 😆

XI—THE READER “I never read such an impious book,” said the reader, throwing it on the floor. “You need not hurt me,” said the book; “you will only get less for me second hand, and I did not write myself.” “That is true,” said the reader. “My quarrel is with your author.” “Ah, well,” said the book, “you need not buy his rant.” “That is true,” said the reader. “But I thought him such a cheerful writer.” “I find him so,” said the book. “You must be differently made from me,” said the reader. “Let me tell you a fable,” said the book. “There were two men wrecked upon a desert island; one of them made believe he was at home, the other admitted—” “O, I know your kind of fable,” said the reader. “They both died.” “And so they did,” said the book. “no doubt of that. And everybody else.” “That is true,” said the reader. “Push it a little further for this once. And when they were all dead?” “They were in God’s hands, the same as before,” said the book. “Not much to boast of, by your account,” cried the reader. “Who is impious now?” said the book. And the reader put him on the fire. The coward crouches from the rod, And loathes the iron face of God.

Illustration to “The Reader”, by E.R. Herman, from the 1914 Longman’s edition of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Fables. A highly detailed illustration in pen and black ink, brush and wash. A man stands on a short ladder in front of a bookcase. He is wearing a cap and a long dressing-gown, finely striped in black and white, and black-and-white checked slippers. He is looking down in disgust at the floor, where a book lies open on the patterned rug. The book has a human face on one open page. Beneath the illustration is a decorative border of six identical figures. Vaguely demonic, they have pointed ears and possibly horns. They are skeletally thin and are kneeling with their heads bowed.

“I never read such an impious book,” said the reader, throwing it on the floor.

“You need not hurt me,” said the book; “you will only get less for me second hand, and I did not write myself.”

—Robert Louis Stevenson, FABLES: “The Reader”
#BookologyThursday #C19 💙📚

frozen in time

The ghost is more than narrow label of dead spirit. Lore is rich with tales of spectral objects. What should we make of phantom buildings? Ashcourt's St. Wulfram-of-the-Wall ended its life in Blitz bombs, yet many report ruin reverting to former glories to haunt the now. – #CJosiffe, 1982

Shirley Jackson was right. No live organism can exist sanely for long under conditions of absolute reality.

Scientists Catch Jellyfish and Sea Anemones Behaving in Surprisingly Human Ways Sea anemones and jellyfish don’t have brains, but the way their neurons behave during sleep shows some surprising similarities to humans

Sea anemones and jellyfish don’t have brains, but the way their neurons behave during sleep shows some surprising similarities to humans

Is A River Alive? is published today, 1 May.
It’s about the lives, deaths & rights of rivers—& how our fate flows with that of water & always has.
To the people, places & rivers whose ideas run through its pages, thank you so much.
I think it’s the book I’ve been learning to write all these years.

London Calling…

#London #landscapephotography #stoauls #Westminster #bakerstreet #cityscape

Reefert Cross at Glendalough monastic site, Wicklow, Ireland
Image: 2017 Infrared
#IrishArchaeology #Archaeology #EarlyChristian #Infrared #PhotographersOfBluesky #Photography #Art #BlueSky #EastCoastKin #ClassicMono #Wicklow

A puddle reflection of bare winter trees. black and white photo.

Up is down. December 2025

#trees #forest #reflection #abstract #monochrome #ClassicMono #pentax #pentaxk1 #photography

"Do you think it would be a good idea or a bad idea for the U.S. to use military force to take possession of Greenland from Denmark?"
Good idea: 4%
Bad idea: 71%
(Ipsos)

4%. He did it. He finally hit Lizardman's Constant.

I’m like if a ramblin’ man stayed home

i missed the 70's when they passed out ashatrays and matches with the math tests

Meet The Animal That Hasn’t Changed In 300 Million Years — A Biologist Explains With copper-blue blood prized by modern medicine and a body plan older than dinosaurs, the horseshoe crab reveals how ancient biology still underpins human survival.

A living fossil...
www.forbes.com/sites/scottt...

Writing Thoughts | Ivy Grimes | Substack Writing thoughts from me, Ivy, and from writers I interview. Click to read Writing Thoughts, by Ivy Grimes, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.

If you want to read interviews with various indie authors, I post them regularly on my newsletter.

I could also post lil advice columns sometimes if anyone wants to DM me a question. I know nothing, but I like to meddle.

ivygrimes.substack.com

Reaching out.

We've removed the paywall from this guide so everyone can access it. 👇 Stay safe.

pretty easy to go into the App Store and report Twitter for pornography targeting minors, and I suggest everyone do it!

Certain lanes force you to straddle two worlds. You walk with modernity of Dutch elm disease, pylon hum on one side, the other full of gates into ancient fields, the ghosts of old hedge witches. Despite this polarity, you never get a sense of the lane picking a side.– #MattAdams, 1981

Plato Has Been Censored; What Next? PEN America condemns and calls absurd Texas A&M censoring Plato readings and discussions related to race and gender

The works of Plato are now being banned at schools in the United States.

Tell me again how censorship is a European problem? 🤔

Night Tram To…

#StreetPhotography
#NightPhotography
#Lisbon
#QuietMotion
#HumansOfBluesky
#PhotographersOfBlueSky
#WhatsNextPhotography

cardboard box american freedom made in china

I'm gonna be posting about stuff that's not heavy. It's a privilege that I get to do so. We're all on this strange space rock together, for a limited time. Hope you get to make something beautiful today.

Hug your kids, bring some magic to the world.

This is nice…

A Quebec Village (Winter, Saint-Fidèle)
A.Y. Jackson
1930

“It is time to disappear…”

Gustave Flaubert, from a letter to George Sand

Antarctic Sea Ice - Eos Dear Eos: The ocean around Antarctica is critical to ocean circulation, climate, and ecosystems. There, vast quantities of heat and anthropogenic carbon are drawn down from the atmosphere and stored a...

Antarctica in the winter? Yeah, it really is that cold 🥶❄️🧪

A postcard from the bottom of the world:
eos.org/postcards/an...

small leaved plants shining their leaves in the sun. black and white photo.

A tiny world. December 2025

#nature #macro #monochrome #blackandwhite #ClassicMono #pentax #pentaxk1 #photography

Gravemarkers in an old English cemetery, old stone walls contain the sheep grazing on the hillside. Old church building stands to the right.

Graveyard of the Church of St. James with view over the Cotswolds hills #classicmono #England #fujifilm #travel #landscape #scape #photography #photographersofBlueSky #EastCoastKin #blackandwhitephotography