gwembel
gwembel.bsky.social
gwembel
@gwembel.bsky.social
Reader & puzzle game player. Interested in science, culture, math, music, art, education. Politically liberal work-within-system. Hobby-writer of Interactive Fiction IF text adventure (stories about time travel/magic/humor/mystery). Wife, mother, grandma.
Pinned
Not my photo, just my eyes seeing hope in youngsters who'll try to repair the world. May empathy guide them to resist the reflex of collective blame, to seek truth from evidence, to plan creatively, to cooperate w/o prejudice, and to persist in trying alternatives to simplistic cynical violence.
Reposted by gwembel
Sent by a friend
So beautiful, I wanted to share
Happy Lunar New Year
Year of the Horse
February 17, 2026 at 3:56 PM
WTG multicultural diversity! Today is the first new moon of the lunar calendar, so the Year of the Fire Horse is off and running. A 15-day celebration offers colorful lanterns, exciting dragon dances, fireworks, flavorful foods, (1/2) www.nytimes.com/2026/02/17/w...
Revelers Welcome Year of the Horse With Fireworks and Feasts
www.nytimes.com
February 17, 2026 at 4:36 PM
Reposted by gwembel
Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, is a 15-day celebration that begins on the new moon (between Jan 21 & Feb 20) and ends with the Lantern Festival on the first full moon.
February 16, 2026 at 1:41 AM
Reposted by gwembel
Ans Debije (Dutch Painter, born 1970)
"Reallyand Truly", 2024.
Oil on MDF Panel and Gesso, 15 × 15 cm.
Private Collection.
#art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt
February 4, 2026 at 8:30 AM
Once there was a gov't agency that tried to help protect the environment. But just before Valentine's Day 2026, a coal-panderer forced the EPA to legally shoot itself in the knee with a climate-denial bullet. 'Twas a painful Valentine to those who love our planet. Ouch. 💔🌍 Stewardship anyone?
February 14, 2026 at 5:07 PM
Gershwin and Bernstein. Even now, despite everything, we gotta celebrate the good stuff.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH2P...
George Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue - Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic (1976)
YouTube video by Qiyu Liu
www.youtube.com
February 14, 2026 at 12:30 AM
Reposted by gwembel
Three artichokes, bold and blooming in earthy tones and jewel purples. A little abstract, a little botanical - definitely one for the kitchen or garden wall. 1-lisas-baker.pixels.com/featured/pur...

#ArtichokeArt #BotanicalArt #AbstractArt #KitchenArt #BuyIntoArt #Artichoke #Art #Food
January 14, 2026 at 11:57 PM
Lihkku sámi álbmotbeivviin! Happy Sámi National Day!
💙❤️💛💚 Feb 6

"Nutti Sámi Siida proudly celebrates Sámi National Day, honoring Sámi culture, history, and traditions — past, present, and future. " (1/2)

📷Image credits:
Josefin Riihimäki-Ruokamo @jossiefini
Beatrice Holmberg @beaholmberg
February 7, 2026 at 7:39 AM
RHYTHM BEFORE MELODY

Researchers played piano audio to newborns, with unaltered music OR with pattern changes for rhythm OR melody. EEGs showed reactions suggesting surprise for unexpected rhythm breaks but not for similar breaks of melody patterns. (1/2)
www.sciencenews.org/article/babi...
Babies brains' can follow a beat as soon as they're born
Brain scans and signals show babies can sort images and sense rhythm, offering new insight into how infant brains are wired from the start.
www.sciencenews.org
February 6, 2026 at 8:18 PM
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February 5, 2026 at 5:44 PM
After watching Starfleet Academy Ep1, I'm giving it a thumbs up and will watch Ep2. Also enjoying these Star Trek traditions:
1) Trekkies who point-out/explain-away canonical "inconsistencies";
2) Controversial social commentary;
3) Telling a story without effect$$$.
russpain.com/en/future-2/...
February 4, 2026 at 8:40 PM
I like Adam Sharp's thread and its comments, which inspired me to learn about the Ice Cream Bean. Apparently this bean tastes like vanilla and is only coincidentally relevant to expressions similar to karma being a female dog.
February 4, 2026 at 8:32 PM
Let's celebrate the joy of imaginative possibilities.
#HappyBirthdayElmo
February 4, 2026 at 12:06 AM
Reposted by gwembel
I’ve had a lot of fun with this one! Oil on Fabriano, c50 x 50cm/20 x 20 inches). Message me if interested in purchasing. #oilpainting #seascape #sunset #experimenting
January 31, 2026 at 2:44 PM
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January 30, 2026 at 7:18 AM
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Hugo Henneberg, (1863-1918)
The Blue Lagoon, linocut, 1904
January 29, 2026 at 12:39 PM
Reposted by gwembel
Five expressions that are used when bumping into someone in an unexpected place…

1. It’s a small world (English)
2. How round is the earth (Ukrainian)
3. The world is a village (German)
4. The world is a handkerchief (Spanish)
5. What an odd place to find a lobster (Irish)
January 27, 2026 at 12:55 PM
Even ICE agents are asking why Trump has been encouraging them to get increasing aggessive against protesters. Of course he wants to distract from Epstein and affordability concerns, but there also seems to be a deliberate provocation to create excuses to invoke the Insurrection Act. (1/3)
#ICEout
January 27, 2026 at 1:07 AM
Street art near the Swedish Medical Center (First Hill Campus) in Seattle, Washington. This mural depicts Alex Pretti, the ICU nurse who was shot and killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis.

(from topsy_paints on Instagram)
January 27, 2026 at 12:46 AM
Reposted by gwembel
In my ongoing attempts to give you a break from *gestures widely* THE HORRORS:

Let's talk about the utterly bizarre science of cats' purring.

Here's a weird starting point:
There are NO cats (Felidae) that can BOTH roar AND purr.

Cats that roar = genus Panthera
Cats that purr = genus Felis
January 24, 2026 at 11:12 PM
Reposted by gwembel
Daisies deserve Drama. #draw #mentalhealthmatters 12x16” #ink #watercolor
January 16, 2026 at 5:42 PM
I've been enjoying the recently released Mel Brooks documentary. Like Carl and Rob Reiner, Mel seems like such a genuine mensch.

It's fascinating how the Dick Van Dyke show was partly a tv-on-tv show about the writers on Sid Caesar's "Show of Shows." (1/4)

www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mel-...
Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man! movie review (2026) | Roger Ebert
Brooks is still the man—still willing to do anything for a laugh and still wanting us to love Melvin Brooks
www.rogerebert.com
January 23, 2026 at 9:55 PM
On a beautiful, rugged, windswept island, a farmer sent one of his chicken-protection dogs to save a fairy penguin colony from being wiped out by foxes. More dogs were added, and a film telling the story (Oddball) has generated tourist traffic.
The smallest penguin on Earth is also the most CASUAL, trading the black tie and tails for a more casual blue suit jacket.

Let's meet the Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor), native to New Zealand + Australia's southern shores.

The Māori named it 'kororā.'
Australians call it the fairy penguin. 🐧🧚
January 23, 2026 at 3:17 PM
The song about "a little piece of Poland, a little piece of France," from the 1983 Mel Brooks movie remake of "To Be or Not To Be," a tribute to the also excellent Jack Benny 1942 movie of the same name. Satire is more important than ever.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VM6...
To Be or Not To Be (1983) A Little Piece of Poland Scene 4K
YouTube video by Things
www.youtube.com
January 21, 2026 at 11:06 PM
In a recent speech, he said, "I don't want to use force. I won't use force. All this alligator is asking for is a rotisserie chicken."

Then, after taking and eating it anyway, his crypto-betting site welched on payout while claiming insufficient force to qualify as an invasion.
January 21, 2026 at 5:56 PM