Day 4975: WonderWoman is in town & The Crabeater Seal.

"Emmanuelle": inks, junk collage, acrylic on banana skin paper

   

                                                                       

  

Want music?

    Click: Patti La Belle, On My Own

2GN2S

WonderWoman is in Town

We went to Target, and I had a list for several items, so we both checked off one on our individual lists. Why is it easier to do errands with someone else? Do you find that true? Next we drove to Fashion Island where we would be able to check off several tasks. WW had a gift card for Free People, and while there I found a "must have, but shouldn't have" blouse that wanted to, and did come home with me. We went to Anthropology, another favorite, and WW bought another belated birthday gift with her 20% birthday discount. I bought one  salad dish, WW said "just one?", I said I live alone, the clerk smiled.

Then we went to Mondocino Farms for lunch, where we both had a humungous, delicious salad. WW did take a photo, I forgot. 

I brought half of mine home, so I will have a great supper tonight. Next we went to Nordstrom's, WW needed an important birthday gift for a special lady. I found a reasonable sweater top that came home with me. One more quick stop at Sephora. I stayed in the car and WW found what she needed. We were back at my house by 1:30 and Superman picked up WW at 2 PM, and they were off. A fun day!

 

  

 

A 3+ minute video,  Carrot Crazy, here.

 

 

Just because ...

White-throated Redstart 

Wednesday's Smiles ... 

 

Hoping you enjoy all the good things in your day.

  

 

 

Day 4974: Optical Illusion? & A High School Inventor!

"Letterhead": gesso, ink, pencil, acrylic, collage on banana skin paper.

                                                                       

  

Want music?

    Click: Deniece Williams, Free

2GN2S

How many black dots do you see?

This optical illusion – one of the best of the last few years – will really mess with your head. How many black dots are there? The answer is 12, but your visual system won't let you see them all at once. 

And I knew you would want to know why, so here it is. On Sunday afternoon, game developer Will Kerslake tweeted a picture of intersecting gray lines on a white background. Twelve black dots blink in and out of existence where the gray lines meet. In the six hours since he posted the photo to Twitter, it’s been shared more than 6,000 times, with commenters demanding to know why they can’t see all 12 dots at the same time.

In this optical illusion, the black dot in the center of your vision should always appear. But the black dots around it seem to appear and disappear. That’s because humans have pretty bad peripheral vision. If you focus on a word in the center of this line you’ll probably see it clearly. But if you try to read the words at either end without moving your eyes, they most likely look blurry. As a result, the brain has to make its best guess about what’s most likely to be going on in the fuzzy periphery — and fill in the mental image accordingly.

TMI? There's more ... here.

A teenager may have just changed the future of clean drinking water.

At just 18, Mia Heller, a high school student, has developed a breakthrough filtration system that removes over 95% of microplastics from water — tackling one of the most overlooked global health threats.

Frustrated by expensive, high-maintenance filters at home and the lack of urgency from authorities, she turned her garage into a lab and got to work. What she created is incredible.

Instead of traditional filters, her system uses a magnetic liquid (ferrofluid) that binds to tiny plastic particles — from as small as 1 nanometer up to 5 millimeters. Once attached, a magnet pulls the contaminated particles out, leaving behind clean water.

Even better: • The ferrofluid is reusable

• The system produces far less waste

• It performs on par with high-end commercial filters

Her invention already earned her a finalist spot at the 2025 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair — and she’s now aiming to make it an affordable under-sink solution for homes everywhere.

As microplastics continue to show up in our water, food, and even our bodies… innovations like this could be game-changing. One teen. 

One idea. Real impact.

 

  

 

A 3  minute video,  Bird songs,  here.

 

 

Just because ...

White-capped Tanagers 

Tuesday's Smiles ... 

 

  

Hoping you feel all the good things in your day.

  

 

  

Day 4973: Sarah Step-by-step postcard & Square Watermelon.

   

'Tammy": ink brush drawing, junk collage, acrylic on journal page.

                                                                       

  

Want music?

    Click: Deniece Williams, 'Gonna Take a Miracle.

2GN2S

"Sarah" Step-by-step postcard 

 When working on a postcard, not a regular postcard, but a stamp-person postcard, it is more difficult to exaggerate the scale in such a limited space. Here goes ...

1.

This is a cut down recycled box, heavy cardboard. 

I like the color.

2.

Old newsprint, a glue stick & a brayer ... on my way.

3.

I chose a Sarah Vaughn stamp & her music above,

3 - 5

I added black newsprint to start.

6-10

I wanted to make sure I could fit in shoes, plus another arm.

11 - 15.

Cool socks & part of Sarah's ensemble.

16 --18.

A start on hands & a dress.

19 - 21.

More hands & more dress detail. Polka dots, yea!

22 - 24.

I always intended to use this red, just now got to it.

25 -29.

Dress, pockets & trim, nearly done.

30.

Add marker & done? Not yet.

31.

A touch of white marker, and DONE!

Maybe overkill, but I was having fun!

A postcard has two sides, right?

 I like to add a small collage to the address side.

1 - 2.

WW thinks this it's silly, a waste of time,

but I do it anyway.

Ready to address & get to the PO ...

  

 

  

 

A 3  minute video, Flexibility,  here.

 

 

Just because ...

Black-spotted Bare-eye

Monday's Smiles ... 

 

Hoping you feel all the good things in your day.