Unusual Articles on Wikipedia

by Liz Heather in

Have you heard of this already? I was told about it years ago by my friend Andrew, who only said, "Just go here. Spend a day." 

It's a listing of basically the weirdest/most-interesting-stuff-you've-never-heard-of-but-would-likely-be-intrigued-by on Wikipedia. There are a lot of sub sections, but the ones I enjoyed the most were probably:

  • Technology, inventions and products
  • Popular culture, entertainment and the arts
  • Food
  • Folklore
  • Law, law enforcement and crime

And some favourites?  

  • Acoustic Kitty: A failed CIA experiment at using a cat for covert surveillance.
  • Clocky: An alarm clock that hides from its owner (!) 
  • Capgras delusion: a disorder in which a person holds a delusion that a friend, spouse, parent, or other close family member has been replaced by an identical-looking impostor.
  • Mary Toft: An English woman who hoaxed doctors into believing that she had given birth to rabbits. 

Honestly, I still haven't gone over the whole document because there's just so much. So I have it bookmarked and go every once in awhile. Go here to see what I'm talking about.  

by Liz Heather in ,

“I actually attack the concept of happiness. The idea that - I don’t mind people being happy - but the idea that everything we do is part of the pursuit of happiness seems to me a really dangerous idea and has led to a contemporary disease in Western society, which is fear of sadness. It’s a really odd thing that we’re now seeing people saying “write down 3 things that made you happy today before you go to sleep”, and “cheer up” and “happiness is our birthright” and so on. We’re kind of teaching our kids that happiness is the default position - it’s rubbish. Wholeness is what we ought to be striving for and part of that is sadness, disappointment, frustration, failure; all of those things which make us who we are. Happiness and victory and fulfillment are nice little things that also happen to us, but they don’t teach us much. Everyone says we grow through pain and then as soon as they experience pain they say “Quick! Move on! Cheer up!” I’d like just for a year to have a moratorium on the word “happiness” and to replace it with the word “wholeness”. Ask yourself “is this contributing to my wholeness?” and if you’re having a bad day, it is.”
— Hugh Mackay (via histrionicenlightenment)

Song of Myself - Walt Whitman

by Liz Heather in

When I die, somebody please read this beautiful excerpt at my funeral:

"What do you think has become of the young and old men?

And what do you think has become of the women and children? They are alive and well somewhere,

The smallest sprout shows there is really no death,

And if ever there was it led forward life, and does not wait at the end to arrest it,

And ceas'd the moment life appear'd.

All goes onward and outward, nothing collapses,

And to die is different from what any one supposed, and luckier."

- Song of Myself, Walt Whitman