Tuesday 9 October 2012

Set Sail!

The blogosphere today is very diverse.  Blogs pop up on design, crafting, science, comics, daily life, writing, oddities, and [yo dawg] there are even blogs that blog about blogs for you to blog.

I didn't want to end up with a microblog monstrosity on my hands, writing about minute details of my day and with no theme to tie everything together neatly. I was searching for inspiration to make my blog at least a little bit different.

Of course, there's nothing really original as Jim Jarmusch said it so well:
Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery - celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from - it’s where you take them to."

...but I can try to take my ideas great places!

Fortunately, I think the inspiration hit me today!   I've been interested in the study of fungi since grade 11, so you could say this is a bit of a long-term relationship.   While on a walk with my mycology class through the arboretum (led by naturalist Richard Aaron) it really sunk in how neat I think fungi are.  It is fantastic to finally have some formal experience of the subject I enjoy reading about on my own.

Little questions:
"How do you tell the difference between Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor) and False Turkey Tail (Stereum ostrea)?"
"What are defining characteristics of white rot? brown rot?"
"What are the steps that take place between lignin or cellulose decomposition by rot, and the final outcome of total decay?"

I think it would be wonderful to share my affinity for such a diverse and important taxonomic group to round out the blogosphere a little bit :)

Lemon Drops (Bisporella citrina) growing on a fallen tree branch; photobombed by a slug.

I hope that this endeavor is successful in that it gives me a positive outlet to develop the amateur mycologist in me, and provides an element of interest for the bloggers and blog readers out there.

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving weekend was wonderful!  Keep looking for everyday magic.

-Kamelia

1 comment:

  1. OF COURSE. MUSHROOMS.
    I sent you the facebook message about mushrooms before I even read this... just fyi. It's like I know you or something....


    xo

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