henry purcell’s symphonic “come if you dare” is the arthurian 17th century equivalent of today’s “fucking fight me” and I demand we re-establish it as the official challenge to a duel.
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Circe, 1889
Wright Barker (1864 – 1941)
Me ten years from now with a reputation as either a witch or an insane scientist, owning a lavish villa in a hidden forest, providing a safe haven for wild animals in need, pictured here while greeting an unwanted visitor who is yet unaware that they just took their last breath on this green earth (artist dead, ca. 2017)
the oxygen in the air that you breathe is eating you alive but you’re still here so breathe a bit more of it and exhale and go conquer the world or something just as terribly wonderful that a species dying from its own metabolism can achieve.
The universe watches always, sees everything, but judges nothing, and responds never.
a few fun octopus facts:
- their arms are similar to our tongues in that their muscle fibers are oriented in three different directions
- octopuses are disconcertingly strong (anecdotal evidence says that a 15 inch wide octopus was as strong as the scientist handling it)
- on that note that same scientist said that when her octopuses escaped she would have to run behind them, “like cats” (paraphrased from sy montgomery’s the soul of an octopus)
- aquariums have “octopus enriching programs” so they don’t get bored and fuck shit up in their tanks
- they are crazy smart like. really. really fucking smart
- but we can’t compare their intelligence to ours because our evolution branched from the same common ancestor so long ago we cannot comprehend how they think
- it’s believed that their intelligence evolved when they lost their shell, and had to adapt to predict how countless of different prey and predators would act, how to avoid them, distract them, lure them or trick them
- they visualize how other creatures are going to act, which means they have have awareness that others are individuals which is a type of consciousness but i can’t remember what it’s called right now
- like, they use tools
- they have distinct personalities
- aquarium octopuses are socialized from a very young age and even though in the wild they are solitary creatures they become extremely friendly with enough human exposure
- sometimes they dislike people for no apparent reason and will shoot water at them
- they have three hearts
- each of their arms has a tiny brain that controls movement and sensory input on its own i shit you not
- they are color blind and yet they can camouflage their color and nobody knows how
- they can change the color and texture of their skin faster than human eyes can keep up with it
- great pacific octopuses are white when they are peaceful, and red when they’re excited
- aquarium octopus have escaped their tanks and slithered down pipes into the ocean
- escaped their tanks to eat the fish in other tanks
- escaped their tanks to go fight other octopuses cuz they were bored
- octopus fight club
- learned how to take photographs
- cost thousands of dollars by flooding new floors
- they can feel, taste, and smell with their suckers and all of their skin
- they enjoy tasting their food by slowly moving it through their suckers instead of shoving it in their beaks
they can rewrite their rna. no, really
- the only reason why they haven’t evolved to take over as the next dominant race is because they’re doing pretty well in the ocean so there’s no need for them to adapt further
- there’s a ton more but i’m so overwhelmed by love i can’ think of any at the moment i’m going to cry
- read the soul of an octopus by sy mongomery no she didn’t pay me i just love octopuses so much
Also:
learned to shoot out the annoying light over the tank hid in floor drains when caught out of their tanks by researchers hid the shells of crabs stolen from a tank under a third, unrelated tank Sy is a wonderful human and a great researcher. NEAq actually named a GPO after her in honor of all her work on octopuses. (Or octopi, or octopodes – they’re all correct). Definitely read that book.
Moami 