Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Zentangle

Have you heard of zentangle? It's like a systematic doodle where you're repeating patterns to create a larger and coherent drawing (but not of anything, just consisting of patterns). Supposedly it's not about the final product, it's about the meditative process (hence the "zen"). I'm skeptical -- I looked into it because I tend to fill my margins with repeating shapes that turn into larger patterns, and I thought this would be a more fun and productive thing to do, but everything I've seen is focused on selling you stuff. There's an official kit, and certified teachers who teach classes, and an emphasis on "official" zentangles which have to be a specific size and following their method.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Periods

Fascinating Quora answer to the question of why women have periods even though menstruation is "a shameful waste of nutrients, disabling, and a dead giveaway to any nearby predators."