On this day in 1912 Lawrence Oates, a member of Robert Falcon Scott’s
British team to the South Pole, left his tent never to be seen again.
Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition was his second attempt and aimed to become
the first group to reach the South Pole. The group succeeded in
reaching the Pole on January 17th 1912, only to discover that they had
been beaten by Roald Amundsen’s Norwegian expedition. Sadly, Scott’s
entire party of five men died on the return journey. Oates was one of
those who died first. He was suffering from severe frostbite and, in an
apparent act of self-sacrifice, simply walked out of his tent into a
blizzard. He had asked them to leave him behind as his condition
worsened, and it is likely he felt that he was holding his group back
and limiting their chances for survival. Thus on March 16th he walked
out of the tent saying: “I am just going outside and may be some time.”
The others died soon after and their bodies were found by a search
party in November, along with some of their equipment and personal
effects. Oates’s body was never found, but he and his companions are
remembered as brave men and national heroes.
“We knew that poor Oates was walking to his death, but though we tried to dissuade him, we knew it was the act of a brave man and an English gentleman.” – Entry in Scott’s diary about Oates
why does this have 32k notes? it’s just a picture of a knife in a ranch bottle, is there some unspoken joke that 32 thousand people share? what is going on here, i dont get it. it’s just a fucking picture of a knife in a ranch bottle. is there some spiritual connection people have to this picture? is there some ominous and mystical reasoning that this has 32 thousand notes? do people reblog this because it makes them look like some indie blogger? or is there just something funny to this? someone please explain
I climbed a 65-foot wall at REI yesterday and- despite being securely on a rope- it was terrifying because, well… I’ve now been bouldering enough that my instinctual knowledge of the result of slipping or missing my grip is “falling (onto the mats)” but when ‘letting go = falling’ is added to ‘being 65 feet above a hard surface’ it becomes a much more pressing thought, despite all intellectual awareness of the safety equipment and belayer
….no but honestly every joke one could make about earnest/well-meaning middle-class white liberals applies doubly to UUs, and then there are all the ones about the actual religion itself. Like the fact it’s less a religion than a philosophy discussion half-hour followed by an hour of coffee, which is what I told anyone who asked what UU was when I was a kid. Just google “UU jokes” and you’ll find TONS of pages full of them, all lovingly curated by diligent UUs.
but also please enjoy this joke my mother posted on facebook last week:
Why can’t UUs sing hymns in a chorus? Because they’re all reading ahead to see if they agree with the next verse.
How many UUs does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Twenty. Seven to form a committee to discuss the ecological implications of compact fluorescent vs. incandescent bulbs, six to form a committee to discuss labor practices, six on the aesthetics committee to discuss the exact tint and wattage, and one who goes ahead and does it without consulting anyone else.
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What is the definition of “Unitarian diversity”?
Three colors of Subarus in the church parking lot
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We all know that Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses got to people’s doors in pairs. When two Unitarian Universalists go to someone’s door they start a theological debate with each other.
….no but honestly every joke one could make about earnest/well-meaning middle-class white liberals applies doubly to UUs, and then there are all the ones about the actual religion itself. Like the fact it’s less a religion than a philosophy discussion half-hour followed by an hour of coffee, which is what I told anyone who asked what UU was when I was a kid. Just google “UU jokes” and you’ll find TONS of pages full of them, all lovingly curated by diligent UUs.
but also please enjoy this joke my mother posted on facebook last week:
Why can’t UUs sing hymns in a chorus? Because they’re all reading ahead to see if they agree with the next verse.
the previous post brought to you by the fact that I went to a strategic planning meeting about the future of my MA program today and one of my fellow students- an art museum education person- was saying that we should do LESS hands-on collections/exhibits work in our program and have classes focus more on the ethics and philosophy of museums and, furthermore, maybe museums shouldn’t even have collections at all.
so if you’re wondering how far up their own asses art museum people are……….. it’s that far.
I’m sorry but
how do u have a museum without a collection
I DON’T KNOW. it would be “””””experiential””””….. I guess. I mean, plenty of science centers really only have teaching collections but that’s still something.
A Pretty Taste for Paradox 