this is a good personal brand to have
Tag: replies
whaling, Antarctica, Leyendecker, taxidermy, operetta
….that is all true, although I ought to brush up on my Gilbert&Sullivan, I feel like a Fake Operetta Geek Girl, having only seen two of them.
I associate you with early 20th century illustration, field guides, general New England Vibes, Jeeves & Wooster, AND ALSO YOU’RE MY WHALING FRIEND.
omg I’m so glad I have general New England vibes, despite not having lived there in nine years. I miss it so. ;____;
not a book, but something else antarctica-related you might be into is the documentary Antarctica: A Year on Ice (on netflix). it’s fascinating and beautifully shot and did nothing whatsoever to dissuade me from wanting to go to antarctica. (also, hello, i am a fan of you & your blog)
oh thank you! I think I’d heard of that, but I had not heard any opinions on it. I’ll check it out! (and ha, well, I’m glad you’re enjoying my nonsense!)
“which is why this is so short,” she says, posting TEN annotated sources on a rather specific topic
LISTEN. I….. yeah okay I didn’t realize how long it actually was until after I posted it.
Can you rec me some good Antarctica books (fiction or nonfiction)? I study Antarctic geology and I’ve read Shackleton’s Boat Journey by FA Worsley and At the Mountains of Madness by HP Lovecraft. Genre isn’t super important but I’d love more firsthand accounts of expeditions.
HECK YES I CAN. Okay so these are all nonfiction and not many first-hand accounts, and this list is by no means exhaustive (everyone feel free to add things!) but they’re all fun reads:
- Antarctica: Exploring the Extreme by Marilyn Landis is a good overview of ALL the various historical exploration of the continent. Only downside it that it is an overview, not a narrative, so while it’s packed with interesting information, I kept losing focus when the author shifted from one expedition to another.
- Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing is a classic of the genre and one I’m super glad to have read, even though Shackleton, as a human being, didn’t strike me as sympathetically as Scott and his men did. I actually haven’t read that firsthand account that you mention, but Lansing does a good job of giving a broad perspective while telling a gripping story.
- Alone on the Ice: The Greatest Survival Story in the History of Exploration by David Roberts is the story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, the lesser-known Australian counterpart to Scott, Shackleton, and Amundsen’s high-profile expeditions. The AAE’s story is pretty goddamn incredible- the fact that a number of the party had never before seen snow before setting out is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
- The Last Viking: The Life of Roald Amundsen by Stephen Bown is about Amundsen’s life as a whole, and, as such, the famous South Pole trip isn’t a major focus, but the rest of his exploits are equally fascinating. A good look at an explorer who gets overshadowed by the far more dramatic Scott expedition in english-language history.
- The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard is, of course, about that very dramatic expedition. We all know the tragic story of Scott’s Terra Nova expedition, but Cherry lived it, and his book bleeds feeling. Heart-wrenching, gripping, and personal. If you want more books/info about that expedition in particular, first you ought to follow @tealin (who is something of an expert, and has recommended A First-Rate Tragedy by Diana Preston, as well as the writing of “Ranulph Fiennes, Susan Solomon, and anything ever written by Karen May” and has given more in-depth recs here, as well.) as well as her Scott-specific blog @worstjourney (and check out a preview of her upcoming graphic novel project about the expedition here! It’s gonna be amazing!)
Bonus, a few I have not yet read (or not finished) but have been sitting on my shelves awaiting my attention:
- Scott’s Last Expedition: The Journals by Robert Falcon Scott. Self-explanatory, I think.
- Sea of Glory: America’s Voyage of Discovery by Nathaniel Philbrick. About Charles Wilkes’ 1838 expedition, intended to chart the entire Pacific Ocean, that ended up putting a name on Antarctica, among many other things. Haven’t read it yet but I’d trust this author with a lot, as he also wrote one of my favorite nonfiction books, In The Heart of the Sea.
- The Last Explorer: Hubert Wilkins, Hero of the Great Age of Polar Exploration by Simon Nasht. I was given this book and have not yet read it, but he was apparently the first person to use an airplane in the Antarctic.
- Big Dead Place: Inside the Strange and Menacing World of Antarctica by Nicholas Johnson. I’m pretty sure my father gave me this book so I would stop talking about how I wanted to go to Antarctica. Johnson worked as a cook at McMurdo Station in the early 2000s, and his descriptions of living in Antarctica make it sound like the worst combination of low-wage service job, boarding school, and being in the military ever. It includes exciting descriptions of the kind of bureaucratic red tape you’d expect when working for what is, in fact, a major defense contractor. I’m officially disillusioned.

@focsle HONESTLY if you hate painting, gouache is the paint for you. It feels weirdly like a coloring book.
I mean, obviously you CAN make it look more painterly if you try to use it like acrylics or oils or something, but since it dries significantly lighter than it looks wet, it’s easiest to go for a flat graphic style.
pipistrellus replied to your photo: I’m almost done with The Charioteer, which means,…
I KEEP THINKING OF ANDREW AS “THOMAS”… AND THEN FEELING BAD… SORRY ANDREW
HONESTLY he ends up being more of a blank slate for Laurie to project onto than a fully realized person in this book, largely because of Laurie’s very self-centered-young-man POV. Oh Laurie. bless. it makes it hard to remember things about him.
amarguerite replied to your post: we’re at the vet and Lucy’s anxiety is giving ME…
oh noooo D: do you have commissions or a paypal or anything so we can help a little with costs?
oh wow, um, well my paypal email is micathemineral@gmail.com, I certainly won’t refuse donations, for Lucy’s sake, but no one should feel obligated! As far as commissions go- frankly I’m slow and fiddly enough at painting that I never make enough on them to make the time worth it. I might open quick sketch commissions if there’s interest.
i keep trying to think of a noncreepy way to be like ‘OR you can let me examine your muscles’ but its not working
pip come 2 seattle and you can [significant pause, ludicrously exaggerated wink] examine my muscles