Time and Space Squid

What kind of science fiction makes a grown woman invest emotion in a genetically enhanced squid?

The book is called Time by Stephen Baxter, and it's about space squid. No joke. It's great.

This book is called Time. I'm only half-way through it, and already it's managed to walk through the whole future of humanity up to 10¹⁷⁰ (that's 170 extra zeros) years away, past when the only light in the sky is the brief flickers of matter as it passes through the event horizons of black holes. Of course this kind of time is incomprehensible, that's the whole point of the book. Does it make life any more precious, any more different? Is it comforting if you knew that your descendants would be there right up until everything has just, sort of, drifted away and died. Such a long time away that even the protons and neutrons have decayed? Sometimes life feels like a struggle for meaning, and it goes back to what I've always thought. That there is no "meaning" to it all, we just exist. Sorry, not sorry. Religious ideals and other spiritual callings have never cut it for me. They seem cowardly, giving importance where there isn't any. We just survive and reproduce and then our children survive and reproduce, and try not to mess up the planet on the way to eternity. You can spin it in that depressive way, but it's also awesome. I mean that by the definition of the word, inspiring awe. There's so much around us, and it's refreshing sometimes to be reminded how small we are. Because in 10¹⁷⁰ years, who's going to know about it? Scrap that, even in 200 years I'll have faded out of memory. I exist for myself, and for my loved ones. We can comfort each other in the emptiness.

I crocheted some space squid on their space rocket, too. The rocket is a christmas present for a not-quite 2-year-old. I'm planning to start him thinking about this stuff early. So he's prepared, you know?

Limpet x

Moon Phases Bookmark

Just a short and sweet craftspiration for you today. This is perfect for when you want to spend a few minutes crafting something you can actually use, or slip a little something into a letter for a friend. (Did I tell you I have pen-friends again? It makes me very happy.)

Some very simple watercolour bookmarks!

Watercolours lend themselves perfectly to moon-like things, so here's how to do it in 5 easy steps.

1. Draw 5 circles of the same size in a line on watercolour paper, with a compass if you have one, or just draw around something.
2. With water, paint the moon phases using your circles as a guide.
3. While the paper is still wet, dab a few splodges of your chosen colour into the shapes, being careful not to use too much paint.
4. Add more colour as required and then leave the paint to dry. You can use a dry tissue to dab off paint while it's still wet if needed.
5. Draw on any details with a pen if you like. I couldn't decide if I liked it more with or without the pen, but it definitely looks neater.

So there it is. Make just one for yourself or loads at once to give to everyone you know!

Limpet x

Goal 63: Bind a Book

In a rather fetching yellow and with added origami paper for extra oriental effect: my first bound book! 

This will contain nature sketches and such.

My Reading List

You may have noticed a new little page labelled "Reading List" pop up on the side of this blog recently. As the name suggests, this is all the books I've read/want to read within the time frame of my Big Old To-Do List, which I haven't actually decided yet. I'll be updating it regularly when I get more books and finish them, but as any reader knows it's tricky to keep on top of the ever-growing pile!

Stole Dune from my parents and I've been a sci-fi lover ever since.

Books: The Snow Child

I found The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey in one of the charity shops along my road, in the cheap student/Polish area of Southampton. The cover just beckoned me, with its snowy fairytale silhouettes on a dark blue background.