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Necklace with Claw-Shaped Beads (Magatama). ca. 7th century. Credit line: Rogers Fund, 1912 https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/44837

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Semi-nightly Hoshino

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this specific photo of atsushi sakurai

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PARIS WAS NOT NAMED AFTER PARIS HILTON YOU DIPSHIT

source?

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Also, places like the Bronx have seen an almost disproportionate amount of new apartment buildings constructed recently, a major chunk of these hitting the city housing lottery. This is definitely shaking up area demographics, which is probably the point of the whole endeavor, and by the looks of it may have started to reflect in elections.

Seen some wry comments about how Mandami's support didn't come from the poorest of New York who went for Cuomo, often the quip about how this is them trying to help the poor who do not actually want their help.

Speaking as someone who is in this income and political orientation if not in that exact location though I can assure you that I consider this politics as an advantage for me, I am being squeezed on housing costs and annoyed by the poor quality of public services, I am not rich enough that these are not concerns for me.

Perhaps you could call me an entitled shit in wanting these but I do not consider this pitying self-sacrificial charity

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White-faced Ibis (Plegadis chihi). Family Threskiornithidae, order Pelecaniformes.

Jet, Oklahoma, USA. May 2022.

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I got up early to vacuum and clean the place up a bit for the exterminator bc last time they came early but no one is here yettttt

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1840s

Pieter Christoffel Wonder (1777-1852), Three ladies in a drawing room interior, undated, oil on canvas.

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Hey would you mind Could you give us a huge insight of Maria and Anastasia Nikolaevna's personalitys? in some rare quotes said by someone who met them both ?

I would love to read more facts and quotes about the little pair .

Hello! Of course! I'm going to split this into two parts: this part will be about Maria, and another post will be about Anastasia.

Here are some rare, lesser known quotes, about Maria Nikolaevna (or writings from Maria herself) that capture her personality well.

"Marie was kindness and unselfishness personified" - Olga Voronova, Upheaval

Letter from Olga to aunt Xenia - "1916 August 26th … Papa brings an attendant with him to dinner, and Mordvinov comes every evening and we torment and scare him. Yesterday we discharged the conductor and drew a beard, moustache and eyebrows with a burnt cork on Marie and put her on the train. Of course, he didn't recognize her, and he was terribly tormented when during a game of hide and seek in the dark, she ran into him in the corridor and rudely pushed him. He said that it was some kind of half-drunk conductor, and found her impudent, because we gave her cigarettes and she paced about importantly, smoking them." - George Hawkins, Correspondence of the Russian Grand Duchesses: Letters of the Daughters of the Last Tsar

"The other Grand Duchesses were still children. Marie Nicholatevna was a robust, well developed little girl with big blue eves, of a typical Russian beauty. She had an excellent memory and every time somathing to be remembered her sisters always turned to her. - Alexander Spiridovitch, Last Years at Tsarskoe Selo, Volume 2

"One day the little Grand Duchess Anastasie was sitting in my lap, coughing and choking away, when the Grand Duchess Marie came to her and putting her face close up to her said, " Baby, darling, cough on me." Greatly amazed, I asked her what she meant, and the dear child said, " I am so sorry to see my dear little sister so ill, and I thought if I could take it from her she would be better." Was it not touching?" - Margaretta Eagar, Six Years at the Russian Court

The following are from George Hawkins, Alexei: Russia's Last Tsesarevich - Letters, diaries and writings - volume 1:

Note from Alexandra to Alexei, dated 1 December 1914: "Don’t tease Maria."

Letter from Tatiana to Alexei, Spring-Summer 1916 "...Taube [patient] (the one with no legs, do you remember him?) and Marie yell so you’d think the whole infirmary can hear them, they make such a fuss, and they all shout and argue. It is awfully funny to watch them."

Letter from Maria to Alexei after Alexei asked Maria to draw Joy the dog: "16 December 1916. My dear darling Alexei! I don’t know how big you want me to draw Joy, but I will give it a go, and if it doesn’t turn out, I can do it again…. I have just tried to sketch Joy but it didn't work out because I don’t really remember what he looks like and it ended up looking nothing like him, so I won’t send it to you. When you bring Joy to me, then I will be able to draw him."

The following are from Joseph T. Fuhrmann, Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna. The complete Wartime Correspondence April 1914 – March 1917:

Alexandra to Nicholas "[January] 24 1915 …Marie stands at the door & alas! picks her nose..."

Alexandra to Nicholas "January 2 1916 …Baby began writing his first diary yesterday. - Marie helped him, his spelling is of course queer."

Alexandra to Nicholas "April 2 1916 …Marie is in a grump mood & grumbles all the time & bellows at one, she & Olga have B. [Codeword for 'Becker', meaning their periods]"

The following are from George Hawkins, Correspondence of the Russian Grand Duchesses: Letters of the Daughters of the Last Tsar:

Fanmail letter from American girl Dolores Sybilla Adam to Olga and Tatiana: "Jan 24 1913 …I cannot ever thank you enough for the picture that was sent to me… But tell me is Marie the only one that ever smiles…?"

Letter from Maria to Tatiana: "Tatiana my darling. Thank you very much for the note and good wishes. Although I have not seen my husband [an inside joke amongst the sisters, most likely referring to their crushes] yet, I did see him in a dream. Today we will go to the Grand Palace and I hope that Provotorov (i.e.: your husband) will tell us a lot of nonsense. It’s boring without you. I hope that I will see ND [Nikolai Dmitrievich Demenkov, her crush] again… 9th Dec. 1914"

Letter from Maria to Olga Voronova: "Dec 29th 1914 …The other day we were at a Christmas party at Mama's nanny school. There are now many children of the reserves, so awfully sweet! We gave them all toys and they rejoiced in them, and each showed his nanny what he received. They are so appetising. Some are very small, some are even only two weeks old. I really love young children, and play with them, holding them in my arms. Do you like little children?"

Letter from Pierre Gilliard to Maria: "10 December 1916 …Be careful, Maria Nikolaevna, if you continue to tease me, I will avenge myself!!!!"

Letter from Olga to Nicholas II: "16 August [circa 1904] - Peterhof. Dear Papa …Maria went to sleep in the afternoon, and Anastasia crept under the mattress and slept there with Maria on top of her. When she got up we all laughed, and so did she." - Maylunas and Mironenko, A Lifelong Passion

Letter from Alexandra to Nicholas: "14 June 1915 - I congratulate you with all my loving heart for our big Marie’s 16th birthday… Pity you are not here. She enjoyed all her presents, I gave her her first ring from us made out of one of my Buchara diamonds. She is so cheery and gay today." - Maylunas and Mironenko, A Lifelong Passion

Letter from Anastasia to Nicholas: "26 August 1915 …I am sitting on the couch near Alexei as he is having dinner with M. Gilliard, while Maria is running around like crazy. …This morning [Doctor] Ostrogorsky came to see me, but Maria and I were still in bed, then Maria covered herself with the blanket, then he entered and listened to my [lungs], but when he finished, I quietly uncovered the blanket and Maria had to climb out, and she was very embarrassed." - Helen Azar, George Hawkins, Anastasia Romanov: The Tsar's Youngest Daughter Speaks Through Her Writings

"When I first knew the Grand Duchess Marie, she was quite a child, but during the Revolution she became very devoted to me, and I to her, and we spent most of our time together — she was a wonderful girl, possessed of tremendous reserve force, and I never realised her unselfish nature until those dreadful days. She too was exceeding fair, dowered with the classic beauty of the Romanoffs; her eyes were dark blue, shaded by long lashes, and she had masses of dark brown hair. Marie was plump, and the Empress often teased her about this; she was not so lively as her sisters, but she was much more decided in her outlook. The Grand Duchess Marie knew at once what she wanted, and why she wanted it." - Lili Dehn, The Real Tsaritsa

"Count Grabbe says of the Tsar's third daughter, clearly his favorite: "With her large gray, luminous eyes, her classical features, and languorous movements, she was the true type of Russian beauty, the most good- natured and artless of the four sisters, with endearing qualities which drew people to her." More outgoing than her older sisters, Maria Nikolaievna loved children and used to talk to soldiers about their families. She knew the names of many of the Koncoy Cossacks and Standart sailors, took an interest in their affairs and managed out of her $9 a month allowance to send little gifts to their children. With all her gentle ways, she was strong and solidly built, like her grandfather Alexander III. Her sisters called her "Mashka" and sometimes "Little Bow-wow."" - Count Alexander Grabbe, The private world of the last Tsar, in the photographs and notes of General Count Alexander Grabbe

"The Grand Duchess Maria Nicholaevna was a young wcnnan of broad build. She was very strong; for example, she could lift me up from the ground. She had lighter hair than Tatiana, but darker than Olga. (Olga Nicholaevna had brown hair, of a golden shade, and Maria Nicholaevna had brown hair with a light shade.) She had very nice, light grey eyes. She was very good looking, but got too thin after her illness. She had a great talent for painting and always liked to exercise it. She played the piano indifferently and was not as capable as Olga or Tatiana. She was modest and simple and probably had the qualities of a good wife and mother. She was fond of children and was inclined to be lazy. She liked Tobolsk and told me that she would be quite happy to stay there. It is quite difficult for me to tell you whom she preferred — her father or her mother." - Examination of Sidney Gibbes, The Last Days of the Romanovs

"The Grand Duchess Maria was eighteen ; she was tall, strong, and better looking than the other sisters. She painted well and was the most amiable. She always used to speak to the soldiers, questioned them, and knew very well the names of their wives, the number of their children, and the amount of land owned by the soldiers. All the intimate affairs in such cases were always known to her. Like the Grand Duchess Olga, she loved her father more than the rest. On account of her simplicity and affability she was given the pet name by the family of "Mashka." And by this term she was called by her brother and by her sisters." - Examination of Commissar E. S. Kobylinsky, The Last Days of the Romanovs

Hope you found it interesting or learnt something new! Will post Anastasia's a little later :)

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Mom sent me a facebook link to a PBS news hour post about how the anti-lawn movement is growing. The vast majority of the comments on it were stuff like this:

Most people are on our side here, even the so-called "boomers." We just have to be spreading ecological knowledge and practical means of creating useful habitat in back yards! Educate! Protect! Resist!