High Noon for a point of punctuation

“I say, the position of the full stop in relation to the closing quote mark depends on—”

“And I say the dang period always goes inside.”

"Whether the reader actually notices the position of the final full stop is rather dubious. Editors shed blood, sweat and tears over the issue, wrestling with anomalies not covered by the various rules; and the wastage of editorial time suggests there’s a lot to be said for a simple system. The American system (put it inside) is still easiest to apply in texts with a lot of dialogue . . . But for nonfiction writing, the practice of treating final punctuation for quote marks the same way as for parentheses has much to recommend it."
- Pam Peters, The Cambridge Australian English Style Guide, Cambridge University Press, 1995

I highly recommend this worldly guide as a reference for writers, editors, and an eye-opening tour of English's Babel, It is much more useful than a provincial tome like the Oxford Guide to or Chicago Manual of Style.

However, Peters would be useless at a shootout. I see her at High Noon sitting on the fence, yelling “Arbitrate!”.

Movement

 

Mushrooms past their peak

Often the older fungi get, the more interesting they are. Others think so too, especially slime moulds.

This fungus is in the genus Ramaria, and here the slime mould looks like rime.

I have no idea what this mushroom is, but it felt like a warm mouse.

The next big celebrity hair look

The black to the roots look should have run its course, though from the latest Eurovision song contest, you wouldn't know it. But then only the great Cezar was worth watching this year. What a voice, and what a ballsy choice!

He has too much class to go for this new look, but I propose it for the normal performer celeb sensation now.

Stepping back:

Go boldly, science fiction covers!

Goose barnacles and fate-makers

Goose barnacles seem born to be metaphors. They attach themselves before they are old enough to think (not that they are known for existentialism at even their most mature state) to a randomness of flotsam and in this case, the jetsam of an undersea volcano.

Yet unlike people who could pry themselves free from an opinion or loyalty with a bit of thought, goose barnacles have no choice. Once left high and dry, they die with their mouths agape.

Inexorability: the personality trait of bracket fungi

A portrait of two beauties - quince and persimmon

and they know how to wear their perfumes

This year the orchard has been generous to all. A family of crows has enjoyed many persimmons, the wallabies have had parties under the trees, eating what they can reach and what the crows during the day, and the fruit bats at night, drop. This year the true complexity of the quince comes out best when the fruit is eaten out of hand, raw, cut with a fruit knife. Quince is quite ergonomic, too, which is one way to say that it feels as if its curvy heft with that slight down, is meant to be fondled. The persimmons are also sensuality plus. One counterpoint to their passionate hue is the slight stink of their beautiful veined leaves.

Neptune's shaving brush

What is art, but noticing what is