He scurries among the charred tree trunks, pointing out all the trees and shrubs that either survived the fire or sprouted up afterwards: Western red cedar, morel mushroom, huckleberry, twinflower, bear grass. Tiny new Douglas fir trees dot the ground with bright green spikes and grow out of pine cones. “So you see that as quickly as the forest is destroyed, the seedlings come right back. It’s magnificent, isn’t it?” Kauffman says.

Fire is part of the ecosystem in the Northwest, he says.

“Virtually all of the plants and animals of these forests evolved to survive and even thrive and quite often even depend upon fire for their survival and for their reproduction,” Kauffman says. “It was flaming here. It was probably a thousand degrees at this site. Yet so many of the plants survive even those harsh conditions.”

A friend of mine in the art history department at Yale recently told me she had just been introduced to the artist Josef Albers at a college Fellows’ Lunch. I said to her No, that’s impossible. She said No, no, it was definitely him. Very old German guy with silver hair, Josef Albers. I said No, it can’t be, he’s been dead twenty-five years. Look, I’ll show you a picture. I had an old catalogue with his portrait on the back page. She said Yes, that’s him, Josef Albers. He was very friendly and it was definitely him.

“It’s summer now, and you’re craving a simpler existence. You want to read. You want to write. You want to meet strangers for dinner, and not refuse another drink at another bar. You want to dance. You want to find yourself in a basement, neck loose, bobbing your head as a group of musicians play, not because they should, but because they must. It’s summer now, and you’re looking forward to worrying less. You’re looking forward to longer nights and shorter days. You’re looking forward to gathering in back gardens and watching meat sputter on an open barbecue. You’re looking forward to laughing so hard your chest hurts and you feel light-headed. You’re looking forward to the safety in pleasure. You’re looking forward to forgetting, albeit briefly, the existential dread which plagues you, which tightens your chest, which pains your left side. You’re looking forward to forgetting that, leaving the house, you might not return intact. You’re looking forward to freedom, even if it is short, even if it might not last. You’re looking forward.”

Caleb Azumah Nelson, Open Water

Lil Nas X takes self-expression to a new level as a creator. In his song “HOLIDAY”, he sings, “I may bottom on the low, but I’m top shit.” He’s indicating that his preferred sexual position is “bottom”, but that with everything else in life he’s on top. Because of society’s warped view of masculinity, being a bottom is stigmatized—even within the queer community. But Lil Nas X derives power from it; and, naturally, he does so with humor and wit. Here, he takes Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s famous quote on feminism and replaces the word “girl” with “bottom”:

nope 🏹 @LilNasX @kevinabstract We teach our bottoms to shrink themselves, to make themselves smaller. We say to bottoms, you can have ambition, but not too much. You should aim to be successful, but not too successful. Otherwise, you would threaten the top. June 29th 2021

1. When the main characters are a set of twins, and there's a "good" one and an "evil" one.
2. When the "bad guy[s] never gives up. Like ever. Even right before imminent death, there's not a shadow of hesitation."
3. "When the main character is a 'Plain Jane' and dogs herself throughout the entire book until the snarky blonde boy says she's beautiful/like a firecracker/not like other girls/so unique."
4. When "the billionaire main character, who lives in a modern and minimalist decorated home — who is also afraid of commitment — somehow falls head over heels for the other main character."
5. More specifically, when the "ancient vampire master (or substitute magical creature of the day, but must be old) — who is also super sexy, rich, and powerful — immediately falls for a messy, broke woman in her early twenties with a tragic, mysterious past because she's just so special and different."
6. Whenever miscommunication between the two main characters "leads to conflict. Especially when the characters point blank refuse to utter a word to each other, even when a simple sentence of explanation could resolve the entire problem."
7. When a character breaks up with another character in order "to protect them."
8. When two characters of the "opposite sex get partnered together unexpectedly. They are both in the same age bracket and ridiculously attractive. Somehow, despite their successful careers and tight, athletic bodies, they are both single."
9. When "the main character carries a terrible, horrendous, shameful burden that is alluded to constantly...which turns out to be something either something common" or something that isn't actually their fault.
10. When "the beautiful, young ingénue (who is incredibly attractive and somehow doesn't realize it) meets an older, emotionally damaged man, and fixes him."
11. When the average teenage girl somehow develops superpowers while juggling multiple love interests and is always having to get saved, usually from a mess of her own making.
12. Or just love triangles in general.
13. When two characters are forced to fake-date in order to solve a problem.
14. When the spy has amnesia and has to use their skills to get their memory back and/or avenge someone that they forgot.
15. "When a character is a runner, because they want to be free/get away from where they are."
16. "When a character likes math or science because it's binary right and wrong."
17. When characters in a fantasy series always get sorted into houses/groups/factions, etc.
18. When a character — usually female — has to endure a sexual trauma for either personal growth and/or plot development.
19. "When the main character takes every possible opportunity to sacrifice themselves."
20. When a "celebrity falls in love with someone because she doesn’t recognize him, and that's a change for him."
21. Last, but not least, when the main character has "auburn hair," or "green/blue eyes" or "ivory skin" — or some combination of all three:

Bezos invited his brother Mark for ride into space. Mark is a financier who directs the Bezos Family Foundation and works as a volunteer firefighter.

The pair are best friends and Jeff shared the moment he surprised his sibling, six years his junior, by asking him to join the mission in a video that went viral on Instagram last month.

At 82, barrier-breaking woman aviator Wally Funk became the oldest ever astronaut fulfilling a lifelong dream that was thwarted by the sexism of the early space era.

Funk, who took her first flying lesson aged nine, excelled in the Mercury 13 project which was intended to train women for space using the same standards as male astronauts but the program was eventually nixed.

She nevertheless had an accomplished career in aviation becoming the first female air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board and serving as chief pilot in several flight schools.

Oliver Daemen, 18, became the youngest astronaut. He holds a private pilot's license and is a space enthusiast who will study physics in university this fall.

The Dutch teen took the place of still anonymous winner of a $28 million public auction, who asked to pass this time because of "scheduling conflicts," and will go on a later trip.

Daemen's ticket was paid for by his father, the CEO of a private equity firm, CNBC reported.

Artist statement

Motion and stillness, capturing the transient, letting go of movement – apparent contradictions which go hand in hand so evidently to me.
Not the image, but rather the memory of it is what nurtures me.
The invisible turmoil of the soul.
Catching the intangible.
I work seemingly without a plan, without restrictions.
The framework is set only by the technique: photography combined with traditional etching and printing.
The devotion this craftsmanship requires of me leads to the velvety appearance. Light is deeply meaningful in my work.
It could not exist but for the play between black and white, shades and nuances.
We want to capture, to keep. In fact, letting go is what brings out the most intimate images.

“So the darkness shall be the light. And the stillness the dancing.” T.S. Elliott