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Have a Happy Thought: Books mean a lot to people. Knowing the people reading this email, books likely mean a lot to you. The National Library of Latvia has been able to acknowledge and celebrate this nearly universal truth in a very special way. This is through the “People’s Bookshelf”, which stores books donated by people – both in Latvia but also around the world, and in any language. Each book also contains a “message or personal story relating to the book on its title page.” In other words, this is a way to share why this book is so special to you, and be able to share the book, and your why , with others.   Image: The People’s Bookshelf in the atrium of the National Library of Latvia. Grāmatu Plaukts   Want to see some examples of books and messages? Of course you do 😊   A message from Sam Mostyn, Governor-General of Australia, accompanies this book: On behalf of all Australians, I am delighted to gift this very special series of First Knowled...

Have a Happy Thought: Time is unreliable. You may think that is not so happy a thought, but really it is freeing. In 2018, the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM), who are the official horologists (timekeepers) for the world, basically, determined that Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) can differ from International Atomic Time (TAI) by up to one second. By June 2024, they were predicting the need for a negative leap second, coming sometime soon. For a refresher on leap years, minutes and seconds, and why we might need a negative leap second, check out https://cymittw.blogspot.com/2024/06/happy-thought-for-21-june.html   But now… it turns out that doing a leap second, specifically a negative leap second, might just be “too hard”. Let’s back up a second (hah!) The most recent meeting of the General Conference on Weights and Measures determined that Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) can differ from International Atomic Time (TAI) by up to one hour . Tha...

  Have a Happy Thought: Nature may be “ red in tooth and claw ”, but it can also be hilarious. I mean, we’ve all laughed at our pets when they do something stupid (my dog last night couldn’t reach a spider just beyond the edge of her leash, on a slippery surface, so did a full cartoon-character imitation for an entire, while I got a good ab workout). And that’s what the comedy wildlife awards are all about. Enjoy these few of my personal faves, then go check out the gallery and vote for the People’s Choice Award (if you don’t have voter fatigue yet). (just including the links here and not the images to make sure the competition, and the photographers, get full credit) “If I can't see you” by Cliff Fawcett , Comedy Wildlife Photo finalist.   “ Sneeze” by Alexander Hormann “Fashion fades. Feather coats are forever.” by Tapani Linnanmäk . “Did I sleep past my alarm?” by Fabi Fregonesi “Angry Bird” by Jan Wittmer ...

Have a Happy Thought: Each year in Scotland, the small island of Easdale hosts the world stone skimming championship. This has been held for over 40 years, started as an excursion from a local pub, expanding now to hundreds of contestants. Contestants can enter as individuals or as part of a team… and the team names are exactly what you would expect (and want) from such a competition, including: ·    Innit 2 Skim It ·       San Fran SkimStones ·       One Bounce Wonders ·       Better Slate Than Never ·       Revenge of the return of the planet of the slates ·       Sink Or Skim ·       East Coast Tossers Stones for skimming come from the island, made of the local slate. There is even an official competition geologist, who ensures that no stone is tampered with, even if every stone involved is turned several...