Once again I am accepting your guesses — what, pray tell, are depicted in the three macro photos above? Pop in your guesses, and the winner gets a prize — THE PRIZE OF BEING AWESOME. It is an intangible prize but one that you may transform into a ribbon or t-shirt or an unending vibe of good-naturedness that will buoy you through life. Your call.
(Number 2 in the photos above is obviously a waterdrop. The guess is actually on what does the waterdrop sit? Hint: I took that photo indoors, not outside.)
Drop guesses in the comments below.
Let’s see, what else is going on?
Well, in February it was 76 degrees. Last week it was in the 60s. It’s now March, and 12 degrees, and tomorrow we’re getting up to two feet of snow so that’s fine, everything’s fine, nothing to see here. (Truthfully, a big cuckoo blizzard in March isn’t unusual around these parts — but the near-80 degrees in February is a wee bit odd. But ha ha thankfully climate change is just a Chinese hoax so don’t worry.)
Hmm anything else, anything else —
OH I KNOW, Empire’s End hit the NYT list again — dropping in at #11. *wiggles*
Also, I dropped some wisdom at Boing Boing on the subject of seven things you probably didn’t know about vultures. I mean, some of you probably knew this stuff, because you’re smart, educated people who are also clearly vulture aficionados like me.
I was on a couple radio shows last week talking BOOK STUFF, so — soon as I have links, I’ll share.
And finally, I’m at Hypable, interviewed about Thunderbird.
If you’ve read any of my books — especially Thunderbird — I’d love a review posted somewhere of your choosing. Amazon, Goodreads, carved into a popular picnic table at your local park.
Thanks all, and have a great week. P.S., If you’re going to be buried in snow, at least die with the comfort that the snow will preserve your body so the robots who govern the future will marvel over it at a museum.
The Urban Spaceman says:
I love vultures, and have even touched on the plight of India’s vultures in drabble format. The sheer number lost to diclofenac poisoning is quite distressing.
Anyway, those are some pretty challenging macro pics today. I’d say #1) is something frog related, maybe frog spawn or the lumpy back of a frog, though some of the moisture does seem to have an oily film over it, so perhaps a few droplets of gasoline on something metal? #2 is… ummm… drop of water on an egg carton? #3 could be the seeds of a pepper clinging to its fleshy pulp?
That, or a crazy new globular life form as a result of FRANKENSCIENCE!
March 13, 2017 — 8:38 AM
Paul Weimer says:
at least die with the comfort that the snow will preserve your body so the robots who govern the future will marvel over it at a museum.
Been rewatching AI: Artificial Intelligence again?
#3…hmmm, cooked rice?
March 13, 2017 — 8:43 AM
Judy Eddy says:
I’m thinking 1. something frog-related. 2. a droplet of water on a leaf. 3. insect eggs on something… Great pics!
March 13, 2017 — 9:50 AM
Judy Eddy says:
2. Oh! Kale!
March 13, 2017 — 9:53 AM
NDC says:
The last one looks like Rice Krispies
March 13, 2017 — 10:18 AM
J.W. Martin says:
1 – dish soap, 2 – water on marble counter top, 3 – cantaloupe
I’m probably way off, but they’re really interesting images.
March 13, 2017 — 10:46 AM
Delia (Postcards from Asia) says:
No. 1 is obviously an alien being born on a far and distant planet. Because aliens about to be be born look like that. Obviously.
No. 2 is the tear of a mermaid caught on a piece of fabric. Obviously I’ve been watching Jack Sparrow and his movies far too many times. Obviously.
No. 3 is food related. I want to say beans but that’s too crass. Besides, those things look crispy. Maybe food for the baby alien being born in pic no. 1? Obviously. 🙂
Congrats for #11.
Time to go check out the vulture post.
March 13, 2017 — 11:21 AM
Erik says:
The third one is the inside of a pepper, probably red by the color.
March 13, 2017 — 12:07 PM
AN says:
My guess
1- sudsy water and grease in the act of washing a pan
2- water droplet on the underbelly of an herb leaf
3- melon seeds, no wait pepper seeds, tomato, I’m on the fence
March 13, 2017 — 1:40 PM
LearaWrites says:
1. dish soap 2. water droplet on a cabbage leaf 3. pepper seeds, though it kind of looks like Corn Pops cereal 🙂
March 13, 2017 — 2:09 PM
Oliver Gray says:
1. Toad or frog, 2. water on an upturned leaf, outside, 3. Jalapeno or hot pepper seeds. Great shots!
March 13, 2017 — 2:55 PM
Gillian says:
1. Dish soap bubbles
2. Water on some kind of dark velvety leaf. Maybe a perennial like Vinca minor
3. The seeds of a red pepper still attached to the flesh.
March 13, 2017 — 2:58 PM
Lily says:
Hmm, I agree that 3. is pepper seeds (guess red or orange based on color) but 1. looks like bubbling coffee to me and 2. looks like a water droplet on one of those coverings you put over plants in winter to protect them from cold, no idea what that’s called. But it’s probably a droplet on a collard green or kale leaf. I’m going with droplet on veggie leaf cause it’s the more likely answer. Do I win being awesome? I’ve never won being awesome. I wanna win being awesome.
P.S.: I agree that the seeds look like Corn Pops cereal. I thought that immediately but then realized it’s macro unless they used some newfangled laser shrink ray to make macro Corn Pops, which would be awesome and I’d eat them all the time.
March 13, 2017 — 3:08 PM
mangacat201 says:
Ok, I’ll try my hand here – without peaking at the competition!
So 1) is soap suds I think – might be something cooking, but I think it’s soup suds because of the, the whatchamacallit – the swirly colours on the bubble.
2) The waterdrop obviously sits on some kind of thick leaf, maybe red cabbage of some sort? (I have no idea what it might actually be called, my second language culinary vocabulary is not big enough for this shit.
3) I think that’s the seed core of a pepper, most likely? And judging from the orangy human-skin-colourness of the flesh beneath it’s most likely a red pepper, because with green and yellow ones the seeds sit in very lightly coloured flesh. (but that’s just me being a pretenious smartass now)
If I got anywhere near, hooray, if I didn’t still hooray because those are gorgeous, fascinating macros.
March 13, 2017 — 5:54 PM
janinmi says:
Turkey vultures are a very close second in my raptor hierarchy (yes, they’re considered a bird of prey) to peregrine falcons. I knew all seven of those facts, btw. *polishes nails* Peregrines are the fastest aerial hunters of living prey; turkey vultures are, in my experience, the fastest eaters of the dead. I’ve seen a wake of teevees (about 15-20 birds) dispatch a large raccoon carcass in less than 30 minutes. Also, a kettle is a behavior as well as a collective noun; it’s a specific flight pattern, and beautiful to observe. As I like to say, without vultures and beetles, we’ be up to our eyebrows in dead stuff.
March 14, 2017 — 11:17 AM
Awkwardly Alive says:
Water on a rock… water on a leaf… rice crispies.
March 17, 2017 — 2:43 PM