Yesterday, there was a brief break from more urgent tasks (just kidding – I wanted to take a break and do something fun), so started checking my latest video clips for something interesting to post.
My original target was a set of ants in flower(s) clips, but before those were three hummingbird clips taken 2026, October 15th, that might make something viewable. Poststabilized, trimmed, cropped and with fade through black transitions.
Hummingbird feeding in red flowers
It was a sunny day, and I had been neglecting my flower walks, when I saw a hummingbird that was intent on feeding from red flowers. A couple of times she flew aside when pedestrians walked past, but returned to feed nearly instantly after they had passed. She must have been hungry.
And she was most likely she because of her muted colors – male hummingbirds have brilliant, iridescent coloration, females are better camouflaged. Although spotting a bright green, leaf-shaped male hummingbird singing in a tree can be very challenging, and often I just walk away knowing that he was there but I could not see the bird from the leaves.
An ant in a flower. Some of the ant clips taken were not very happening ones, the ant kept on feeding(?), not walking much.
White butterfly (looks like a Pierid) seen on 2026 Aug 03, (in sidereal Cancer, if that bit of info is topical to this post)
When I was very small, some auntie had asked me what my zodiac sign was. I did not know how zodiac signs were assigned, I just assumed one picks an animal, so I answered that I am a butterfly.
It was only recently that I realized that butterfly could actually be interpreted as a valid zodiac sign, if you are a Cancer. Insects are part of Pancrustacea, albeit closer to Brachiopoda, such as waterfleas, than to Malacostraca, such as lobsters and crabs.
Carcinisation has happened in at least five groups of Decapod Crustaceans (within Malacostraca), I presume due to ecological advantage. Evolution is very flexible, and the morphospace within Pancrustacea is staggering, ranging from parasitic barnacles, through coconut crabs (a hermit crab, not a true crab) to fairyflies (very small flying insects.) Thus, I would speculate that even insects, when exposed to sufficiently long evolutionary opportunity might undergo carcinisation, though at the current levels of ecological occupancy, this is extremely unlikely on Earth. Maybe on some terraformed environment…
Assuming the insect potential to carcinisation, I would then expand the postulate that insects could be considered equivalent to crabs. At least, if squinting hard from some non-Euclidean, deeply imaginary angle. Thus, butterfly would be a valid zodiac sign.
Of course, considering the deep divergence of Decapod and Insect crown lineages (Communostraca and Allotrichocrdia, respectively) some time during Cambrian or even Neoproterozoic era, on the same logic Leo, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Capricorn, Sagittarius and Aquarius would be interchangeable, whereas Scorpio would still form an evolutionary outgroup. I do not include Virgo here, because the presumed fertility/judicial deity is represented by constellation Furrow with Spica (signifying grain), and Furrow is neither a Chordate nor an arthropod (or maybe the constellation was named after the things she represents and Virgo should be among Chordata). Also excluded is the putative thirteenth zodiac, Ophiuchus, since the standard calendar uses only twelve signs. And to fully confuse the issue, astronomically, the Buttefly Cluster resides within the constellation of Scorpius, which after all, is another arthropod.
As the origins of the zodiac signs would require another, deeper dive into Mesopotamian mythology, and the origins or Western calendar, mathematics and astronomy, none of which are my strong points, I’ll skip them here. And what do I think of astrology in general? I presume that during the Bronze Age and earlier times, human biology was much more connected to annual variation in circadian rhythms and seasonal variations in diet, and thus a baby born in summer months would have different gestational environment and early infancy than a child born in winter or spring. The differences were probably strong enough to affect the later health and psychological development of the individual, causing observable differences between cohorts born, e.g, when Sun was in Leo rather than in Sagittarius. Modern horoscope warnings about tall dark strangers approaching on Tuesday, are nonsense, I think.
Summa summarum, I consider butterfly to be approximately as valid a zodiac sign as the zodiac signs in general, and depending on taste, equivalent of Cancer or Scorpio.
Brown butterfly seen on 2026 July 17th, still in tropical Cancer
That’s what the debt clock is now, 2026 August 20th claiming. According to the Department of Treasury Debt to the Penny, the 40 trillion threshold was crossed on August 18th. I was expecting the limit to be broken in the autumn, but then, also the honking geese have flying south over northern California since July, which to me seems a bit early. I’m not a goose expert, maybe they are supposed to start migrating in summer, or maybe they are reacting to some environmental change. The pastures have withered under the drought and geese eat grass so maybe they are trying to find food. Or maybe the winter is coming early. The the geese are going south already in the summer, and so are US finances.
If the interest rates on US treasuries rise too much, we cannot sell enough paper to pay the interest on existing paper and USA will become insolvent. I’m sure the US government will invent new, outrageous ways to cook the books for some while still, but USA is not Japan, and even Japan is faltering as eventually what is unsustainable will not be sustained.
Flower(s), I don’t know what species, 2026 August 18th
Been busy, but managed to get some photography and short video clips, joined three together into a short silent video (standard stabilization artefacts apply), two clips of giant white poppies, probably Romneya or Matilija poppies which are native to California, and one clip of bees foraging in lavender.
I like the floppy petals of the poppies. The lavender and bees seem to be an all year feature – when one lavender bed withers, another seems to begin to bloom somewhere else, if not immediately, then soon.
Not all flowers are showy – here is Plantago (I don’t know the species, but it’s not Plantago major based on the narrow .leaves). I would love to process some day a photo of a Plantago flower from close up, they are quite funky to look at but difficult to photograph so as to show it.
Been busy with PlanktonPunkt Designs, trying to optimize my tags for Etsy (and Amazon) SEOs. That is surprisingly heavy work with uncertain results, but obviously my previous tags did not work since almost nobody visited my listings.
While searching for words people might be interested in, I noticed eucalyptus having sufficient number of fans to show up in searches. Also, insulated coffee mugs. So I made eucalyptus art. And recycled my design onto multiple items, including insulated coffee mugs.
While working on that, my print provider advertised a multi-item listing for themed items and of course I had to try it. Long story short, I now have a 5-item listing of desk mats (three sizes), a spiral notebook, mobile phone stand, a black ceramic mug (two sizes) and a black insulated mug, all with maximalist eclectic Summer Eucalyptus art based on a photo of an eucalyptus blooming in California summer. At least I hope it qualifies as maximalist and eclectic, but I could not define the style any better. At least I like the image, so there is that.
I have posted the multi-item listing on Etsy, and it is now available for US customers. I don’t dare to even contemplate Amazon, and I have not yet explored the multi-item option (if any) for Printify pop-up store.
Mockup of Summer Eucalyptus Desk mat, 16″ x 32″ version, 3mm thick neoprene
Decided instead to make an art video illustrating some variations in a theme, based on a photograph of some yellow flowers (looks like they are related to agaves or aloes) taken in Berkeley, CA, June 2nd, 2026. Just as a demonstration of the types of designs I have so far usually used for PlanktonPunkt Designs.
I am planning to make more of these, occasionally (the next one will probably be about tree bark), and post them here, Pinterest and/or YouTube.
Nearly slipped by me – apparently it is no longer 24th of June (6 months from Christmas Eve, on St. John’s Day) but by government edict on Saturday closest to Summer Solstice. So, this year Friday, 19th of June is Juhannusaatto, a Midsummer Eve’s celebration in that peculiar country.
An example of June 19th flowers in Berkeley, CA
National traditions of Midsummer Eve include retreat to country cottage, preferably along lake or sea shore, having a barbeque (hot dogs and chicken are popular, pork and fish, and more rarely beef work, too), having a communal bonfire party and/or more private sauna are also typical, as is getting drunk. Government typically publishes PSAs warning about traffic accidents (due to the massive exodus emptying cities to summer cottages, some drivers already under influence) and boating accidents or other forms of drowning (don’t drink and boat, or drink and swim.)
My photos today are from urban California, so the Finnish lake video with swaying birch branches and sunlight glimmering on water (taken on late May, not on Midsummer Eve) is from last year.
I have been busy designing but still keeping an eye (or ear, in case of YouTube videos, which I treat as partial podcasts) on commentary online. Here are some niggling vignettes:
Meanwhile, fuel crisis in Russia (not due to the Iran war, the other war, remember?) has caused the central government to prioritize deliveries in western parts (most of the Russians live west of Urals), which means agriculture in Irkutsk region did not get fuel. I don’t know how much Irkutsk region contributes to global food supplies, but I doubt we can afford to lose any more capacity, anywhere and Russia is one of the main exporters.
And now a big warehouse for frozen goods, Big Bear 7, meant for consolidating all Los Angeles frozen food storage under one roof, has caught fire. Bad news for Angelenos, but since all centralized systems are vulnerable to catastrophal collapse when a critical node fails, one must wonder about the wisdom of concentrating all food in one spot… In general, the Western food systems are overly consolidated with four seed companies having a stranglehold over 80% of corn seeds and nearly 80% of soy bean seeds, and USA occasionally having a chicken shortage due to failing fertilization rates in one of the few chicken breeding corporations.
Molten Salt Cooling
Normally, when I think of this term, it invokes nuclear power generation. However, there is a domestic molten salt cooling method, which may be of interest in saving electricity costs on air conditioner. Note: I have not tested this myself, but it looks relatively cheap to experiment with, so it might be of interest.
Apparently, Glauber salt melts at 32.38 degrees Celsius, storing heat in the process, and by mixing the salt with polymers and nucleating agents (chemical, not nuclear physical) to prevent sedimentation, one can build a flat container (to maximize the surface to volume) heat sink to suck the afternoon heat from a living space. Whether it is as cheap and easy as these, clearly AI assisted/generated videos promise is a different issue. One genuine caveat is that what goes in must come out, i.e., for the cooler to work the next day, the previous day’s heat must dissipate over colder night, so this method will not work in steady heat but will require hot days – cold nights environment. YMMV.
Weather
Has been warmer this year. The spring in California has advanced earlier than I recall from previous year. Flowers are blooming (and withering) earlier and I have snapped a fraction of my photos as a memento to haphazardly ‘document’ their blooming times. Scientists were earlier this year worried that week’s earlier season of Joshua tree bloom would be out of sync with yucca moth breeding, but I haven’t heard any news after the initial worry. I suppose the moths figured it out, probably by using the same environmental cues as the Joshua trees.
It has been some time since my last jigsaw puzzles, so I thought I should add a couple.
A photo of tree bark, manipulated for color saturation, tone, brightness and contrast. It is amazing how colorful some trees are once properly appreciated. 80 pieces.
And here is a lily. I like the metallic shine of the Plastic wrap filter but I don’t think this can be easily converted into good looking physical item. 117 pieces.
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