Brilliant junkies

Distractify offers us:
20 Of History’s Most Brilliant Minds And Their Drug Of Choice
Lots of famous names here: Vincent van Gogh – Absinthe and Digitalis, Sigmund Freud – cocaine, Francis Crick – LSD, Carl Sagan – Marijuana, Benjamin Franklin – Opiates….
Charles Dickens – Opium
Charles Dickens
When this famous author walked its streets, London was rife with opium dens. He even described them in his final unfinished work, The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
Dickens, like many other famous names of the Victorian era, was addicted to an opium tincture known as laudanum for many years and used the drug heavily right up to the time of his death (by massive stroke).
 
Read the whole story HERE
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Books for a Better Planet!
9 Earth-Friendly Reads for Kids
Earth friendlyIllustration: Elizabeth Graeber
Kids appreciate our planet and her precious resources when they can feel, touch, and see the natural world, Melissa Taylor writes at Brightly.
Even when they’re not outside, kids can still expand their understanding of nature through books that celebrate the wonders of the world around them. Here are some great children’s books that facilitate a love and stewardship of planet Earth.
For example:
Trees for kids
Celebritrees: Historic and Famous Trees of the World, by Margi Preus, illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon:
Did you know there’s a hollow oak tree in France that’s used as a chapel?
Or that Robin Hood and his men used a specific tree in England (an oak tree) as a hiding place?
 
 
Read the whole story HERE
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How to Turn Down a Marriage Proposal Like Charlotte Brontë
At Brain Pickings, Maria Popova tells us about “the bold defiance of oppressive gender ideals, packaged as the ultimate it’s-not-you-it’s-me gentle letdown.”
hell hath no fury
From Hell Hath No Fury: Women’s Letters from the End of the Affair (public library)
Anna Holmes’s magnificent collection spanning centuries of missives, which also gave us Simone de Beauvoir’s exquisite breakup letter and this moving breakup moment from the Vietnam War — comes an outstanding contribution to the genre from none other than Charlotte Brontë (April 21, 1816–March 31, 1855).
 
 
Read the whole story HERE
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QUIZ – How well do you know rewritten classics?
From Shakespeare to Jane Austen, new fiction is often spun off from old stories, Harriet Mallinson reminds us at The Guardian, and asks such questions as:
What was the title of Jane Smiley’s modernisation of King Lear, set on a farm in Iowa in the 20th century?
Take the quiz HERE
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THIS ‘n THAT
18 Literary Maps of the US states
At Mental Floss, Caitlin Schneider reports that The Library of Congress’ Language of the Land exhibit collects bookish state maps that chart the regions and the writers who loved them.
e.g.
indianaSee all the maps HERE
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Quote of the day
QUOTE Nietzche~~~~~
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