& now back to your regularly scheduled programming

Dame Maggie Smith as Lady Violet Crawley in Downton Abbey (2019)

House Aesthetic, Volume I:

Ravenclaw | “be fearless in pursuit of what sets your soul on fire”

Gryffindor | Ravenclaw | Hufflepuff | Slytherin | Vol. II | Vol. III

“Adults guess and assume that I’m not going to understand things just because I’m a little kid.  And it can be frustrating.  Cause, like, I really want to know stuff.  Or even when they do talk to me about things, they’ll always try to ‘tone it down to my level.’  They especially avoid the heavy themes like sex and death and cannibalism and stuff.  But that’s stuff I want to talk about.  I’m really fascinated by the Donner Party.  The entire expedition, really.  What did it feel like to eat people that you knew?  I’m also fascinated by how the human mind deals with death.  It’s like people shut down the idea of death completely, and insist that heaven and hell are places after death.  But death is death.  And everyone after death is dead, because consciousness is just your brain.  And even if there is evidence of life after death, it’s difficult to assess.  We’re going to be incredibly biased toward any information that suggests there’s something more.  Because we are so desperate to believe it.”

Matilda (1996), dir. Danny DeVito

hold up Danny DeVito directed the most influential film of my childhood?

Not only directed it but starred in it, took care of Mara Wilson (Matilda) while her mother was in hospital with cancer and even managed to get an advanced copy of the movie for her to watch before she succumbed to her illness. The man is a treasure.

The best story I’ve heard about the production of Matilda was: 

The scene where Matilda was dancing around her living room making things fly around to the song “Little Bitty Pretty One” was very nerve-wracking for Mara. She told Danny that she was anxious to do the scene, and he said, “You know why? Because you’re the only one dancing! We just have to have everyone else dance too! Then it won’t be scary!” 

So everyone–the crew, the rest of the cast, the people at the craft services table, everyone–danced along with the song, at Danny’s insistence. Apparently the only one who wasn’t doing the full on dance was the camera man, who just did a foot shuffle so the camera wouldn’t jiggle. 

If that’s not the sweetest thing ever I don’t know what is. 

BOMB AF Puff Pastry Berry Hand Pies

Vanessa Lubach (British, based Norwich, Norfolk, England) - Hector  Linocut

The world’s most beautiful libraries via The Guardian

Libraries included in this photoset:

There are three breeds of cat:

Chonk

Goblin

Yeah that looks like a cat

Subcategories of breeds:

Floof

Naked

Normal

You are beautiful :))

— Courage to Change: One Day at a Time (Al-Anon.)