1. Artist’s Elaborate Paper Cut Art Emerges From Nature and Myth. In related news, Origami artist’s latest creation used one piece of paper creased 5,377 times.

2. Majestic Photos Capture the Dwindling Population of Madagascar’s Ancient Baobab Trees. “In the fall of 2018, one of Madagascar’s most sacred baobabs cleaved and crumbled. The ancient giant was estimated to be about 1,400 years old and offered food, fuel, and fiber to the region before its trunk, which spanned 90 feet around, collapsed. Known as Tsitakakoike, which means ‘the tree where one cannot hear the cry from the other side,’ the baobab was also entwined with local lore and thought to house the ancestral spirits of nearby Masikoro people. Its loss was devastating to the community and an ominous sign of how the climate crisis is permanently damaging these centuries-old trees.”

3. How a Butterfly Refuge at the Texas Border Became the Target of Far-Right Lies on The New York Times. In related news, A butterfly conservatory is shutting down due to right-wing harassment.

4. 18 Queer Florists to Follow on Instagram. Additional bonus: one or two them may be in your area or where there’s someone you love that you want to send a bouquet to.

5. How ‘Wintering’ has changed my perspective and improved my mental health. “Wintering isn’t just cozy socks, glowing candles, and knitting while tucked under a quilt. Though it can certainly be those things too. Mostly it’s about seeing winter, and any hard or dark times in our life, for what they are – essential. Wintering is about shutting off the constant busyness and go-go-going of our lives that we sometimes use to mask our pain or anxiety or sadness so that we can recover, heal, and grow.”

6. I’m A Vet Who Helps People Say Goodbye To Their Pets. When My Dog Was Dying, I Couldn’t. “Despite my years of training and experience, when it came to Mathilda, I couldn’t make the compassionate decision to let her go when she was ready.”

7. Where I Live: Arsenal by poet Naomi Shihab Nye. “The Where I Live series aims to showcase our diverse city and region by spotlighting its many vibrant neighborhoods. Each week a local resident invites us over and lets us in on what makes their neighborhood special.”

8. On the Hidden Pain of V.C. Andrews, the Woman Behind The Flowers in the Attic. “Andrew Niederman Considers the Toll of Chronic Pain on the Writing Life.”

9. So you’ve got COVID. Here’s what to do. In related news, ‘Too sick to rest’: How long COVID helped one doctor learn to slow down.

10. How to (Ethically) Get Rid of Your Unwanted Stuff.

11. Tori Amos: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert.

12. Creativity can’t be forced. Take restorative breaks, zone out to find new inspiration.

13. The Meaningful Mundane: 6 Classic Books That Depict Black Girlhood. One of my favorite “coming of age” novels made the list — Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid.

14. We Asked Black Queer Icons to Share Their Dreams for the Future.

15. 5 Ways I’m coping (and the celebrities that are helping with that).

16. An 8-Year-Old Wrote a Book and Hid It on a Library Shelf. It’s a Hit. on The New York Times.

17. You can’t just swap out ‘Maus’ for another Holocaust book. It’s special.

18. Heroes Lost. Heroes Remembered. “Health care professionals have been, and continue to be, heroes. They are frontline soldiers in the war against this deadly virus. So are those who stocked shelves and kept supply lines running. We also owe a deep debt to the scientists who rushed to understand this elusive killer and developed vaccines, treatments, and tests.”

19. It’s OK to not be passionate about your job.

20. 20 Pets Who Got Bigger, but Didn’t Shake Off Any of Their Habits. “Like humans, pets pick up habits that they keep for their entire lives. Most of them connect with a toy or accessory so deeply that they keep it close even after it’s not fit for playing anymore. This just proves how similarly our pets’ brains and ours work, and maybe that’s why we grow to feel so close to them.”

21. The Only Remedy for FOMO (fear of missing out) from Courtney Carver on Be More With Less.

22. Black History is Your History by Ijeoma Oluo. “The true study of Black history is American history. It is not only what we have accomplished, but the circumstances that our accomplishments were created in. It is not only the horrors that have been visited upon us, but the systems that have built and perpetrated those horrors. It’s not only the hatreds and bigotries held by white people in the past, but the ways in which those hatreds and bigotries have been codified and made so ubiquitous for future white generations that it has been normalized into invisibility.” In related news, Who is Black History Month actually for?

23. Good stuff from The Atlantic: Where’s the Cancel-Culture Outrage Over Banning Books? (“Joe Rogan is still here, but books are disappearing from libraries”), and Book Bans Are Targeting the History of Oppression (“The possibility of a more just future is at stake when young people are denied access to knowledge of the past”), and The Octavia Butler Novel for Our Times (“The pandemic has revealed the depths of our mutual dependence. Fledgling shows us how to coexist”).

24. ‘Photos’ of What Cartoon Characters Would Look Like in Real Life. “What would famous animated characters from movies and TV shows look like in real life? One digital artist has created a fascinating series of AI-assisted ‘portraits’ that provide the answers to that question.”

25. Andrea Gibson: Together Again. Saturday, Feb 12, 2022 – 1:00 PM MST, you can rewatch for the next seven days if you can’t make the livestream. “It brings me so much joy to invite you to an intimate virtual reading of poems and stories from the coziest couch in my living room. As many of you know I took much of the last year off from even virtual events as I was doing chemotherapy. I have missed spending time with y’all so much, and am filled with stories and poems and FEELINGS I know will be so connecting to share. I named the event TOGETHER AGAIN because it speaks to how special this moment in my life is to me. At the end of the reading I’ll be doing a live Q&A so if you have questions (or answers!) please bring them.” Also from Andrea, a new poem: What I Mean When I Say My Heart Has Melted.

26. A spinal fluid leak derailed my life of travel and food, but taught me to find beauty in the small things.

27. How-To: The Art of Creating a Cozy Bed.

28. The Irresistible Allure of Snacking Cakes. “My family fell under the spell of Yossy Arefi’s simple recipes for cakes that are meant to be eaten anytime.” Yeah, I’m gonna need this cookbook. In other words, recipes I want to try: all of them.

1. Thich Nhat Hanh, Monk, Zen Master and Activist, Dies at 95 on The New York Times. “A monk with global influence and an ally of Martin Luther King, he championed what he called ‘engaged Buddhism,’ applying its principles in pressing for peace.” In related news The Life of Thich Nhat Hanh on Lion’s Roar. “Lindsay Kyte tells the story of what is perhaps Thich Nhat Hanh’s greatest teaching — his courageous life.”

2. We asked how you are finding joy in the pandemic. Here are 12 surprising ideas.

3. 100 Millionaires And Billionaires Sign Open Letter Pleading For Higher Taxes. Yes, please. I’m not sure how anyone who cares about other people, wants to ease suffering, is even able to accumulate that kind of wealth, especially when helping feels SO much better than hoarding.

4. Animal shelters flooded with donations in honor of Betty White’s birthday. You know she would have loved this so much.

5. 20 Famous Writers on Being Rejected. Rejection isn’t a failure. It’s part of the process. Rejection also doesn’t necessarily mean what you submitted isn’t good. It might only mean it’s not the right fit for that particular spot. Try again.

6. The Rest Principle: On the Necessity of Recovery, in Fitness and Writing.

7. You’ve heard of Wordle — now get ready for Sweardle and Absurdle. In related news, Meet Lewdle – the dirty version of the viral word-guessing game Wordle, and Play This Autostraddle-Themed Spinoff of Wordle for a Good, Gay Time, and The Rot of Candy Crush and The Rest of Wordle.

8. The 3 things you learn after your mother dies.

9. Life, in Dog Years. “My father always pampered his pets. So when he fell ill and moved in with us, it was no surprise that his corgi came to rule our home. What I didn’t expect was for Trilby to care for me after Dad was gone.”

10. How you can help—or get help—after the Marshall Fire.

11. How to Reuse N95, KN95, and Other Disposable Masks. Also, in case you hadn’t seen this yet, The Postal Service is now taking orders for free COVID-19 test kits.

12. Losing a Father to the Mountains. “In a new documentary, ‘Torn,’ Max Lowe grapples with the death of his dad, and the presence of the man who replaced him.”

13. People Are Hiding That Their Unvaccinated Loved Ones Died of COVID. “It’s a classic control mechanism, like our knee-jerk desire to know if someone who died of lung cancer smoked, or if someone with liver disease drank: If so, we can believe they were responsible for their own fate, and because we’re making a different choice, that fate won’t befall us. But of course that belief comes at the price of blaming and even vilifying the deceased … As a result, survivors might sacrifice honesty in order to protect the loved one’s image, at potential cost to their own emotional needs.”

14. 22 tips for 2022: Get creative, even if you aren’t feeling inspired.

15. 11 Podcasts for Poetry Lovers. I think they forgot one: Poetry Unbound with Pádraig Ó Tuama.

16. With Somebody Somewhere, Comedian Bridget Everett Finally Gets Her Breakout Moment. “After years of stealing scenes as a foul-mouthed sidekick, in ‘Somebody Somewhere’ Everett finally has a vehicle that takes full advantage of her talents.”

17. Before Macro Photography, This Scientist Used to Illustrate His Microscopic Findings.

18. 40 Movies People Praise As Great But Too “Emotionally Traumatizing” To Be Watched Again. I think it says a lot about me that I’ve seen all of these (some more than once), except for Hachi: A Dog’s Tale, which I KNOW I couldn’t watch even one single time.

19. Aspiring Neurosurgeon to Have his Medical Illustrations Showing Black People Published. Representation absolutely matters.

20. Tender Embroidered Portraits by Ruth Miller Are Tinged with Expressive Colors. The amount of hours, effort, and patience it would take to finish just one of these is mind boggling.

21. How I Freed Up Time to Daydream on The New York Times.

22. What Is Love? A Tender and Poetic Illustrated Celebration of the Elemental Human Quest.

23. 42 Comfort Food Vegetarian Recipes.