stuff&nonsense

always reblog for Cincinnati’s Old Main

cincylibrary:

Step into the past of the Old Main Library!

You’ve probably seen this image from Cincinnati’s Old Main before—it’s been shared countless times on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr. Now we’d like to share another view of the famed old atrium, courtesy of our Virtual Library team.

This image comes from an old lantern slide, and we guesstimate the year to be circa 1890. Katrina Marshall of our Digital Services team explains her detective work in aging the image:

I am not an expert … but the sleeves, especially on the woman in the center of the photo, caught my eye. “Leg of mutton” sleeves, with a tighter wrist and a puff of fabric at the shoulder, appear in the 1890s. And most women in the photo are dressed similarly, with a shirtwaist and ankle-length skirt, which became a popular style for working women of the time.

Here is a catalog link for a book Katrina referenced in her research.

The Old Main opened in 1874 and served Cincinnati until 1955, when it was torn down after the opening of the current Main Library. We still have many photographs, though, and these words from Harpers Weekly to recall its former grandeur:

 “The first impression made upon the mind on entering this hall is the immense capacity for storing books in its five tiers of alcoves, and then the eye is attracted and gratified by its graceful and carefully studied architecture…” 

It turns out procrastination is not typically a function of laziness, apathy or work ethic as it is often regarded to be. It’s a neurotic self-defense behavior that develops to protect a person’s sense of self-worth.

You see, procrastinators tend to be people who have, for whatever reason, developed to perceive an unusually strong association between their performance and their value as a person. This makes failure or criticism disproportionately painful, which leads naturally to hesitancy when it comes to the prospect of doing anything that reflects their ability — which is pretty much everything.

But in real life, you can’t avoid doing things. We have to earn a living, do our taxes, have difficult conversations sometimes. Human life requires confronting uncertainty and risk, so pressure mounts. Procrastination gives a person a temporary hit of relief from this pressure of “having to do” things, which is a self-rewarding behavior. So it continues and becomes the normal way to respond to these pressures.

Particularly prone to serious procrastination problems are children who grew up with unusually high expectations placed on them. Their older siblings may have been high achievers, leaving big shoes to fill, or their parents may have had neurotic and inhuman expectations of their own, or else they exhibited exceptional talents early on, and thereafter “average” performances were met with concern and suspicion from parents and teachers.

— 

David Cain, “Procrastination Is Not Laziness” (via pawneeparksdepartment)

This totally justifies every excuse I’ve been giving myself from not doing that thing I’m supposed to do.

(via aaronmoles)

(via danharmon)

Homme - Brazilian Girls

Can we all just talk about how awesome/funny/cool/sexy Alex Winston is.

everyone’s life is 100% important to them, no matter who they are.

— Julian Fellowes, writer and creator of Downton Abbey (via racheldotkom)

hellogiggles:

Cups - Anna Kendrick

I need to share this with someone. Anyone.

(Source: bricesander)

vneckandacardigan:

buzzfeed:

Don’t play with my heart like that Taco Bell.

My heart actually just skipped a beat. 

e e e eeee e

Pure genius. Is it the not-so-subtle pairing of the country’s most hated band with the country’s favorite image sharing platform? It is the way it cleverly points out everything you’ve definitely at least thought about doing on Instagram? Or maybe how it does all of the above with a husky voice to boot

Wait. What is this. I love it.

(via hellogiggles)

Have you noticed that the word “fiscal” is an anti-aphrodisiac? It kills arousal no matter what words surround it. Think of it: fiscal ecstasy. fiscal orgy. fiscal debauchery. All those things sound boring.

— David Brooks