Searching for the back side of the Moebius strip

This is an advance announcement for the Tuesday, February 3, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl. This time the theme will be "Books and Literacy." I'll be soliciting ideas for readers, writers, storytellers, scribes, editors, publishers, students, teachers, caregivers, children, parents, bookworms, nerds, bookstore owners, librarians, an anonymous benefactor, activists, volunteers, superheroes, supervillains, other bookish people, reading, writing, delighting the reader, editing, publishing, bookbinding, shopping for books, telling stories, teaching, inviting students to a lesson, demonstrating tools, educating the whole child, learning, studying, parenting, lending a hand, cooperating, concentrating on a current task, volunteering, supporting people in hard times, respecting people, modeling manners and skills, learning to trust others, observing the environment, engaging all the senses, cultivating a full life, creating intimacy, making friends, getting to know each other, cooking together, choosing your own goals, discovering things, improvising, adapting, cooperating, bartering, sharing, making mistakes, fixing what's broke, changing the world, accomplishing the impossible, other educational activities, books, scrolls, magical tomes, printing presses, pens and pencils, bookstores, libraries, Little Free Libraries, book nooks, windowseats, Montessori schools, other alternative schools, preschools or daycares, Montessori homeschool, prepared environment, colleges and universities, beautiful places, craft centers, community centers, coffeehouses, outdoor classrooms, parks, nature centers, other spaces designed for learning, Triton Teen Centers, mentor circles, intentional communities, clubs, quiet rooms, inclusive workplaces, Thalassia, the Maldives, the Lacuna, the Aqademy of the Qrossroads, Waldorf toys, Montessori materials, intrinsic motivation, child independence, respect for the child, freedom to choose, freedom of time and uninterrupted work periods, absorbent mind, post-traumatic growth, individualized education, three-part cards, language lessons, mathematics, diverse ages and abilities, self-correcting toys and lessons, natural consequences, freedom of movement, intentional neighboring, diversity, inclusivity, emotional closeness, nonsexual intimacies, first contact, rescue, interspecies relationships, trial and error, trust issues, teamwork, found family, complementary strengths and weaknesses, personal growth, and poetic forms in particular.


Among my more relevant series for the main theme:

An Army of One involves education and reading in the Lacuna.

Arts and Crafts America focuses on fine arts and practical crafts, sometimes education. Bookbinding would be a logical craft.

The Bear Tunnels has future books in a past culture.

Daughters of the Apocalypse have to rediscover many historic skills for survival, including earlier methods of sharing knowledge.

Frankenstein's Family has two scientists teaching villagers to be thoughtful instead of stupid, and after a few years, several more people keenly interested in books and education.

Not Quite Kansas started with mishandling a book of spells, and involves trying to learn about a whole new world.

Path of the Paladins includes the Canticle of Thorns and other books.

Peculiar Obligations has Quakers in organized crime. The Religious Society of Friends has been greatly involved in education, including abolitionist and natural science publications.

Polychrome Heroics is largely about people learning things. Threads particularly focused on this include Antimatter and Stalwart Stan, Aquariana, the Big One, Danso and Family, Dr. Infanta, Iron Horses, Officer Pink, Rutledge, and Trichromatic Attachments.

Quixotic Ideas is set in a world with plenty of magic and a positive tone, where people often help each other and solve challenges peacefully. It includes a healthy magical school.

Schrodinger's Heroes save the world from alternate dimensions, and they learn a lot along the way.

Or you can ask for something new.

Linkbacks reveal a verse of any open linkback poem.

If you're interested, mark the date on your calendar, and please hold actual prompts until the "Poetry Fishbowl Open" post next week. (If you're not available that day, or you live in a time zone that makes it hard to reach me, you can leave advance prompts. I am now.) Meanwhile, if you want to help with promotion, please feel free to link back here or repost this on your blog.

( New to the fishbowl? Read all about it! )

This poem is spillover from the September 5, 2024 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from fuzzyred. It also fills the "Family Support Makes a Difference" square in my 9-1-24 card for the People with Disabilities Drabble Fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with fuzzyred. It belongs to the College Arc in the Shiv thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.

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Why Fantasy NEEDS More Fantasy Jobs on YouTube

Fantasy worlds are filled with magic, monsters, ancient ruins, cursed artifacts, and god-level threats but when you look closely, the same few roles always seem to keep everything running. Warriors, mages, priests, nobles, and merchants handle almost everything… somehow.

That's because many people prefer stories with big, flashy plots. However, some other people like smaller, everyday stories -- the whole "cozy" angle is all about that, not about blowing shit up. Now I love a good explosion as much as the next guy, but that's not all I enjoy. Variety is good.

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The magnetic secret inside steel finally explained

For years, scientists noticed that magnetic fields could improve steel, but no one knew exactly why. New simulations reveal that magnetism changes how iron atoms behave, making it harder for carbon atoms to slip through the metal. This slows diffusion at the atomic level and alters steel’s internal structure. The insight could lead to more efficient, lower-energy ways to make stronger steel.


And there's a hint about one way that secret but mundane smithcraft, as well as magical or superpowered manipulation of materials and forces, can create objects that work better.

This video shows a cow performing versatile tool use to scratch herself with a broom.  Note that cows are already enthusiastic tool users of equipment provided by humans, such as pressure-activated brushes and voluntary milking systems.

An interesting point that nobody has mentioned: cows have prehensile tongues. A prehensile appendage is any body part flexible and strong enough to grab or manipulate objects. Watch Veronica pick up the broom. She doesn't use her teeth or even her lips. She uses her tongue. Prehensility is actually a strong indicator of intelligence, because it allows a creature to lift, move, or use things much more effectively. Any time you see that feature, you should check for intelligence, because it is probably higher than average.

Want to play at home? If you have a cow, or know someone who does, then get a small broom like the one in the video. Use it a few times to groom the cow so she learns how useful it is. Then place it within her reach to see if she tries using it to scratch herself. This is probably more effective with just one or two cows, rather than a herd where they tend to groom each other's hard-to-reach spots. You can also watch cows that you see in other places.