M.J. Rose

Or perhaps these houses are very much alive as secret histories, waiting to be read?

(The following is one of the most intriguing introductions to a new novel that we have seen…)

Man Explores Abandoned Untouched Homes In Europe

“Author Ransom Riggs wanted to make sure the setting for his upcoming novel was true to life, so he travelled to Europe to find the kind of houses that were described in the pages of his book. When he stepped into these abandoned homes, he discovered something he never expected to see. Some of these homes, empty for decades, were completely undisturbed. If not for the thick dust coating everything, it’d be as if they were still lived in. Trinkets from a time long past littered the inside.

Riggs teamed up with urban explorer/photographer Martino Zegwaard to photograph and document the inside of these homes. His intention was to show that these homes aren’t rotting wastes of space, they’re visual histories of the people who lived there…”

For the rest of the article, click here. For the video, see below.

This sounds a bit like the beginning of a beautiful little children’s story…

A little girl has been feeding some crows, so they started bringing her gifts

by Oliver Wheaton for Metro.co.uk

“How did a little girl come to be in possession of this strange collection of… things?

Well she channeled her inner Cinderella and had the birds do it for her.

To be more precise, a young animal lover called Gabi started feeding crows recently, and it didn’t take long for the crows to show their appreciation by bringing gifts to Gabi.

Gabi’s sweet haul included some earrings (but sadly no matching pairs), a paper clip, some nuts and bolts and even a small light bulb…”

For the rest, and a video, click here.

A decades long meditation so deep that you are mistaken for dead. The word for this state of being is “tukdam”.

Images of Rip Van Winkle come to mind…

Monk in Mongolia ‘not dead’, say Buddhists
The monk was found wrapped in traditional Buddhist robes

“A mummified monk found preserved in Mongolia last week has been baffling and astounding those who uncovered him.

Senior Buddhists say the monk, found sitting in the lotus position, is in a deep meditative trance and not dead.

Forensic examinations are under way on the remains, found wrapped in cattle skins in north-central Mongolia.

Scientists have yet to determine how the monk is so well preserved, though some think Mongolia’s cold weather could be the reason.

But Dr Barry Kerzin, a physician to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, told the Siberian Times that the monk was in a rare state of meditation called “tukdam”…”

For the rest, click here.

On the same note, here is a story about a Hindu guru who may or may not be dead.