Dr. Thing Learner

@drthinglearner.bsky.social

2002 Followers 353 Following

I write and talk about science and ancient history a lot. Podcaster, archaeologist, kids’ book author. Big fan of dogs and cool people, expert fun-haver. Occasional artist, walking pile of trivial knowledge. Find me at thinglearner.squarespace.com

Black background and white text reads: An autobiographical poem: If I were to describe my talents; None of them is work/life balance
A fluffy German shepherd making a goofy smiling face with her eyes closed.
A fluffy German Shepherd mutt with a sweet little blank face, just vibing, no thoughts.
A young person with chin-length red hair, shown from the waist up, wearing red and gold armor and wielding a double-handed sword.
A goof on the CSI thumbnail, this has the Ted Danson character’s head replaced (poorly) with the face of Ötzi, a man who died around 5,000 years ago.
A video of freshly baked calzones, panning over to one that had a slight structural failure and now looks like a melted face. Anyway, dinner is ready.
A close view from ground level of a tan German shepherd’s face with black and pink nose and a person with short dark hair and glasses leaning on the dog’s head and taking the selfie.
A photo of a person with glasses and a blue plaid flannel mostly off the left side of the picture, while trying to take a snuggly selfie (unsuccessfully) with a fluffy German shepherd. Both the person and dog are lying on a wood floor.
A painting of lemons in a sort of impressionistic style. There’s a whole lemon on the right, half a lemon in the middle, and a wedge on the left.
A leaf of Swiss chard with a red stem on a concrete sidewalk. The leaf resembles a christmas tree and there is a cartoon star drawn above it. At the bottom of the image it says “merry christmas.”
A black and white print of a goofy looking fish with human legs walking aimlessly. The print also reads “well, I tried.”
A person with glasses and short dark hair, wearing a light grey hoodie. They are holding a black and white print of a skeleton, with the words “I support you” next to it. They would like you to browse and perhaps purchase their art at thinglearner.squarespace.com/shop
The title image of a Science Alert article featuring the Vitruvian man by Da Vinci. “HIDDEN DETAIL IN CROTCH SOLVES A 500 YEAR OLD LEONARDO DA VINCI MYSTERY.”
A painting on a pinkish white background. A crow is standing in shallow water with one foot up, inspecting a yellow leaf. There are some ripples and the bird’s reflection in the water
A dappled dark gray sidewalk with a pinkish, heart-shaped redbud leaf. The leaf is covered in big fat rain droplets.
A black and white print from a lino-cut block of a flying dragon spitting fire at a knight. The knight has a shield up and sword out but it doesn’t look great for him.
A printing block (carved rectangle of light blue rubber) of a mammoth skeleton and body silhouette.
An easel propping up a large canvas painted with a horned owl swooping down to perch on a stump. It’s painted in tones of green, brown, yellow, and a peachy pink. This thing took me SO LONG y’all
A video of a hand turning the pages of A Compendium of Curious Contraptions to show GORGEOUSLY ILLUSTRATED pages featuring (spoilers!) a Han Dynasty earthquake detector and the Royal Game of Ur. Both ancient, both incredible!
An easel set up with a large painting of a horned owl swooping down towards a stump, wings spread to slow down and talons out to grab the perch.
An unfinished acrylic painting of a view of Paterson Falls, NJ. Colors are mostly greys and greens with some touches of purple and yellow. There are some small waterfalls at the back of the composition and a view of the river flowing outwards from there.
A monarch butterfly sits on a plant stalk in a light drizzle, with its wings out flat.
A bright red book with someone’s left hand holding it. The book cover reads “A Compendium of Curious Contraptions” and is illustrated with intriguing objects.
A black cat’s head, perspective looking up from below the chin so that her little teef are out and she looks like a furry land shark.
A painting of two gray wolves from the shoulders up on a blue background. The wolf on the right is playfully chomping the other one’s muzzle.
A graphite pencil sketch on white paper of two gray wolves. One is playfully chomping on the other’s nose.
A painting of a standing brown bear on a sage-y green / gray background.
A screenshot of a news story from Minnesota Public Radio News covering the pending sale/end of the Brains On Universe of kids’ podcasts.
In the foreground, a hand holds a sketchpad with a black and white pencil drawing of a selfie with a person in glasses and a German shepherd. In the background, the same dog looks unimpressed.
A painter’s table with an easel propping up an in-progress painting of two sunny-side-up eggs on a blue plate
A smiling German shepherd getting some cheek scratches
A black and white line drawing of a person with short dark hair and glasses, wearing socks, shorts, and a black tshirt. The person is hugging a medium sized dog with dangly paws and tongue out. The text next to the cartoon reads “CARPE CANEM” (seize the dog)
A small (6x9 I think?) acrylic painting on canvas. The painting is of a light-brown-colored female duck standing on some lovely green grass and looking up at the viewer in a friendly or inquisitive way.
A not-quite-finished painting of a brown speckled duck looking up at the viewer. The background is a sage-y green
A small painting of a hand holding a cat skull on canvas board with a brick-colored background. The skull and hand have aquamarine and yellow highlights and a little purple as well.
Blocking in the shadows for a hand holding a cat skull on a pink background
An acrylic painting with a muted grey/yellow/green background. In the foreground is a small barn owl perched on a branch. The owl’s head is tilted far to the side in the weird way that owls do.
A painting (on Bristol paper) of a happy yellow sunflower plus a couple of its leaves and its stalk against a blue background
An illustration of a polar bear standing on a small iceberg floating in the sea. Writing in white underneath the iceberg reads “THIS IS NOT THE ICE WE SHOULD DESTROY.”
Two paintings, side by side, of the same subject—a bear playing in water, mostly submerged, with head and back feet sticking out of the water. The image on the left was painted about a year ago and is less saturated and less colorful. The one on the right has much more vibrancy, color, and depth. Also the water looks wetter in the one on the right.
A cartoon(ish) poster of a giant squid crushing a stupid cybertruck that is on fire. Lettering over the squid reads: SAVE THE PLANET; CRUSH A FASCIST
A sunny acrylic painting of a fuzzy orange cat licking its lil butt with one leg in the air. The cat is sitting on a grey stone wall and there’s a green vaguely leafy background.
An acrylic painting on 8x10 canvas board. Close up of a sort of abstract, colorfully rendered tree trunk with three white mushrooms growing off of it.
An 8x10 acrylic painting of a small green frog sitting in a puddle on a lily pad, surrounded by other floating lily pads.
Acrylic painting on 8x10 canvas board of a small green/brown frog sitting wetly on some lily pads.
Bright yellow crocuses poking happily up from a faded terracotta planter.
A German shepherd lying on her back between her owner’s legs. She has her little chicken-wing front legs up in the air and a pink nose.
A painting on a large canvas with two crows facing one another. They’re standing on a branch with lichens on it, and there is a patchy blue background behind them.
A German shepherd dog, butt in the foreground, curled up on a blue couch.
A black tripod easel holding a portrait of a person with short dark hair and glasses and a green sweater. The person is resting their chin on their hand and looking into the middle distance.
An unfinished painting of what is going to be a river (the Yuba) running over some lovely rocks. It’s mostly just blobs in shades of blue, green, and brown/red.
Watercolor pencil sketch (pre-wet) of some trees in a forest. Possibly a glade. Who can say?
Portrait of a smiling Caucasian man with salt and pepper hair and a blue collared shirt, painted on a blue-green background.
A black and white digital drawing of a tortoise smoking a cigarette
A black cat on a gray heating pad, front paws in the foreground. She looks grumpy but she’s mostly sleepy.
Bookshelf crammed with books, and on top, a painting of a man in blue shorts, blue shirt, and slouchy hat stepping out the gate of a very big and very verdant garden.
A close up on the face of a German shepherd lying on a wood floor with her right paw tucked next to her face.
A very soulful German shepherd looking up at the camera wondering if there is cheese.
A person with dark hair and wire rimmed glasses underneath a black cat, whose butt is in the foreground and whose front paws somehow weigh 20lbs even though the whole cat only weighs 8.