88 Contellations, and a song about the Southern Cross

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybJGN86L1Y0&ab_channel=TheLIUniverse

At about 4:00, they're talking about a project which produces big beautiful images of the 88 official constellations.

https://88constellations.com/

I thought it included a multicultural survey of how people identified the constellations, but I misunderstood. There were 88 constellations identified in the 1920s, and that's it.

I think a multicultural survey would be a worthy topic for understanding perception. What causes people to identify a star grouping as a constellation? Are constellations consistent across cultures? Is there overlap in the symbols?)

Northern hemisphere people tend to not know about the southern constellations. They mention the Southern Cross, which is the only one I've heard of.

There's a Crosby, Stills, and Nash song called "Southern Cross".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuLBhxZUkmU&ab_channel=GreatOldiesDJ

Lyrics: https://genius.com/Crosby-stills-and-nash-southern-cross-lyrics

I've been thinking a lot lately about people being haunted by ideals. That twist at the end can be taken straight, which makes it kind of nasty, but maybe the woman he's trying to forget is up against the same thing.

Just musically, it's a good song.

Saint Death's Daughter, an excellent book

I recommend _Saint Death's Daughter_ by C. S. E. Clooney. It's an invented world fantasy with the emotions turned up to 12. The prose is giddy and enthusiastic, but there's logical structure underneath.

The plot is very surprising-- a lot of expectations are subverted in reasonable ways.

It won the World Fantasy Award. The majority at the local book club liked it. There's a reasonable chance you'll like it.

It's the first of (if I can trust Reddit) a trilogy. The sequel is almost out.

There's Lanie, a young woman who's born into a family of assassins. She's literally allergic to violence. (She started in a NanoWriMo project to write a fantasy character who can't be violent.) The situation is sad, but there's also a Charles Adams vibe.

She's kept isolated to keep her alive. Her older sister is a sociopath. The only source of kindness is a revenant servant who almost never speaks, but whose silences are very communicative. Lanie is a necromancer. She will be able to communicate with the dead if she survives.

There are twelve gods, and different religions. There's a meditation system. There's a puppy, but less about the puppy than I expected. There's a very challenging six year old. This sounds too cute, but it isn't.

There are politics, mostly between two nations. Magic is politically important.