Nimavenl - Nicole's Random Ramblings

As social media seems to explode about the Supreme Court of the United States of America's (SCOTUS) decision to legalise gay marriage in the US and Twitter can't seem to stop talking about how great the world is, I have to admit that there's this voice in the back of my mind that wants to tell Americans "Welcome to the club! Glad that you finally made it..." For a country that prides itself on its inclusiveness and democratic values, why did it have to take so long to legalise marriage for all people? The U.S. is now among nearly two dozen countries that allow same-sex marriage nationwide: http://t.co/GDlydLBCWW pic.twitter.com/awVwTfyHXi — PewResearch Religion (@PewReligion) June 26, 2015 As the above map shows, there are many other countries where marriage is legal for all couples, regardless of their gender. In fact, both of my countries - The Netherlands and New Zealand - have already legalised gay marriage. According to the data on the website, The...

The Day The World Disappeared | Nimavenl After enjoying the latest episode of The Walking Dead tonight, the world beyond the living room windows suddenly seemed to disappear.  As the fog rolled in and the footpath and houses across the street turned invisible, I couldn't resist the spectacle outside and - of course - took a gazillion photos. It isn't every day that the world practically vanishes, after all!  The street and the footpath below, the windows of houses across the street, trees beyond those houses and buildings in the distance - all gone. All that could be seen was what the photo shows - vague shapes nearby with lights behind them; the shapes only clearly recognisable as trees due to the brightness of the lights. With so much of the 'known world' suddenly missing, we wondered - What would we do if a Walker [a zombie] suddenly appeared out of the mysterious haze? How would we respond to such a strange sight? Would we even react to flesh-e...

Abandoned train station | Abkhazia, Georgia I love taking photos, sharing the world I see with others, showcasing the beauty of the natural world and capturing the magic of a moment. The magic of the moment was certainly captured  by the very lucky and talented photographers who captured 21 photos of nature winning the battle against civilisation . From Hong Kong to Russia to Namibia, the photos show what can happen when humans abandon a site or an item to nature; when we leave nature to rule instead of mankind. This post features three of my favourites images from the 21, however I very much encourage you to read the article for yourself and have a peek at the other 18 images! Especially the mill in Italy that looks like it came straight from a fairytale. And the abandoned hotel in Kamchatka, Russia. And the piano. And the Ferris wheel. And... The SS Ayrfield in Homebush  Bay , west of Sydney, Australia Features images: (above) An abandoned railway station ...