media — back to school

  The best gifts do more than fill a space. They say, “I noticed you.” That matters even more in August, when a new school year brings fresh schedules, unfamiliar classrooms, big ambitions, and the occasional mysteriously missing pencil. A thoughtful back-to-school gift can become part of that new chapter. The secret is not always a name or monogram. Sometimes personalization means choosing a zodiac sign, a favorite aesthetic, an inside joke, or an object that perfectly matches someone’s wonderfully unusual personality. These ten personalized gift ideas are designed to feel memorable, useful, and far from ordinary. What Makes a...

  There are two kinds of people in August: those buying pencils for the first day of school and those wondering why the internet, nature, and one extremely determined donkey have all decided to become strange at once. Welcome to Edition 4 of The Bizarre & Beyond, your weekly syllabus of stories that sound invented but are, wonderfully, real. This week’s lessons cover genetics, animal behavior, and the increasingly important skill of asking, “Is that video real?” Grab your metaphorical notebook. Class is in session. 1. The Bobolink With Two Very Different Sides First up: a bird that appears to...

  We all know the feeling. A bright mug makes an ordinary morning better. A favorite notebook makes a Monday feel slightly less Monday-ish. One unusual object on a shelf can bring back an entire memory. That is the quiet magic of dopamine decor. It is not about filling every room with neon or turning your desk into a rainbow avalanche. It is about choosing colors, textures, shapes, and objects that make you feel more like yourself. A little more awake. A little more inspired. A lot less surrounded by things that look exactly like everything else. And with back-to-school...

  There is a reason the best gifts are rarely the most practical ones. Pencils disappear. Water bottles get left on buses. Another notebook may meet its destiny beneath a pile of homework. But a beautifully unusual object? That can become part of someone’s story. That is why music boxes may be the most unexpectedly wonderful back-to-school gift idea we have seen in years. They are decorative. They are interactive. They make a little music. They look like they wandered out of a mysterious antique shop: or possibly a very organized galaxy. Either way, they are far beyond ordinary. 1....

There are two kinds of people in August: those preparing for back-to-school season and those still wondering where July went. Either way, the world keeps assigning us homework. This week's lesson plan is especially unusual. A bear enrolled in advanced bakery burglary. Two pigeons chose a makeup bag as their nursery. And scientists discovered six new species of zombie fungi in Mexico, including one named after filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. No No. 2 pencil required. Welcome to edition three of The Bizarre & Beyond, Beyond Unusual Gift Shop's Saturday tour through the real stories that sound completely made up. They...