Make sure you enter the contest for The Working Elf Blues by Piper Vaughn! Closes 7 pm CST, December 16.
Stop by and enter the contest for Blood in the Water (An Act of Piracy #1) by Tami Veldura! Closes 7 pm CST, December 18.
Congrats to Missy1980, who won When Love Flue In (2nd ed) by Lillian Francis! When Love Flue In (2nd ed) is being released today by Totally Bound.
Randonymity
I’m ready for some nice quiet weeks! While I am feeling much better, this week’s drama was Chaos rubbing his face so hard he scraped his cornea again – second time this year and third time ever. 🙁 Because he kept messing with it and making it worse, he ended up in The Cone of Shame.
The hard plastic cone didn’t go very well – he spent a lot of time walking backwards after running into things and getting stopped in his tracks. If he’d had it on more than a few hours, I would’ve had to repaint the lower two feet of my condo. Fortunately Jeanne stopped over with a soft cone – much better.
He’s feeling pretty sorry for himself, especially because I put ointment in his eye four times each day… Mayhem is completely unfazed by his bizarre accoutrement.
I got tagged for the Tumblr Lockscreen Challenge.
Bookity
- New releases: Fiction Vixen (UF/romance), Smart Bitches (romance), Tor.com (PNR, paranormal/urban fantasy/horror), and Literary Escapism (UF/PNR)
- Book and publishing news from Dear Author.
- Bookity linkity from Becky Black.
- “How reading fiction can help you live a better life“.
- How does reading Harry Potter affect neural activity?
- “Deserving love and our own genre expectations“.
- “95% of American public libraries now carry ebooks“.
- Most famous author from each US state.
Think, Make, Do, Learn
- 15 facts about the International Space Station.
- Thoughtful words from Minnesota climatologist Mark Seeley.
- Physicists have invented the most annoying pasta shape.
- Girl Scouts can now sell cookies online.
- “The NHL’s great Connor McDavid sweepstakes“.
- 100 highest paid athletes in the world, and nary a hockey player to be seen.
- Why are Jackie Chan movies so much fun?
- 11 unusual December holidays.
- 33 photos of women working during WWII from the Library of Congress. (via the4freedoms)
- Lifehacker’s most populare how-to guides of 2014. Most popular DIY projects of 2014.
- Giant flowchart to help you figure out what to watch on Netflix.
More Gift Guides Than You’ll Ever Need
- Smart Bitches: books & snacks & things,
- Dear Author: subscriptions
- The Mary Sue: books, movies & tv, games & tech, stuff & things
- Lifehacker: Better Gadgets
- Gizmodo: for coffee snobs, for science fiction fans
- The Kitchn: stocking stuffers, essential kitchen tools, colorful gifts for stylish cooks, gifts you can make
- Food52: for the impossible-to-buy-for, for “lovers of books, coffee, cocktails & good food”
- mental_floss: tech innovations, for the DIY master, for world travelers
- hauspanther: for cats and their people
- Cover Lay Down: buying local or giving the gift of time
- Consumerist: “4 holiday gifts that everyone is tired of“
Cookity
- Spiced lentil soup with roasted beets and delicata squash (via The Kitchn)
- Butternut squash soup with brown butter.
- Thai vegetable and coconut soup. (via maderr)
- Wholegrain gingerbread muffins.
- 20 brunch recipes.
- Brown butter blondies.
Gluten Free
- Soft and chewy gingerbread men.
- Chocolate babka.
- Hot cocoa cookies. (via twoearsandaheart)
- Rainbow cookies.
- Muffins: sweet potato, chocolate banana nut, chocolate chip pumpkin pecan, and pumpkin with maple glaze (via the Kitchn)
- “How to make the best gluten-free cookies“.
Crafty
- Knit a bulky traveling cable hat. (via CRAFT)
- Knit some Little Red Riding Hood mittens. (via CRAFT)
- Knitting linkity from kmkat.
Cool
- Spoonbridge & Cherry in the snow.
- Origami bird lamp.
- Cthulhu Christmas.
- Short films about trying to understand music, losing everything and starting over, and a lighthouse keeper.
- Trailer for the next Star Wars movie. The LEGO version of the trailer.
- NASA’s Black Hole Friday.
- Linkity from kmkat.
Cool or Wha…?
- Largest Christmas light display in the world. (via mental_floss)
- 3.5 ton LEGO Christmas tree.
- 197 of 2014 movie trailers mashed together.
- Hobbit house for rent in Los Angeles.
Wha…?
- Bacon-scented pillowcases.
- Rogue Sriracha Stout. (via The Mary Sue)
- Santaur. (via The Mary Sue)
LOL
- November’s best autocorrects.
- Simon’s Cat! And more Simon’s Cat!
- Dear Kitten…
- How to be a cat.
- “Today’s featured recipe: A quick and easy Stanley Cup Championship“.
- The downside of popcorn.
- Cake shop naming fail.
- Cake Wrecks communication failures.
Teh Cute
- Alpaca and baby! Okapi and baby! Otter and baby! Black kitten! Baby quokka! Sheep with Santa hats! Baby tigers! Cheetah and babies!
Reading Update
Property of a Lady Faire (Secret Histories #8) by Simon R Green. Ok continuation of this series about supernatural enforcer Edwin Drood and his complicated relationship with his extremely large and secretive family. The next book in the series doesn’t come out until sometime in 2015, by which point I won’t remember anything in the ongoing story arc. 🙂
Poor Chaos!
I hope his eye gets better soon
Have a good weekend Chris
A recent post from Kate..Flash Fiction Holiday Blog Hop – Desperately Seeking Santa
OK, the Gerber Baby cake did it for me. Have you noticed that discussion of the mumps epidemic in the NHL never mentions the possibility of sterility, even when the news talks about “what mumps is” – these are young men in the prime of life. Is is too embarrassing to use the word testicle? Lady parts are ok to discuss, of course.
And did you see that the award winning Strib cookie this year is gluten-free? Thanks for a fun morning.
Poor Chaos. You really need to stop getting sick and making him all anxious.
Aah – poor baby, but how does a “soft cone” work? Can’t he just reach over it?
Poor Chaos! What Cheryl said. Hope you both continue to improve and the weekend is a good one for you both!! (Mayhem, too, of course.)
The bladder pounce is so evil
Poor Chaos! I’m glad the soft cone which looks like a circular cape keeps him from rubbing his face/eye. Is he good about you putting the ointment in his eye i.e. not scratching or biting you?
Oh, dear! I remember those things, have two kitties myself. The collars are never fun, not for them, not for me 🙁
But at least he looks like a …um Queen. Elizabeth I =)
Oh, poor Chaos! I hope his eye heals quickly and that you three have no more health dramas for a long, long time!
And thanks for the links!
Chris- POOR boy! Have you seen these little inflatable donuts that go around their necks? Much more comfortable and they can maneuver.
Healing thoughts sent your way.
Poor kitty
.__. Chaos get well :(. Bacon pilowcases???? TBNT LOL