Contest

• Blodeuedd’s giving away a copy of Rebel Queen by Michelle Moran, plus a bangle bracelet. Closes February 14.

Bookity

• New releases: Fiction Vixen (UF/romance)
• Book and publishing news from Dear Author.
• Another copy of the Magna Carta has been found.
• “The value of ownership and ebooks“.
• Darwin’s kids drew all over his original On the Origin of Species manuscript.
• Yes, this.
• Authors behaving badly bingo.
• Modern bedtime story.
• “How to tell if you are in a soft science fiction novel“. (via urrone)

Do, Learn, Think, Make

• The five best tea steepers as selected by Lifehacker readers.
• Most “smart home” security devices seem easily hackable.
• According to one study, you can simply use your phone instead of buying a fitness device like a FitBit.
• Chris Hadfield on seeing the Earth from space.
• Neil Armstrong had a box of souvenirs from the Moon tucked away in his closet.
• Rockets of the world.
• The 1915 San Francisco World’s Fair, then and now.
• “Mathematicians say they finally know how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop“.
• “The history of the conversation heart“.

Cookity

• 40 noodle recipes. (via zarathuse)
• Golden beet and apple soup. (via The Kitchn)
• Cheesy Tex-Mex twice-baked potatoes.
• Cara cara orange and avocado salad. (via The Kitchn)
• Strawberry lemonade frosted sugar cookie bars. (via toewses)
• Red velvet crepe cake. (via pipervaughn)
• Chocolate cake mix waffles. (via pipervaughn)
• Bittersweet chocolate brownies with salted peanut butter frosting.
• 15 chocolate recipes.

Gluten Free

• Dairy-free Irish soda bread.
• Granola toasting bread.
• Mini meatloaves.
• Slow cooker mac and cheese.
• Rice-A-Roni.

Crafty

• Knitting linkity from kmkat.

Cool

• Slightly animated version of Van Gogh’s Starry Night.
• Frozen waterfall.
• Time lapse film of San Francisco’s mist and fog.
• Dead mall with a snow-covered interior.
• Aerial photos of Las Vegas at night.
• 35 photos of lights.
• Photos of rare breed sheep in the UK. (via knittyBlog)
• Linkity from kmkat.

Cool or Wha…?

• Infrared microwave.
• Remote control fish.
• A new Australian hotel has suites integrated into some of a zoo’s enclosures.

Wha…?

• Stuffed chainsaw.
• Sriracha Ketchup.
• Snortable chocolate. (via The Kitchn)

LOL

• “If Disney princesses had realistic hair“…
• How we really name our files. (via Gizmodo)
• Valentine’s, Cake Wrecks style.
• The Apollo speeches. (Hover cursor/long-press for additional text.)
• Hacking/improving the Wikipedia article on bromance. (Hover cursor/long-press for additional text.)
• If your house looks like this, you could be a crazy cat person.
• New Simon’s Cat!

Teh Cute

• Maned wolf and babies! Cat! Baby lions! Hummingbird! Baby burrowing owls!

Reading Update
Under the Skin (Ritual Crime Unit #1) by EE Richardson. Ok shortish paranormal thriller about a 50-something British detective inspector whose people are trying to track down someone misusing ritual magic to make shapeshifters. Throughout the story, I was distracted by the point of view character always being referred to by her last name, yet her coworkers were referred to by their first names. It was just enough for me to feel distanced from the story.
Midnight Blue-Light Special (InCryptid #2) by Seanan McGuire. I only read a few chapters, then set it aside to come back to and never bothered.

---

Behold the majestic short-tailed house panther in his native habitat! 🙂