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Congrats to Liz, who won Boys in Brief by Clare London!

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Contest(s)

• Tor.com is giving away Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words by Randall Munroe. Closes 12 pm EST, December 6.

Bookity

• New releases: Fiction Vixen (romance), Dear Author (romance), Tor.com (UF/UH, PNR, genre benders, scifi, fantasy), and Gizmodo (scifi/fantasy)
• Book and publishing news from Dear Author.
• The basics of book repair.
• “140 bookish Hallmark ornaments“.
• Dantie’s Inferno in LEGO.
• Words of Neil Gaiman wall decal. (via neil-gaiman)
• “Troll”, a spoken-word poem by Shane Koyczan.

Think, Do, Make, Learn

• Learn more about octopuses. (via wilwheaton)
• Bill Nye explains climate change.
• If you’ve ever wondered about sex in space, Neil deGrasse Tyson will help you out.
• Bananas and monoculture.
• Make your own cardboard cat scratchers.
• 25 things about Salt Lake City.
• “Rise of the overreactionaries: outrage over outrage as a silencing tactic“.
• All the US mass shootings of 2015. (via emmaseasall)
• “We made Victorian condoms and it was much grosser than we expected“.
• An economist figured out the financial impact to the Empire of losing the two Death Stars.
• “The evolution of the bicycle in less than one minute“.
• Buster Keaton’s impact on film comedy.
• I knew it!

‘Tis the Season for All the Gift Guides

• For LEGO lovers.
• For coffee aficionados.
• For science lovers.
• For Star Wars fans.
• For techies.
• For buying local.
• From Smart Bitches – technology, etc.
• DIY food gifts.

Cookity

• 20 easy vegan dinners.
• Pummelo, fennel, and radish salad.
• Turkey enchiladas.
• Hot cocoa madeleines.
• Chocolate mousse brownies. (via puckling)
• Almond Joy cupcakes. (via mackinnons)

Gluten Free

• Pumpkin pie bread.
• Peanut butter “Twix” cookies.
• German chocolate cake cookies.
• Danish bread.
• Sweet corn spoon bread.

Artsy Crafty

• Picking up stitches along a selvage.
• Picking up stitches along a bound-off edge.
• I-cord bindoff – a favorite of mine.
• Knitting linkity from kmkat.

Cool

• Chandelier that casts shadows that look like tree branches.
• Room-sized art installations at the Smithsonian. (via puckling)
• Award-winning science photos.
• Free historical costume patterns.
• Looking back at Serenity on its 10-year anniversary.
• The beauty of fall.
• Outtakes from Charlie Chaplin films.
• The films of 2015.
• Short film about virtual reality.
• Linkity from kmkat.

Cool or Wha…?

• Museum of Endangered Sounds.
• Bob Ross Ipsum.
• Cream-filled Oreo Churros.
• Astronaut-inspired pet carrier.
• Lightsaber silverware.
• David Bowie’s new 10-minute video.

Wha…?

• “Watch Nick Offerman silently stare and drink whisky for 45 minutes“.
• Candles that smell like Pringles potato chips.
• Remote control Weinermobile.
• Pumpkin spice dog food?!?
• Smiling poop emoji cookies.

LOL

• New Simon’s Cat – “Snow Cat”.
• The five-day forecast, xkcd style. (Hover cursor/long-press for additional text.)
• xkcd on food combinations. (Hover cursor/long-press for additional text.)
• A Nativity scene for our times…
• Learn all about the potato button found on some microwaves. (So very much more fun than it sounds, I promise!)
• Harrison Ford and a Han Solo doll on late-night tv.
• The map of an introvert’s heart. (via crosbyeh)
• “The daily lives of superheroes and villains“. (via pipervaughn)
• A look at 30 years of Microsoft, via their horrible ads.

Teh Cute

• Snow leopard! Black cat and kitten! Moose and baby! Lions and babies! Kitten! Baby tiger! Black swans and cygnets! Baby red pandas! Ocelot and babies! Baby penguins! Black kitten!

Reading Update
Print & Stamp Lab: 52 Ideas for Handmade, Upcycled Print Tools by Traci Bunkers. Good book about using things from around the house and (mostly) inexpensive items from the dollar store for art mark making.
Re-Bound: Creating Handmade Books from Recycled and Repurposed Materials by Jeannine Stein. Extremely creative projects for making books from unusual things (such as hot water bottles, felted sweaters, window screens, and bath rugs). I’m beginning to suspect (from both my bookmaking class and reading books such as this) that I am not nearly as precise and detail-oriented as most bookmaking requires…
Printmaking Unleashed: More Than 50 Techniques for Expressive Mark Making by Traci Bautista. Ok look at many different ways to make stencils, stamps, and other mark making tools. I found the instructions to be confusing frequently, with too many references to self-branded products.
The Artist Unique: Inspiration and Techniques to Discover Your Creative Signature by Carmen Torbus. Good look at how different mixed-media artists find their inspiration, along with some of their favorite techniques. This quote sums up how most of the artists dealt with inspiration: “One of the most important things I’ve learned about my own creativity is that I don’t need to wait for inspiration to hit before I begin working on my art. If I simply show up and begin creating, the inspiration will come.” -Leah Piken Kolidas
Pretending to Be Normal: Living with Asperger’s Syndrome (Autism Spectrum Disorder) (Expanded Edition) by Liane Holliday Willey. I really wanted to love this book, but I didn’t. It was kind of interesting to read Willey’s experience growing up as an undiagnosed Aspie, but I never felt invested in her story – it all felt very distant. Reading this felt similar to how reading Temple Grandin feels to me – I always retain (or am kept at?) an academic distance. Cynthia Kim‘s Nerdy, Shy, and Socially Inappropriate: A User Guide to an Asperger Life was much more my speed. YMMV.

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“…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…” -Chaos & Mayhem