It happens! 🙂
But quickly:
Reading Update
Making Comics by Lynda Barry. There’s definitely some overlap with Syllabus, but Making Comics has many, many more exercises for, you guessed it, making comics.
*nodding off* -Chaos
Category Archives: Reading
Linkity braces for the start of DST
Bookity
- New releases: Smart Bitches (romance)
- Tor.com will be offering the short story collection Nevertheless, She Persisted to download for free starting March 8 (International Women’s Day).
- Linkity from Smart Bitches.
- Linkity from the Pen Addict.
- “Books and the brain”.
- “It just struck me how Pterry gets progressively angrier and less subtle about it throughout the series [Discworld]”.
- On horror for kids – a comic.
- “All things green and glorious”.
- “A dragon, a princess, and a sacrifice”.
Think, Do, Learn, Make
- The low-down on hand sanitizers and the challenge of making your own effective version. (One brand of vodka has been warning people against using it in homemade hand sanitizer.)
- The low-down on disinfectants and wipes.
- Consumer Reports COVID-19 FAQ.
- “Dear news media: Stop using pictures of Asians in your stories about white people getting [COVID-19]”.
- Digging into the “38% of Americans won’t buy or drink Corona beer because of the #Coronavirus” claim – a look at misinformation.
- “Fear is never stupid”.
- When you start to suspect your neurodiversity includes adhd…
- The autism spectrum – perception vs reality.
- Very smart parrots.
- How to improve your memory.
Cookity
- 10 vegan slow cooker recipes.
- 28 recipes using hard-boiled eggs.
- 5 easy banana bread recipes.
- Strawberry lemon blondies.
Gluten Free
Artsy Crafty
Cool
Cool or Wha…?
- “The cat in the ventilation shaft” – a comic.
- What a town looks like encased in ice. This had to be kind of scary.
Wha…?
LOL
Teh Cute
Reading Update
Color Lab for Mixed Media Artists: 52 Exercises Exploring Color Concepts through Paint, Collage, Paper, and More by Deborah Forman. Lots of interesting exercises in this, some of which I’ll actually even try at some point. But with just two pages devoted to each exercise, many of the more complicated ones felt incomplete.
stART Journaling: An Art Journaling Workbook by Kristy Conlin (ed). This is just excerpts from some of North Light’s other books about art journaling plus lots of blank pages to journal on.
“You. Are. Too. Close. Mom. What if you sneeze on me??!” -Chaos
Server updating means whirlwind linkity
- New releases: Tor.com (fantasy, sf, ya sff, genre-benders) and AAR (romance)
- Linkity from Smart Bitches. And cover snark.
- 10 standalone fantasy novels for when “series fatigue” hits.
- Cat!Crowley and Cat!Aziraphale on cat!nip.
- GF chocolate chunk banana cake.
- Wintry northern Minnesota.
- A cake that would fit in well in northern Minnesota.
- The Journal of Recreational Linguistics.
- A Field Guide to Roadside Wildflowers at Full Speed.
- A town underground.
- Goodbye, Katherine Johnson.
- Texas gothic.
- “You can now draw perfect circles on Etch-A-Sketch”.
- BOOM.
- The Toronto Maple Leafs lost to a 42-year old Zamboni driver emergency goaltender who works for their minor league team. Steve Dangle had a few thoughts about that, lol.
- If you use or are considering using GoodRx, you probably want to read about their information sharing.
- “GIF” peanut butter.
- “Cakes” made from noodles.
- Sliced mayonnaise.
- “Cats are basically pet monsters”.
- A very crabby black kitten. Cheetah and babies!
Reading Update
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Very good fantastical tale set in the late 19th and early 20th century – there are multiple, seemingly disconnected nonlinear story threads that slowly spiral together in quite unexpected (to me, at least!) ways.
“Ignoring you until you put that camera away, Mom!!!” -Mayhem
Linkity from the land of snow and cold
Bookity
- Linkity from Smart Bitches.
- Cover snark from Smart Bitches.
- Linkity from the Pen Addict.
- What if a Slytherin had been chosen to compete in the Triwizard Tournament?
- Good Meowmens. (The cat Crowley is Very Similar to the cat Chaotic…) The fall of the cat Crowley. And more. The breeds that the cat Aziraphale and the cat Crowley are based on.
- Pondering the full name of Aziraphale’s bookshop.
- Photos of and quotes from Sir Terry Pratchett.
- Tshirts for writers or editors.
Do, Think, Make, Learn
- YIKES.
- Behind the scenes at a bowling alley.
- Beyond the stereotype of left brain and right brain.
- Nutrition labels in the US are going to change again.
Cookity
- 10 “hearty and wholesome” vegetarian dinners.
- Easy chocolate lava cakes.
- Instant Pot death by chocolate cheesecake.
- Instant pot fudgy chocolate brownies.
- Dark chocolate ganache brownies.
- Baked Alaska.
Gluten Free
Artsy Crafty
- Download free coloring books and sheets from libraries and museums around the world. (via Book Riot)
Cool
- Watch Oscar-winning animated short Hair Love online.
- Perfect quote and picture.
- Very organized rocks.
- “My favorite part about that family is the former President [Obama] is somehow the dunce of the group.”
- Moon over Minneapolis from across a frozen lake.
Cool or Wha…?
Wha…?
- DIY rotary cellphone.
- Kentucky Fried Chicken Crocs.
- “Red Lobster offers heart-shaped boxes filled with cheddar bay biscuits for Valentine’s Day”.
- Vertical movies.
- “Saturn Devouring His Son yoga mat”. Read the name of the featured artwork and THINK before you click…
LOL
Reading Update
Ex Libris: Stories of Libraries, Librarians, and Lore edited by Paula Guran. Excellent collection of short stories that’s exactly what it says on the tin. I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed an anthology this much. I did skip one story due to it having a serial killer sort of vibe, which is not my thing. And there’s one story with a librarian I suspect is based on or an homage to the angel Aziraphale from Good Omens, which pleased me greatly.
“…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…” -Mayhem
Speed linkity that really wasn’t so speedy in the end
D’oh! Last minute server updating killed my linkity time, so let’s see what I can get done in 15 minutes or so…
- New releases: Tor.com (genre-benders, scifi, fantasy, YA SFF) and AAR (romance)
- Linkity and cover snark from Smart Bitches.
- Linkity and knitting linkity from kmkat.
- Linkity from the Pen Addict.
- I find these Middle Earth travel posters more depressing than anything…
- Did you hear there’s going to be a video game called Lord of the Rings: Gollum?
- In related news… 😉
- And also – now there’s Desktop Goose.
- A comic that will make you think.
- Seems like this might be a repeat, but… “The unholy union of Catholic tumblr and math tumblr“.
- Gravity is rough when you’re an astronaut readjusting.
- “Failed first drafts: Louisa May Alcott“.
- You go, Fate of Cthulhu tabletop game creators!
- If I had to see it, you have to see it. (Not gross or anything!)
- Duolingo, I have questions.
- Fanciest of squirrels!
- Kitty see, kitty do?
- Tough times in Newfoundland.
- I can’t say that I agree.
- “What to do if your book’s too big: An alignment chart“.
- 44 vegan dinners.
- Pumpkin spice French toast.
- Oh dear. Bambi‘s getting a Lion King-style “live action” remake.
- Cake Wrecks for Handwriting Analysis Week.
Reading Update
The Quite Nice and Fairly Accurate Good Omens Script Book by Neil Gaiman. This brand new edition has all the deleted scenes included, which previous editions did not. It’s very confusing, trying to get the right edition!
“…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…” -Mayhem (very rumpled because previously she was sleeping upside down)
First linkity with a new blog theme
If you missed it Monday, things look a little different – my old theme was TOO old, so I’ve tried to stuff some of its bits into this generic WordPress template, with mixed success. (“You kids! Get off my lawn!” Oh wait, I don’t have a lawn…)
Bookity
- Linkity from Smart Bitches. “Caption that Cover” from Smart Bitches.
- “Celebrating Christopher Tolkien’s cartographic legacy“.
- “Architecturally bound: The world’s most stunning libraries“. (via BOOK RIOT)
- “14 hands-free reading tools“.
- “5 books that leave you with hope for humanity“.
- “What I learned from studying billions of words of online fan fiction“.
- “It’s ok to read a little bit (or a lot!) of soothing white noise“.
- 52 book journaling prompts.
- How to find free mysteries online.
- Incorrect October Daye quotes. And another.
Do, Make, Think, Learn
- “The grooming gap: What ‘looking the part’ costs women“.
- How did you celebrate National Handwriting Day?
- Consumer Reports with the basics of the Wuhan coronavirus.
Cookity
- “10 plant-based dinners to make with a can of chickpeas“.
- “10 slow cooker dump dinners made with just 5 ingredients or fewer“.
- 22 vegetarian Instant Pot recipes.
- Nutella-stuffed tahini chocolate chunk skillet cookie. (via The Kitchn)
Cool
- Another episode of Humans Are Weird. Speaking of which, have we done Stabby the Roomba before?
- Calvin & Hobbes stickers.
- LEGO International Space Station.
- Linkity from kmkat.
Cool or Wha…?
- Cat with an exercise wheel.
- “Over the course of one year, this guy managed to film 7 episodes of a soap opera at IKEA without getting caught“.
Wha…?
- Don’t do any of the things pictured. Really.
- “2020 makeup trends to combat facial recognition algorithms“.
- The amount of snow they got on Canada’s East Coast.
LOL
- Low-res cats. (Thanks, Cheryl!)
- Oh boy, does it ever have pockets!
- “This sucks bring back telegrams“.
- Very Canadian, eh.
- Bad map projection #358. Hover cursor/long-press to read the caption.
- THE BEST Untitled Goose Game joke.
Reading Update
Find Your Artistic Voice: The Essential Guide to Working Your Creative Magic by Lisa Congdon. Pretty good book about developing one’s own signature style/voice. Lots of interviews with people from a variety of creative/artistic fields.
*swishing tail vigorously* -Mayhem
Nope, she’s not lashing her tail. It’s definitely swishing. She does it A LOT. Jeanne and I tell Mayhem that she has very confusing tail language, but she doesn’t care. LOL.
Linkity to get away from it all
Don’t forget about Art Journaling Monday, which is a chance to see some of my creative output… yes, yes, and another cat picture! 😉
Bookity
- New releases: AAR (romance), Tor.com (genre-benders)
- Linkity from Smart Bitches.
- Linkity from the Pen Addict.
- “How Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings changed publishing forever“.
- Downside to handwriting a novel (also applies to writing one on a typewriter).
- On buying used books.
- “5 books about finding hope at the end of the world“.
- Granny Weatherwax mood board.
- Trying to describe that Discworld book you’re reading…
- Neil Gaiman when asked, “Lovecraft or Wodehouse?”
Do, Think, Make, Learn
- How crayons are made.
- Do you know what a kodkod is? Cute, for one thing.
- The Asian giant hornet and the Japanese honeybee.
- “It’s called the Coelacanth, and it’s your grandma.“
Cookity
- 8 gut friendly breakfasts.
- 12 no-mess packet dinners.
- 15 lunch salads.
- 23 healthy recipes for winter.
- 50+ recipes for soups and stews.
Gluten Free
Artsy Crafty
Cool
- Sunrise in Minnesota’s Superior National Forest.
- Perhaps Minneapolitans should start doing this…
- “What was David Bowie’s last song?“
- Linkity from kmkat.
Cool or Wha…?
- Whether you think this Minneapolis front yard is cool or wha… will depend on whether you’re from a warm or a cold climate.
- The worst art that just entered the public domain, according to critics.
Wha…?
LOL
Reading Update
Project Collage: 50 Projects to Spark Your Creativity by Bev Spreight. Recommended if you’re looking to expand your collage repertoire – great ideas, examples, and explanations.
*derpity derpity derpity derp* -Chaos
Linkity for the new year
Bookity
- New releases: Tor.com (fantasy, scifi, YA SFF, “25 most anticipated” SFF books of 2020), Smart Bitches (romance)
- Linkity from Smart Bitches.
- Best Smart Bitches’ Cover Snark from 2019.
- Linkity from the Pen Addict.
- Lovely Twitter thread from Michael Sheen (Aziraphale) about the Good Omens fandom.
- Very, very detailed post about “The implosion of the RWA” (being updated as things continue to develop).
- Interesting post following Tolkien’s writing process as the One Ring changed from a minor item to a character.
- “The Tao of Sir Terry: Philosophy in Pratchett“.
- “Inventing folklore: The origins of the Green Man“.
- Neil Gaiman’s New Year’s post.
- Illustrated version of “What You Need to be Warm” by Neil Gaiman.
Do, Learn, Think, Make
- Some of NASA’s space images from 2019.
- The battle against reproductive rights and women’s body autonomy in the US continues to escalate.
- The horrifying tale of the Fischer-Price Rock’n’Play Sleeper.
- An addendum to the post about both 1980 and 2000 seeming as if they were 20 years ago for those of us of a certain age.
- The movies, music, and books that entered the public domain yesterday.
- “Neuroscientists have discovered a new kind of signal in the human brain“.
- 50 things to declutter.
Gluten Free
Artsy Crafty
Cool
- Stunning wood and resin jewelry.
- Vanessa Stockard’s series of Kevin the Kitten.
- Black cats compared to black big cats.
- Linkity from kmkat.
- Linkity from bookwyrmknits.
Wha…?
Reading Update
The Collage Ideas Book by Alannah Moore. Very good look at many different ways to do collage using examples from collage artists. This is definitely an inspiration book rather than a how-to.
Discovering Gluebooks: How to Stop Focusing on Products and Start Making More Art by Lisa Vollrath. Good overview, examples, and gluebook how-tos. (You make a gluebook by collaging things you already have, such as junk mail, magazines, glue sticks, etc. No special products or expertise required.)
“…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…” -Chaos (he’s in the background, upper left)
*not quite awake* -Mayhem
Last linkity of the decade!
Bookity
- Linkity from Smart Bitches.
- Linkity from the Pen Addict.
- “Romance writers stand behind author Courtney Milan in light of RWA ruling”. Smart Bitches on the situation.
- Some thoughts on “shock and disappointment over the actions or words of authors”.
- Susan Cooper, “The Shortest Day” – perfect for this time of year.
- 11 favorite book quotes from Nicole.
- Listen to the BBC special with Neil Gaiman, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, David Tennant, and Amanda Palmer. If you’re just interested in the Good Omens bits, they start at around 1:48:00 – including David Tennant reading Good Omens in his very own accent.
- A photo I took that reminded me of Good Omens.
- Great quote from Philip Pullman: “[I]t’s a metaphor. Don’t force it to do the work of a fact.”
Do, Think, Make, Learn
- The Mari Lwyd is a uniquely Welsh winter tradition.
- “tRUMP campaign admits to relying on voter suppression”.
- The pagan history of Christmas.
Cookity
- Stuffed pepper soup.
- 5-ingredient no-boil baked ziti.
- 10 one-bowl meals.
- Hot chocolate bread pudding.
- Brooklyn blackout cake (chocolate). (via The Kitchn)
Cool
- “22 nerdy things that brought us joy in 2019”.
- Holiday linkity from kmkat.
- Linkity linkity from kmkat.
Wha…?
LOL
- Of course it’s a black cat. OF COURSE.
- An Untitled Goose twist to those swan maiden fairy tales…
- Canadian Borg…
- A surprisingly humorous post about toast.
- And another surprisingly humorous post about what scientific jargon means in academic papers.
- Very American gothic.
Reading Update
Big Mushy Happy Lump (Sarah’s Scribbles #2) by Sarah Andersen. Possibly my favorite of her three books!
“…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..” -Mayhem
Treason’s Greetings from linkity! ;p
Bookity
- Linkity from Smart Bitches.
- Linkity from Inkophile.
- “Best Jane Austen sentences“.
- Christmas shopping…
- 17 Calvin & Hobbes tattoos.
Think, Do, Make, Learn
- The saga of the last KMart in Minnesota. Of course, it’s the one blocking a major street in Minneapolis.
- Steampunk color palettes.
- Mozilla’s “Privacy Not Included” gift guide for 2019.
- “The decade fandom went corporate“.
- “Reddit’s favorite mindblowing facts of all time, fact-checked“.
- 30 viral fakes of the past decade.
- Best alternatives to Netflix (free).
- Yeah, we’re way beyond the usefulness of “if you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention”.
Cookity
Gluten Free
Cool
Wha…?
LOL
Reading Update
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. Very good epistolary ya novel about Charlie, a high school freshmen who shares his life and thoughts with an unidentified person via one-sided correspondence throughout Charlie’s first year of high school. Powerful.
*derpity derpity derpity* -Chaos