Saturday, January 15, 2011

Weekly Link Round-Up


If you happen to be one of my readers who's buried under snow drifts, please avert your eyes now. I'm going to mention something that you don't want to see. Don't peek at the lines between the ==='s.

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The skies are bright blue here in Phoenix, the sun is shining fit to burst, and the temperatures have been, and will continue to be, in the balmy 70-75° F. range. (That's 21-24° C. to the rest of you lot.)

Winter is mostly civilized here in the Sonoran Desert. If we want to play in snow, we load up a vehicle and drive to it, play to our hearts content, and then jump back into the vehicle and drive back home, leaving that white stuff sensibly in our rearview mirror.

We come back home to where flowers are blooming, hummingbirds are humming, and we get to sit by the pool to watch migratory birds that flew down here to keep from freezing off their tail feathers.
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Okay, it's safe to read now.

Some of you may be wondering how I'm doing. I'm feeling so much more like myself that I have to beware overdoing things.

It is rather ironic that, once a person is told she has cancer, the longest wait she has is for that first appointment with the oncologist. This is something you undoubtedly do not need to be told, but once a person knows there's cancer inside her, the very first thing she wants is for it to be gone. Now. Do not wait. Do not pass Go. Get the hell out of me, and that $200 is going towards my co-pay!

My first appointment with the oncologist is Tuesday, and I will keep you informed. (And even though I want this uninvited house guest gone forthwith, there's no need for panic. I am not at death's door. Just impatient as usual!)

Now... instead of weather bragging and health updates, let's get on to the links, shall we? There's not that many, but all it takes is one good link to make the entire list worthwhile, eh?


Bookish News & Other Fun Stuff
  • Many libraries in the UK are facing closure as local governments try to balance their budgets. The people of Stony Stratford, on the outskirts of Milton Keynes, didn't take the news of their own branch closing lying down. They fought back. Here's the Guardian article about what they did, and here's the Independent's view.
  • It should come as a surprise to no one that there are people "out there" who are working hard to hack the Kindle.
  • Sisters In Crime had an in-depth survey conducted entitled The Mystery Book Consumer in the Digital Age. It makes for very interesting reading even if the genre is not the one you prefer.
  • The Greatest Literary Moments in Film.
  • Here's a quiz to find out how much you know about banking in literature.
  • Here are some photos of celebrity libraries. Some I would say are not libraries but photo ops in disguise, and Greta Garbo's looks more like books by the foot (which probably means that she's the greatest reader of the bunch).

Around the Water Cooler in the Book Blogosphere

That's all for this week. Stop by next weekend for a fresh batch of links for your surfing pleasure!




12 comments:

  1. We had a huge snowstorm hit here on Monday while we were gone. We came home to lots of snow and ice on the roads. A lot has melted now, but our secondary roads still have a few patches of ice.

    I'm so glad to see you're feeling better. Please keep us posted!!

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  2. Great links, and I like seeing that you are your own impatient self!

    And I am not sure I could stand your summers, but I might be able to survive your winters. Well, we only had 5 degrees today, but we have had seven geese exercising in the air right above our house today. Beautiful! - if only I weren´t so impatient, I would have got a photo.

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  3. Cathy - So glad to hear you're feeling strong and that you have so much fight in you. My thoughts are with you, and I'll be eager to hear how it goes on Tuesday.

    ...and thanks for those links!

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  4. Glad to hear you are getting back to your "normal" self...please keep us posted on your progress. My thoughts are with you, especially on Thursday.

    Not much snow here in south Texas either although we did have 3 days below freezing last week.

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  5. Best wishes, Cathy! And thanks for the theme week plug!!

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  6. Glad to hear you are back to your old self for the most part. I too will be anxious to hear what comes next. Don't overdo it, says the woman who always overdoes it.

    The sun is shining here too which seems like a miracle with the weather we've been having. Ahhh, I see snow clouds on the horizon - knew it was too good to last.

    Thanks for the interesting links.

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  7. I wish you well for Tuesday. I can absolutely understand the impatience ...

    I tried the Bankers Quiz and came up 3 out of 10, Banckrupt. I think I only got the ones I knew right. None of my "guesses" worked. Is that fair?

    Oh, and I do love an Arizona winter. It's the sort of winter I like!

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  8. Kathy-- I just have a difficult time picturing South Carolina with lots of snow!

    Dorte-- Now there's where I actually have some patience: taking photographs!

    Margot-- You're welcome!

    Shelly-- Thanks for the good vibes!

    Jen-- Thanks... and you're welcome!

    Barbara-- You're welcome! I've overdone it a couple of times already. Hopefully I've learned my lesson!

    Sue-- Some of us just aren't meant for snow and cold!

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  9. I'm rather behind on posts again..seems to be my mantra for the month...

    I thought reading about your lovely weather was funny. My friend was just visiting Phoenix this past weekend and we texted back and forth on Saturday. He loved it! He knew I would too since I hate snow and was running in 6 inches Saturday. yuck. He's actually decided to move there sometime later this year and is making me very jealous. I say...enjoy the weather and tell me all about it, I'll enjoy through you.

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  10. Kris-- I wonder if he'll like our summers as much as he likes our winters? There's always a trade-off, you know! LOL

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  11. Cathy - it's funny you mention that because one lady he talked to said the same thing but our temps get just as high and with horrible humidity, so we both figured it probably wouldn't be too bad.

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  12. Kris-- Unless you live someplace in the US that I've never heard of, I doubt very much that you have well over one hundred 100-degree-plus days in your year... or have them all in a row. In the summer, lots of people try to figure out how to conduct their days without ever leaving air conditioning!

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