The Appearances Are Deceiving Weekly Link Round-Up

One of these days, I'll get through all the photos I've taken in the last two months. Naturally, Daisy's visit meant that I was wearing out camera batteries right and left, but once she returned to England, Denis and I have started visiting gardens, conservatories, and aquariums, and you know what that means-- more major draining of the aformentioned batteries. I think one of the reasons why I'm behind in going through my photos is that I don't want to miss out on pool time. I enjoy that too much to choose sitting in front of a computer over it.

For some reason, the geriatric giraffe we met at the Out of Africa Wildlife Park has stuck in my mind. You can see him over on the right. Look at all the wrinkly skin on his forehead, around his eyes, those baggy jowls, and the crepey skin on his neck. It looks as though he's been collecting his old age pension for quite some time.

On the contrary! He's quite the spring chicken and won't be eligible for his OAP for a long time. He was born with that baggy skin that makes him look as though he's related to a Shar Pei. Yes, appearances can be deceiving, and no one knows that better than I. Having had gray hair since I was sixteen, I've received a lot of "elder respect" that I didn't deserve over the years. You should have seen the look on my face when I read that it was the latest fad to dye your hair gray! Why?

But instead of getting caught up in the Eternal Why, I'm going to mosey on out to the corral. Those links are getting mighty restless. Head 'em up! Moooooooove 'em out!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• The literary salon that made Ayn Rand famous.
• What is a police procedural? 
• Why do so many of us love reading about serial killers?
• How Christopher Columbus's son built "the world's first search engine." 
• The house of literary giant, Evelyn Waugh.
• How Rohidas Dusar, a former officer of the Mumbai police, became its most prolific historian.
• Delivering the mail was once one of the riskiest jobs in America.
• Why historical fiction matters.

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• Divers have confirmed that they've found the wreck of the Pulaski, a steamship that was the Titanic of its day, sunk off the coast of North Carolina in 1838.
• A sprawling 3,300-year-old Egyptian tomb hides the secrets of ancient war.
• The first-ever horse has been found in a lost Pompeii villa.
• Archaeologists have discovered that they've been excavating the legendary lost Assyrian city of Mardaman. 
• A treasure trove has revealed the origins of an 800-year-old shipwreck.
• Greenland's ice provides a year-by-year account of the Roman Empire's economy.
• A Dutch art dealer says he discovered a new Rembrandt. (Daisy was just in Amsterdam and toured a few museums. I wonder if she saw it?) 

►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄

• Can the northern white rhino be brought back from the brink of extinction?
• Fred, a ten-year-old Labrador who's the resident dog at Mountfitchet Castle in England, has adopted nine orphaned ducklings. (Just in case you need some Cute today.)
• The first Yellowstone grizzly hunt in forty years will take place this fall.
• Dolphins have a myusterious network of veins that could be key to preventing the bends.

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Seventeen secrets of audiobook narrators.
• The oldest cookbooks from libraries around the world.
• Twenty-five favorite opening lines in literature.
• Twelve cover artists every vintage crime lover should know. (The only one I knew by name was Robert McGinnis.)
• The twelve best Sherlock Holmes stories, according to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
• Twelve crime shows canceled far too soon.
• The ten creepiest neighbors in modern suspense.

That's all for this week! Don't forget to stop by next Friday when I'll be sharing  a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure.

Have a great weekend, and read something fabulous!