The Dreaded Lurgy Weekly Link Round-Up

Nothing like lying back, watching the ophthalmologist working away on your right eye, and listening to him say, "Excellent! Excellent!" Evidently, all those bad cells on my corneas weren't supposed to be scraped off so easily, and since they were, it means that it was well past time that they were taken care of. Now they are, and I only have two cataract surgeries to get through before all this is done. Yippee!

Unfortunately, there have been a couple of small hiccups in my recovery. One: I wasn't putting the "comfort drops" in my eye. (There was no discomfort.) When my eye began watering non-stop, I put them in, and guess what? You got it-- the eye stopped watering. Duh.

The second hiccup was when I seemed to come down with some sort of "dreaded lurgy." Sore muscles, tender innards, alternating sweating buckets with freezing chills, and-- worst of all-- an ever-tightening steel-band-around-my-skull headache that was the first cousin to a classic migraine. The only thing I could do was go to bed with an icepack and sleep. How bad was it? I could've gotten back to books and knitting and the computer by Monday evening. I didn't even try until Wednesday afternoon. I did try three different audiobooks (again) and found them to be excellent sleep aids (again), but I'm happy to be heading back to normal... or what's normal for me.

And what's this bit about a "lurgy"? Yes, it's a word that I picked up from Denis, but that didn't mean that I knew where it came from. Now I know it's from The Goon Show back in 1954. I've learned something new, so it's time to mosey out to the corral. Head 'em up! Mooooooooooove 'em out!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• The magic and mystery of literary maps.
• Friends, first love and freedom … the crime writer Ann Cleeves recalls the great happiness of life in Devon. 
• If you think books seem to be getting longer and longer, you're not alone. 
• Pride and Prejudice on Fire Island.
• Would you like some sausage with your novel?
• Are spray-on antennas the future of wearables?
• No book, it seems, is too substantive or too insignificant to be banned in Kuwait.

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• Archaeologists have discovered a 400-year-old shipwreck.
• The ancient earthquake detector that puzzled modern historians.
• A newly discovered letter has shed light on the overlooked suffragette Annie Kenney. 
• A grandmother found a 2.63-carat diamond at Arkansas's Crater of Diamonds State Park.
• Found: An ancient Roman comic strip with speech bubbles.
• An unknown ancient civilization in India carved this rock art.
• Archaeologists have unearthed the foundations of Wolf Hall, where Henry VIII fell for Jane Seymour.

►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄

• For the first time, a praying mantis has been seen hunting fish.
• Why helicopters are flying mountain goats over Washington state.
• Rhino horn and tiger wine: how the illegal wildlife trade is growing bolder.
• Giant panda mating calls say a lot about them.
• All-female termite colonies reproduce without male input.
• A newly discovered neon fish species has been named after the Greek goddess of love. 
• A Federal judge canceled a scheduled Yellowstone grizzly hunt and restored the species protections.
• The elusive tree kangaroo has been spotted for the first time in ninety years.

►The Happy Wanderer◄

• The Snickelways of York.
• I'd like to walk across the Wadden Sea.
• Westminster Abbey's newest window was designed by David Hockney... on an iPad. 
• Oscar Wilde's former London pied-à-terre is becoming a hotel.

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Tour the British countryside with these mystery series compiled by Charles Todd.
• Ten female spies in historical mysteries and thrillers.
• Five weird 1960s covers for classic novels.
• Seven books that show why fiction is the traveler's best companion.
• Your favorite writers, ranked by height.
• Ten fall books recommended by Debbie Macomber.
• Four mysteries in ominous locales.
• Seven mystery books for fans of Andrea Camilleri.

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!