A Crisis Averted Weekly Link Round-Up

It's been another week of nothing much here at Casa Kittling, although there was some excitement when I actually left the property to go to the dentist for my six-month checkup and cleaning. Such an exciting life! Oh-- there was a slight annoyance that occurred. I used one of my two credit cards online at a site I seldom frequent, and in less than twenty-four hours, I got a notice from the bank asking if I'd used that card to order a pizza from the Papa John's in Irving, Texas. Uh...no! So there was the inconvenience of getting that straightened out. I don't store my credit card numbers at any of the websites I frequent, but I did forget that I had an outstanding order at The Poisoned Pen, and-- naturally-- that was the credit card I'd used. Whoever appropriated my credit card number tried to use it at Pep Boys and one other place, but they stopped after that because they were having no joy. So sad, eh?

I'll bet you're thinking the credit card incident is the crisis I referred to in the title of this post. Not so. Here, I'll show you the crisis I'm talking about...

When I finished my Lockdown Afghan, I was left with a (gasp!) empty yarn bin in my craft room. Good gravy! That just couldn't be allowed, so I had Denis choose yarn for his very own afghan. Now that yarn has arrived, and the crisis has been averted. I think the color name, Blue Hawaii, is rather fitting for an ex-submariner, don't you?

Well, I'd better mosey out to the corral. I swear these links are putting in a lot more mileage than I am lately! Head 'em up! Moooove 'em out!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Tiny mysteries from the files of the New York Times.
• Arizona faces wildfires and evacuations as COVID-19 cases rise.
• Literary figures on why booksellers thrived during lockdown-- and what's next.
• Good movies as old books.
• How the Flavia de Luce series investigates the traditional English village murder mystery.
• President Rutherford B. Hayes is more famous in Paraguay than in the U.S.
• The surprising complexity of an unfinished American quilt.
• The New York Public Library asks, "What's your literary Waterloo?"
  

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• Helicopter hieroglyphs: an unusual image believed by some to depict an ancient Egyptian helicopter.
• Archaeologists have discovered an enormous ring of ancient pits near Stonehenge. More information from The Guardian.
  
• An exquisite 2,300-year-old Scythian woman's boot was preserved in the frozen ground of the Altai Mountains.
• When Henry VIII and Francis I spent $19 million on an 18-day party.
• Experts believe they have found the lost American colony of Roanoke.
• Found: the oldest and largest Maya structure in Mexico. More from Smithsonian Magazine.
  
• Renovations are revealing rare Maya murals hidden in a Guatemalan home.
• After hundreds of years, the unknown woman in a Tudor portrait has been identified as Mary Boleyn.
  

►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄

• The endangered smoky mouse, feared extinct after Australia's horrendous bushfires, has been found alive.
• This experiment tricks mice into smelling things that aren't there.
• Soap bubbles can pollinate flowers, but can they replace bees?
• Why hawk moths are the underdogs of the pollinator world.
• A twelve-year-old boy remained totally calm despite the massive bear creeping up behind him.
• A hungry alligator tried to snap up a "turtle" on the front porch of a Florida home.
• These black bear cubs in the Great Smoky Mountains couldn't wait for their mother's milk.
• The great koala rescue operation.
  

►Fascinating Folk◄

• Satin, lace, and cherry pie: the life of "Big Bertha," the proprietress of the best-known parlor house in Williams, Arizona.
• The black female battalion that stood up to a white male army.
• Remembering the groundbreaking life of Robert Lawrence, Jr., the first black astronaut.
• Regina Anderson, the librarian at the nexus of the Harlem Renaissance.
• Lillie Langtry and the 19th century's gentlewomen influencers.
• How do you write about a woman who loathed the spotlight? On Georgie Hyde-Lees, who was married to a famous Irish poet.
• The forgotten trans history of the Wild West.
• Dr. Gladys West: the "hidden figure" who pioneered GPS technology.
  

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Five great thrillers set in isolated places.
• Five novels of insomnia, sleepwalking, and fear of slumber.
• Ten physicians who also write crime fiction.
• Nine beach reads.
• Sixteen powerful mystery books by LGBTQ+ authors.
• The best food books to take you overseas-- while stuck at home.
• Twelve books to help children understand race, anti-racism, and protest.
• Ten books for map enthusiasts.

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.

Stay safe! Stay healthy! Curl up with a good book!