A Locked Down & Clearing Out Weekly Link Round-Up

Thanks to some ill-advised non-action by the powers that be, Arizona has been ranking #1 in the world when it comes to COVID-19. It figures that we'd rank high on something no one wants to rank high on. Denis has been going to work, and that's about the only time anyone leaves this house.

I guess I've been in the house too long because I've actually started feeling as though I should be doing more... cleaning. Hold on. I'm feeling faint. Let me put my head between my knees for a minute.

All better now.

Before you think I've gone around the bend, I will hasten to assure you that most of my urge to clean has been centered on clearing out clutter. Even Denis has gotten into the act. Since he's no longer hoisting golf clubs and heavy luggage anymore (he's staying as far away from airline travelers as possible), he's gained a bit of weight. I need to work more on my own body. So we've decided to get a rather large piece of exercise equipment that will help us both with upper and lower body strength. But the question was-- where to put it?

We haven't used the dining room in a very long time. Very long. The only thing the dining room table has been used for is a dumping ground or something to decorate for the holidays, so we've decided to get rid of the dining room table and chairs. There were also two large video cabinets in there. Well, those cabinets have been emptied, and they will be going, too. We've also decided to get rid of some other pieces of furniture and equipment that are surplus to requirements, and several other things, so this means we'll be scheduling a pickup time with Goodwill.

I also realized that I hadn't touched anything on the upper four shelves here in the office closet for years, so all that stuff has come down for me to go through. Let me tell you, the recycle and garbage bins have been getting a workout! But... you never know what you're going to find when you're sorting and sifting. The photo shows a bright yellow plastic bag from the Murder & Mayhem Bookstore in Hay-on-Wye, the UK's famous "booktown." This mystery lover isn't about to throw away a keepsake that reminds her of the day she spent there! And as for that plastic container, I don't know if you can see the label on it, but it says "TO SCAN." I have a lot of old photos and other goodies that I want to scan to my computer.

Whew! I hope we get this pandemic situation under control soon. Casa Kittling may be sporting a severe minimalist look before much longer!

Enjoy the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Author Camilla Läckberg has found some inspiration in the heroines of 1980s romance novels.
• A final collection of Terry Pratchett stories will be published in September.
• Attempting to fry an egg on the sidewalk has been a summer pastime for over one hundred years.
• The accidental invention of the Slip 'n Slide.
• A group of anti-maskers is trying to pass off a bogus "mask-exemption" card.
• Five tips from the New York Public Library for raising a reader.
• What makes an iconic book cover?
• Will China's entry into U.S. publishing lead to censorship?
• How COVID-19 will change the way we fight wildfires.
  

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• An Irish boy ditched his homework to go play and found a 4,000-year-old longboat.
• Why did the Maya abandon the ancient city of Tikal?
• Renovations as historic York Guildhall have revealed human remains and Roman artifacts.
  
• A local man found a 2,000-year-old Roman lead ingot in a Welsh field.
• A prayer book owned by Mary, Queen of Scots is up for sale.
• An ancient Roman mosaic has been discovered in pristine condition under a vineyard in Italy.
• How did the Norman Conquest change English cuisine?
• Native Americans and Polynesians met around 1200 A.D.
  

►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄

• Why physicists tried to put a ferret in a particle accelerator.
• Beavers are accelerating climate change in Alaska.
• Canada's white-throated sparrows are changing their tune.
• Meet Augie, the 20-year-old golden retriever who might have just set an age record.
• What can bonobos teach us about the nature of language?
• Whale sharks have tiny teeth on their eyeballs.
• Fish eggs can survive a journey through both ends of a duck. (You never know what you're going to learn when you read my round-ups, do you?)
• A prehistoric great white shark nursery was discovered in Chile.
  

►Fascinating Folk◄

• How black fireman David Kenyon brought a pole into the firehouse.
• Mary McLeod Bethune was at the vanguard of more than fifty years of black progress.
• Homesteaders, heroines, and hell-raisers.
• What made Lucretia Mott one of the fiercest opponents of slavery and sexism.
• Rudolfo Anaya, a founding father of Chicano literature, has died at the age of 82.
• Crime Writers in Residence: at home with Kate Ellis.
• Leading crime writers reveal how they came up with their most famous creations, what it's like to live with them over decades, and if they'll last the distance.
• Remembering when women ruled the Wild West town of Jackson, Wyoming.
  

►The Happy Wanderer◄

• The rival casinos that built Hot Springs, Arkansas into an unlikely capital of vice.
• You can spend the night in Gearrannan Blackhouse Village, a formerly abandoned traditional Scottish village.
• Mitla Café, the Route 66 institution that inspired Taco Bell.
• Temperatures hit a sweltering 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit in the Arctic town of Verkhoyansk.
• How the "Sunset Route" railroad helped diversify California.

►I ♥ Lists◄

• A brief history of queer women detectives in crime fiction.
• Five books about exploring the past.
• Ten words with difficult-to-remember meanings.
• Ten great novels about friendship.
• Ten summer thrillers as chilling as your AC unit.
• Set sail for distant places and times with these ten absorbing historical fiction novels.
• The best books for frazzled parents and their children.
• The top ten Scottish crime novels.

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! And don't forget to curl up with a good book!