The Out and Out and About Weekly Link Round-Up

 

Last week, Denis and I went to the Wildlife World Zoo. Even though the humidity was a bit too high for us desert dwellers to be tromping around the place, we did enjoy ourselves. The other desert dwellers seemed to be giving the zoo a miss, and it was almost as though we had the place to ourselves. What bliss! The only sad note was that it was easy to see that the zoo had been hit by several of the strong monsoon storms that the Phoenix area experienced recently, and when I got to my favorite mongoose exhibits, I saw that their system of tunnels had been completely obliterated by the downpours. The mongooses are off-exhibit now, and I look forward to seeing them again in the future.

There were some gorgeous water lilies in the pond in front of the baby animal nursery, which was totally empty. What a bummer! On the other hand, the alligator wasn't in the water as he'd always been during all our other visits. He must've been enjoying the extra humidity.

 

I didn't take nearly as many photos as I usually do. I think I was just enjoying being outside in the sunshine with a strong, fresh breeze blowing through my hair. Never fear! I will be sharing a few that I did take-- mostly head shots because I seemed to be getting stared at a lot. Hmmm...

 

This week, we'll be out and about again as we go to the opening day of the Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit in Scottsdale. Opening day would have been my grandmother's 104th birthday. Since Starry Night is my all-time favorite piece of art, I've been looking forward to this ever since I bought the tickets. I'm expecting a very powerful response when I get to that part of the exhibit; I just hope that I don't come unglued! (Cue hanky alert) I can't remember if they will be allowing photographs. If they do, you know that I'll share some with all of you.

Enjoy the links!

 

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• What makes a great first sentence?
• Sascha Rothchild on Diabetes Noir, killers in yoga pants, and therapy for sociopaths.
• James Lee Burke on organized labor, corporate evils, and the plot to dumb down America.
• Ted Cruz made $320,000 last year as an author. His campaign bought $153,000 worth of books. (Must be nice to be able to make yourself a bestseller.)
• The ethics of selling advanced reader copies.
• For years, a mysterious figure has been stealing books before their release. Is it espionage? Revenge? Or a complete waste of time?
• Naomi Hirahara on writing a new historical mystery about post-internment life for Japanese-Americans.
• Over 20,000 years ago, a coronavirus epidemic left marks in human DNA.

 

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• Shipwreck Camp off the coast of Lake Erie delivers a treasure trove of science.
• An Anglo-Saxon queen's missing monastery has been unearthed after 1,000 years.
• An Israeli tour guide on a camping trip discovered 1,700-year-old coins.
• A Roman priest's exceptionally well-preserved remains have been found in Pompeii.
• An eight-foot-tall, 1,600-year-old statue of a pagan deity has been found in Ireland.
• Why British archaeologists and the Turkish government are fighting over seeds.
• 5,000-year-old wooden stakes have been found at a Neolithic site in Scotland.
• A Revolutionary War diary has been found in a shoebox donated to a museum.

 

►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄

• Are peas in common dog foods contributing to canine heart disease?
• Squirrel leaps could help scientists design flexible, jumping robots.
• How a single penguin started a whole new colony.
• Watch Dachshund siblings battle it out in the wrestling ring.
• Do wild animals get PTSD?
• Chimps use "hi" and "bye" greetings just like humans.
• Why do turtles live so long?
• A cat's meowing helped rescuers find its 83-year-old owner after the woman fell down a ravine in Cornwall, England.

 

►The Wanderer◄

• Nearly ten million acres of land are burning in Siberia.
• Call me a wuss, but I don't think I'd want to stay on Just Room Enough Island during rough weather.
• This beaver dam in Alberta, Canada, is so big it even shows up on satellite images.
• Take a look inside a medieval English castle with a view of the French coast. It only costs $15 million if you'd like to buy it.
• Baked in 1898 and on exhibit in the Willis Museum in Hampshire, England, you can see the world's oldest complete wedding cake.
• The Lake Michigan Triangle. And you thought the Bermuda Triangle was bad.

 

►Craftsmanship & Artistry◄

• Thread artist Carolina Torres creates vividly colorful natural landscapes.
• Artist Spencer Byles spent a year in the woods of southern France creating mysterious sculptures.
  

 

►Fascinating Folk◄

• The dramatic life and mysterious death of Theodosia Burr.
• Juliane Diller fell nearly two miles... and walked away.
• Author Mo Hayder is dead at the age of fifty-nine.
• Wayan is a 90-year-old Balinese fisherman who catches plastic instead of fish.

 

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Crime books for people who aren't sure of they want to go out on a date or just stay home.
• Fourteen books about brave World War II women.
• Ranking the nineteen best crime-solving writers in fiction.
• Eleven book-to-screen adaptations for 2021.
• Ten historical fiction gems perfect for a summer day.
• Nineteen books that are almost as good as taking a vacation.
• The most popular children's book from every country.
• The sixteen best documentaries on Netflix right now.

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!