A No Wimps Here Weekly Link Round-Up

 

Poor Denis! For about a week now, he's been suffering great pain from what we're assuming is a trapped nerve that's affecting his lower back, hip, and leg. We've been working ourselves silly trying to pinpoint what caused it. An old, butt-sprung recliner? A memory foam mattress past its Use-By date? Whatever it is, it's no fun, and I'm glad to hear that he's decided to go to the doctor. What makes this so aggravating is that he'd just recovered from another bout with agonizing pain after his doctor insisted that he stop taking omeprazole.

The sage who stated that growing old is not for wimps hit the nail square on the head, and I'm so looking forward to having my husband back to his usual chipper, smart-alecky self!

 

On a brighter note, a friend on Facebook shared a photo of a bookmark he'd come across. I fell so deeply in love with it that I had to track down the maker/seller and get one all for my very own.

 

I think you'll agree that this particular bookmark is perfect for those who love to read crime fiction! I know you've also noted that I bought more than one. Perhaps the winner of a future giveaway will also win one of these bookmarks. What do you think? Oh, and in case you're having trouble reading what the bookmark says: "Blood stains are red, Luminol glows blue, I read enough crime books so they'll never find you."

It's about time for me to curl up with the next Montalbano mystery that I'm reading, but I did want to give a shout-out to a certain Santa. Your card appeared in my mailbox last Thursday, evidently having hitched a ride on a particularly slow turtle train. Thank you so much!

Enjoy the links!

 

 

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Overdrive reports more than half a billion digital library loans in 2021. 
• You can join the #FREADOM letter writing campaign to combat censorship.
• Ruth Bader Ginsberg's private library is coming to auction.
• On the 21st-century renaissance of Native American fiction.
• A cozy mystery writer (Vicki Delany) on the history of class and tea.
• How algorithms discern our mood from what we write online.
• Why crime fiction author Rosemary Simpson chose to set her series in the Gilded Age.
• What The Golden Girls taught us about AIDS.

 

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• An ancient dog-headed statue was found during a Roman road excavation. 
• Archaeologists have identified the possible location of a Temple of Hercules. 
• Analysis of ancient teeth questions the theory that Native Americans originated from Japan.
• A silver plate showing a topless Scythian goddess has been unearthed in Russia.
• A huge Roman mosaic depicting scenes from the Iliad has been unearthed in a field in England.
• Egypt reopens the ancient Avenue of Sphinxes centuries after it hosted parades for the gods.
• Master artisans fixed the mistakes made by apprentices at this ancient Egyptian temple.
• This ancient golden mask from Peru was painted with human blood.
  

 

►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄

• Dogs can differentiate between familiar and unfamiliar human languages. They are the first non-human animals to be able to tell the difference between human languages. (I could have told them this years ago just from personal experience with Chico.)
• North, an eight-month-old Alaskan Malamute, saved an injured hiker from hypothermia by laying on him for thirteen hours.
• See pandas, elephants, cheetahs, and more enjoy a snow day at the National Zoo.
• The Hudsonian godwit is a wonder bird that flies thousands of miles non-stop in an epic migration. 
• On sitting still in nature. (Give it a try.)
• Regulators are looking to protect a seabird hotspot in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
• This video shows a bear cub using a beaver lodge for diving practice. (The beavers must have been thrilled.)
• Skye the Great Dane and Hot Fudge Sundae the mini horse have bonded and are ow the best of friends.

 

►Fascinating Folk◄

• Joanne Harris on how her career as a teacher shaped her career as a writer.
• Peter Swanson on why he'll never outline a mystery novel again.
• Here are the pioneering women who will be on the new quarters.
• How Phillis Wheatley beat all expectations.
• Famed paleoanthropologist and wildlife conservationist Richard Leakey has died at the age of 77.
• How Betty White broke barriers for women in television. (I miss her. She was a treasure.)
• Meet the Black men who changed Abraham Lincoln's mind about equal rights.
• Author Ann Cleeves has been honored in 2022's New Year's Honors List in the UK.

 

►The Wanderer◄

• North East England filming locations that made it onto TV and movie screens in 2021.
• On sitting in Emily Dickinson's bedroom.

 

►I ♥ Lists◄

• The 100 most popular baby names from 100 years ago.
• Anne Rice's reading list.
• Madonna's three best-loved books.
• Eight books that inspire Hillary Clinton.
• Julia Child's favorite page-turners.
• The twenty-five highest grossing movies of 2021.
• Thirty excellent terms from a seventeenth-century slang dictionary.
• The thirteen most mispronounced words of 2021.

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!