I am very pleased to announce that, even though he's still not able to take his prescribed pain meds (long, frustrating story), Denis has shown a lot of improvement this week, and much of the improvement stems from one purchase.
Casa Kittling is now the home of two mobility scooters. We're going to need a designated parking lot in here. Do you think Martha Stewart or Joanna Gaines would be able to come up with a good design scheme for it?
A trip to the doctor has been wearing Denis out so badly that it takes the entire next day for him to recuperate. This week, it only took him until noon the following day. And he's not just sitting on his butt and zipping back and forth on his scooter; he's walking, too.
The only problem with his scooter is that it has very low ground clearance and can't clear the ramp from the dining room to the craft room (and then to the outside through the carport door). He's ordered a new ramp that will hopefully do the trick. I know he's sick and tired of me being out there doing all the chores like dragging the garbage bins out to the curb and back, and cutting down the ocean of cardboard we've been swimming in, but secretly, I think he just wants to get out there and race me up and down the driveway. (Eat my dust, buddy!)
It's been a long time since the term "weekend" has meant anything to the two of us. For years, we both worked jobs with four-day weeks and Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday off. With the seemingly endless stream of people coming in, Saturdays and Sundays are the only days we can catch our breath and (maybe) get a few extra winks of sleep.
I can't begin to tell you how happy I am that Denis is finally showing some real improvement. It makes me want to work even harder.
Enjoy the links!
►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄
- What makes a great opening line?
- Researchers have created a fabric that can "hear" your heartbeat.
- Are mysteries and thrillers less enjoyable the more you read in the genre? (I think you know my answer to that...)
- The (un)importance of Book Twitter.
- How public shaming helps society maintain its norms and ethical standards.
- Being a public librarian can be dangerous work. Why don't we acknowledge that?
- Commonplace books are like a diary without the risk of annoying yourself.
- Bookish newsletters are a throwback to book blogging. (I didn't know book blogging had been thrown back?)
►Book Banning & Censorship◄
- Technology for the parental monitoring of student library use is being developed by Follett.
- Book bans increase the marginalization of our most vulnerable students.
- The ALA has released a list of the Top Ten Most Challenged Books of 2021.
- This small library off the coast of Maine is collecting banned books.
- Efforts to ban books jumped an unprecedented four-fold in 2021.
- Congress will hold a hearing on book bannings in schools and libraries.
- Book bans move to center stage in the red-state education wars.
- It turns out that Ted Cruz is actually really good at driving up sales for anti-racist literature.
►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄
- Found in a New York City junk shop: Forgotten postcards between two haiku masters.
- Watch as 200 years of varnish is wiped away from a 17th-century oil painting.
- A well-preserved 9,000-year-old shrine has been discovered in the Jordan desert.
- The graves of dozens of kings from the time of King Arthur have been uncovered in Great Britain.
- A filthy statue found in an English garden was a long-lost masterpiece worth up to $10.5 million.
- A trove of starfish deposited as an offering to the Aztec war god has been found in Mexico City.
- A 5,000-year-old human bone was found in the River Thames.
- What archaeologists are learning about the lives of the Chinese immigrants who built the Transcontinental Railroad.
►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄
- A secret great white shark social club has bee discovered off the coast of Mexico.
- Hundreds of beagles bred for research are getting forever homes thanks to Virginia's Homeward Trails Animal Rescue.
- A new study suggests that geese were the first domesticated birds.
- Watch an Australian cattle dog named Sissysticks dig a trench to herd spilled water into her yard.
- The bittern, the UK's loudest bird, is making a very vocal comeback.
- Watch an adult dog show a new puppy how to use the doggie door.
- Can a gorilla really get drunk from bamboo?
- Watch this romp of otters be simultaneously afraid and fascinated by a vacuum cleaner.
►Fascinating Folk◄
- Ten pioneering women of Antarctica and the places named for them.
- Rosa Slade Gragg, the Black woman who didn't just open doors, she moved them.
- The women we should thank for kickstarting Hollywood.
- How Kate Warne, America's first woman detective, foiled a plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln.
- Clara Adams, the woman who taught the world how to fly. And while we're at it, let's reminisce over airplanes that had piano bars, cocktail lounges, pubs, and restaurants.
- Betty Reid Soskin, the oldest park ranger who told the stories of Black women in World War II, has retired at the age of 100.
- Meet Kenya's sisterhood of badass bikers.
- The women behind the first Black music magazine.
- Eleanor Roosevelt, Bessie Coleman, and others will be featured on U.S. quarters.
►The Wanderer◄
- The miniature mouse village of your dreams.
- The most popular U.S. attractions, state by state.
- Crime and the city: Palm Springs.
- Telling the real stories behind the birth of America's National Parks.
- Twelve places to see the work of women architects.
►I ♥ Lists◄
- Seven books that make you feel like a main character.
- Nine of the best audiobook subscription services.
- What is sunshine noir, plus six sunshine noir books to read.
- Ten vivid Renaissance-era books set around the world.
- Real life literary stories and scandals that deserve a documentary.
- Eleven wilderness mystery books for adventurers at heart.
- Ten of history's most amazing survival stories.
- The ten most hated business buzzwords and jargon.
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!
So glad to hear Denis is feeling better and zooming around on his scooter. I can't imagine how two of them are racing around your house. It must be fun, although the reasons are quite serious.
ReplyDeleteAnd also glad to see more action on opposing book banning, a horrible thing.
I will come back and read the links, but time for me to hit the hay.
The racing will be in the future. This morning, something came to pass that I'd hoped would not. Denis is so anxious to be a "contributing member of the household" again that he overdid it and fell. Now he's paying the price by being stuck in his recliner. I've learned that it doesn't do much good to inform him of these things in advance; he's got to learn for himself. *sigh*
DeleteSounds like me when I was 15. When my father told me not to read a certain book, I borrowed it the next day and read it. I did agree with his opinion of said book, however.
DeleteI've had much the same experience myself.
DeleteOh, that is great news about Denis' scooter, Cathy! So glad it's helping him, especially as you wait to work out the pain meds. I can just see the two of you racing on the driveway, too - what fun! It's really good to know he's suffering less. Now, I'm going to check out that shrine, but when I get back, I can wave the black checkered flag for your race... ;-)
ReplyDeleteLOL!!
DeleteIt's great to hear that things have improved for Denis. The continuing efforts to ban books just flummox me. Will they never learn that trying to ban a thing just makes it more enticing? That Sissysticks is one clever puppy and I do love that name. Good to know that Ted Cruz is good for something. It certainly isn't being our senator!
ReplyDeleteI'm still wondering how they came up with that name for the dog!
DeleteI have a hard time resisting miniature villages of any kind, but I especially adore mouse villages. Thanks for sharing that link!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear Denis is improving and getting around more. Hope you are able to get out racing soon!
I'm glad someone else liked that mouse village!
DeleteI'm still waiting for our first race. Maybe I'll be nice and let him win...