The Herding Cats Weekly Link Round-Up

 

I used to herd cats quite well. I did it for a few decades for Target. Recently, I discovered that I'm no longer emotionally equipped for the job.

Due to a scheduling snafu, the woman who normally comes on Friday to give us a hand was here two days later. She has been instrumental in helping me transform this house into a haven that works well for the changing needs of both Denis and me. While the laundry was going, Mary Jo and I became immersed in a major project. Sometimes MJ gets the bit in her teeth and I have a difficult time reining her in. Yesterday was one of those times. 

 

 
Then into the mix came Denis on his motorized wheelchair, wanting a piece of the action. There I was, trying to find out what in the world MJ was doing, and trying to keep an eye on Denis to make sure he wasn't doing anything he shouldn't be. Argh!

As he continues to feel better and become more mobile, keeping an eye on him has become a problem. Last Friday, he waited until I was in the shower before he went out to do something he KNEW he shouldn't be doing solo. Then he was in pain for the rest of the day and night. His getting in the middle of what MJ and I were doing had the same results: pain and needing to rest. 

I've had a chat with him (a second time) about overdoing it and about not wearing his back brace. "Some bit of that hardware in your back is going to slip out of position. Do you want to go through all this all over again?"

Of course, he agrees with me about not overdoing it. Of course, he agrees with me about the back brace. But if twenty years have taught me anything, it's that he can see the truth, agree with me, and still do what he wants to do.

And he wonders why my emotions are rather loosely hinged lately. 

 

My apologies to Facebook friends and family who've already read this. What can I say? Casa Kittling isn't a hotbed of activity, so there aren't a lot of topics for me to talk about. However, I will say this to all of you: Due to this post and the subsequent comments from said friends and family, Denis has been minding his Ps and Qs ever since. Score one for my sanity!

 

Enjoy the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Martin Edwards on the Russian cult classic crime novel Count Azar.
• How making maple syrup keeps Native culture alive.
• The words "I wanted" do not belong in book reviews.
• No, most books don't sell only a dozen copies.
• A diary was discovered inside a 19th-century trade catalog.
• This photographer travels around the world to capture the unique beauty of red hair.
• How did murder become cozy?
• Readers suggest ways to climb out of a book slump.
• The language of brutality and why it matters.

 

►Book Banning & Censorship◄

• An Oklahoma teacher gave her students access to banned books. Now she's under scrutiny.
• How book bans turned a Texas town upside down. 
• Public libraries face threats to funding and collections as book bans surge.
• The history of book bans-- and their changing targets-- in the U.S. 
• Virginia Republicans push for "Parental Advisory Warning" labels on school library books. 
• Protect Nebraska Children has emerged as a political force in culture battles over schools. 
• "We're basically a bunch of mad moms" says this group making yard signs with the QR code to banned books. 
• A School Library Journal survey shows that censorship will have a long-term effect on school libraries. 
• How the Brooklyn Library helped fight book bans in Oklahoma. 
• What parents can do when schools ban books. 
• In 2022, there's a new urgency to Banned Books Week. 
• There's no time to despair over book bans-- just to fight them. 
• How librarians can counter lies from book banners. 
• Today's book bans may be more dangerous than those in the past. 

 

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• Evidence of the earliest Roman settlement in Britain has been found at a secret site.
• See the highest-resolution footage of the Titanic ever captured.
• A UK couple found rare gold coins during their home renovations. (And here my house sits on a concrete pad. Woe is me...) More from Live Science.
  
• The Cherokee Nation reckons with its history of slavery in a new exhibit.
• The earliest known amputation was performed in Borneo 31,000 years ago. More from Live Science.
  
• A student archaeologist in the nation of Georgia found a 1.8 million-year-old tooth-- one of the oldest signs of hominins outside of Africa. 
• What's the world's oldest civilization?

 

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

• Orcas engage in human-like fads, including weird fashion trends and teen hooliganism. More from Smithsonian Magazine.
• Do dogs really cry tears of joy when reunited with their owners? 
• How twenty-four British rabbits took over Australia. 
• Dugongs (sea cows) have been declared extinct in China. They are thought to have inspired tales of mythical mermaids. 
• A new report says that tigers have roared their way back from the brink of extinction. 
• Baby sloths are about as cute as you'd expect. 
• Fifteen dog breeds with long lifespans. 
• Four reasons why there is more to the hummingbird than meets the eye. 
• Why birds changed their tune during the pandemic. 

 

►The Wanderer◄

• The Reading Abbey Girls' School in England.
• Uncle Hugo's and Uncle Edgar's bookstores have reopened in Minneapolis.
• Huacachina, the desert town built around a real-life mirage. 
• Traveling the world on a cargo ship. 
• The lost language of Easter Island. 
• When I made a virtual stop in Freeport, Maine, I took one look and said, "This is a McDonald's?" 

 

►Fascinating Folk◄

• The truth about Isabella Van Wagenen.
• You may be cool, but you'll never be Cordell Jackson "the rockin' granny" cool.
• The many myths of Catherine de' Medici.
• Virginia teens Kaavya Karthikeyan and Akanksha Tibrewala have invented an automatic walker to help Parkinson's patients.  
• Gwendolyn Midlo Hall, whose database identified thousands of enslaved laborers, has died at the age of 93. 
• My favorite Queen Elizabeth II anecdote to come out after her death. She should've been better known for that sense of humor of hers.
• The bookish life of Sidney Poitier.

 

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Ten novels that interrupt time.
• These immersive documentaries reveal the thrilling world of art crime.
• Eight of the punniest cozy mystery titles.
• Ten quietly effective suspense novels.
• Five mysteries surrounding the Mona Lisa.
• Tana French's top ten mystery books.
• Ian Rankin's favorite works of crime fiction.
• Hugh Laurie's reading list.

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!