The Am I Coming or Going? Weekly Link Round-Up

 

 

Not much to report here. Even though the temperatures are now right around 110°F (43.3°C), I can't help but think that June has been rather kind. That 110° didn't show up until the end of the month, and we didn't get any time in the 120°F (48.8°C) Sonoran brand convection oven.

This week has been a medical one. My leg is improving, but it still needs special wound care. What this has meant is that I've been stuck in the revolving door of doctor's appointments.

Off to my primary care doctor for a followup to my ER visit. Then the wound care doctor for bandaging. The home health nurse came to set up home visits for bandaging my leg. Then back to the wound care clinic. And so on. Then there are the phone calls about prescriptions and getting the necessary supplies ordered. I'm also getting very adept at booking Dial-a-Ride, which reminds me of one of my visits to the wound care clinic. The Dial-a-Ride driver was bright and cheery (always a plus not to get one of the sourpusses), and as I backed my scooter onto the van lift, she said, "I know I have to treat you right or your husband will come after me!" She told me what a sweetheart Denis is (no surprise to me!), and I had to smile. Ah yes, another person my husband has charmed.

I hope your week has gone well. Enjoy the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• A nostalgic compilation of commercials from 1997. And if you want more, here's another compilation from the 1970s and 1980s.
  
• So how did a company selling rubber tires become the world's authority on restaurants?
• The Los Angeles County Library will receive the nation's highest honor for libraries.
• The real reason you can't smile in passport photos is surprisingly practical.
•  Everyone loves reading. Why are we so afraid of it?
• How books are used to perpetuate the prison industrial complex.
• What to do if your house is overflowing with books. (Smile?)
• A guide to knowing whether you're the detective or the sidekick in a mystery novel.
• Amazon cracks down on fake reviews with AI.
• Have you been to the library lately?

 

►Book Banning & Censorship◄

• Llano County (Texas) libraries case has lawyers and publishers worried about existing legal precedents.
• As conservative adults target schools, LGBTQ+ kids and students of color feel less safe.
• Utah Republicans defend the book removal law while protesting the district that banned the Bible. (They're going after the Book of Mormon, too.)
• Iowa school librarians await guidance as they prepare for a new law that will ban certain materials. 
• A letter to the editor in a Maryland newspaper says that a school book review policy is a "solution in search of a problem."
• The Warren County (Virginia) Board of Supervisors voted to withhold 75% of library funding until they get what they want. 
• A Temecula (California) School Board fired the superintendent amid a curriculum clash.
• The Boston Public Library is using a $1 million grant from a late Dorchester native to enhance its LGBTQ+ offerings.

 

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• A metal detectorist scouring a field in Poland found a trove of rare 2,500-year-old artifacts.
• A 4,000-year-old archaeological site dubbed the "Stonehenge of the Netherlands" has been unearthed.
• Archaeologists in Mexico have discovered the remains of an ancient Maya city deep in the jungle of the Yucatán Peninsula.
• Archaeologists found a 3,000-year-old sword so well preserved it "almost still shines."
• Why did the Romans cover bodies with gypsum?
• The world's most famous filing cabinet.
• Egypt, angered at an "Afrocentric" approach "falsifying history," bans archaeologists from digging at a burial site.
• Gustav Klimt's final artwork could become Europe's most expensive painting.
• The ancient Romans used these tweezers to remove body hair.
• First-century coins from a Jewish revolt against the Romans have been discovered near the Black Sea.

 

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

• The most popular pet names of 2023 in each U.S. state.
• The male puffer fish constructs an underwater sand mandala to attract a mate.
• Scientists have solved a sea urchin murder mystery. 
• People investigating noises under their house awaken a bear in their crawl space. Yikes!
• Seven wild ways scientists are trying to stop invasive carp.
• Why do small dogs live longer than large ones?
• At Westminster, what's it like to be very good? Ask the dogs.
• Scientists have begun vaccinating wild koalas against chlamydia.
  

 

►The Wanderer◄

• The most popular person in European street names is a woman.
• Gulf Coast noir.
• The world's deepest canyon is home to Asia's tallest tree-- and Chinese scientists only just found it. 
• This YouTube channel takes you on tours of tiny homes around the world.
• For a billion years, Earth may have had 19-hour days. Here's why.
• Book towns are made for book lovers.

 

►Fascinating Folk◄

• Was Civil War hero Joachim Pease the first Medal of Honor recipient born in Africa?
• Who is Nora Roberts?
• A massive archive tells the story of early African American photographers.
• How an 1800s midwife known as Doctor Anna solved a poisonous mystery.
• Ten fascinating facts about Robert Louis Stevenson.
• Queen of Crime: Margery Allingham's mystery novels still hook us today.

 

►I ♥ Lists◄

• The nineteen most polished detectives in crime film and TV.
• Ten memorable forests from literature.
• 100 years of prom dresses by decade.
• Mysteries with opening lines so good they hook you immediately.
• The new classics of Southern crime fiction.
• 46 books that changed the world.
• Travel the world in 122 cookbooks.
• 20 must-read historical fiction books set in India.

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.

No matter how busy you may be, don't forget that quality Me Time curled up with a good book!