The You Can Teach an Old Dog Weekly Link Round-Up

 

Since we're waiting for the tech to come get the pool pump and filter in tip-top shape, I thought I'd finish this up. It's been a quiet, restful week here at Casa Kittling. Since the temperatures have gone up, the starlings have left and the white-winged doves have taken their place. One thing to be thankful for is the fact that the doves aren't as bad at splashing all the water out of the birdbaths as the starlings. The doves drink, drink, drink, but don't insist on taking baths every two hours. 

It's the time of year when I find myself in this position...

Can't say it's one of my favorites, but needs must. Especially now. I discussed with my doctor how, in the past year, I've been having problems with mood swings and depression, and she's prescribed me with a low-dose anti-depressant. I thought I'd share this just in case you were under the mistaken impression that I'm Wonder Woman and just annihilate annoyances with a flick of a bracelet. And what's with the "You Can Teach an Old Dog" title of this post?

I suffered from sometimes crippling depression for a good chunk of my life. It started in my teens and grew progressively worse all the way into my forties. How bad did it get? I got in the car one morning and envisioned myself floorboarding the gas pedal, gathering up a good head of steam, and driving straight into a huge tree. And I suffered all those years in silence. I never once asked for any sort of help from anyone. 

So it doesn't matter how old you are, you are always capable of learning. For me, it was a matter of learning the NOTs: NOT feeling so ashamed of my depression that I felt I had to keep it hidden, and NOT keeping my mouth shut. To anyone reading this who has their own problems with depression, please, don't keep your mouth shut. There's nothing to be ashamed of. Get help. You're worth it.

On a much more cheerful note, I hope you're all enjoying the summer. Here are the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• What does Catherine, Princess of Wales read?
• The rediscovery of America: Why Native history is American history.
• Author Ellen Crosby on what journalism can teach you about writing fiction.
• Why are algorithms still so bad at recommending books?
• Who was the only sitting president to contribute to a literary journal?
• Using motion to create space in libraries.
• What art can add to a mystery.
• Quiz: Judge a book by its cover and get a book recommendation.
• The language of blurbs, decoded.
• Remembering the Golden Age of Airline Food.

 

►Book Banning & Censorship◄

• She offered an LGBTQ-themed book to her middle schoolers, and parents fled a police report.
• PEN America, Penguin Random House, and a diverse group of authors have filed a lawsuit against the Escambia County (Florida) School District.
• Officials have assured parents that Attleboro (Massachusetts) schools are not banning books.
• Forsyth County (Georgia) students will now need parental signatures to check out a certain book.
• The Liberty Lake (Washington) City Council has passed an ordinance giving them the final say on book bans.
• A new billboard aims to stop controversial books at the Saline County (Arkansas) Library.
• The state of book bans in Tennessee.
• Book banning in America has never been worse.
• The fight for the soul of a small-town school board in Missouri.
• A Connecticut school board deadlocks on whether to limit access to two books.
• Central York (Pennsylvania) high schoolers are protesting book bans again.
• New Jersey is the newest state to propose anti-book ban legislation.
• An analysis of book challenges across the nation shows the majority were filed by just eleven people. Let that soak in for a minute.
• The Department of Education delivers a potentially crucial finding in the fight against book bans.

 

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• This pendant is 20,000 years old. Ancient DNA shows who wore it.
• An eight-year-old picks up a rock in a schoolyard and finds a 3,700-year-old artifact in Norway. More from Live Science.
  
• Archaeologists found a 3,200-year-old tomb in Egypt with elaborate wall reliefs.
• These ninth-century coins change our understanding of Alfred the Great.
• Researchers found hidden markings on the Stone of Destiny, the sacred slab used in British coronations.
• Has this historian identified the bridge in the Mona Lisa?
• "Unique" buried treasures were unearthed after 2,000 years by a metal detectorist in Wales. More from Live Science.
• Jars found at a thrift store turn out to be treasures from the Qing Dynasty in China.
• Archaeologists uncover a 400-year-old skeleton in a sister colony to Jamestown.

 

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

• A rare albino echidna sighting in Australia sparks a warning from officials: Leave Wildlife Alone. More from Live Science.
• Scientists solve a sea urchin murder mystery.
• People investigating noises under their house awaken a bear in their crawlspace. (I guess it's too late to say don't poke the bear?)
• Seven wild ways scientists are trying to stop invasive carp.
• Why do small dogs live longer than large ones? Here's a simple scientific explanation.
• Scientists have begun vaccinating wild koalas against chlamydia.
• Meet "Chonkasaurus", the giant snapping turtle in the Chicago River that's an internet sensation.
• A raccoon steals a couple's Door Dash order off the front porch, and the internet is cracking up. (I'm one of them.) If the video isn't available, click on the TikTok user's name in the article, and you can view it from the next screen. This makes me miss JR.

 

►The Wanderer◄

• The crime stories of Kabul.
• For the first time in a century, Paris is making the Seine swimmable.
• The world's largest lakes are shrinking dramatically, and scientists say they have figured out why.
• Scientists can now pull human DNA from air and water, raising privacy questions.
• Stunning full-scale scan of RMS Titanic reveals the complete shipwreck for the first time.
• You can now buy the bar where everybody knows your name.
• Crime and the City: San Diego.
• See the house engineers built from dirty diapers.

 

►Fascinating Folk◄

• The park ranger who lives and works in the hottest place in North America.
• Manjiro, the shipwrecked teenager who helped end Japan's isolationist era.
• Artist Juan de Pareja had one of the most famous faces of the 17th century.
• The many sins of Maurice E. Balk.

 

►I ♥ Lists◄

• The Guardian's list of ten books about being poor in America.
• Nine books illustrating Agatha Christie's enduring presence in our cultural zeitgeist.
• Fourteen thriller movies where women turn the tables on men.
• Eight books about characters with chronic pain.
• Twenty-five books being made into movies and series in 2023 and 2024.
• These books won the 2023 Pulitzer Prizes.
• Twelve new books set at mysterious estates.
• Medical mysteries are the new true crime.

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!