What a Beautiful Day! Weekly Link Round-Up

 

When I went outside this morning, it was overcast, and it made me smile. Phoenix gets about 300 days of sunny skies, and cloud cover makes a welcome change, especially in summer. It was nice not feeling as though I were being charbroiled while filling the birdbaths. I was also reminded of something that happened years ago. A customer came into the store where I worked and exclaimed, "What a beautiful day!" and she was met with smiles and much approval. Want to know why it was such a beautiful day? Because it was overcast! It made me think that Phoenix is the first place I've lived where people say that.

JR the raccoon visits every other day. He has his favorite ground-level birdbath he likes to paddle in, and if he splashes all the water out, he tips the neighboring birdbath over to refill it. He gets in the pool, too.

It's time to roundup this week's batch of goodies. Virtual hugs to you all, and enjoy the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Why is Anthropic destroying books?
• How a ball of thread gave us the word "clue."
• There are more "book boyfriends" than ever on our screens. Are they cringe or cool now?
• The Defense Department wants to ban hundreds of books. Here are the weirdest titles. 
• Artists are lawyering up against AI slop, and some are even winning.
• The peacock flower and reproductive resistance under slavery. (I have some of these in my garden. They're also known as red birds of paradise.)

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• A man used this Civil War artifact as a paperweight on his desk. The bomb squad told him it was actually a live explosive. (From the size of the thing, he must've had a lot of papers to weigh down...)
• Australia's most notorious shipwreck tells a story of murder, slavery, mutiny-- and, now, "surprisingly sophisticated" trade in the 17th century.
• Archaeologists discovered two thumbnail-size bird sculptures carved from mammoth ivory 40,000 years ago.
• Mysterious shapes hidden beneath the Amazon canopy reveal a sprawling ancient civilization much bigger than researchers expected. More from Live Science.
• See a rare ceiling fresco from Pompeii that archaeologists are carefully reassembling, piece by piece, like an ancient puzzle.
• Vounous Bowl: A 4,000-year-old basin holding 4 miniature cows and 18 people-- that was buried in a Bronze Age tomb in Cyprus.

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

• Yellowstone is among the world's best places to see wild wolves. Here's the story of the animal called both "public enemy" and cultural icon.
• An endangered Kemp's Ridley sea turtle named Pancake makes a triumphant return to the ocean after months of rehabilitation.
• From collecting whale snot to capturing surprising behaviors, aerial drones are giving scientists a new view of sea life.
• Colugo: the "flying lemur" that doesn't fly and isn't a lemur.
• How cancer research for dogs is helping improve treatment for pets and humans alike.
• The U.S. Army is getting rid of most of its ceremonial horse units. (I never will forget Black Jack in JFK's funeral procession.)

►The Wanderer◄

• This 400-year-old impenetrable Japanese castle that survived a samurai siege just crumbled in an earthquake.
• The best countries for quality of life, ranked.
• The lost civic life of movie rental stores.
• See 20 picturesque views of Paris.
• Before cultural and natural wonders earn UNESCO World Heritage status, they are put on a "tentative" list. Here are five nominees worth visiting now.
• Crime and the City: Bath.

►Fascinating Folk◄

• Discover the story of Gertrude Ederle, an Olympic gold medalist and world record setter who made waves as the first woman to successfully swim the English Channel.
• James Baldwin's complicated relationship with psychoanalysis.
• How Jack the Ripper became a legend.
• American pilot Richard Bong downed 40 enemy aircraft during World War II. Researchers discovered the wreck of his plane in a Pacific jungle and brought a wing back to his home state.
• Stanford University's founding matriarch, Jane Stanford, was a travel-loving philanthropist who met a tragic end. A new exhibition explores her life, grief, and death by poison.
• Jackie Mitchell, the woman who (maybe) struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

►I ♥ Lists◄

• 10 Roman mythology words you use every day.
• 8 of Anthony Bourdain's favorite books.
• The buzziest mysteries and thrillers coming in the second half of 2026.
• Barack Obama's 2026 summer reading list.
• Mysteries where the whole town is a suspect.
• 6 beach cozy mysteries.

That's all for this week! No matter how busy you may be, don't forget that quality Me Time curled up with a good book!