The Search for the Perfect Mug Weekly Link Round-Up
Absolutely gorgeous weather here in Phoenix, just the weather you want to go gallivanting in. But we aren't. Denis's back still hasn't improved enough for that to be a good idea. There's also a lot on my mind, but I don't feel like talking about any of it, so instead, I'll choose something really important to talk about. (Don't hurt yourself on the sarcasm dripping off the words "really important"...)
I don't like to mess around when it comes to the mugs I use for my tea. No fancy schmancy tiny cups and saucers for me. I want a mug. A big mug. Well, I have had a really big mug for quite a few years now, but recently I decided that I no longer wanted to put up with the flat handle cutting into my fingers. (I think Uncle Arthur is becoming rather persnickety in my finger joints.) Finding a ceramic RBM (Really Big Mug) with a rounded handle is almost impossible. If I did find any, they were either (a) way too small, or (b) butt ugly. I do have my standards, you know.
Well, I finally found something that almost fits the bill 100%. Here's a-- rather bad-- photo...
Ceramic. Pleasing color. And a nice round wooden handle. That handle is perfect. So what keeps it from being 100% perfect? It holds approximately 16 oz., and I want one that's 18 oz. or above. Told you I was serious about a RBM! But this will do nicely while I continue my search. My achy finger joints are much happier.
Now pardon me while I spend a few minutes curating my expanding bookmark collection...
How does a book exchange work?
The forgotten Hollywood history behind the term gaslighting.
Why (and how) you should keep a commonplace book.
Elmo's rise to stardom. (Which reminds me of how I was responsible for one little girl being the only child in a small central Illinois farm town to receive a Tickle Me Elmo...)
This under-recognized Agatha Christie novel revolutionized crime fiction.
Why do some authors' books get a branded look?
How scholars once feared that the book index would destroy reading.
What your "unread books" list reveals.
►Book Banning◄
Rereading Fahrenheit 451 in an era of mass censorship.
Self-censorship in an era of book challenges.
How China's fiction writers have learned to survive its politics.
How the new banned books panic fits into America's history of school censorship.
Books are back on the shelves in Walla Walla, Washington.
How faith-based, right-wing money is waging war through book challenges.
Five underappreciated books by Black authors that have been banned.
Does an ancient ring found in a shipwreck depict Jesus Christ?
Researchers now know where the ancient Maya planted their sacred cacao groves.
Archaeologists have uncovered over 18,000 ancient Egyptian "notepads". More from Yahoo! News.
A 1,500-year-old Roman "flower pot" was actually a port-o-potty.
One of Pompeii's greatest mysteries may have been solved.
The recovery of treasure from the "holy grail" of shipwrecks is moving forward.
Rare treasures unearthed from the Tower of London's moat sheds new light on the capital's "formidable fortress".
Scientists have solved a 5,000-year-old cold case by testing a Stone Age skeleton for algae.
►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄
Ten facts about the biggest animals stars in Hollywood history.
Watch this conservation worker go to sleep... with a trio of cheetahs. (I've lost track of how many times I've watched this video.)
These pictures were voted best wildlife photos by people around the world.
Hunters have killed 24 Yellowstone gray wolves so far this season-- the most in over twenty-five years.
A colorful history of cats in the White House.
There are fewer than ten tiny vaquita porpoises left. Can they be saved?
From cats in the White House to a cat with its own custom fish tank...
The first-ever aardvark born in an English zoo has been named Dobby after the house elf in the Harry Potter books.
How Agatha Christie's love of archaeology influenced Death on the Nile.
This interactive map shows where on Earth you'd be if you dug straight down through the ground.
The dark heart of New Zealand crime novels.
Five million shipwrecked Legos are still washing ashore twenty-five years after washing overboard.
The Little House in Toronto, Canada.
The world's only sea without a land boundary.
A tiny English island is looking for a new monarch to run its pub.
Anthony Horowitz on PBS/Britbox's Magpie Murders: "It's the first time I've gotten a TV adaptation right."
Mabel Fairbanks, the Black figure skating pioneer who never got to compete.
Ma Rainey, the Black woman who reinvented the Blues.
Irena Sendler, the woman who saved the lives of 2,500 Jewish children during the Holocaust.
Dr. Gladys West: the "Hidden Figure" who pioneered GPS technology.
A possible cause of Jane Austen's early death.
Books that are popular in other countries but not necessarily in the United States.
Thirty-three must-read South Asian books out in 2022.
Six novels with twist endings that will leave your jaw on the floor.
The top ten single mothers in fiction.
The 100 Best Novels written in English.
Six New Zealand crime dramas to binge watch.
Ten vintage books series from he 1990s.
Eight common phrases with surprisingly dark beginnings.
by Cathy at Thursday, March 03, 2022
Margot Kinberg March 4, 2022 at 5:05 AM
You know what? Those things (like the perfect mug) really do matter, Cathy. They're small things on the surface, but they make our lives just run more smoothly - like a new pair of socks. Not in and of themselves major, they make a big difference. I'm glad you found a mug that helps your finger feel more comfortable.
Thanks for the links, as ever! Lots of tempting ones this week, but I think I'll start with that shipwreck...
Cathy March 4, 2022 at 1:29 PM
Don't forget to doublecheck your face mask!
Dorothy Borders March 4, 2022 at 10:14 AM
That mug is really nice, especially the handle. I have some of the same problems with my hands and I know how important comfortable handles are.
Thanks for the link about the first Agatha Christie book that I ever read and probably still my favorite. Thanks also for the link about book challenges which really makes my blood boil!
I was interested to go through the list of 100 greatest books written in English. I could identify 29 that I had read which leaves me a great list to follow up on.
Just a lot of great links this week, Cathy. I always look forward to these posts.
Thanks, Dorothy. I'm so glad you enjoy them-- and you know how much I enjoy your This Week in Birding posts.
Kathy D. March 5, 2022 at 11:33 AM
Good links, have more to read. I like that mug, especially the color and that it's big. I use a big mug as well for my daily tea, and I want it to hold a lot.
On the list of books with shocking endings, I must add The Silent Patient. I was gobsmacked. Figured out a bit of it, but not the main denouement. It was very well done.
I wonder if a movie is in the works.
And the 100 "Best Novels" is a list that some people pulled together. It leaves out some Pulitzer Prize winners, such as Beloved and Middlesex, among others. Also, so many authors are omitted from the list. Need more inclusivity including books by people of all nationalities, including Indigenous writers.
Will return to the links later and enjoy them, as usual.
That's the thing about those "100 Best" lists-- they can never include everything except for one thing: something that will upset everyone.
Kathy D. March 5, 2022 at 9:26 PM
Well, it's an individual's selection or a group of individuals, not representative of the population. I'd like to find a "best of" list with inclusivity of those doing the choosing with as much diversity as possibe, and in age, too. Young people will pick different books than older folks, I'll bet.
Cathy March 6, 2022 at 12:48 AM
I would think that they would.
Gretchen March 5, 2022 at 12:03 PM
What an interesting mug you found! Sorry to hear Denis' back is still not up to snuff. I am currently dealing with a back situation so I can understand the frustration. It seems like it will never get better and I am getting antsy!
Have a good weekend, I'm off to check out some lists.
I hope you have a good weekend, too, and I hope your back gets better!!
jenclair March 6, 2022 at 7:20 AM
Positive thoughts for Denis! Off to check some of these excellent links!
Thank you, Jen!
Sam March 6, 2022 at 3:58 PM
Just a quick stop-by to say hello, Cathy. I think it was you who, more or less, got me so used to seeing Ann Cleeves mentioned and praised that my curiosity finally got the best of me to the degree that I finally picked up one of her novels. So...wanted to let you know that I'm in the process of binge-reading her Shetland series right now before returning to the Vera Stanhouse books. I'm on book four, but I've already read book seven, so I'll be done pretty soon (always one among the short stack of books I'm reading at the same time this year). I'm going to miss Jimmy Perez badly when I'm done.
Jimmy is one of my favorite characters. I am so glad you're enjoying Cleeves' books!
Pepper Smith March 10, 2022 at 8:35 AM
I kind of thought Gaslight was the origin of that term. It was a very chilling aspect of that movie.
I love Cognitive Surplus' large mugs, a good size for tea. Lovely old-fashioned science illustrations on them. If standard mug handles are a problem, they may not work for you, though these are a little thicker than is standard. I have arthritis in my fingers from using an old fashioned typewriter for years before word processors came out, but it sounds like yours is probably worse than mine.
We're watching the Shetland series on Britbox. The first episodes all say they're based on the books, and the later ones all say based on the characters by, so I can only hope they're still being accurate...
Cathy March 10, 2022 at 12:57 PM
Pepper, I thought Gaslight was the origin of that term, too.
I'll check out those mugs. Thanks for the recommendation.
The people responsible for the Shetland TV series have changed a thing or two, but I didn't have any problem making the "transition." I hope you won't either. (Good to see you!)