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kate_nepveu) wrote2019-12-02 11:07 am
Monday links have a snow day (!)
Last night, we got notified that not only was the kids' school system closed today, but the local offices of my work were closed too! That is vanishingly rare; I think it might have happened only one other time since I started there in 2002?
Anyway, there is indeed a heck of a lot of snow on the ground right now, and more coming down; it started very dry and powdery (see this video on Twitter of the kids being very silly, but got heavier and wetter overnight. Chad used our new-ish electric snowblower to clear the driveway this morning, which makes me feel vindicated. (After one heavy snowfall last winter when Chad was away, I said to myself, self, it is ridiculous that we own a gas-powered snowblower that we never use because we don't keep up with the maintenance on it, there must be a better option; even if you're the only one who uses it, it'll be worth it. And I was not, and it is.) As I type this paragraph, the Pip and Chad are outside; judging by the noise, the Pip is throwing snowballs at the house.
Anyway, links!
We Spent the Night at a Bodega and Wrote It All Down, at the NYT. Slice-of-life is always my thing.
On a similar note, at the New York Magazine, The Best Way to Tour a City Is Through Its Grocery Store.
From a friend in a non-public forum, a fun game found on Twitter: "Think of any noun you want. Then google image search Stonehenge YOUR NOUN. I'm pretty sure something directly along those lines will appear, no matter how unlikely or preposterous."
Very good Gideon the Ninth cosplay from
thefaustaesthetic ; the gallery only shows thumbnails of later pictures, so click through.
I am fascinated by this string art embroidery, not that I need any more ideas/patterns to try right now.
Speaking of embroidery: look at the precision of Victoria Rose's landscape art! I'd say satin stitch goals but I think setting that as my goal would just frustrate me.
I'm recently interested in zoning and development; these are often very local decisions with significant effects. Here's one example at the NYT: As Climate Risk Grows, Cities Test a Tough Strategy: Saying ‘No’ to Developers.
Ann Leckie reblogs Imperial Radch characters and their personal notebooks, e.g, "Breq: Ledger Of Perceived Slights."
I love stories of players making in-game markets do weird things, such as Planet Zoo is, temporarily, a game about mass-producing knackered warthogs.
- skygiants created a Twitter meme, "no picking 'favorites', please just list the first books you love that come to mind until you run out of characters". Mine:
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell;Lord of the Rings;Gaudy Night;When the King Comes Home;Ancillary Justice;Carpe Jugulum;Possession;The Goblin Emperor;The Lost Steersman;The Innkeeper's Song;Deep Secret;All Systems Red;A Closed and Common Orbit;Spindle's End;The Sybil in Her Grave
(I know that people were doing these without delimiters to save characters, but I can't make myself do that, sorry.)
When the King Comes Home is Caroline Stevermer; Possession is the A.S. Byatt one; I think everything else should be fairly identifiable.
Also, picking the representative books for the series was an interesting exercise, because it wasn't hard at all and I thought it might be.
You can find all the responses via this search.
Steven Universe Future starts this Saturday, December 7—that's so soon! There will be four episodes this Saturday and then two each the remaining Saturdays in December; I don't know if we know a full episode count yet. Episode titles at the AV Club.
Emoji Compass is a neat toy take on the alethiometer.
At the NYT, The Jungle Prince of Delhi: "For 40 years, journalists chronicled the eccentric royal family of Oudh, deposed aristocrats who lived in a ruined palace in the Indian capital. It was a tragic, astonishing story. But was it true?"
ESPN has the story of How NBA executive Jeff David stole $13 million from the Sacramento Kings. The ... I'm not sure banality is the right word, the straightforward obliviousness? of this, is striking.
I quite like Nicole Cliffe's Classic Children’s Gift Guide: "I write this Guide for the person who can give freely and walk away from the child without any blowback from their choices. It is written, as well, for the children, bless them, as their needs are paramount, just above the desperate, child-free uncle scrambling into late December without a clue. Parents? Well, you’re neither my audience nor my problem, but I’ll attempt to keep you in my thoughts when it comes to airily recommending large drones for 4-year-olds."
A delightful Twitter thread on "the most EXTREME #birds", from
corvidresearch .
An animated gif showing how to make a useful cape from a bedsheet, which SteelyKid enjoyed greatly. (Text version: drape the short end over your head like a hood, and bring the corners behind your shoulders and under your arms. Tie the short corners together in front of you, then bring the knot over your head to the back of your neck. Then pull down the hood down to the back of your neck too and swoop away.)
I was very amused to learn that the Thanksgiving-day nationally-televised dog show was literally created after someone saw the mockumentary Best in Show. This and much more behind-the-scenes at Esquire.
Speaking of dogs,
Speaking of Chris Evans, here is a context-free spoiler for Knives Out which made me laugh.
Something I did not know, at Atlas Obscura: Why President Coolidge Never Ate His Thanksgiving Raccoon.
Finally, SteelyKid was wondering how bow-tie pasta is made, so if you like slow-motion videos of factory equipment at work, here you go.
+1 (thumbs-up, I see you, etc.)?