Morning Coffee (2/24/17)

(I'm traveling, so I put this list together in advance. Back to real time on Thursday!)

Time for some happy Friday links!

My favorite headline of all time: Tom Hiddleston laughs off playing Eddie Redmayne’s elephant in school play

This is a very important investigation into the Finnish first dog: Finland Has a Very Good Boy

More important dogs of the world: Setting tails wagging: the costumed pups of the Rio dog carnival

!!! Here's Emma Watson Singing 'Belle,' Opening Song From Beauty And the Beast

Also: Emma Watson cried happy tears seeing Hermione's future in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (ME TOO, Emma Watson, me too.)

These are probably going to be gross but I will absolutely try them: It's Official: Peeps-Flavored Oreos Are Here

So cool: The Queen’s wedding cake saved by 3D printing

Let's go to this literary fashion exhibit: A Vanderbilt Library Comes to Life

Whoa: This Lego Booth Scans Your Face and Makes a Custom Kit So You Can Build Yourself Out of Legos

Next time I'm in Worcester I'll have to remember to go to Lois Lane.

These Miniature Dollhouses Are So Cute We Can Hardly Stand It

We Received a Press Release for Kid-Friendly Ecstasy for Children and I Need to Talk About It

Morning Coffee (2/10/17)

Okay, time for some happy Friday links to distract us.

This Tom Hiddleston profile is just COMPLETELY delightful. COMPLETELY.

Perhaps you need a She Persisted shirt?

I'm very excited about the next season of Broadchurch.

Hahahaha. THIS SUNDAE.

Ooh, there are some interesting teases in this Star Trek: Discovery video.

This is the kind of heist movie I want to see.

The Chinese literary sensation who moved to Mayo for love

CHEESE SCIENCE!

I want them all: 30 Pairs of Excellent Bookish Earrings

Ooh, 6 Stops on the Hunt for the Holy Grail. I've been to one of them!

This is so cool: How an Antiquarian Horologist Brings Tiny Machines Back to Life

As is this: The Citrus Family Tree

Weird and Hilarious Illustrations from Victorian-Era Shakespeare Plays

Morning Coffee (5/20/16)

Me elsewhere: New episode of The Fourth Wall podcast called Fandom 101, the CW's fall schedule, new clips from The Hollow Crown, and Thursday's Daily Read.

On to Happy Friday links! (Don't worry, we'll be back to all the terrible things happening in the world tomorrow.

!!!!! A Fort McMurray Evacuee’s Cat Was Taken Care By An Airline And It Was Adorable

I loved how Star Trek revealed the new show logo on Instagram; luckily a smart person took a screenshot.

Leicester City: The science behind their Premier League title

Is The Onion following my dad around now?? Area Dad Needs More Time With Museum Plaque

Speaking of Dad, he passed along this delight: University Title Generator

Pet Sounds is really really really great.

I APPROVE: The First Restaurants Only Served Soup

The Mind-Boggling Challenge of Designing 120-Sided Dice

Heh: Facebook Trivia Questions, Customized for You

Ooh: 'Impossibly Rare' Violet Diamond Found

If Tom Hiddleston Were Your Boyfriend

Morning Coffee (5/6/16)

Happy Friday! You know what that means: Taking a break from current events for some lighter links.

Me elsewhere: Kacey Rohl talks Wayward Pines and your Thursday Daily Read.

Well, this may not be happy, depending on your point of view, but Alden Ehrenreich is your new Young Han Solo. For what it's worth, I thought he did a good job with a vaguely similar laconic-with-hidden-depths role in Beautiful Creatures. I am at most a casual Star Wars fan, however, and I'm sure many of you have many more feelings about this than I do.

Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston danced at the Met Gala and I WOULD READ THIS FANFIC. (Okay, I probably wouldn't; I think shipping real people is creepy. But YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.)

Will and Kate recently celebrated their fifth anniversary, and the Fug Girls really came through with this annotated slideshow of 125 pictures of them, which may be just the thing your Friday needs.

Speaking of: This gallery of 100 years of wedding trends would also make a good Friday distraction.

I am reading Massie's Nicholas and Alexandra right now so this was RIGHT UP MY ALLEY: Quiz: Which Romanov Daughter Are You? (Tatiana, obviously.)

Hey West Wing fans: Allison Janney and Bradley Whitford appeared on The Late Late Show together and the show's YouTube channel has a bunch of delightful videos; start here.

5 Books You Must Read to Truly Get This Season of Penny Dreadful I love when my TV comes with homework! (...no, really, I do.)

PRETTY STATIONERY AND DESK ACCESSORIES

I just love this headline: Silicon Valley CEO Debuts Her Trophy Boyfriend

Let's go to Northern Ireland. Or watch Game of Thrones. One of those goals is probably more attainable than the other.

Texts from Samuel Coleridge

Morning Coffee (4/29/16)

(I'm traveling, so this post was written in advance. So if it doesn't seem to take recent news or events into account... that's why.)

Happy Friday! As usual, we'll skip current events for some lighter links today. We're heavy on the Cambridges this week for some reason. Sorry. I don't make the rules. (I do make the rules; you're lucky it's not all royalty all the time around here.)

I mean, how could I not show you the princes' lightsaber battle?

Or the Obamas having a thoroughly adorable visit with the Cambridges (including George!!) and Harry?

Those pictures gave us our first real look at William and Kate's apartment. (Can we ID any of the books in their bookcase??)

Good Housekeeping tracked down those boots Kate has had FOREVER. They call the $675 price tag "whopping," which - a. that doesn't really seem like THAT much for fancy boots? And b. I first saw this article rerun on the Town and Country site and that line is what made me realize it was taken from GH, because Town and Country doesn't recommend anything other than, like, lip balm that costs as little as $675. (Seriously, they had $75 lip balm in the May issue.)

Moving away from royalty gradually (he was at Eton with Prince William, after all): This Tom Hiddleston profile is charming.

Ooh: Explore the Cosmos with This Bonkers Interactive Model

Perhaps your Friday needs 35 photos of Taylor Kitsch.

I have no need for a retro Star Trek playset but I LOVE IT.

Can you imagine finding out the planter in your back yard is actually an ancient Roman coffin?

PERFECT: Resentments I Have Formed Against Characters From “The Face On The Milk Carton” By Caroline B. Cooney

Morning Coffee (12/30/14)

(Hello out there!)

Here's another great story about my neighbor Mae Keane, the last of the radium girls.

No, Argentina's president did not adopt a Jewish child to stop him turning into a werewolf

Breaking news: Ladies can drink whiskey too!

Our Windowless Megachurches Are Killing the Stained Glass Industry

Wow: NORAD's Santa Tracker Began With A Typo And A Good Sport

OH MY GOD Tom Hiddleston Sang a Christmas Carol with Puppy in His Lap

Deck the halls with Nobel physicists

The Cost of Things in Taylor Swift’s ‘Blank Space’ Music Video

Halloween Morning Coffee (10/31/14)

Happy Halloween!

Me elsewhere: Haven recap

I love these L.L. Bean jack-o'-lanterns.

I bet your Halloween also needs Tom Mison and John Noble in a pumpkin patch.

What if your favorite books were Halloween candy?

Eeee! AMC picked up that John Le Carre limited series starring Hugh Laurie and Tom Hiddleston.

I want these Kate Spade for GapKids gift bow flats with every fiber of my being.

I love the cover of Sarah Dessen's next book.

LOOK AT THIS ANNE OF GREEN GABLES WEDDING PHOTOSHOOT.

Trust me, you probably want to watch this behind-the-scenes video by the director of Taylor Swift's Diet Coke kittens ad. (Hint: The director is a cat.)

How Well Can You Decode Taylor Swift Songs Through Emoji? I had an embarrassingly hard time with some of these.

The Taylor Swift/San Francisco Giants conspiracy, explained

I love England: 'Tree of the Year' competition finalists announced

Morning Coffee (10/7/14)

Eeee: Hugh Laurie & Tom Hiddleston to Star in Le Carre Miniseries

This is both true about Ello and has some interesting stuff about gender and tech that definitely matches my experiences: You’re Not Stupid; Ello Is Badly Designed

Speaking of: The Forgotten Female Programmers Who Created Modern Tech

Interesting: A Day In The Life Of “The Vampire Diaries” And “The Originals” Executive Producer Julie Plec

How to Get a Knitter to Make You Stuff: A List

The secret history of Jews in baseball

My friend Christine has another great set of history links up on her blog.

“Well, you shouldn’t have eaten all that lady’s candy or whatever,” Aslan said.

Morning Coffee (1/15/14)

The Strange Case of the "F Gwenifill" Tweets, Solved

Huh: Gillian Anderson is co-writing a sci-fi book series.

Super Bowl news you need: Tom Hiddleston will be in a tux.

The Power of Mia and Ronan Farrow’s Virtual Booing of Woody Allen

A Few Lessons About Twitter, Cancer And Publishing

This Is Not About Texting: A Story of Movies, Men and Violence

Georgian chocolate-making kitchen uncovered at Hampton Court Palace

The ballad of the Romanian shepherd

Morning Coffee (11/22/13)

Happy Friday! This was a very long week, for some reason.

I bet your Friday needs Sesame Street's "The Hungry Games - Catching Fur."

It probably also needs 18 Times That Thor's Tom Hiddleston Was Almost Too Cute To Handle.

In Defense of Adam Levine

I've been wanting a Jane Austen computer game for years. I should try this out.

The Onion: Siblings Gather Around PowerPoint To Hash Out Off-Limits Topics For Thanksgiving

Good to see Bradley Whitford, like the rest of us, is aware that Josh and Donna are married with kids.

11 Indispensable Life Lessons Every Woman Can Learn From 'Anne Of Green Gables'

Oh, Canada. Canadians save shark from choking to death on moose

Morning Coffee (9/11/13)

The Man Booker Shortlist is out.

X-Files fans: my friend Marisa at Give Me My Remote is doing a great series for the 20th anniversary in which she talks to TV writers about how the show influenced them. The first is with Hart Hanson of Bones.

Headline of the day: Angry moose vandalizes Norwegian school.

The Pope Gets on the Line, and Everyone Is Talking

Ooh, they're restoring Dickens's house.

Here's a great picture of what was happening under Julia Child's kitchen counter.

In case you also hadn't seen it yet, here is Tom Hiddleston gleefully tormenting Cookie Monster, and it's really worth the watch.

81 of Fall TV's Biggest Stars