Afternoon Tea (2/14/19)

How a heart-shaped candy box came to stand for love

The Sexuality of Slang

Cooking with Iris Murdoch

How Beauty Is Making Scientists Rethink Evolution

Picture this: portraits of Anglo-Saxon rulers

Morning Coffee (2/13/15)

Sad news: David Carr has died.

On to your regularly scheduled happy Friday:

Chris Evans, with a beard, in plaid, talking about Transcendentalists. You're welcome.

My bookseller friend Jonny with an important message: Why books are the only Valentine’s Day present worth giving

16 Hilarious Literary Valentine's Day Cards

Speaking of, want some adorable Classic Alice valentines? Any donation gets you EIGHT.

Which "Shameless" Guy Should Be Your Valentine This Year? (I got JimmySteve, which . . . could be worse. Obviously the correct answer is Lip, but obviously I'd never get him because his quiz answers are all about sex and I want Lip for his BRAIN.)

This Is What A Cup Of Tea Looks Like In 22 Different Countries

A walk through the old pastry shops of downtown Tehran

How to Tell If You Are in a Logic Puzzle

Morning Coffee (2/12/15)

Donations to Classic Alice this week get you adorable valentines, on top of all the regular perks!

Important: I'm Brianna Wu, And I'm Risking My Life Standing Up To Gamergate

Local folks, this Hippo event app looks great.

These all sound good: 4 Small Press Books to Read in February

The amazing diversity of languages around the world, in one map

Why Americans Don't Read Foreign Fiction

Proposal for a Theme Park Draws From Crimea’s Distant Past

The Onion: Literary Study Finds All Modern Narratives Derived From Classic ‘Alien Vs. Predator’ Conflict

Two Medieval Monks Invent Dinner Parties

Morning Coffee (2/17/14)

Awesome: Facebook Now Allows Users To Pick A Custom Gender Beyond Male Or Female

This is a little shocking; When subbing for Bob Costas, Meredith Vieira was the first woman to anchor NBC's Olympic coverage.

Headline of the week: Woman Jailed for Overdue VHS of Jennifer Lopez's 'Monster in Law'

This piece on two women who left the Westboro Baptist Church is very interesting.

This Spencer Tracy/Katharine Hepburn biopic could be great or terrible.

@StealthMountain is my new favorite Twitter bot.

Fascinating: Victorian Valentine's Day Cards

Woman Amazed And Horrified She Has To Just Keep Getting Up And Doing The Same Shit Again Tomorrow

Morning Coffee (2/14/14)

Happy Valentine's Day! Make sure you check out the This American Life Google doodle.

And Google.ca has an adorable Valentine's Day chocolate-creation game.

The British Museum just tweeted this WWI love token. Aww.

And the British Library: An Illustrated Guide to Medieval Love

The unofficial Big Ben Twitter account is getting into the spirit of things too.

Virginia Poe's Valentine acrostic for her husband Edgar Allen is not the cheeriest. Shockingly.

Here are the annual NPR valentines!

Relevant to the day: Olympic Figure Skating Pairs: Are They Humping?

Morning Coffee (2/14/13)

Sorry so late - I seem to have gotten myself a stomach bug for Valentine's Day. Hope everyone else's day is going better!

NPR Valentines!

And some fun geeky valentines from Figment. I especially like the Mr. Darcy one.

Here's some good background info on what actually happens when a pope resigns.

And speaking of, who speaks Latin these days?

The Disney Prince Hotness Ranking

In retrospect, I can't believe there wasn't ALREADY a Tamagotchi app.

Oooh, a Dunkirk movie!

I love these Downton Facebook recaps.