Morning Coffee (1/11/19)

Time for Friday happy links!

Your feel-good story of the day: Actor Joe Manganiello brings his love of Dungeons and Dragons to kids at Pittsburgh hospital

AMAZING: British Museum realises 'vase' is in fact an ancient mace-head displayed upside down

!! Netflix Orders ‘Shadow And Bone’ Series Based On Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse Novels From Eric Heisserer & Shawn Levy

I am obsessed with this New Yorker cover.

Starbucks’ Newest Drink Tastes Just Like Cookie Butter

Meghan Markle’s Royal Patronages Will Focus on These Four Interests

Heh: Fact-checking the mob song from ‘Beauty and the Beast’

Fug Nation Loves Slippers!

The Best Time of Day to Book Your Next Flight

Let's go! This Book-filled Hotel in Cambridge, England, Is the Ultimate Getaway for Bibliophiles

Morning Coffee (11/16/18)

FRIDAY HAPPY LINKS!

National Book Award winners!

The Dumplin' trailer looks great!

Aaaah: Lily James, Armie Hammer to Star in Daphne du Maurier Adaptation ‘Rebecca’

So cute: The British Royals Released New Family Pics

Well, this is exciting casting: J.K. Simmons Joins 'Veronica Mars' Revival

You have my attention: Jonny Lee Miller & Common To Star In Ursula K. Le Guin Adaptation ‘Nine Lives’

This is cool as art but also sort of upsets me as a person who likes order: This artist uses jigsaw puzzles, with the same die cut pattern, to make these terrific mashups

Intriguing: 'Somewhere Only We Know' By Maurene Goo Is Basically 'Roman Holiday' With A K-Pop Twist & You Can Start Reading Now

18 Thanksgiving Pie Recipes, Because You Gotta Have Pie!

Huh: Coffee or tea? The answer might be in your genes

Morning Coffee (9/4/18)

This is heartbreaking: Brazil Museum Fire Threatens Hundreds of Years of History

LET'S NOT COUNT CHICKENS but yes good: Democrats, Eyeing a Majority, Prepare an Investigative Onslaught

Agents Tried to Flip Russian Oligarchs. The Fallout Spread to Trump.

The 10 most important Senate elections, briefly explained

Sigh: Republican official resigns after calling kneeling NFL players 'baboons'

But this is great: Colin Kaepernick Named Face of Nike's 30th Anniversary of 'Just Do It' Campaign

The Shaming of Geoffrey Owens and the Inability to See Actors as Laborers, Too

Do Sustainable Certifications For Coffee Really Help Coffee Growers?

Ooh, the trailer for The Front Runner - Hugh Jackman as Gary Hart - looks great.

Scientists hunt mysterious 'dark force' to explain hidden realm of the cosmos

Morning Coffee (8/10/18)

OKAY, time for some happy Friday links!

This is great! Rashida Tlaib, With Primary Win, Is Poised to Become First Muslim Woman in Congress

Starbucks stores are already receiving Pumpkin Spice Latte supplies, and people think they've figured out the PSL's return date

!! Natalie Dormer joins the Potterverse as A History of Magic narrator

Aah, new The Nutcracker and the Four Realms trailer!

In very different movie news, the Lizzie trailer also looks great.

Wisconsin Just Broke the Record for the World’s Largest Cheeseboard

'Cat Person' breakout writer is back with debut book: Read the first excerpt

Ooh, look at all the cute rainbow things!

Of course it does: So cheesy: Burlington airport has a 7-foot block of cheese and matching maple syrup

Announcing Three New Novels From Annalee Newitz

Morning Coffee (7/6/18)

Time to take a break for some Friday happy links!

At mausoleum for France’s ‘Great Men’, Simone Veil burial is most revolutionary yet

Phew: Coffee Drinkers Are More Likely To Live Longer. Decaf May Do The Trick, Too

The Juliet, Naked trailer looks amazing and I'm so excited.

After One Zillion Years, Superhero Movies Will Finally Have a Plus-Size Lead

Useful! The Best Ice Cream Makers

Alert: The Dior Couture Show Is Actually Quite Beautiful

Emma Thompson is writing a Christmas movie?!?!

Please give me a middle grade novel series about this immediately: The Spanish Princesses Will Attend Summer Camp in the United States

Archaeologists stumble on Neolithic ritual site in Suffolk

Watch Some Teen Movies And TV Shows And We'll Give You A YA Book To Read This Summer

Morning Coffee (12/29/17)

Time for the last happy Friday links of 2017!

AWW: Twitter appeal reunites man with pay packet he left in London pub

!!! Men Who Have Been Best Friends Since 6th Grade Discover They Are Actually Half-Brothers

LET'S GO: How Britain’s finest stately homes do Christmas decorations

Ooh, I love black and white drinks: Starbucks Reveals New Drinks For New Year's Eve

I'd try this: Dunkin’ Donuts Is Officially Making a Coffee-Inspired Beer. Here’s How to Get It

Oh, this is fun: New Yorker Holiday Covers Through the Years

Rejoice! For Laura Dern Is Living Her Best Life This Holiday Season With an NBA Player

So many interesting suits: 2017: Your Year in Harry Styles

Watch Two Brothers Build a UFO Gingerbread House

And if that's not enough: Harry Potter: The Burrow Gingerbread House

Weekly Rec: LOOK AT MY NEW COFFEE MAKER

I am not particularly a coffee snob. For regular coffee, I am perfectly happy with my basic Mr. Coffee. But I do like fancy coffee drinks, and wish I could have them more often than the once a week or so I allow myself to go to Starbucks. I haven't had great luck with home espresso machines in the past - particularly because it tends to be difficult to get the milk to froth correctly. (And I do know how - I used to be a barista - so it's not ENTIRELY user error.)

But this fall I visited a friend who had a Nespresso CitiZ and Milk machine and I LOVED it. The milk froths itself! It's incredible! I ordered one for myself on a great Black Friday sale and after a few weeks I am SO PLEASED WITH IT.

I've tried a whole bunch of different blends and kinds of drinks and I'm enjoying it so much. It's even making me into a plain espresso person:

So if you happen to be in the market for one of these, I absolutely recommend this one. It's currently on sale at Amazon, but watch for sales at Williams-Sonoma (and elsewhere? probably!) too!

Afternoon Tea (12/22/17)

How Layers in a Latte Form

This made me want to read a bunch of these books IMMEDIATELY: In Praise of the ‘Career Romance’

Go Fug Yourself rounded up a year in Tatler covers and the best cover lines and it's quite a ride.

Why Monks and Nuns Make So Many Beloved Foods

Ice Skating in New York Has Always Been Magical

Afternoon Tea (10/3/17)

The Chemistry and Physics Behind the Perfect Cup of Coffee

This Austrian Ossuary Holds Hundreds of Elaborately Hand-Painted Skulls

Luther the translator

On the history of a Christian mission in Papua New Guinea: The Spears of Peace

Turn-of-the-Century Kids' Books Taught Wealthy, White Boys the Virtues of Playing Football

Morning Coffee (8/1/17)

Welp. John Kelly, Asserting Authority, Fires Anthony Scaramucci

Oh. Trump dictated son’s misleading statement on meeting with Russian lawyer

Oh. White House officials tricked by email prankster

This doesn't sound important or anything: State Department head of diplomatic security resigns

This by Chris Murphy is definitely worth a read: Behind the Scenes of Last Night’s Health Care Vote

Sally Yates: Protect the Justice Department From President Trump

Interesting: Auschwitz: First travelling exhibition will visit Europe and US

The Hot New Thing in Guatemala, Land of Coffee? It’s Coffee

Uh... Steven Soderbergh's New Movie Writer Likely Doesn't Exist

Hilarious: 20 Literary Would-You-Rathers

Morning Coffee (7/12/17)

UGH: New Hampshire Law Toughens Voting Registration Requirements

Russian Dirt on Clinton? ‘I Love It,’ Donald Trump Jr. Said

What Donald Trump Jr. did was wrong and maybe illegal. But it wasn’t treason.

Donald Trump Jr.’s legal problems

3 Lawsuits Filed Against White House Panel on Voter Fraud

A Secretaries of State Meeting Used to Be Friendly. Then the White House Asked for Voter Data.

!!! This is always traumatic: Kermit the Frog to get new voice after 27 years as puppeteer steps down

This was fascinating: ‘I Have Passed the Point of Reacting’: How the Watergate News Cycle Reads Today

Huh: Saint Teresa's famous blue-rimmed white cotton sari trademarked

OH GOOD: Drinking more coffee leads to a longer life, two studies say

Oh cool: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone finally arrives in Scots translation

Morning Coffee (7/7/17)

Time for our customary happy Friday links!

Ooh, more casting for the new Little Women, finally!

This is the kind of hard-hitting international news I want to see right now: Shetland Pony tries to eat The Queen’s flowers

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Made the Queen of England Laugh (That was kind of him. Do you think we could get him to start traveling around making all of us laugh? That sounds useful.)

I know the person who sent me this amazing link yesterday TRULY LOVES ME: Use a Packing Grid to Ensure You Have Everything You Need for a Trip

This one I will absolutely try: Oreo Is Doing A Coffee-Flavored Collab With Dunkin' Donuts

Aw! This Aquarium Has a 'Naughty Penguin of the Month' Board

Let's go make some slab pie.

The Joy of Reading About Cooking

This is some impressive latte art: South Korean coffee artist recreates Munch's The Scream in cream

Heee: Artist Reimagines All 50 States As Food Puns

Afternoon Tea (6/20/17)

The Thrilling Tale of How Robert Smalls Seized a Confederate Ship and Sailed it to Freedom

The best TV adaptations aren’t direct translations. They’re windows into worlds.

People Used to Be So Scared of Coffee That Bach Wrote a Cantata About It

How Pasteur’s Artistic Insight Changed Chemistry

The Artful Propaganda of Soviet Children’s Literature

Morning Coffee (6/16/17)

Time for some Friday happy links!

Canada's just SHOWING OFF now: A Chiseled Justin Trudeau Casually Kayaked Up to This Family’s Dock to Talk About Climate Change

The Hidden Treasures in Italian Libraries

Aw, look at Luna Legend's first pitch. Also, Luna Legend sounds like the name of a superhero.

Why yes, I DO want to ogle the US's most expensive vacation homes.

She makes a compelling case: S’mores Should Be Made With Chocolate Frosting

Get Lost in These Real-World Fairy Tale Landscapes

Did you know there is such thing as SILENT BOOK CLUB????

!! In 1964, You Could Buy Magazines From a Street Dalek

I'd... try this: Someone invented a black latte for people who hate unicorn drinks

Vintage Photos of Traveling Libraries

18 Cocktails That Are Basically Summer in a Glass Is it the weekend yet?

Afternoon Tea (6/6/17)

The Wartime Spies Who Used Knitting as an Espionage Tool

How Cold Brew Changed the Coffee Business

Unsealed 75 years after the Battle of Midway: New details of an alarming WWII press leak

Premier League Proving Grounds

When Nova Scotia Almost Joined the American Revolution

Morning Coffee (3/10/17)

Time for our weekly break for some Friday happy links.

Some good news to start your weekend: A Self-Assured Swedish Cat Just Came Home After Nine Years Away

Maybe your weekend also needs wine and cake pairings.

Your weekend DEFINITELY needs dudes in suits.

Also at Go Fug Yourself: I want everything in the Brooks Brothers Fall/Winter collection, which I'm sure comes as a GIGANTIC SHOCK.

Can You Name The Best-Selling Book Title From The Visual Riddle? (I got 16/17 and I'm pretty mad about that last one.)

Ooh! Found: A Miniature Working Model of the National Archives Vault

I love dioramas! Let's go see them all.

Oreo drones!!

The world's largest knitted mitten! I love Sweden.

Whoa: If You Haven't Tried the New Starbucks Cookie Butter Bar, You Haven't Lived Your Best Life

The Original Hidden Picture Artists Were Dutch Masters

I'm skeptical of wine-infused coffee but I'd probably TRY it.

Morning Coffee (7/15/16)

As usual, in honor of Friday we're taking a quick break from current events to look at some links on the lighter side, for anyone who needs a distraction.

Good news! Carla Hayden confirmed as Librarian of Congress, the first woman and the first person of color to hold the position.

Caribou Coffee made it SNOW in Minneapolis and I want to go there.

Nifty: “Godspot”: German churches now offer free and secure wifi hotspots for all

Heh: The Queen shocks locals by visiting Scotland pub for dinner Now I would like a jacket potato and a cider, please.

It's Friday. Let's look at shiny things. I love the Swedish processional jewels.

Meanwhile: The nations of Denmark and Sweden had a Twitter fight involving moose and sperm banks

These photographs are beautiful: Art of stone: spiritual sculptures around the world

I always want to read about a nice sea serpent hoax.

Relevant to what I was mentioning in my Childhood's End post yesterday: Rereading A Wrinkle in Time: what’s up with that giant evil brain?

THE FINAL HEY LADIES.

Morning Coffee (12/5/15)

I love Chris Murphy. (But seriously, does anyone genuinely think anyone was saying people shouldn't pray? The message was clearly that prayers WITHOUT OTHER ACTION aren't enough, and I have to think anyone saying otherwise is either idiotic or determined to be a victim and take attention away from the real victims. Or both! Could be both!)

The ugly Islamophobia in the media coverage of the San Bernardino shooting

On Trump: "Even Slobodan Milosevic knew better than to talk like that in public." And that was BEFORE he made an anti-Semitic speech to a group of Republican Jews.

I love when Slate gets snarky: New Bust in Capitol Building Honors Dick Cheney for Ending Terrorism

As he explains IN the piece, it's really not important at all that China's RMB is becoming a global reserve currency, but Matt Yglesias's explanation of the whole thing is interesting and also REALLY FUNNY.

I FINALLY had time to read Maureen Dowd's piece on women in Hollywood and you have probably already read it but I am linking in case you hadn't gotten to it either! (And now I want someone to write the fanfic in which Dowd asks her buddy Sorkin for comment and he says whatever terribly Sorkiny thing he'd no doubt say.)

Inside the surreal world of the Islamic State’s propaganda machine

This is quite a good explanation of both the evolution of Bernie Sanders and his appeal.

What Would the Father of American Football Make of the Modern Game? (I will admit that I am way more into the history of sports than I am into... actual sports themselves; this reminds me that I had meant to read that book on Teddy Roosevelt and football.)

Heh: The Cool Way to Brew Good Coffee (I had pourover once, while traveling - we are not super into Good Coffee here in the wilds of New Hampshire - and I must admit I was underwhelmed. I think it was on the same trip that a barista made one of those pretty designs on the top of my latte and I was DELIGHTED AND ASTONISHED because I didn't know that happened in real life. New Hampshire: We Finally Have Starbucks But Let's Not Get Ahead Of Ourselves Here.)

Recommendation: Trader Joe's Wintry Blend Coffee

I don't usually even LIKE flavored coffee,* but I bought Trader Joe's Wintry Blend recently, I don't even know why,** and IT IS DELICIOUS.

My guess is that either a) their "all natural spices!" thing is true and I like this because it tastes less fake than do most flavored coffees - honestly, they usually all taste the same to me - or b) I've just bought into that idea and my brain is TELLING me the flavor is better. Or c) Christmas magic. Dunno! (Or, actually, d), which just occurred to me as I sit here and sip - it's genuinely more spicy rather than having that cloying sweetness that flavored coffee often has.) Anyway, maybe give it a try, if you like this kind of thing and are willing to brave the lethal Trader Joe's parking lot in December/ever? (Actually, I discovered as I was looking for the product link that you can buy this from Amazon! It's much more expensive there than in the store, but did you know you could get Trader Joe's store brand products that way? I certainly did not, and I fear this is dangerous information.)

And a larger question: Are you as susceptible to Special Seasonal Foods as I am? Any good ones I should try?

* I also don't like green tea but adore Trader Joe's Candy Cane Green Tea, so maybe they have some kind of beverage magic?

** This is a lie. It was because of the packaging. Note to marketers: I'm easy. Slap a snowstorm and an old timey village on your label and I'll try almost anything.

(This was not sponsored or anything. Trader Joe's is not giving me free stuff. ALAS.)

Morning Coffee (9/29/15)

Me elsewhere: Quantico has potential. Blood & Oil is pretty dreadful so far.

Happy National Coffee Day! According to Twitter, anyway. Related: Early Americans Went to Great Lengths to Get Caffeine

Ooh: First seed withdrawal from 'doomsday' vault prompted by Syrian civil war

This profile of Xi Jinping was fascinating.

Whoa: 'Putin's banker' Pugachev files $12 billion claim against Russia

Speaking of: Putin talked to Elton John for real this time.

Remember that crazy maraschino cherry story? Here's an update.

Well this isn't alarming at all: Microbiologists Keep Finding Giant Viruses in Melting Permafrost

How ‘You’re The Worst’ became one of the most sensual shows on television

Huh! DNA Is Said to Solve a Mystery of Warren Harding’s Love Life

i’m as upright as i want to be
i also want to be this much standing up, alone
we’re both happy with this situation