Afternoon Tea (1/21/19)

California: The State of Resistance

Students in Rural America Ask, ‘What Is a University Without a History Major?’

In Home Of Original Sriracha Sauce, Thais Say Rooster Brand Is Nothing To Crow About

‘It has made me want to live’: public support for lesbian novelist Radclyffe Hall over banned book revealed

How Zora Neale Hurston Helped Create the First Realistic Black Baby Doll

Afternoon Tea (12/14/18)

Oh happy day! Queens of Infamy: Zenobia

ALWAYS MY FAVORITE: The 2018 GFY Holiday Gift Guide Is Here!

This exhibit sounds amazing: Armpit Pads, Petticoats, and Porcelain: How Stylish Dolls Taught Girls to Be Victorian Women

This story is WILD: How one man's quest to spread Christmas cheer led to a miserable four-year war with his neighborhood

Eight Dazzling Toy Train Displays to Get You in the Holiday Spirit

Morning Coffee (10/12/18)

TIME FOR FRIDAY HAPPY LINKS.

Eeeeeee: ‘The Little Drummer Girl’ Trailer: Here’s Your First Look At What Could Be The Best TV Series Of The Year

!! Emma Roberts to Star in Netflix Ice Skating Drama 'Spinning Out'

Also !! All-Star ‘Greatest Showman’ Album Entices Pink, Panic!, Sara Bareilles and Others

Aww: "The couple met in 2012 while working on President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign in Chicago, and began dating while working in Brooklyn on Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, in 2015."

Between the X-Files ones and now Doctor Who Barbie I... need to buy some Barbies?

Apple Cider Doughnuts Are the Truth

QUIZ: Which Literary Witch Are You?

To start your holiday shopping: nail polish gift sets.

And Nintendo cartridge soap??

And Grinch makeup!

Morning Coffee (9/7/18)

Friday! Happy links only! (Also I'm on vacation so this was written in advance.)

Oh how wonderful: India court legalises gay sex in landmark ruling

GOOD FOR HER. (Her male advisor was the one who got the Nobel for this, of course.) British astrophysicist overlooked by Nobels wins $3m award for pulsar work

Interesting: Gary Hart Movie ‘The Front Runner’ Votes For Election Day Release In Industry First

Viola Davis wrote a Corduroy book!!

I need them: The X-Files celebrates 25th anniversary with Mulder and Scully Barbie dolls

Heh (the Onion): Carl Bernstein Weeps Uncontrollably After Learning Bob Woodward Wrote A President Book Without Him

My new favorite headline: Alfonso Cuarón Says He Directed ‘Harry Potter’ After Guillermo del Toro Called Him “An Arrogant Bastard”

This is dedication: This Thrift Shop Put Photos of Jeff Goldblum in Every Single Picture Frame

QUIZ: Which YA Love Story Should You Read After Finishing TO ALL THE BOYS I’VE LOVED BEFORE?

These Are the 20 Books Travelers Are Always Leaving Behind at Their Hotels

Afternoon Tea (6/22/18)

YEP: The 'Ocean's 8' lack of conflict is the most important part of its fantasy

The Great American Girl Doll Cook-Off

How Soccer Players’ Hair Became So Influential

Romance Novels for Nerds

A Brief History of Drinking Cocktails From Coconuts

Morning Coffee (1/26/18)

This week seemed very long. Time for some happy Friday links!

ICYMI: my Oscar Project post on Wonder.

GOOD: Octavia Spencer Says Jessica Chastain Helped Her Get a Significant Pay Raise on Their New Film

This is EXTREMELY EXCITING but I'm disappointed there's not a Meg doll too: A Wrinkle in Time getting its own Barbie dolls

Your Friday morning may need Dylan O'Brien frolicking with puppies. I don't know your life.

While we're talking about actors and puppies: Tom Hardy Has Been Helping To Rehome Dogs That Were Found Abandoned In A Park

Ooh: These Two Favorite Skincare Brands Are Now Available At Target

Who is your Good Place moral soul mate? (I got Chidi but obviously don't deserve him.)

I'm wary of the new Muppet Babies but aw, penguin!

These Vibrant Maps Reveal the World’s Hidden Geographies

Whoa: New Etsy shop will build a detailed Lego model of your home

Watch the Wondrous Costco Pizza Sauce Dispenser in Action

Afternoon Tea (1/17/18)

When Barbie Went to War with Bratz

Jasmine Guillory's piece about becoming online friends with Amy Spalding is a DELIGHT: Words With Friends

Wow: How I Learned to Look Believable

How Do We Bury the Writing of the Dead?

A New Clue to the Mystery Disease That Once Killed Most of Mexico

Afternoon Tea (1/16/18)

Tonya Harding Would Like Her Apology Now

I want to read this: Balzac’s Novel of Female Friendship

A fun piece about working at American Girl Place: Not Safe for Work

Across Indonesia’s Capital, a Legacy of Soviet-Inspired Design

A Search for a Lost Hammer Led to the Largest Cache of Roman Treasure Ever Found in Britain

Morning Coffee (11/17/17)

This week's Happy Friday links have a lot of Go Fug Yourself but I'm not actually sorry, unless any of you already read their site faithfully and thus have fewer new things to read here.

This is wonderful: Barbie Debuts a Hijab, Thanks to Ibtihaj Muhammad

Chelsea Clinton announces international companion to She Persisted children's book

This is both funny and thoughtful, even if you don't care about Blake Shelton: Blake Shelton Is People’s Sexiest Man Alive? (Real talk: Blake Shelton is not even the sexiest man alive ON HIS OWN TV SHOW, though his reaction quoted in that piece made me like him a little better than I had.)

!!!! 280-Character Tweets Make Tetris Possible on Twitter

Titanic to return to theaters for 20th anniversary (This briefly sent me spiraling because my friend and I went to see it for an anniversary release ALREADY and that CANNOT have been ten years ago, but no, it was FIVE years ago. Are they going to re-release it every five years? This is not necessarily a complaint.)

This happened at the end of LAST week but I wanted to make sure you saw because it's important: Tom Hiddleston Is Literally Walking Around London Cradling a Puppy

Let's go to Italy's new food theme park.

USEFUL and also funny: How to Pluralize Your Last Name on Holiday Cards

Three Gorgeous Cakes for the Holidays

SPARKLY SHOES. (I just got sparkly shoes on clearance for $13 and I'm obsessed and need you all to invite me to holiday parties so I can wear them.)

Afternoon Tea (10/24/17)

The quirky San Quentin crossword puzzle features prison slang and Solange

In Easter Island DNA, Evidence of Genetic Loneliness

I was wondering recently whether this was still around! Returning to Second Life

Amazing: Home Is Where the Corpse Is—At Least In These Dollhouse Crime Scenes

Fake News and Fervent Nationalism Got a Senator Tarred as a Traitor During WWI

Afternoon Tea (9/27/17)

From Poland to Lithuania: A Writer’s Search for Her Jewish Past

(Her) Body: Roxane Gay Speaks for Herself (For herself but with Mallory Ortberg, I should specify!)

The Creepiest Children's Book (Count me among those who had The Lonely Doll as a kid and never realized it was creepy!)

Hot Dates in the Saudi Desert

These posts where the British Library explores its holdings in an area are often quite interesting: Vietnamese traditional markets

Morning Coffee (8/11/17)

Finally! Time for some happy Friday links!

Ooh: Get Free Eclipse Glasses at Your Local Library

Lisa Frank pajamas!!! (At Target!)

American Girl's new Create-Your-Own tool is SO MUCH FUN.

This sounds like something your Friday might need: Watch This Adorable Video of Prince William Getting Beaten by a Little Girl at Soccer

! Japanese Scientists Discover the Secret to Un-Meltable Ice Cream

Let's go: The ‘World’s Largest Bounce House’ Is Touring America

Bookish umbrellas!

Nancy Drew Etsy stuff!!

Let's run off to the Greek islands.

Whoa: This Pocket-packed Tote Bag Is a Traveler’s Dream

Morning Coffee (7/3/17)

Me elsewhere: TV news for the week.

Trump says states are ‘trying to hide’ things from his voter fraud commission. Here’s what they actually say.

Trump Foot Soldier Sidelined Under Glare of Russia Inquiry

This is a very good read: The classic American sitcom is exactly what we need in this fractured political moment

Interesting: Hugh Jackman to Play Senator Gary Hart in ‘The Frontrunner’ Movie

Perfect: Ken Dolls as Men of the Left

This is FASCINATING: The Hoax Poetry Movement That Accidentally Became Legitimate

Ooh: These Beautiful Medieval Wafer Presses Are Where Waffles Come From

Let's end on an alarming note today: What Are All The Ways That Land Can Disappear Beneath Your Feet?

Afternoon Tea (4/13/17)

VERY IMPORTANT RESEARCH: Scientists unravel mystery of the loose shoelace

Why have four children when you could have seven? Family planning in Niger

Jasmine, pepper, chai: The fragrances of India, bottled exclusively for you

As a vote on entering World War I approached, the only woman in Congress faced an agonizing choice

The Enduring Mystery of James A. Garfield’s Immigration Scandal

The Bright-Eyed Talking Doll That Just Might Be a Spy

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 (2/16/17)

Russians in the White House? Blackmail, Disinformation, and Michael Flynn

An Important New Sign That the White House Doesn’t Want a Trade War With China

Trump holds court at Mar-a-Lago, and his rich customers get what they paid for

This is an important point: Trump doesn’t have to do something unprecedented for it to be a really bad idea

It Is Not Normal For a First Lady and Daughter to Try to Sell You Stuff

Corey Lewandowski’s Potential Clients Say He’s Bragging About Access To Trump’s Twitter Account

The president just elevated a dangerous anti-vaxxer talking point

Go away, BernieBros: New Liberal PAC Targets Democrats for Primaries

!!! Thieves steal £2m of rare books by abseiling into warehouse

Ooh, Robin Wasserman and Miranda Beverly-Whittemore talk books and rage and intense girl friendships.

The First Observations of Sea Ice Came From 8th-Century Irish Monks in Iceland

Quiz: New American Girl Doll or Your Ex-Boyfriend?

Morning Coffee (1/1/17)

Happy New Year! Thanks so much for reading.

NEWS: If you'd like to hear more from me about the books I'm reading, come subscribe to my newsletter! It's basically a little diary I'm sending out a few times a week about reading and life.

How to survive 2017: believe in protest, barricade your uterus and tax yourself

Of course they did: Mar-a-Lago sold tickets to New Year’s Eve party with Trump

Oh yay, the American Girl doll of the year is an African-American girl named Gabriela, the first non-white Girl of the Year in several years.

How Russians Pay to Play in Other Countries

I think this gets a lot right about the discussion around Milo Yiannopolous's book deal.

A Majority Agreed She Was Raped by a Stanford Football Player. That Wasn’t Enough.

The most dangerous thing about fake news sites is not what they say, but how they say it

I contributed to this roundup of the Best Female Performances on TV in 2016

What Happened To This Cult Leader's Lost Treasure?

Huh: Scottish spirits are soaring (but it’s gin, not whisky)

I'm going to join the Book Riot 2017 Read Harder Challenge. Join me!

Morning Coffee (10/10/16)

Me elsewhere: Your TV news for the week.

Trump, companies accused of mistreating women in at least 20 lawsuits

Her love of research is one of my favorite things about her: Hillary Clinton Already Knows The Bad Thing You Said

From before the debate, but still: Inside Trump Tower, an Increasingly Upset and Alone Donald Trump

Charting Boko Haram's Rapid Decline

Hillary Clinton and the Resurrection of Old-School Hysteria

That Seventh-Grade Bully Is Running for President

The Definitive Map of America’s Creepy Clown Epidemic

Huh: Amazon Prime Now Offers Magazines

This piece about the creation of Addy Walker (the first black American Girl doll) is fascinating.

George Washington's 'racy' letter about a donkey goes on sale

Morning Coffee (6/24/16)

Well. Let's take a brief break from Happy Friday to say ENGLAND, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? As usual, I suggest following coverage from The Guardian and the BBC. I'll link you to any particularly good pieces about the fallout in the coming days.

Okay, now we probably all NEED some Happy Friday...

Ooh, here's a summer reading guide from Vox's Constance Grady.

Roanoke news!! 400-Year-Old Artifacts Uncovered At First English Settlement In The New World

Mac 'n Cheetos?!?!

Love this: A Mary Anne with Kristy Rising: On the Enduring Legacy of the Baby-Sitters Club Books

Progress! Barbie Gets a Game Developer Job

Best 'Game of Thrones' Character for Each State in America

Someone please make this Hamilton Super Nintendo game a reality

Whoa, Impressify is fun. (Basically it lets you turn your pictures into an Impressionist-style graphic.)

!! A 22-pound lump of butter from 2,000 years ago has been discovered in Ireland

Let's talk about curly hair products at Go Fug Yourself.

How To Tell If You Are In A Regency-Era Novel Written After The End Of The Regency

Morning Coffee (1/29/16)

Tomorrow! I'm going to go to an independent theater in Boston and do a mini-marathon of some of the more obscure Oscar nominees - four features. I'll post normal movie posts about the titles next week, but I'm also going to write up a little diary of the day as a Patreon exclusive. (Are the audiences driving me nuts? Can I stay awake/focused for four movies? How much caffeine will I need?) You can get it with any pledge (starting at $1/month) if you sign up by Saturday night. Right this way! (If you're already a patron I LOVE YOU and of course you will be getting this post as well.)

ICYMI: TWO Oscar Project posts yesterday, on Star Wars and Ex Machina.

Okay, Friday! Happy links!

Since Friday is for happy links the only one I will give you about the primary is Gail Collins, as she is hilarious in addition to being very smart. (And, I think gets at the basic Sanders/Clinton divide: "Vote for Bernie: Send a message. Vote for Hillary: She knows how to make things work.")

Barbie has new body types! Here's Time's very interesting cover story. (Touching on something they get into there: even when Barbies all looked more similar, as a child, the thing that most confused me about them was that almost all the dolls were supposed to be the same character. So why did they exist in the same world [i.e. my bedroom]??? I found this highly disturbing.)

Fox is showing Grease! Live on Sunday and Vanity Fair has a fascinating story about the making of the 1978 movie that will probably make you want to go rewatch it immediately. (They liken Newton-John's casting to if someone cast Taylor Swift in the role today and now I WANT THAT MORE THAN ANYTHING.)

Today in Things You Should Be Watching: The 100’s Clarke Is Sci-fi’s Best Teen Heroine

And if you ARE watching, you should check out new podcast The Ark 100 FM from my friends Holly and Bailey. (Rumor has it I may fill in for an episode next month when Bailey's on vacation. I'll keep you posted.)

Ben Whishaw Is Even Better Than You Think is both the truest headline ever written and a very interesting interview with the creator of London Spy.

I cannot handle this even a little bit: Chris Pine sings school closings to the tune of 'Let It Snow' (I know it's an unpopular opinion but you can keep Hemsworth and Evans and Pratt; Pine is my favorite of The Chrises and I am greatly looking forward to that Coast Guard movie that seems to consist of him speaking in a terrible Boston accent while people throw buckets of water at him for two hours.)

My friend Chris - ACTUALLY my favorite Chris, obvs - tweeted this link and I may never forgive him: 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' As An Anime Opening Works Way Too Well

Honest Wedding Website Admits There Jack Shit For Guests To Do While In Town

"ZEUS: look, I have produced a daughter from mine own head
this is Athena
HERA: like fuck you did"