Afternoon Tea (4/26/19)

Janelle Monáe: Living Out Loud (and to make it even better, Lizzo is the interviewer!)

This was just lovely and made me cry: Blair Braverman on the Iditarod, Fear, and Resilience

Finland’s Hobbyhorse Girls, Once a Secret Society, Now Prance in Public

A brief history of the ball pit

The Magic of Ed McBain's 87th Precinct

Afternoon Tea (2/11/19)

At Checkpoint Charlie, Cold War History Confronts Crass Commercialism

These grandparents sold gay porn for decades and almost went to prison. Now, they are calling it quits

How Russia infiltrated the world of American religious-right filmmaking

How Lego Patents Helped Build a Toy Empire, Brick by Brick

Lots of good stuff here: 2018 Locus Recommended Reading List

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

Morning Coffee (11/2/18)

FRIDAY HAPPY LINKS!

Oh gosh, look at this Get Out the Vote letter from JFK to Madeleine L'Engle.

!!! 'Penny Dreadful' Revived at Showtime

This is great: Tokyo 2020 Medal Project To Turn Scrap Metal Into Precious Olympic, Paralympic Medals

Watching Jenny retweet all these was great: 'To All The Boys I've Loved Before' Costumes Make Jenny Han Cry — In A Good Way

I love them: John Legend and Chrissy Teigen will host 'legendary' Christmas special

! Harrods, Now Available at Williams Sonoma

I did not expect to read about a Thomas & Friends and the United Nations collaboration.

YAY: Lionsgate Boards Helen Hoang Romance ‘The Kiss Quotient’ From Pilgrim Media Group — AFM

Ben & Jerry's Just Released an Anti-Trump Ice Cream Flavor

10 of the Best Bookish Knitting Patterns

Afternoon Tea (9/5/18)

The dark secret of Thailand’s child brides

Overlooked No More: Ruby Payne-Scott, Who Explored Space With Radio Waves

Lego Wants to Completely Remake Its Toy Bricks (Without Anyone Noticing)

The Crime Fiction of Oslo

Violent times? MPs as victims of murder in the mid-fifteenth century

Morning Coffee (5/21/18)

Me elsewhere: TV news for the week.

Trump Jr. and Other Aides Met With Gulf Emissary Offering Help to Win Election

F.B.I. Used Informant to Investigate Russia Ties to Campaign, Not to Spy, as Trump Claims

The Lesson of Eric Greitens, and the Navy SEALs Who Tried to Warn Us

'Live Free Or Die' Motto Often Invoked at State House, With Mixed Results

Construction Unions Ally with Striking Teachers to Fight for Prevailing Wage Laws

L.G.B.T. Students in Oregon Were Bullied and Forced to Read Bible, Report Says

Seven Reasons Consent Apps Are a Terrible Idea

Yaay, new Troye Sivan album August 31st!

Here Are All the New TV Teasers and Fall Lineups

Hasbro Has Officially Trademarked the Smell of Your Childhood: Play-Doh

Morning Coffee (3/9/18)

Time for some happy Friday links! Just a reminder: If you enjoy these or my other posts, please consider supporting me on Patreon. For as little as $1 a month you can help make sure I can invest the not inconsiderable time required to compile links.

Oooh! Obama in Talks to Provide Shows for Netflix

Eee, cover and excerpt for Holly Black's next book The Wicked King!

Hey knitters, here's the official pattern for Nakia's infinity scarf from Black Panther.

Here's the 2018 longlist for the Women's Prize for Fiction.

Look at this Wrinkle in Time jewelry! I'm sure I'll buy something and am agonizing over what; I'm going to make myself wait until after I see the movie in case that makes a particular design speak to me in a way I might not expect.

Elsewhere in niche jewelry I'm sure I'll buy: LOOK AT THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM'S ENAMEL PINS.

'Suits' Spinoff With Gina Torres Lands USA Network Series Pickup I'm excited to see her lead a show!

Everyone Has A Book Genre That Matches Their Personality — Here's Yours (This quiz told me I was a mystery novel, so obviously it is correct and accurate in all ways.)

The Original 'My Little Pony' Toys are Back and Making Your Childhood Dreams Come True (I sold mine in a yard sale and VERY MUCH REGRETTED IT.)

Whoa: This Glass-bottom Pool in Honolulu Has the Most Breathtaking Views

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

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.)

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 (9/23/16)

Let's take a break for some happy Friday links!

Me elsewhere: Pilot thoughts on Lethal Weapon and Bull.

Okay, this is political but also SO FUNNY so I'm throwing it in today - Clinton went on Between Two Ferns.

World's oldest library reopens in Fez: 'You can hurt us, but you can't hurt the books'

LOOK at a song from Hamilton in sign language. SO COOL.

Perfect: An Easy Guide to Writing the Great American Novel

Interview: Paige O’Hara Talks the Role of a Lifetime and 25 Years of Beauty and the Beast

TWO royal slideshows for you today because I can't pick. In honor of Will and Kate's trip to Canada let's look at their past royal tours - there's a lot of adorable here.

And here, for his birthday, is Prince Harry's life in pictures, in case you need that in your life today.

How Play-Doh Went From Being a Household Cleaning Supply to a Beloved Toy

How could I not show you Ashton Kutcher in a tux with a kitten on his shoulder?

Let's ogle fancy rings people wore to the Emmys.

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 (1/6/16)

ICYMI last night, North Korea says it tested a hydrogen bomb, but so far no one's sure if this is true.

Here's a good explanation of the President's executive orders to reduce gun violence, with video of his announcement. (And this idea that he was faking emotion when talking about the deaths of tiny children just sickens me.)

Are Trump supporters driven by economic anxiety or racial resentment? Yes.

But Ezra Klein is very soothing: Here's what I think Donald Trump's loss will look like (This sounds right to me, and I feel like in many ways the real contest in these early states is between the power of yelling [Trump, Sanders] and the power of organization/logistics [Clinton, maybe Cruz or even Christie]. Organization/logistics better win or my entire worldview will be shaken.)

Seriously: Calm Down About the Fake 10,000 Character Limit on Twitter

Important context: Waco and Ruby Ridge: the 1990s standoffs haunting the Oregon takeover, explained

Sometimes complaining on the Internet works: Star Wars Monopoly game to add Rey character after fan outcry (FWIW, I saw several thinly sourced claims saying Hasbro's contract with Disney prevented them from putting Rey in any toys released before a certain date, and I find that reasonably plausible, but someone still should have realized how it would come across.)

Speaking of Hasbro and Disney, this was fascinating: The $500 Million Battle Over Disney’s Princesses

Whoa - English Heritage is recreating 1066 on Twitter.

Two Monks Learn How To Draw Hands

Morning Coffee (9/11/15)

(It is, of course, September 11th; I have nothing particularly original to say about that, so I'm going to continue with usual happy Friday links, with the assumption that today of all days making some cheerful distractions available is not a terrible thing.)

Ahaha: When Cookie Met Sally. (With the "I'll have what she's having" bit, and this is why Sesame Street is the best.)

A bunch of my friends are in a fun webseries called Social Medium and they have a nifty new trailer!

My friend Carrie wrote a great piece about The Young and the Restless and soaps in general that made me want to go watch my soap of choice (Coronation Street).

The best possible response to that Victorian piece: I Love 2012. So I Decided To Live In It.

The Martin Luther figurine was Playmobil's most successful new product ever, and I find that fascinating.

One of the main characters in the Captain Underpants books came out in such a refreshing, matter-of-fact way.

Heeee: Taylor Swift: A Socratic Dialogue

Tumblr of the day: Nihilisa Frank

All you wanted to know about Sherlock Holmes in 17 vintage charts

Morning Coffee (5/20/15)

Important: America Snores When Christian Terrorist Threatens to Massacre Muslims

In case you, like me, had NO IDEA what this Mad Max thing was, Todd VanDerWerff is on it.

More Todd: I'm waiting to read this until after I see the new Avengers movie (Friday! Finally!) but since you have probably seen it already: Superhero movies have become an endless attempt to rewrite 9/11

Tragic but fascinating: Buried In Baltimore: The Mysterious Murder Of A Nun Who Knew Too Much

The end of an era: F. A. O. Schwarz to Close Its Doors on Fifth Avenue

I hope you're ALWAYS reading Gail Collins, of course, but here's a good one: Wow, Jeb Bush Is Awful

Apparently Michael Schumacher's son was racing under a fake name for a while. Did that WORK? I mean, I clearly didn't know, but was anyone actually involved in the sport fooled?

Report: Putting Head In Hands And Moaning Quietly Still Best Way To Get Through Next Several Seconds

Morning Coffee (3/18/15)

Awesome: Oregon will be the first state to automatically register voters

You should absolutely read this amazing piece my friend Todd wrote about being adopted.

This is great: UK Sunday paper won't review books marketed "to exclude either sex"

A Girl, A Shoe, A Prince: The Endlessly Evolving Cinderella

4 historical heroes who loved charts

Now I wish I could read the B.Y. Times books.

The Bizarre, Unsolved Mystery of ‘My Immortal,’ the World’s Worst Fanfiction Story

Awwww.

Morning Coffee (2/24/15)

Me elsewhere: A few thoughts on 50 Shades of Grey

No, You Absolutely Do Not Have to Love Your Job

The War for the Soul of Geek Culture

Notorious Revenge Porn Asshole Hunter Moore Is Finally Going to Prison

5 stories that prove the rules of the Oscars are even weirder than you thought

This would . . . not be my guess for fastest selling Playmobil.

Oh, right, it's ALL THE SITES DO RANDOM BRACKETS season. But Forever YA's Teen Heartthrob Madness looks fun.

Spin the Globe, Sri Lanka: The Two Faces of Paradise

I Dedicate This Novel to the Man Who Convinced Me to Stop Writing Silly Genre Fiction and Crank out a Thinly Veiled Memoir

Morning Coffee (2/6/15)

Happy Friday!

Amazing: Emma Thompson Used to Cheer Up Prince Charles

Your Rational Love of Whiskey Is (Thankfully) Demolishing Vodka Sales

S'mores Oreos? That I'll consider.

Oooh, Doctor Who Lego.

If Taylor Swift Lyrics Were About King Henry VIII

I'm not even particularly into the new Cinderella movie, but the fashion and makeup lines are nifty.

British knight returns library book after 65 years, with $2,200 to cover fine

23 Awesome Mugs Only Book Nerds Will Appreciate

Restaurant Reviews From John Muir, Conservationist

Morning Coffee (11/21/14)

Quick departure to the non-happy but time-sensitive: Daniel Handler, Racist Jokes, and the Disclaimer. If you want to help make good come out of this, Handler is matching donations to We Need Diverse Books today.

Now for your regularly scheduled Happy Friday links:

"Unnecessary apostrophes hurt Tiny Tim." How to Make Your Last Name Plural This Christmas Season

Author Alexandra Duncan is doing a great holiday giveaway with a prize pack that includes her book Salvage (which I LOVED) AND a $50 donation to the charity of your choice. Enter here.

15 feminist-improved pages for the computer engineer Barbie book

Study shows the media has a clear bias — in favor of dogs

What to Read if You Love Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” Video

Classic Houses In Literature Go On the Imaginary Real Estate Market (I got all these answers right and am very proud.)

Hee: Famous Author Bios

Just What You Need: Cats Sleeping in IKEA Dolls Beds

Snuggly Bookish PJs for Winter Reading Time