Morning Coffee (7/31/17)

Today's my birthday, so after I post this I'm giving myself the rest of the day off. Afternoon links will return tomorrow!

Me elsewhere: Lots of TV news!

'Women will die': Trump leaves Ugandan women in jeopardy

Why Autocrats Fear LGBT Rights

Why Democrats are feeling optimistic about a local win in New Hampshire

Bleh: TSA Rolls Out New Electronics Rules for All U.S. Passengers

Heee: Napoleon’s Extracurricular Activities (A Comprehensive List)

Lovely and important: Magic Can Be Normal

This headline made my day: Robert Pattinson Says He Was Almost Fired From ‘Twilight’ for Not Smiling Enough

I'm excited to read The Force: ‘Information is Always Currency’: An Interview with Don Winslow

Unraveling the Mystery of the “Armenian Stonehenge”

Morning Coffee (7/30/17)

‘I’m a Civilian. I’m Innocent’: Who’s in Congo’s Mass Graves?

Luckily it didn't work, but this is still important to understand: I do not know how to convey how appalling the GOP’s health care process or policy is

"It will be the final, triumphal irony of this deeply awful, deeply stupid administration if Donald Trump’s attacks on Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III are what finally bring him down."

I don't know why I'm surprised at this stuff anymore, but... wow: Trump and Pence camps at odds over best choice for U.S. Senate: Messer or Rokita?

Preordering immediately: Hillary Clinton Calling New Book ‘What Happened’

I've already read two books from the Man Booker longlist, which is pretty good for me.

Huh: WWII pilots used North Carolina waters for target practice. Now their bombs are washing ashore.

Well is that all: Want to Be Happy? Buy More Takeout and Hire a Maid, Study Suggests

Heee: Your Guide to the Similar-Looking Men of Dunkirk

I don't even particularly like gin, but I love this headline: A Giant Cucumber-Slicing Vehicle Is Garnishing Cocktails Across America

Morning Coffee (7/29/17)

Freed From ISIS, Yazidi Women Return in ‘Severe Shock’

What McCain did was hard. What Murkowski and Collins did was much harder.

This is INSANE: Anthony Scaramucci Called Me to Unload About White House Leakers, Reince Priebus, and Steve Bannon

And: Reince Priebus Is Ousted Amid Stormy Days for White House

AND: Anthony Scaramucci’s wife files for divorce (PARTIALLY BECAUSE SHE HATES TRUMP, this is amazing)

Inside Trump’s snap decision to ban transgender troops

Military to Trump: we won’t ban transgender service members just because you tweeted about it

!!! Legendary book critic Michiko Kakutani is leaving the New York Times

Fate of Ancient Canaanites Seen in DNA Analysis: They Survived

Found: A Particle That’s Its Own Anti-Particle

Friday Chat: Ridiculous party themes

I had a 1920s British country house murder mystery party for my birthday last weekend, and while my mom and I were poking around for ideas, we found some CRAZY but seemingly earnest lists of party themes. (Anna Karenina, anyone?) I started brainstorming joke party themes for some of my favorite shows and books but got stuck on these two really good ones and didn't end up making a post out of it. What are YOUR ideas?

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Party - Give each guest a cup of tea and a section of newspaper and have them read silently while occasionally making meaningful eye contact. Later, make everyone file into your dining room decorated as a conference room, where they will say as little as possibly as cryptically as possible.

Grantchester Party - Dance with your crush to one really upbeat, fun song, then go home and lock yourself in your room listening to jazz and drinking whisky.

What else??

Morning Coffee (7/28/17)

I usually avoid political stuff in the Friday happy posts, but OH MY GOD WE WOKE UP TO GOOD POLITICAL NEWS AND I DON'T KNOW HOW TO HANDLE IT. The night John McCain killed the GOP’s health-care fight

Speaking of things I don't know how to handle: THE TOAST CAME BACK FOR ONE DAY. That's a link to one post but there's a whole day of content, go read it.

This was GOING to be the one good news story of the week, but it's still pretty great: Woolly jumpers: rabbits ride on sheep to stay dry in flood

These people are speaking my language: The Best Part of 'Dunkirk' Is the Sweaters

Aw, we've got a new picture of Prince George for his fourth birthday.

!!! Game of Thrones' Hot Pie Opened A New Bakery Called 'You Know Nothing Jon Dough'

I love looking at luggage and the Fug Girls have a nice roundup.

Related: The golden age of luggage labels – in pictures

The Most Enticing-Looking Desserts From Starbucks Locations Around The World Let's go!

Ooh: Over 60,000 Plants Bloom Inside the World’s Largest Orchid Garden

Whoa, look at this glow-in-the-dark library.

Afternoon Tea (7/27/17)

This look at a true crime convention is fascinating: DNA or It Didn’t Happen

Back from the Front: Tracking down WW1 grave markers

The 19th-Century Lithuanians Who Smuggled Books to Save Their Language

The Lady Anatomist Who Brought Dead Bodies to Light

The Fiercely Precise World of Competitive Table-Setting

Morning Coffee (7/27/17)

Slaves of Isis: the long walk of the Yazidi women

They kept us as slaves: AP reveals claims against church

I am SO ANGRY about this: Trump Says Transgender People Will Not Be Allowed in the Military

The Senate Health-Care Vote and John McCain’s Tragic Contradictions

Sen. Susan Collins Said Some Real Good Shit on a Hot Mic

SIGH: Having a woman on your team ruins your chances for VC funding

Australian Football Becomes an Unlikely Force in the Gay Rights Movement

This happened at my friend's library! Librarian Finds Live Civil-War Artillery Shells on Her First Day

Found: The ‘Cell’ of a 6th-Century Monk in Scotland (They're burying the lede here: They think it's St. Columba's!!)

An Experiment in Zurich Brings Us Nearer to a Black Hole’s Mysteries

Afternoon Tea (7/26/17)

Does It Really Matter How You See Dunkirk?

England’s Centuries-Old Fascination With Carving Giant Horses Into Hillsides

The Commodification of Orthodox Judaism

Goodnight, Too-Large-to-Be-Astronomically-Accurate Moon

This Japanese Scroll Was Re-Printed a Million Times—700 Years Before Gutenberg

Morning Coffee (7/26/17)

This is a big deal: 111 N.F.L. Brains. All But One Had C.T.E.

Senate Democrats can’t stop a health care vote. Here’s what they’ll do instead.

Wow: In 47 states, a smaller part of the population now approves of Trump than voted for him

Whatever You Do, Do Not Take Your Eye Off Trump’s War on Science

Anti-Semitism among so-called progressives is something that deserves more attention.

Oh cool: World's first floating wind farm emerges off coast of Scotland

How to make $100,000 a month in China, live-streaming your life

Tech giant SAP is probing its South Africa office for kickbacks paid to president Zuma’s cronies

Churchill tried to suppress Nazi plot to restore Edward VIII to British throne

Ooh: Why champagne sorbet might be illegal

Afternoon Tea (7/25/17)

This is HILARIOUS: I watched in bewilderment while a man tried to return butternut squash because he thought it was cheese

Crime and the City: A Sleepy Little Murdertown Called Reykjavik

Which Country Reads the Most? A Guide to Global Reading Habits

This series is always great: JD and Kate Visit the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum

How Hoop Skirts Led to Tape Measures