- ‘Writing a Freer World’: An Appreciation of Tove Jansson at 92NY – My sister sent me that, surprised to learn that Tova Jansson was a woman! Yes, indeed. Relatedly, my friend Sohan is in Helsinki and texted me yesterday from the Jansson exhibition at the Helsinki Art Museum. It’s nice when your friends and family know your hobbies well enough to share things with you. 🩷
- The Greatest Two-Hit Wonders – I disagree with a lot of these on the basis that they are “album bands” rather than singles bands. I mean, the Cure? Crowded House? Jimmy Buffett? No way. (Blues Traveler = 100% though.)
- My Dinners With Harold: How a shy Ph.D. in English literature revolutionized the science of cooking and became revered in the most famous kitchens in the world – Lovely little profile. I really should get Harold McGee’s On Food and Cooking for the Snook sometime.
- Hot ball in aloe gel – I laughed so hard at that Mastodon post that I cried. Juvenile, I know, but so funny. 😭
Category: Random Links
Links that I’m reading/watching/listening to/thinking about
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Links that interested me today
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Random links I have enjoyed lately
- The Secret History of the Manicule, the Little Hand that’s Everywhere – 👈 Fun!
- Why do plastic containers always come out wet from the dishwasher? Science has the answer – Is this actually surprising news to anyone?
- How to make the Smitten Kitchen Purple Plum Torte in March, 2025 – More than just a recipe. Nice writing; subscribing to this blog.
- Please stop externalizing your costs directly into my face – “Block AI scrapers” has been on my Blog To Do list for some time, but I know it’s a fruitless, Sisyphean task. I imagine once I know the scope of how badly they’re hitting me, I’ll be as angry as Drew here.
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Early mark
Q&A: Where did the “early mark” come from? HUH! I never knew that. I definitely say it, so I must have picked it up from Rodd or other people in NSW.
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Links that amused me today
- Bluesky CEO: imagine a ‘world without Caesars’ – LOLLLLL. I kept seeing photos of that woman on my social feeds but couldn’t figure out why. I knew her shirt looked familiar. That’s bloody genius.
- Ask Michael Stipe – Somehow I missed this when it was posted many years ago. I like that he consistently rejects people’s attempts to make his work deeper than he intended it to be, but still allows everyone’s interpretations to stand as valid. Incidentally, I’m still annoyed that there were two R.E.M. questions in Pop Culture Jeopardy, and none of the teams got them correct. They were not an obscure band, people!
- The Capybara Cafe – TIL there’s a cafe in Florida where you can interact with capybaras. And also, you have to cover up your knees because they think they are potatoes. 🥔
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Random Links
- A Guest Blog from Judy Morris on a Four-Year Quilting Project – I recently resubscribed to Martha’s blog, and I’m loving it. This quilt is stunning, and I can’t believe the epic amount of work that went into it.
- A game called “It is as if you were on your phone” – Ha! I love random stuff like this. Rodd had a couple issues playing it on his Pixel phone, but it worked fine on iOS. (Link courtesy of Kottke.)
- And this video, that made us laugh and laugh this morning. Never let it be said that Germans don’t have a sense of humour! 😂🇩🇪
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Random links
Links the Snook and I have sent each other lately:
- The secret history behind that infamous “Jesus Is My Friend” song – ZAP!
- Buried for Nearly 2,000 Years, a Monumental Dionysian Fresco Sees the Light of Day in Pompeii
- Oscars 2025: Why are we so mesmerised by Succession, The Apprentice star Jeremy Strong’s red carpet outfits?
- Rick Steves – Update on my Medical Travels: I’m Cancer Free!
- The Average Adult Has Enough Rom-Com Knowledge To Recognize 8 Of These Dishes, But How Many On-Screen Dishes Do You Know? – I only missed two! 💅 I haven’t seen all the movies, but I knew who was in them and was able to make educated guesses.
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Aziraphale
Michael Sheen writes off £1m of debt for 900 people. Maybe he really is an angel? 👼
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The Stubborn Persistence of Snake Handling Churches
TIL that there are still churches – primarily in Appalachia – where they handle venomous snakes and drink strychnine to show their faith. 😳 I’d like to act shocked, but given that part of my family comes from Kentucky, I’ll just note that it explains a lot.
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Non-Cooperation Brick
A knitting pattern for when you really feel the urge to throw something against the wall, like when the supposed leader of the free world sides with dictators and fascists and insults a brave man fighting for his people’s freedom. 🤬 Oh, and it’s free. Bonus.
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Board roles
I recently changed my LinkedIn profile to say that I’m Open to Board Roles, and a few recruiters picked up on that #opentowork photo frame immediately. No, I’m not looking to go back to work! Still very happily retired. 😄 I am specifically only interested in board roles, and there’s no way to flag that without also putting up that photo frame.
Being on a board is something I’ve been thinking about for several years, after a mentor raised it as a potential career path for me. There’s a real lack of tech industry experience and tech skills on my boards, and women are also woefully underrepresented. I have considered doing the AICD course, but yowza! it’s expensive to do just in the hopes of getting a paid board role someday. I had coffee with a friend recently who’s on several boards, and she advised that the course isn’t needed right away if I start by aiming for non-profit, volunteer roles. And right now, my focus is very much on doing whatever I can to make the world a better place.
If you have no idea what being on a board actually entails – because I certainly didn’t! – Anil Dash has a great article about it.