friday link love

Hi, friends, it’s Friday again, which means Friday links post. Without further ado, I’d like to make an announcement: We have a 98% finished kitchen with a working (knock on wood!) stove! The inside of the oven is a beautiful indigo, and while looks aren’t important, it is rather pretty when I open that oven door. So far, it’s been roasting like a champ, and while I have yet to get an oven thermometer to see if it runs hot or cold, I’m pretty pleased. The one funny feature of the stove is that it plays a MIDI song when it hits a desired temperature. Yes, MIDI. I haven’t heard MIDI since the late 80s when they were super popular in greeting cards and, also, mugs! But LG is a Korean brand, and from what I’m told MIDI there is hotter than ever. Come to think of it our rice maker also sings a song too, but it’s made in Japan. So maybe, it’s just not the US countries? I find it pretty amusing – it’s as if my oven is happy!

I have but a few short weeks to whip the Marc Murphy manuscript into shape. For me, these few weeks are always the hardest. Not because I wait til last minute – I’m a good planner with documents, spreadsheets, what have you – but because something always happens in these last weeks when separate chapters, seemingly existing on their own, come together to form a comprehensive work. When a somewhat shaped lump of clay emerges as its own thing, a voice – that is always somewhat anxiety-inducing. But as with all seemingly insurmountable work, it’s just one foot in front of the other, or in this case one word at a time.

This weekend I’m going to hang out with my Van Leeuwen team and we’re going to play around with custards and ice creams. We’ve got two intense days planned and hope to get a lot done. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend ahead. Don’t forget, we lose an hour on Sunday – so set your clocks one hour ahead Saturday night! While I’m sad to lose an hour, if it means that Spring gets here sooner, I’m all for it. Right?

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In 1853, NYT published an article about the kidnapping of Solomon Northrup upon whom “12 Years a Slave” was based.

America doesn’t read much, says map.

Famous novels first sentences – mapped. I used to love doing this in school. Does that officially make me a nerd?

An emoji video for Drunk In Love. Brilliant.

The scary new evidence on BPA-free plastic.

Is Crimea the greatest challenge to geopolitics since the Cold War?

Looks like adults should get 5% (no more) of their daily calories from sugar.

Oscar Mayer’s bacon alarm, anyone?

The messy relationship about how we feel and what we eat.