• New releases: Smart Bitches (romance), Book Riot (best out this week, nonfiction, comics/graphic novels, horror, SFF, romance, queer, mystery/thriller/true crime, YA), Gizmodo (SFF/horror)
• Linkity from Smart Bitches.
• Some lovely LotR fanart,
• Apparently Jell-O “drove Bromangelon off the market”.
• Very nice Tudor – the library is amazing.
• It has a lot of issues, but it also has a very cool library.
• Cute little place that needs some work but has a lot of potential.
• Has its own mini Stonehenge, go-kart track, and more.
• A fun one!
• Hobbit esque.
• Cute little Swiss chalet style house.
• Castle esque exterior, but castles shouldn’t have wall-to-wall carpeting.
• Not quite a time capsule MCM, as the carpet is looks newish.
• Time capsule MCM, complete with sculpted carpeting and a bathroom with lime green fixtures.
• Small ranch house with delusions of grandeur.
• It looks like a mall.
• Has two casinos.
• How DO you clean the porous cement and wood in that bathroom?
• A ladder by any other name…
• Yikes!
• Dizzying.
• Very curious what it looks like from the top – is it as lethal for wheelchairs as it looks?
• Stunningly bad stair placement.

Polly and Harry turn four years old on Monday!

Where has the time gone?!?!

• New releases: Smart Bitches (romance), Book Riot (best out this week, queer, SFF audiobooks)
• Linkity from Smart Bitches.
• Tiny interactive fiction game, “you have created a monster”.
• “Brain study suggests we perceive time through activities, not by minutes or hours“.
• You’ve never seen evolution explained like this before.
• Baby red panda.
• Chocolate chip cookie dough frosting recipe.
• Frozen hot chocolate recipe.
• Recipes for 27 ice cream desserts.
• Very nice MCM in St Paul, MN.
• Colorful.
• Nice house with an indoor water feature.
• More Barbie than actual Barbie houses.
• Very castle esque interior.
• Has a Japanese tea room.
• Lots of potential for the price.
• Extraordinarily over the top.
• Utterly over the top.
• Weirdly designed and apparently the owners must be early risers.
• Bulletproof house. No windows, of course.
• This will not be a visually restful experience.
• “No, you don’t need no damned landscaping.”
• Why would you take good stairs and cut them down into bad stairs?
• Nope.
• Exceptionally strange stairs.
• Wha…?
• Ouch.
• Really, I could just put “ouch” over and over.

Teeny, tiny, Mayhem blep!

Bonded siblings Polly and Harry are judging.

• New releases: Smart Bitches (romance), Book Riot (best out this week, nonfiction audiobooks, LGBTQ)
• Linkity from Smart Bitches.
• “How much time do Americans spend reading per day?” (Gosh, it’s a good thing I’m helping bring up the average…)
• A ficlet in text messages.
• Amazing tapestries.
• What a great building for a kindergarten!
• The US has a national mustard museum.
• Oh hey, we had a Coppertone refrigerator when I was growing up (plus sink and stove) (the color, not the sunscreen).
• Nicely done brewery conversion.
• Well done factory conversion.
• A rather lovely converted mill in Ireland.
• The Sand Dollar House is pretty cool.
• Cute, but not a treehouse.
• Time capsule MCM.
• Interesting house with several strange aspects.
• If you’ve always wanted to live in a parking garage…
• Sort of converted coastal battery bunker.
• Strange game-themed house.
• Has its own grubby auditorium.
• Hmm.
• Yikes.
• Ugh.

Harry sharpening his claws on the rug, which has handled SO much worse.

Polly cannot believe!

• New releases: Smart Bitches (romance, queer romance), Reactor (YA SFF, SF, fantasy), Book Riot (best out this week, romance audiobooks, LGBTQ, comics/graphic novels, nonfiction), Gizmodo (SFF/horror)
• “9 of the best menopause books“.
• Linkity from Smart Bitches.
• Linkity from BookWyrm Knits.
• Lovely little ficlet.
• Another ficlet.
• Somewhat dark ficlet.
• Fun anecdote.
• Best dress rehearsal audience.
• Particle sheep.
• Avocado flashback!
• Love this NOLA MCM!
• Cute California cabin.
• Castle esque house that does better than most, but needs some brightening and updating.
• Has a tiki bar on the roof.
• Very white.
• Very over-the-top.
• Brace yourselves for an onslaught.
• You don’t get much for the price in Brooklyn.
• I really hate the master bedroom and bath setup.
• Oh. My.
• WTF.
• Huh.
• They tried to help with the placement of the no-slip strips.
• I would fall down these an infinite number of times.
• Hmm.
• Eeeeek.

Harry grooming Polly’s head…

…which was apparently delicious.

Polly returning the favor and grooming Harry’s head.

• New releases: Smart Bitches (romance), Book Riot (comics/graphic novels, nonfiction, YA audiobooks, SFF, LGBTQ, horror, best out this week, mystery/thrillers, mystery/thriller audiobooks, romance), Gizmodo (SFF/horror)
• Linkity from Smart Bitches.
• Comic/ficlet.
• “The 25 most misunderstood movies ever made” (it will surprise no one that the list contains multiple Kubrick films).
• Oreo’s latest limited edition flavor is mint chip.
• Neighborhood cat tours.
• This rubella vaccination ad from the 60s is pretty sobering.
• Moose fight! The first option is shorter and has a lot of cussing added. The second option is much more peaceful and reflects reality.
• Fun MCM.
• Funky!
• MCM that’s possibly quite nice but the owner just has so much stuff…
• Must like murals or be ready to paint.
• Very unusual.
• Partially converted windmill.
• I’ve never seen bathrooms with tiled ceilings.
• Why???
• I guess you climb the shelves on tiptoe?
• Secret but deadly cedar chest?
• Down is definitely worse.
• Nope.
• The first time you have to pee in the middle of the night, you’re dead.

Polly cannot believe!

Very Focused Harry.

• New releases: Smart Bitches (romance), Book Riot (best out this week, BIPOC, LGBTQ)
• Linkity from Smart Bitches.
• Reading be like that sometimes (the best times!).
• Ficlet.
• Have you heard of Scarecrow Video?
• There are Indiana Jones LEGO sets.
• Journey through the Pillars of Creation with NASA.
• “Bad map projections: Exterior Kansas”. (Hover cursor/long-press for caption.)
• “Flat Earthers are getting their own reality TV show“.
• Colorfully remodeled MCM.
• Pretty nice Art Deco house.
• Another lovely Art Deco house.
• Cute little cabin.
• That spiral staircase is what all towers should have.
• Has a professional observatory.
• Has a lot of marble and gold.
• Has “a swashbuckling pool room with swinging pirates”.
• Very over-the-top nautically themed mansion. (But is it more over-the-top than the previous link?)
• Unusual property that needs a lot of work.
• The current owners obviously got a deal on that green paint.
• Showering as conversation starter?
• Weird, confusing industrial loft – how are you supposed to get into the bathtub?
• A McCastle that has a tiny moat and drawbridge and not much else castle-esque.
• Yowza.
• It only takes one step to be a hazard.
• Sigh.
• Definitely don’t trust the handrails.

Polly yearning.

Harry, probably also yearning.

Mayhem is Very Disappointed in all of us, I’m afraid.

• New releases: Smart Bitches (romance), Book Riot (best out this week, queer BIPOC, LGBTQ)
• Linkity from Smart Bitches.
• Ficlet.
• Amazing before and after library project.
• Utah, no!
• Closeness lines over time.
• Garter stitch bias top.
• Three weeks seems a little young…
• Jellied consomme.
• AI yarn estimating… (NSFW)
• I have a coworker I thought might have done this, but he denies responsibility. (Although he does get asked about it a lot, apparently.)
• “Minneapolis has the second oldest public rose garden in the US”.
• You could own a lighthouse on Lake Superior.
• Lovely factory conversion, although there has to be a better place for the washer and dryer.
• Nice MCM – the “creepy twist” isn’t very creepy.
• Kind of cool contemporary.
• Must love pink.
• “Brutalist fortress” with what looks like a lab – perfect for aspiring supervillains.
• Another time capsule MCM that desperately needs some updating.
• Converted jail with lots of statuary.
• Ridiculously fancy Minneapolis townhouse.
• Perfect if you’d like to start a compound in Lake Placid.
• Has a kitchen in the garage, as one does.
• “Bitcoin mining house for sale”.
• Weird and ultramodern.
• Converted forts, located very inconveniently.
• Why is there art hanging above the stove like that?? Absolutely a fire hazard – not to mention subject to splatters and splashes.
• What.
• They couldn’t just get a smaller vanity?
• What do they have against handrails?
• They barely tried.
• WTF.
• I do like the concept…

Harry, trying to catch the end of a packing strap and managing to look terrifying whilst doing so.

Polly trying to catch the packing strap as Harry looks on. (She, of course, looks adorable.)

• New releases: Smart Bitches (romance, last week’s romance releases, queer romance), Book Riot (best out this week, best out last week, LGBTQ+, nonfiction, horror), Gizmodo (SFF, horror), Reactor (fantasy, scifi, genre benders/horror, YA SFF)
• Linkity from Smart Bitches. More linkity from Smart Bitches.
• Linkity from BookWyrm Knits.
• Neil Gaiman’s library from a number of years ago.
• Peek into 15 Minneapolis bookstores.
• Andy Weir wrote an additional chapter for The Martian to celebrate its 10th publishing anniversary.
• Ficlet.
• Binding an infamous fanfic.
• CREEPY.
• Radium lingerie…
• Samsung is making limited edition sneakers.
• Spicy dill pickle Goldfish crackers exist, temporarily.
• “How to speak with a real person at Amazon customer service“.
• “How the recycling symbol became meaningless“.
• “The terror of toxic shock once ruled headlines“.
• 55 summer salad recipes.
• A dragon and sheep (this is a different one, Nicole!).
• Very nice MCM.
• Another nice MCM.
• And another nice MCM, but with some issues.
• A dome home I actually like.
• I have never seen a house in this style before.
• Ok MCM A-frame.
• Very castle on the outside, very not inside.
• One in St Paul, MN, where someone got carried away with the faux finishes.
• Check out the difference between the owner’s original photos and those taken by a professional photographer.
• Before and after photos – they definitely removed the character and charm.
• Brutalist.
• I’m still stuck on the fu dogs guarding an English Tudor.
• Suburban ranch house made out of logs.
• One tower does not a castle house make.
• “Fixer-upper castle”esque home.
• If you want to feel as if you’re living on a cruise ship…
• That is NOT carpet that goes with everything.
• The kitchen is completely WTF.
• So weird – was this really intentional? Or did they just run out of money?
• Very Erector set.
• Strange feature in the living room.
• Too much cabinet art and fringe.
• Why would someone do this?
• Huh.
• Indeed, very man cave.
• WTF hinges.
• WTF bathroom.
• Not dangerous, just mysterious.
• Yikes.
• No.
• Stairs should not be over food-related areas.
• So many ways to die on these stairs.
• OMG is right.
• Disconcerting at best.

Polly, extraordinarily relaxed.

Harry sniffing the air coming through the window.

Polly and Harry creeping on the neighbors again.

• New releases: Smart Bitches (romance), Book Riot (best out this week, LGBTQA)
• Linkity from Smart Bitches.
• “How to undo YouTube’s terrible new layout“.
• What a weird ad.
• On the official portrait of Charles III – really quite a fascinating take.
• Participate in a study about covid by Johns Hopkins University.
• Wow, the technology to make this feasible does not yet exist.
• Notebook pages reinterpreted.
• Pretty nice castle house.
• Fun MCM.
• Lovely MCM, although I’m not a fan of open showers like that.
• Nice, except for all of the green cabinets – the color doesn’t fit at all.
• If you have a lot of money but no household goods, this could be your dream home.
• Sort of time capsule MCM that desperately needs refreshing.
• A house shaped like a boat.
• An earth shelter house.
• Why would they make the master bath like that??
• Sort of strange church conversion.
• You could live in a shipping container…
• Apply to live in “the world’s largest doomsday bunker community”.
• Ow.
• Also ow.
• No bare feet or heels.
• A lot of stair builders seem to expect eternal vigilance.
• The pattern on these invisible stairs will make you dizzy so you’re even more likely to fall down them.
• Chairs as stairs.

Sleepy Polly, but she’s still keeping an eye on me.

Harry “helping” me take photos.

• New releases: Smart Bitches (romance), Book Riot (best out this week, LGBTQA)
• Linkity from Smart Bitches.
• Here’s hoping the Minnesota book ban banning bill goes through smoothly!
• Middle school time loop ficlet.
• Ack!
• “Makes motoring merrier”.
• Well then.
• Those prices…
• Lego will release a Lord of the Rings Barad-dûr set.
• There will be special Star Wars edition Oreos.
• Vietnamese shredded chicken and cabbage salad.
• Dare I admit that I kind of like it?
• Lovely townhouse.
• A bank conversion I like!
• Pretty nice MCM with weird basement.
• Time capsule MCM – the blue bathroom! 😮
• This place has the bluest room ever.
• The Octabarn has potential.
• Round house with cement gorillas guarding the front door.
• Firehouse conversion but you absolutely can’t tell it was once a firehouse.
• I wouldn’t want to be that close to the river, personally.
• Converted train cars with a Western theme.
• This one’s pirate themed.
• Converted union hall, made surreal with an excess of grey.
• So much terrible carpet.
• Jail converted into a B&B. Just nope.
• Unconverted nail salon being sold as a residence.
• It’s grubby and needs work, but I especially have questions about putting the washer and dryer in the living room without at least enclosing them.
• Tub in living room mystery.
• OMG.
• You didn’t even try.
• Hmm.
• What could possibly go wrong?!
• Imagine carrying in groceries – one wrong step and…
• D’oh.
• Invisible stairs.

Some recently gifted birthday socks, featuring yarn by TallPineYarns on etsy. They’re not perfectly matchy-matchy (things got a little weird around the heel), but they’re pretty close.

Polly grooming Harry.

Harry hanging out with a whole bunch of ‘nip toys.

Polly “helping” my take photos.