Welcome to another edition of the Misadventures in Stock Photography! Today we’ll be catching up with Haughty Blond Guy. Onward!

During the

, after

, when even

hadn’t helped (so much for

s, huh?) unless you were

,

the

were arguing over whether

or not, ignoring the

through which

was

and

.

Well then. No need to worry anymore that they’ve been making too much sense lately!

---

*sigh* – Mayhem

Bookity

• New releases: Fiction Vixen (UF/romance) and Tor.com (UF, PNR)

• Writerly linkity from Becky Black.

• Eden Winters on keeping your characters in character.

• How to use Scrivener to organize your writing.

• “A guide to fanfiction for people who can’t stop getting it wrong“. (via agentpantybunches)

• JK Rowling wrote a new Harry Potter short story.

• If you love to read, you’ll appreciate these illustrations.

• 10 books that have stayed with me in some way.

Think, Learn, Do, Make

• Monuments to cats.

• 10 companies own most of the food brands.

• How much real dinosaur is in a plastic dinosaur?

• How many snowflakes would it take to cover the world in six feet of snow?

• NASCAR physics explained by Neal deGrasse Tyson.

• The baseball All-Star Game at Target Field in Minneapolis will feature self-serve beer machines.

• Go inside the Twinkie factory.

• 20 tidbits about chocolate.

Cookity

• Zucchini marinara.

• Baked summer squash.

• 12 ways to cook zucchini and summer squash.

• Grilled cherry tomato skewers. (via The Kitchn)

• Green beans and butternut squash salad.

• Grilled cauliflower burgers. (via The Kitchn)

• Parmesan polenta fries with Bloody Mary dip. (via The Kitchn)

• Summer corn cakes and grilled bread with spinach pesto.

• Herbed chicken burgers with spicy aioli.

• Spicy Korean grilled chicken.

• 11 sweet and savory pies.

• Sriracha maple bacon.

• Easy strawberry shortcakes.

• Strawberry lime basil shortcakes. (via The Kitchn)

• Two-ingredient healthy oatmeal breakfast cookies.

Gluten Free

• Coconut egg cream.

• Chocolate doughnut holes.

Drinkity

• Mai Tai.

• Frozen gin and tonic.

• 15 fruity, boozy spritzers. (via maderr)

Crafty

• Knit a cute kitty. (via bronwyngreen)

• Knitting linkity from kmkat.

Cool

• Great photo of Minneapolis. And another of Minnehaha Falls.

• Play a demo of Catlateral Damage to experience the life of a cat. (via The Mary Sue)

• Great quote about magic and technology – and not the one you’re thinking of.

• Thunderstorm cloud lamp or ceiling light. (via pipervaughn)

• Princess Bride scenes in LEGO. (via bronwyngreen)

• The Academy Award-winning animated film The Triplets of Belleville is about “a badass little granny (with a limp and hint of mustache) as she tracks down her cyclist grandson who’s been kidnapped by the French mafia“.

• Embroidered Calvin & Hobbes.

• Wee geeky knits.

• Tour Adam Savage’s Cave via Google Street View. (Or you can tour the world’s largest cruise ship.)

Cool or Wha…?

• Vintage typewriter-style tablet keyboard.

• Microwave that will be able to count the calories of what you’re heating.

• Hostess announces the return of the Chocodile. (I’d never heard of it before.)

• 10 baking-related items. (via tracykitn)

• VW Camper Vanesque trailer.

Wha…?

• There’s no Wha…? this week?!?!

LOL

• Where should you live in Canada? (via Paperback Writer) (I got Prince Edward Island, “one of Canada’s three Maritime provinces and the smallest province in the nation, is best known as the idyllic setting of Anne of Green Gables. It’s a truly beautiful and quaint place, especially if you love beaches, wide open spaces, and abundant world class seafood.”

• Sesame Street’s True Blood parody.

• When a sandcastle cake goes awry. Possibly NSFWish?

• How to survive a trip to IKEA.

• Word.

• So true.

• Poor exhausted kitty.

• Bugs or ghosts.

• Such drama!

• Bad doggy!

Teh Cute

• Baby quoll! Cat and kittens! Baby snow leopard! Lynx and babies! Black kitten! Snowy owl and babies! Baby fennecs! Baby otters! Baby chinchilla!

Reading Update

• Look! Over there! In the sky!

---

“…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…” -Mayhem

*baleful glaring for no particular purpose* – Chaos

---

---

Congrats to Shirley Ann, who won No Angel by Clare London!

---

---

Welcome to another edition of the Misadventures in Stock Photography! Today we’ll be catching up with Posture-Improving Tank Top Guy (PITTG).

After being

, the

‘s

knew

wouldn’t be going

, but doing it with

.

…that made sense. Darn it!

---

“No, no, don’t mind – I’ll just huddle pathetically on this lumpy thing until you have those naughty boys out of your system, Mom.” -Mayhem

---

---

Congrats to Samantha, who won All Kinds of Tied Down by Mary Calmes! All Kinds of Tied Down will be released by Dreamspinner Press on July 4.

Congrats to Sandra O, who won Diversion (2nd ed) by Eden Winters! Diversion will be released July 4 by Rocky Ridge Books.

---

---

Randonymity

• Since Friday’s a holiday here, it was brief linkity today or no linkity… Oh good, glad you see it my way now.

• We had a bit of rain on Sunday – this was 12 blocks south of me. With 11.36 in/28.9 cm of rain in June, we were only less than 0.31 in/0.8 cm from breaking the record for wettest June, set in 1874.

• Jeanne and I saw the world’s largest plane fly over my neighborhood Wednesday evening.

Contest(s)

• Becky Black’s giving away a paperback copy of the Not Quite Shakespeare m/m romance anthology. Closes 9 am UK time, July 5.
• Becky black is also giving away an ebook copy of her forthcoming m/m scifi romance, Dream for Me. Closes 9 am UK time, July 8.

Bookity

• New releases: Fiction Vixen (UF/romance), Tor.com (genre-benders, scifi, fantasy), and AAR (romance)

• Dear Author doesn’t seem to be doing their news posts anymore, alas.

• VacuousMinx on the Facebook research scandal.

• Becky Black on understanding publishing is based on risk.

• Charlie Cochet with part four of building your author website.

• “Burned out on blogging?“

• Get some absolution from a librarian.

• Book-inspired benches.

• Inflatable book life jacket.

• Writer’s mood ring colors.

Think, Learn, Do, Make

• “What would happen if all the bodies of water on Earth disappeared?“

• How the immune system works. (via The Mary Sue)

• GM has recalled more vehicles this year than it sold the past seven years.

• 15 unusual July holidays.

Cookity

• Brownie ice cream sandwiches. (via The Kitchn)

• One-bowl chocolate cake.

• Dark chocolate ice cubes.

• Blueberry waffle cookies. (via The Kitchn)

• 12 ways to eat corn.

• 12 easy smoothies.

Gluten Free

• Chicken KFC-style.

• Soft hamburger buns.

• Sweet potato and pecan doughnuts with praline icing.

• Lemon poppyseed bread.

Cool

• In Canada, as written and performed by Colonel Chris Hadfield and his brother Dave. (via demotu)

• This is a true thing!

• Queen Elizabeth II on the Iron Throne.

• TCPride would’ve been too much walking for me this year, but here are a couple cool bridge pictures celebrating Pride.

• Linkity and knitting linkity from kmkat.

Cool or Wha…?

• The Ministry of Silly Walks is now a video game.

Wha…?

• You can buy Swett, South Dakota, for $400,000.

• Coffee and wine. Combined. In a can.

LOL

• Daniel Radcliffe, what are you doing?!

• Some physicist humor from Neil deGrasse Tyson.

• Sam Gagner’s Tampa Bay Lightning career was only a few hours, but there’s a tribute video!

• June’s best autocorrects.

• Ugly wedding cakes.

• I can picture Chaos doing this.

Teh Cute

• Baby tigers! Baby red pandas! Muskox and baby! Cheetah and baby! Otter and baby! Tiger and babies!

Reading Update

• *waves*

---

We were all very cozy during the crazy Sunday rain…

“I’m outta here if there’s another flash of lightning!” -Mayhem

“Mom will keep us safe, May!” -Chaos

Welcome to another edition of the Misadventures in Stock Photography! Today we’ll be catching up with Torso Guy… again.

The

knew to

, but because of their amazing

and how they kept everything

, neither of them had been prepared to be

while they were hanging out in the

with

, admiring

, basking in his amazing

, and discussing why

when you’re

, until they were unceremoniously interrupted by

, who stopped to offer them some

via the

company.

I recommend taking a moment until you’re less dizzy from reading that before you go on with the rest of your day.

---

*lashing tail* -Mayhem