It’s Minnesota’s sesquicentennial on May 11 and Minnesota Monthly has an amusing article called “How Minnesota Saved Civilization.” I knew Post-Its were invented here, but I didn’t know about the electric toaster and kitty litter! Yay, us. 😉

Amusing bit see on a Biffs truck (but not captured on film): “13,000 lbs of very gross weight.” Truth in advertising, indeed. 🙂

Thanks to CursingMama for introducing me to the Caffeine Click Test. I achieved both “jittery” (151 clicks) and “spastic” (156 clicks).

Reading Update
Nightlife, Moonshine, and Madhouse (Cal Leandros, Books 1-3) by Rob Thurman. For the first half of book one, I wasn’t sure I was going to keep reading, as Cal is, quite frankly, a huge and annoying PITA. But I slowly got sucked into this gritty urban fantasy series and read all three books in about as many days.
Eternal Lover. This was a collection of four novellas. I read the stories by Jackier Kessler, Richelle Mead (a tale about Georgina Kincaid, succubus), and Lynsay Sands (sadly, not part of her Argeneau Vampires series). This whole collection is completely skippable.
For a Few Demons More by Kim Harrison. Another solid urban fantasy (about witch Rachel Morgan) that had me sniffling a bit near the end. The next/latest book (The Outlaw Demon Wails) is already on its way to me from the library.
Mortal Groove: A Jane Lawless Mystery by Ellen Hart. The Jane Lawless mysteries are set in the Twin Cities and feature restaurateur Jane and her theatrical friend Cordelia. This is a well-written series that will be especially enjoyable if you’re familiar with the Twin Cities. In this book, Jane’s lawyer father is running for governor.
Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs. The author of The Friday Night Knitting Club returns, this time with a novel about cooking show host Augusta “Gus” Simpson, her family, and friends. Although you can read the first chapter online, I don’t think the first chapter does the rest of the book justice – which was exactly what I thought about The Friday Night Knitting Club, too. (I have a slightly longer review over at LibraryThing.)

Weekend Update
I’m heading up north to my brother and SIL’s cabin later this morning. Rumor has it that the lakes “up nord” may still have ice or there may still be snow on the ground. I’m sure you know how much I hope those rumors are unfounded! Have a good weekend! And shhhhh… don’t tell the kitties…

“I heard that. How could you leave us?! Look at how cute I am!” -Mayhem

P.S. As I continue to experiment with various settings on my new camera, I often end up with adorable pictures that aren’t the greatest quality, like the one above…

Thanks to kmkat for linking to this very thought-provoking article about the “cognitive surplus” being masked by watching tv, and about the shift from simply consuming media (such as tv) to “consuming, producing and sharing” media (such as blogging, Ravelry, lolcats, myspace, etc).

Thanks to Chappysmom for linking to an intriguing article about how shoes destroy the “evolutionary perfection” of the human foot.

Reading Update
Aunt Dimity: Vampire Hunter by Nancy Atherton. Hey, it could happen – after all, Aunt Dimity is a ghost who communicates through a journal, so why couldn’t there be vampires in this cozy little mystery series?
Dead To Me by Anton Strout. In this new paranormal mystery series featuring psychometrist Simon Canderous, New York City’s Department of Extraordinary Affairs (DEA) keeps busy solving supernatural crimes. I doubt I’ll read the next book in the series – it just didn’t sufficiently engage me.
The Lost Ones (The Veil, Book 3) by Christopher Golden. This was the final book in this series. While I did enjoy it, I got a little cranky about who ended up maimed and/or dead…
House of Cards (The Negotiator, Book 2) by C. E. Murphy. I thought Heart of Stone (The Negotiator, Book 1) was a very good read, but its sequel, House of Cards, was even better. In it, Margrit (“Grit”) becomes increasingly involved in the world of the Old Races and I became increasingly unable to put down this book! I’m already sad that this is only going to be a trilogy.
Stranger in Paradise by Robert B. Parker. I enjoyed the latest Jesse Stone (police chief, Paradise, Massachusetts) mystery – typical clipped Parker fare. Probably only Tink has conversations like the people in Parker’s books!
A Lick of Frost (Meredith Gentry, Book 6) by Laurell K. Hamilton. Well, I think this book managed to cover about 10 hours, which is more time than the last few have managed…
Bloodfever (Fever Series, Book 2) by Karen Marie Moning. Possibly even more compulsively readable than Darkfever. I couldn’t put this down, either. Really good books are so bad for sleep…

Predictable much? 😉
Last week, I happened to notice a certain similarity between some things I recently purchased (left, right) and a bag I’ve had for a while but haven’t used yet (center)…

Spring Update
We did have snow on Saturday. I think Deb had more snow in Chanhassen than we did in Minneapolis. But still, it was a bit disheartening on April 26.

By yesterday, it was sunny and 60F again. I’m ignoring the rain predicted for today, as well as the rain and possible snow predicted for tomorrow night. I guess I’ll just have to look out my north window instead, where a single boxelder tree lives in a mini-greenhouse effect and actually has leaves…

“Y’know, Mom, the leaves aren’t really that interesting. We need more birds!” -Mayhem