• New releases: Book Riot (best books out this week)
• Linkity from Smart Bitches.
• Linkity from BookWyrm Knits.
• Why Tolkien described evil places as having no trees growing there.
• Sort-of ficlet about a time travel cop working for a department of fish and wildlife.
• Another reason not to go to the movie theater.
• Learn about Dr Dennis H Klatt, who gave Stephen Hawking his artificial voice.
• The Washington State DNR is always delightful.
• As are the 2023 Minnesota snowplow names.
• Rivendell LEGO set.
• That time when vanilla extract became a tumblr meme and someone decided to bake a cursed cake.
• I didn’t realize anyone had ever tried selling propeller-powered cars.
• Flourless chocolate cake.
• Gorgeous townhouse in NYC.
• Nice Mid-Century Modern.
• The one she mentions in the post above.
• If you really, really like Italy.
• If you like glass block and zebra-patterned carpet.
• Over-the-top mansion.
• Fuchsia stairs??
• Triangle house.
• Huh.
• Umm.
• YIKES. Can’t be unseen.
• It’s the last photo that really shows the problem.
• No one will ever notice…
• What the heck?
• Well, at least it doesn’t deposit you on the stove or counter?
• You might want to wear your glasses whilst showering at this place, so you don’t make a misstep getting out of the shower.
• Maybe this one, too.
• Dangerous beds.

The Lady Miss Princess Mayhem!

Polly and Harry hanging out on the kitty hammock.

Harry and Mayhem napping on my lap.

• New releases: Smart Bitches (romance)
• Linkity from Smart Bitches.
• Some thoughts about hobbits.
• Mini ficlet about one of the downsides of having a human on your crew.
• Might haunt your nightmares.
• “Dystopian bill offers inmates a year off their sentences if they donate organs“.
• The history of the word “queer”.
• Cookie baked oatmeal.
• Rustic round house.
• Mid-Century Modern with a Japanese flair.
• The “Glass Pavilion”.
• Buy a miniature town.
• Black closet or white closet?
• Or stove closet?
• Does the spinning wheel convey?
• Huh (keep going through all the photos to the end).
• Ewww, the carpets.
• Has its own crematory.
• Has its own Parthenon.
• Curtains instead of walls in the bedrooms.
• Decommissioned radar tower.
• Snake chair.
• Most ridiculous bathroom faucet ever?
• Fall down the stairs, get burned on the cooktop.
• Fall down the stairs, get burned on the cooktop. (Twice in one week!)
• …Did someone steal half the stairs?
• Yikes.
• Don’t rush out of the elevator without looking or you’ll fall down the stairs.

Harry and Mayhem sleeping on my lap.

Polly creepily sleeping with her eyes open.

Harry talking to me.

• New releases: AAR (romance)
• Linkity from Smart Bitches.
• Where Smaug lands amongst the world’s wealthiest.
• Slightly morbid sort of ficlet.
• 2023 cat calendar from… the Army Corps of Engineers.
• Disney-themed cereals.
• Hot sauce from Mountain Dew.
• Optical illusion art.
• Highland cow or sheep footstools.
• Looks exactly as a shepherd’s hut in Cornwall should look.
• “Spacey” house.
• Miniature replica castle.
• House previously owned by a manga artist.
• House so black and white that other colors look really weird.
• House previously owned by people who liked wallpaper a little too much.
• House previously owned by people who liked bears a little too much.
• Perfect if you love turquoise.
• Geodesic dome with a nautical theme.
• A little shabby to start, then YIKES.
• Normal boring, then WTH.
• House with no-good, terrible floors.
• Renovated jail still looks very institutional.
• Maybe not the butt warmer you expected.
• VERY WHITE.
• Cowboy hat house.
• Looks nice on the outside, but…
• :blink blink:
• …had whoever built that staircase ever seen stairs before?
• Same question.
• Two words you never want to hear together: stiletto stairs.

Polly and Harry napping – Harry, as always, keeping an eye on me.

Polly and her sleeping “blep”.

Harry “thlurrrp”.

• New releases: Smart Bitches (romance)
• Linkity from Smart Bitches.
• “Incomplete list of great things the PJ LOTR films added that weren’t in the books“.
• Stephen Colbert is part of the team working to bring the Chronicles of Amber to the screen.
• Ficlet set after the Robot Apocalypse.
• “Why isn’t every year the warmest year on record?“
• The many types of erasers.
• “Researchers breed naturally flame-resistant cotton“.
• Nonasuch with an entertaining look at the Miss Universe national costumes. Plus a look at past Miss USA national costumes.
• Repurposed scenery painting rooms.
• Another lovely mansion that’s a 5-10 minute walk from my wee condo.
• Fairy tale cottage.
• Unusual geodesic dome.
• Inside the “Invisible House”.
• The “Circular Sun House” by Frank Lloyd Wright.
• Another one from Frank Lloyd Wright.
• An unusual cottage.
• Decorating decisions were definitely made here.
• Not a fan of the red ceilings.
• Very unusual condo.
• Apparently I am in the minority for thinking it’s not a treehouse unless the involved tree is supporting the structure.
• I would be more concerned about having heat registers on the floor, but the house not having heat…
• Another house just for car enthusiasts.
• Must love bricks.
• Very clever fire escape.
• What’s the weight rating of that IKEA cabinet? I hope that was considered before including it in the ladder path.
• Never choose artistry over function re stairs.
• Here’s hoping those kids aren’t clumsy.
• Shower on the landing.
• This skeleton bike can’t possibly be functional… can it?
• Super creepy dollhouse. WARNING: Involves taxidermy.

Mayhem is THRILLED (not) to be sharing the sofa with Harry.

The Cute! It burns!!!! (Polly is as sweet as she looks.)

Harry wondering what the heck I want NOW.

• New releases: Tor.com (fantasy, scifi, horror & genre benders), Book Riot (nonfiction)
• Linkity from Smart Bitches.
• “In search of new reading rituals“.
• “For Christmas this year my wife got me a 90-second Barnes and Noble shopping spree.“
• “A study of Discworld“.
• The difference between war in LotR and GoT.
• Tolkien-themed cakes.
• A touching superhero ficlet.
• A ficlet about saving the world.
• “A personal apology to young Americans for failing to stop Ronald Reagan” (I wasn’t quite old enough to vote against him, alas.)
• “Why we actually need more mindless activities“.
• Learn a cursed fact about vultures.
• The secret of Roman concrete revealed.
• Gargoyles.
• Gingerbread International Space Station.
• A McDonald’s meal painted in the stye of the old masters.
• If you need a moment of coziness…
• “Use your knitting superpowers to turn Barbie into a mermaid.”
• Dr Pepper-flavored Peeps.
• “lol, how could the peas be upside d—…“
• Friends-inspired candle.
• Cinnamon-sugar Nutella stuffed French toast.
• Fairy tale cabin.
• Fairy tale compound.
• Faux finish hell.
• Snaring stairs.
• Stairs with climbing grips to help you out.
• Why do people make countertop stairs!?

Yet another shot of Mayhem looking every bit the Panther Princess.

Polly on my lap, Harry (suspiciously) next to my legs.

Polly side eye.

• New releases: Tor.com (YA SFF), Smart Bitches (romance)
• Linkity from Smart Bitches.
• Linkity from BookWyrm Knits.
• On Theoden’s redemption arc in LotR.
• On special effects in LotR.
• On book Eowyn.
• A single paragraph on LotR that packs a lot of punch.
• A webcomic on trying to appease a volcano god.
• Unusual gryphons.
• “New covid variant just dropped, happy new year everyone“.
• “The coolest space images of 2022” and “The best spaceflight images of 2022“.
• Which US states legally consider Pluto a planet?
• Learn about mules.
• Pallas cat and kittens.
• Stop-motion video from the LEGO Group.
• A McDonald’s with a glass floor so you can view a Roman road plus skeletons.
• I can’t think of a good reason for this map.
• Bike desk that can charge devices with your biking power.
• “Which is the most ignored generation?“
• Calvin & Hobbes on resolutions.
• Castlesque house.
• And another.
• Not what I expected a house in the Bronx to look like!
• This feels more like an attraction than a house you’d actually live in.
• Very colorful.
• Decorating decisions were made.
• More decorating decisions were made.
• Extreme Christmas house.
• Too many statues house.
• Cleaning nightmare of a house.
• Only if you like the 1970s and religious murals.
• 1970s time capsule house.
• Safari house.
• House for car modification enthusiasts.
• Has a purple clawfoot bathtub.
• Colorful stairs.
• Artistically confusing stairs.
• Kitchen counters should never be part of the stairs.
• Death stairs.
• More death stairs.
• Stairs fit only for mountain goats.
• Terrifying bathroom floor.

It has been ridiculously snowy here in Minneapolis this week. I took the picture below on the morning of January 4th and it kept on snowing all day, into Thursday morning. We got around 15 inches/38 cm. UGH.

I knitted two pairs of socks for Xmas gifts and they were well received.

These were knitted from Meilenweit.

These were knitted from some ancient Regia.

Mayhem is still a lovely panther princess at 16.5 years old!

Staticky Polly!

Harry keeping warm and cozy.

My wish for all of you at the end of the year. Skipping linkity next week, so I’ll see you all in 2023!

• Linkity from Smart Bitches.
• Learn more about Agatha Christie.
• Some good LotR meta.
• “Life During Interesting Times” – a zine that made me think.
• Illustrated good news from 2022.
• Dramatic cats!
• The Barbie trailer gets the Kubrick estate’s approval. A comparison of the Barbie trailer and 2001: A Space Odyssey.
• Make Lego-esque waffles.
• A most unusual art installation.
• 😮
• FANCY.
• Too much white. The pink bathroom is actually a relief.
• The opposite of the above.
• As is this.
• Quirky.
• I haven’t seen a kitchen like this before.
• Made from a fancy trailer.
• Talk about cookie cutter houses.
• Has its own sacrificial slab.
• This guy is REALLY into motorsports.
• Higgeldypiggeldy house.
• You enter through the window.
• “With special shelving for the mountain goats“.
• WTH.
• “You don’t need to measure, just eyeball it…“
• This is in a hotel, apparently.
• Falling through the glass would be very bad.
• Another wheelchair ramp fail.
• And a slide fail.
• That extrovert is sucking out all of the introvert’s energy!

Harry pestering Mayhem, to her great annoyance.

Polly and Harry on my lap.

What the heck, Polly?! Are you ok?! (She seems fine after her apparent existential crisis.)

Harry scent-marking the window frame.

• New releases: Smart Bitches (romance)
• Linkity from Smart Bitches.
• I don’t think I realized that Owl and Rabbit were REAL and everyone else was a stuffed animal in the Hundred-Acre Woods.
• “Merry Christmas, Tolkien Fandom“.
• More humans are weird. And even more!
• Hansel and Gretel with a twist.
• A scissor wizard and a paper wizard…
• Why we still wear masks.
• Free COVID tests are available for an apparently limited time in the US.
• “Gingerbread house but your mom’s an architect“.
• “11 easy WFH lunches you can make between meetings“.
• No-bake triple chocolate mousse cake.
• Mississippi mud pie.
• Some thoughts about fake fireplaces.
• Dominoesque.
• Dragon!
• Rustic with turret in Minnesota.
• Castle house!
• If you’d like to own a Coliseum…
• Not my style, but lovely.
• So’s this.
• Has a cantina basement.
• Has a full-on club basement.
• Flying saucer house.
• Lofted… bathtub?
• Why would you embed a piano in a wall?
• Clutch that railing tightly.
• Just yikes.
• Well, that’s bizarre.
• Just some dark bath humor.
• “Shrimper Santa and his flying albino alligators“.

Polly sitting like a people…

Deep thoughts with Harry.

• New releases: Tor.com (horror & genre-benders, YA SFF, scifi, fantasy)
• Linkity from Smart Bitches.
• Linkity from BookWyrm Knits.
• “Everything counts as reading“.
• “You could spend a night in Hobbiton“.
• A short film about an Amazon delivery drone having an existential crisis.
• xkcd’s What If? on comet ice.
• “Could You Really Not Just Put This in an Email?“.
• Make an Xmas tree with a cave inside.
• Learn about the mata mata turtle.
• Bald eagle completely failing to catch a crab.
• Megafauna skulls.
• Trying to decide if my KitchenAid mixer needs a unicorn horn, or if the purple racing stripes it has are enough.
• That is indeed a lot of crochet.
• “Wellness brand INTIMINA releases uterus-shaped cereal that turns your milk red“.
• Blueberry & Syrup Mini Pancake cereal from IHOP.
• Buttered rum eggnog cake.
• Lazy chicken pot pie made from a can of soup and frozen packaged pastry dough.
• Pop-Tarts “Gingerbread Lodge”.
• The Gingerbread House Estate.
• Nice floating house.
• Over-the-top Minnesota mansion.
• It has that Victorian feel of not being able to move without knocking things over.
• Has a hot pink and green kitchen.
• Also very colorful.
• “A most unique home“.
• Just say no to urinals in the kitchen.
• I have a question about the “emergency toilet”.
• Remember the bone stairs? Here’s the whole bone house.
• If you’re looking for your brutalist dream home…
• Not the place to stay if you sleepwalk.
• You’ll only forget to wear your shoes once on these stairs.
• I would definitely injure myself on that bridge.

Polly is so chatty and excited!

Harry napping on the cat tree.

Harry and Mayhem on my lap. Harry desperately wants Mayhem to lick his head.

• New releases: Smart Bitches (romance), AAR (romance)
• Linkity from Smart Bitches. And more!
• If you’d like to get a daily dose of The Christmas Carol in December…
• A ficlet about a stone that “corrupts all who wield it”.
• Another twist on the “humans are aliens” thing.
• Archive.org has lots of sci fi, horror, and adventure pulps available.
• The Eiffel Tower is the tallest LEGO set ever.
• Dragon…fountain?
• On how great Bandcamp is.
• Liveblog of watching Good Night, Oppy.
• Some tidbits about gharials.
• Green bean casserole sparkling water?!
• Puking cat gravy boat.
• “Fiberglass Animal Shapes and Trademarks” graveyard.
• VERY memorable weather report.
• Brown butter cinnamon bun sandwich cookies.
• From Minnesota: Nice Craftsman, Very Large Tudor, stone mansion, “modern rustic treehouse feel”.
• Nice.
• Very elegant.
• Hmm, stairs or slide, stairs or slide…
• Retro.
• So many details!
• Mushroom house.
• Desert dome home.
• Converted bottling company.
• This one looks like it’ll be a climate change victim in the not-too-distant future.
• If you’re tired of grey/beige homes…
• Another, but the inside doesn’t live up to the outside.
• The basement, wtf.
• Another mysterious basement.
• Offices for everyone!
• But what about the drop from that door?!
• Huh.
• 😮
• D’oh.
• Two sets of dubious stairs in one location.
• Were these installed upside down?
• No railing and not enough space to open the door.
• Maybe don’t go with the lowest bidder for stairs.
• Eep.
• Nope.

Everyone looks THRILLED, don’t they?!

Polly looking down at Harry.

Polly LEAPING over Harry as he stares out the window.