Things have been going so well here at Casa Kittling. Denis is feeling (and moving around) better. We've both been rejuvenated by our trip to the zoo, and we're already talking about going to the Desert Botanical Garden next Thursday when the weather has made promises that it will be gorgeous and warm.
Naturally, some gremlin had to throw a monkey wrench at my head to darken my mood.
What happened? Well, I purchased H&R Block tax software from Amazon as I have done for several years. I got the email, followed the instructions, went to H&R Block's activation page so I could download and install the software, filled in all the blanks, and... nothing.
After several attempts, I called the H&R Block support number. All that did was make me see 200 shades of red. An automated voice told me exactly what I'd already read and done from the email and from Amazon. Could I speak to an actual human? Of course not! So I'm stuck with a nonrefundable purchase that I can't use. Grrr! Somehow, I'm going to get that software downloaded and installed, blast it! I refuse to lose!
I'm still managing to smile, and I hope y'all are reading some good books that take you away from your worries. I have read two A+ books back-to-back, and am almost finished with another good'un.
I may not be including a raft of book banning links, but that doesn't mean I'm not keeping an eye on things and putting in my two cents where possible.
Enjoy the links!
►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄
- Little House on the Prairie is being rebooted by Netflix. I'll be interested in seeing what they do. The books were among my favorites as a little girl, and I never cared for Michael Landon's TV version of them.
- Why Simon & Schuster's flagship imprint won't require blurbs anymore. Manning makes a lot of sense in this article. (And you know by now that I've never cared for blurbs.)
- This broke my heart. American children's reading skills reach new lows.
- Inside a collection of "imaginary" books.
- Why murder is the perfect escape from life.
- Author Mary Childs: On trying (and really failing) to design my own book cover.
- Utah students can no longer bring personal copies of banned books to school.
- Archaeologists discovered 141 ancient gold coins depicting nine Roman emperors in Luxembourg.
- See the haunting stone face of a Ptolemaic statue unearthed near the ancient Egyptian city of Alexandria.
- Art thieves blew up a Dutch museum's door to steal an ancient golden helmet from Romania.
- The Bad Dürrenberg headdress: an elaborate 9,000-year-old headpiece worn by a female shaman in Europe.
- Secret passageways recorded in Leonardo da Vinci's sketches have been discovered beneath a medieval castle in Milan.
- Archaeologists have discovered a rare liquid gypsum burial of a "high-status individual" from Roman Britain.
- How a Hawaiian high school student inspired nine new state animals.
- Eleven animals that can purportedly predict the weather.
- Oyster "blood" may be the secret weapon in our fight against antibiotic-resistant superbugs.
- Australia's brush-tailed bettong looks like a tiny kangaroo, and it's bouncing back from the brink of extinction.
- A sunfish got "lonely" when its aquarium closed for renovations. Staff found a creative way to cheer it up.
- You can watch a sneaky squirrel eating the fruits of its heist. (When you have food delivered to your doorstep, don't leave it out there too long!)
- A new marine protected area in the Marshall Islands is brimming with life, like a "time machine" to oceans long ago.
- The Mona Lisa is moving to a room of her own at the Louvre.
- Take a journey down under with these photos of Australia.
- How the largest volcanic eruption in human history changed the world.
- Make My Drive Fun is an interactive map that plots interesting sites to see while on a road trip.
- Here's a detailed virtual reconstruction of ancient Rome.
- Dolly Parton, legendary singer, songwriter, and philanthropist, celebrated her 79th birthday.
- Raye Montague: the "hidden figure" who revolutionized naval ship design.
- Brazilian sculptor Michel Torres Costa turns bolts, nuts, and other scrap metal into strikingly detailed sculptures.
- The wonderfully complex Whitman Sisters.
- Meet Rebecca Bradley, the Texas Flapper Bandit.
- Simone Weil: voluntary worker.
- Five novels with tantalizing anti-heroes.
- 20 new and upcoming works of historical fiction to check out in 2025.
- Love dogs and mysteries? Check out Carol Lea Benjamin's series.
- Ten undiscovered gems from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.
- Twenty albums turning 50 in 2025.
- Historical fiction about little known history.
That's all for this week! No matter how busy you may be, don't forget that quality Me Time curled up with a good book!
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