Rebecca Roanhorse is a fantasy writer who draws on her indigenous heritage and her experience living in the Navajo (Diné) Nation to create really unique speculative worlds. So far I’ve read two of her books: Trail of Lightning and Black Sun, and I recommend them both. Trail of Lightning takes place in a speculative post-apocalypticContinue reading “Letter of Recommendation: Rebecca Roanhorse”
Category Archives: magpie
Friday Favorites: Feedly Clean-up
A random assortment of fun diversions for the weekend here: Visiting Rajasthan has always been high on my list; now this rose garden near Lahore is making it even more of a priority. I never get tired of watching this wildlife-cam footage: coyote and badger playing together. “Viewfinder” is a sweet, short animated film aboutContinue reading “Friday Favorites: Feedly Clean-up”
German Word of the Week: Baumschule
Before I get into discussing baumschule, I have to point readers to Ben Schott’s adorable little book Schottenfreude, in which he makes up German words to describe special situations he thinks there should be a word for, like “Zwillingsmoral – Reading horoscopes you don’t believe in.” Since German lets you build nouns of incredible length, it’sContinue reading “German Word of the Week: Baumschule”
Ceramics Saturdays: Vershenkte Teekanne!
One of the neat things about Berlin is that you’ll just find random boxes of stuff on people’s stoops with a little sign that says “Verschenken!” (“give away”). On my way to drop off some knives for sharpening, I picked up this teapot (coffee pot, really) with a dashing little peacock on it. No ideaContinue reading “Ceramics Saturdays: Vershenkte Teekanne!”
Letter of Recommendation: Weleda
Weleda was founded in Switzerland in 1921 on the philosophy of putting as few and as natural ingredients as possible in beauty products. I’ve been using Weleda since I discovered their salt toothpaste at our local co-op a decade ago: I have sensitive teeth and weak gums, and the salt helps with that as muchContinue reading “Letter of Recommendation: Weleda”
Friday Favorites: Feedly Clean-up (words, books, and images)
Some really stunning stuff here: A much-more-fun version of the OED’s “first use” annotations for words: Time Traveler by Merriam-Webster. Look up your favorite word and see when it was first used in print; or, scroll back through some recent neologisms to see, for instance, when “spear phishing” became a thing (2004). I feel likeContinue reading “Friday Favorites: Feedly Clean-up (words, books, and images)”
Koharu X Sia, “Elastic Heart”
This brought tears to my eyes, it’s so good.
Ceramics Saturdays: John Almeda
You can’t tell from this image, but these pots are TINY. The bowl on the left is just big enough for the tip of my thumb to fit into and as thin as an eggshell. And John Almeda throws them en plein air on a tiny portable wheel the size of a big poker chip.Continue reading “Ceramics Saturdays: John Almeda”
Friday Favorites: “Foodly” Clean-up
Hope you’re not reading this week’s list hungry! I’ve wanted this for so many years: How to scale cake recipes for any size pan from the redoubtable Stella Parks. Also, the Serious Eats guide that taught me at least a few of my Unauthorized Uses for the microwave. This is a priceless project: an onlineContinue reading “Friday Favorites: “Foodly” Clean-up”
Letter of Recommendation: David Byrne’s Reasons to Be Cheerful
You’d be forgiven for thinking the world was going to hell in a handbasket–even if you just stick to mainstream news. That’s why David Byrne’s (yes, that David Byrne) Reasons to Be Cheerful newsletter really hit the spot for me. It’s all stories about really amazing things that people are doing around the world toContinue reading “Letter of Recommendation: David Byrne’s Reasons to Be Cheerful”
The Rookery 