Gather ’round for ye olde links.
Most of today’s things would go in the “informative” category of the internet. How useful the information is? Well, honestly that’s up to you.
A couple of these you could tuck away for an obscure game-winning question in pub trivia.
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If you love crafting, Frolic has some book recommendations that combine the hobby with romance characters! Surprised Real Men Knit isn’t on there!
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I loved this mini documentary on tattooing on darker skin.
Why people of color struggle to get great tattoos pic.twitter.com/BIhb7h55Hn
— Voices of Color (@vocinsider) May 6, 2020
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Everyone is doing puzzles in quarantine. Seriously, a bunch of the puzzles I want are all backordered now. If you need more for your collection, check out this Kickstarter!
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I am obsessed with all these bizarre McDonald’s locations:
Trying to explain the Freeport McDonald’s to a friend. It looks like a funeral home outside and a retirement home inside pic.twitter.com/cOeJfNnk4b
— sloppy wizard (@katrinkanova) May 9, 2020
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Do you feel like you missed out on learning basic things from your parents? You aren’t alone! Here’s a YouTube channel that teaches you things stereotypically taught by dads. In the comments is a subreddit for people needing to ask questions of mother figures. Sometimes the world is good.
Found a YouTube channel of this guy who's Dad walked out on him when he was 12.
Now a dad to two (adult) kids himself, he's made a YouTube Channel called "Dad, How Do I?" – where he makes maintenance videos for people with no Dads.
His channel: https://t.co/HCx6KeYdW7 pic.twitter.com/4D6lfu0yLs
— Bruce Wayne | The Wizard (@FaisalTreShah) May 17, 2020
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Don’t forget to share what super cool things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!
Here’s a Twitter thread of chicken coops for people who are reeeeeeeeeally into their chickens:
https://twitter.com/TKDano/status/1263161145445060608
I caught it in progress at the witch house (still my favorite) and thought, “Needs chicken legs.” I was not disappointed.
The video about tattooing dark skin was great. Thanks for sharing it.
Many years ago, my father gave me a refrigerator magnet: “When all else fails, call Dad.” I can’t tell you how many times I put that into practice during my life. My Dad’s no longer with us, but the other night when our oldest daughter had car trouble (she works the night shift) and my husband got dressed at midnight to go help her, I thought about the cycle continuing.
I love puzzles, but I have a problem with my 2 cats knocking the pieces onto the floor, then dogs think they are a treat. Does anyone else deal with this? Any ideas for doing puzzles and keeping the cats away?
@Maureen: I have a cat! I know there are roll-up felt pads people use, but so far, I’ve been using a sheet of cardboard from all the deliveries I’ve been getting in quarantine. I place some heavier items on top of the cardboard so it doesn’t move around.
It’s worked for about a month now.
Good idea, Amanda! So this might be a silly question, but I always take out all the pieces, turn them right side up-do you do that too, and just keep it covered with the cardboard? I haven’t seen the roll up felt pads, I did try to get my husband to make me some kind of contraption that had low sides and a cover, that was portable. He wasn’t with me on that project!
@Maureen: I’m a box user! So I tend to shuffle pieces around in the box lids while I look for certain colors. When I’m done working on the puzzle for the night, I put both lids (as both usually have pieces in them) and put them high up on top of my bookshelf.
However, I do my puzzles on my coffee table (usually 1000 piece) have have cardboard big enough to cover it. Or I use two pieces.
@Maureen–in my experience there’s no keeping the cats away unless you lock yourself in a room (and that’s sad for everyone). The best you can do is train the dogs to leave the pieces alone.
Seriously, thank you Amanda-I feel like I have a plan! I’ve been buying puzzles for years, and haven’t been able to do them-this is exciting!
@Cristie-one dog would probably be OK with some training, the other is a golden retriever that will eat practically anything. We can’t even find dog toys that hold up to his mighty jaws 🙂 You are so right, as soon as we close a door-that is where the cats feel like they absolutely must be, so a designated puzzle room is a no go.
@Maureen,you can also get two pieces of thin foamcore (like for school projects) and do the puzzle on one. Will do for a 1000 piece puzzle. Then cover with the other one and clip together with those giant clips for holding papers together. Just keep the loose pieces in the box.We have two dogs and a cat and it works really well. And then it’s portable as well!
I got a puzzle organizer from this site many years ago and used it to keep the pieces safe from the cats.
https://www.bitsandpieces.com/category/organizers-and-sorters
Here is a Giselle skit from the Australian Ballet
“Albrecht’s a cheater and he has to pay. The wilis are home in quarantine, but they’re getting mad together, corps-de-ballet style.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39_lS4v1sqw
If you live in Australia, you can watch full length performances here:
https://australianballet.com.au/the-ballets/digital-season
@Maureen
See @SusanE 11, I bought one of these from the original maker (before Bits and Pieces bought the rights) for my Mom and my whole family loves it. We do puzzles all the time and use the drawers to separate. We don’t have the cat problem but I think a piece of cardboard over the top would solve it. Can’t recommend the design highly enough. Good luck. Patricia
It’s been ages since I’ve done a real jigsaw puzzle and I really want those Kickstarter ones. I’m very skeptical of the roll up felt storage things. Seems like the puzzle would crumble if you tried rolling it. I’ve used the two foam boards with binder clips in the past and that worked well.
The felt roll works okay if you don’t try to roll it tightly. I usually use the kitchen table and cover the puzzle in progress with a tablecloth when it’s time for a meal.
The new RWA board has scrapped the RITA awards in favor of the VIVIAN. Full details not available until after the board meeting at the end of the month, but today’s press release here:
https://www.rwa.org/Online/News/2020/RWA_Announces_a_New_Award_for_a_New_Era.aspx
It sounds like some positive changes are in progress, at least in that regard, and the right people are already fuming about it, so a conditional thumbs up.