Welcome, everyone!
My partner and I are officially homeowners and we got to sign our paperwork in a haunted law office. Absolute perfection. We won’t move in for a bit because there’s painting to do and flooring to replace, but I’m feeling very emotional (in a good way) about the whole thing. The notion of not renting anymore and being able to customize whatever I want feels so freeing! The possibilities are endless! I’m also fully ready to lean in to suburbia. I want to do my afternoon errands with my iced coffee and swing by Home Goods.
I love fall in New England, but I feel like it just flies by with the amount of back to back holidays. Are you a fall fan? Or do you prefer to get this time of year over and done with as quick as possible?
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Sarah and I recently recorded a podcast episode with Tara, who gave us a whole bunch of podcast recommendations. One recommendation that stuck with me was Wiser Than Me. It’s hosted by Julia Louis-Dreyfus and she interviews older woman about aging and what wisdom they have to share. Are you a listener?
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The Instagram algorithm got me and showed me a cheese advent calendar from Murray’s Cheese. That led me down a further rabbithole of other cheese advents: Cheese Bros. and Redhead Creamery. I’m definitely tempted to buy one, but I don’t have any experience with these brands. If you do, let me know your thoughts! Or if you have another cheese advent calendar to recommend, please suggest them!
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Big thanks to jfhobbit for sharing this on the SBTB Podcast Patreon Discord! It’s a dive into the “queen of suspense,” Ann Radcliffe.
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Would you like to see cute little hamsters tackle complex, homemade obstacle courses?
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Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting 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!
A short overview of romantic web novels in Arabic-speaking regions was posted in the Hobbydrama subreddit – not something I knew anything about, so I found this an interesting summary.
https://www.reddit.com/r/HobbyDrama/comments/1fyx9cg/literature_web_novels_a_brief_look_into_arabic/
Re the Anne Radcliffe article – I’d forgotten about this writer, but I think some Udolpho might be just what I need at a somewhat stressy time!
WISER THAN ME is fantastic. The conversations are frank, funny and insightful. Definitely recommend. Julia is interviewing remarkable women from multiple professional fields; actresses, women writers, politicians, designers. She always asks whether the woman would change anything about how she lived her life – the answers are definitely food for thought.
Dunno the other two but fwiw I love Murray’s. Part of what I love about it is that they are very generous with sample bites when you’re trying to make up your mind. Which is not relevant to the advent calendar. But they have an excellent selection and fabulously knowledgeable staff.
But, is it, in fact, an advent calendar? Not my area of expertise but I thought advent is the lead up, so ends on the 24th or thereabouts, while the twelve days of Xmas last from the 25 through (hold please, counting) Jan…6? This comes from King Arthur stories, mainly, so I may be out of date, even if I’m right. I can’t begin to guess how many times I have looked up Whitsuntide and Michaelmas and so forth. I am terrible at remembering these, so I am probably wrong but I did think I had at least a handle on the delightfully named Epiphany.
(The reason it matters is that if you call it an advent calendar I am expecting twice as much cheese!)
@Empress of Blandings, thanks for the HobbyDrama (it’s flaired as hobby history, since there’s no real drama) but it was cool to read about romance tropes in another language/culture! The second marriage (as in polygamy, not widowed/divorced -> remarriage) is a really interesting one since it’s treated as fairly matter of fact. Glad to see that enemies to lovers is universal :).
@kkw: In recent history, I’ve seen 12-day advents. Maybe due to size or cost? I always assumed it was a reference to the 12 days of Christmas.
Huzzah on your new home!
Congratulations on officially becoming a homeowner, Amanda! Much joy to you and your partner.
I enjoyed a tasty inexpensive 24-day cheese advent calendar from the Aldi store brand last year!