The most popular book the year you were born … https://stacker.com/lifestyle/most-popular-book-year-you-were-born #books #reading #publishing

@mrdenmore we also need to rename the nation with our ancient history in mind.

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20230125-colette-the-most-beloved-french-writer-of-all-time ‘Colette lives on still, and this week sees the 150th anniversary of her birth. To mark the occasion, NYRB Classics has published a new translation of her twin masterpieces, Chéri (1920) and The End of Chéri (1926), translated by Paul Eprile.’ #literature #books #Colette #Frenchliterature #reading #publishing

Virginia Woolf, born on this day in 1882, on the relationship between loneliness and creativity https://www.themarginalian.org/2016/06/16/virginia-woolf-loneliness/

Involving myself in the sweat and infarction inducing horror of British Airways’ horrifically terrible mobile app has made we wonder why there is no equivalent of the #razzies for apps? My suggestion would be for an annual #Crappies Awards ceremony. Worst design. Worst UX. Greediest In-App Purchase Demands. Most Endless Ad-Loop (I’m looking at you, CandyCrush) Most Pointless Function. I’m sure between us, Mastopeeps, we can think of 10 or 15 categories.

In case you missed it, my latest podcast is all about heritage skills. Those skills that your grandparents had, but you maybe haven't.

Listen in the normal places or here ;
https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/raylovegrove/episodes/2023-01-23T07_22_45-08_00

#SimpleLiving #RadicalChange #Skills #Podacast

Beyond the blues – from poet Mary Ruefle, an emotional color wheel of sadnesses to give shape to the subtlety and nuance of human feeling https://www.themarginalian.org/2020/04/30/mary-ruefle-sadness-colors/

@ben well, you asked… I create handmade, limited edition linocut prints featuring birds, mostly. Plus greeting cards with the same sorts of subjects.
http://katiefullerart.etsy.com

Bees can be blue. Xylocopa caerulea, the blue carpenter bee, is non-aggressive and semi-solitary. They do not build hives like honeybees but instead prefer to live inside dead wood.

From @rainmaker1973

A sun-hatted toddler eating a Frosty Fruit, head bent in concentration. His sandal-wearing dad, matching head bent, scrolling his phone. #littlebeauties

Two children with delightfully wonky bed hair and mismatched outfits spooning hot chocolates into their sleepy faces as their mum held a messy baby and chatted to their grandma. #littlebeauties

A worker at my small local supermarket leaning in gently to ask her co-worker if she was okay. #littlebeauties

This looks like a good list to bookmark --- https://nonfics.com/best-documentaries-2022/ --- The best documentaries of 2022. #film #documentary #2022roundup

@femme_mal @Popehat oh yay! Excellent link-providing! :) I must try this one too.

@IronFist @Popehat so helpful!!! Thanks for chiming in!! :)

Useful term I discovered this week: “toxic mimicry”. It’s the pattern of substituting systems/organisations/services that look superficially like they fill a core societal need but in fact act to take up the space that a genuine system would fill, and only provide virtual nutrition.

Examples:
- 6pm TV news mimics public discourse
- Malls mimic public spaces
- Daycare mimics collective child rearing

I like the term as it suggests something predatory and insidious.

“Productivity is a trap. Becoming more efficient just makes you more rushed and trying to clear the decks simply makes them fill up again… Since finitude defines our lives…living a truly authentic life—becoming fully human—means facing up to that fact.” https://www.themarginalian.org/2021/12/20/four-thousand-weeks-oliver-burkeman/

@Popehat woks of life always has brilliant recipes. Your NYE sounds brilliant.

@drpippab I like it!! It’s a good way of looking after your future self (prepare!) :)

Do you choose a 'word' to guide the year? I haven't ever done this, but I am going to do it in 2023. Nothing to lose, right?! My word is ... 'bloom' !! https://gretchenrubin.com/articles/one-word-themes-for-2023/ #GretchenRubin