All the Frills: Problem Solving

I’ve always had a tricky time finding an appropriate place for my collection of art books and my helpmeet’s collection of graphic novels. Oftentimes they’re larger and bulkier than regular books and so they don’t fit easily into the dimensions of a standard bookshelf. So I was pretty happy when I saw this sideboard style piece of furniture at IKEA. The lower shelf was perfectly sized to hold all my art books…even though I did have to track down a block of wood to center underneath the middle of the unit as the books are heavy and it looked like the wood piece was bending under the weight. I’m a problem solver people.

Weekend Reading:

• I want to visit all these Canadian Airbnb locations!
• Shoes, glorious shoes!
• A Stanford linguistics professor analyzes NYC menus. I love this. 

Unsurprisingly I’ve been keeping a close eye on my beloved Scotland over the past weeks – not just because I love it so but because, as an early modernist, I’m pretty wrapped up in the shared, often contentious history of England and Scotland (hell, my primary period of study spans the period in which the two crowns were joined by James VI and I, a precursor to the economic and political “union” that was to follow). If you’re at all interested in learning a little more, I’ve assembled a few good links:

• A brief history
• Economic rhetoric
• The Scottish Wars of Independence
• The Act(s) of Union
• Scotland and Europe...and the Auld Alliance
• A little more about 1707
• And even more 1707
• Culloden and its aftermath