Planning a trip to London? Avoid the crowds with these offbeat attractions – from an underground temple to a neon fever dream. https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20231103-see-another-side-to-london-at-eight-of-its-most-unusual-tourist-attractions

The Library of Congress is offering "700 Years of Persian Manuscripts" for free online https://www.openculture.com/2023/08/700-years-of-persian-manuscripts-now-digitized-free-online.html

Aww, this is nice! Fight for Kindness, a global, nonprofit typographic project and exhibition, highlights kindness through the eyes of illustrators and visual artists.
https://www.printmag.com/type-tuesday/fight-for-kindness-through-typography/

Wait what https://twitter.com/roshanpateI/status/1719030157229326662

The NY Times has an obit of my beloved friend Linda Hirschman, author of Victory: The Triumphant Gay Revolution, Sisters in Law: How Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World, and Reckoning: The Epic Battle Against Sexual Abuse and Harassment. (gift link) https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/09/us/linda-r-hirshman-dead.html

If you thought YOU had trouble getting the kids to move out...
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/26/italian-woman-forced-to-court-to-evict-her-two-sons-aged-40-and-42

TIL There are seventy species of wild onion native to North America. https://lithub.com/a-brief-history-of-onions-in-america/

If you were alive when Halley's Comet made its way here last, you may wish to know that it's now at the furthest point from us before returning.

Upcoming NASA missions will help scientists understand the composition of asteroids – which could inform companies one day hoping to commercially mine asteroids.
https://theconversation.com/nasas-robotic-prospectors-are-helping-scientists-understand-what-asteroids-are-made-of-setting-the-stage-for-miners-to-follow-someday-214917

On medieval cats
Oh, you'll like this.
https://going-medieval.com/2023/05/16/on-cats/

A 1983 look at the computer magazine wars
https://technologizer.com/2023/09/18/a-1983-look-at-the-computer-magazine-wars/

The fossils of a 170-million-year-old ancient marine reptile from the Age of Dinosaurs have been identified as the oldest-known mega-predatory pliosaur – a group of ocean-dwelling reptiles closely related to the famous long-necked plesiosaurs.
(I suspect that the associated photo is not a picture of the pliosaur.)
https://www.alphagalileo.org/en-gb/Item-Display/ItemId/238555

"The reason for the popularity is because of its simpleness, its stupidness," quotes Blecha. "He goes, 'three chords and the most mundane beat possible.' He goes, 'any idiot could learn it, and they all did.'"

This is a fun read!
https://www.npr.org/2023/10/31/1209181745/louie-louie-the-story-behind-the-song-everyone-knows-but-no-one-understands

Overheard:
The three authentication factors:
- Something you forgot.
- Something you left in the taxi.
- Something that can be chopped off.

Mood

TIL if you say "Lumos" into your phone's microphone 🎤 your flashlight will turn on, and if you say "nox," it turns off.

"We need a theory of jerks. We need such a theory because, first, it can help us achieve a calm, clinical understanding when confronting such a creature in the wild." https://aeon.co/essays/so-you-re-surrounded-by-idiots-guess-who-the-real-jerk-is

"At best, the so-called Indian taco is a complicated symbol of Indigenous resilience passed down from one generation to the next. At worst, it’s a relic of cultural genocide, a contributor to marked health disparities, and a factor in the falsehood that Native culture is a monolith."
https://www.cntraveler.com/story/for-many-native-americans-fry-bread-is-complicated

Belgium's botanical gardens and arboretums site shows 83,000 plants belonging to 25,000 different species and varieties from 25 botanical gardens and arboretums. https://www.botanicalcollections.be/#/en/home

Not sure what to make for dinner? We both liked this Greek recipe for chicken with prunes. https://www.dianekochilas.com/chicken-with-prunes/