Crack an egg into a mug and microwave for 30 seconds.   Let cool for 30 seconds.   Eat a protein-rich meal.   

Books I enjoyed reading in 2025:  Homeland and Other Stories by Barbara Kingsolver (1989)  *  Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (1916)  *  The Neon Bible by John Kennedy Toole (1989)  * The Warsaw Orphan by Kelly Rimmer (2021)  *  Camino Island by John Grisham (2017)   *  The Dreamers, a novel by Karen Thompson Walker (2019)  A Brilliant Life by Rachelle Unreich (2023)  The Wonder, a novel by Emma Donoghue (2016)

 

On January 1, 2026, thousands of copyrighted works from 1930 enter the US public domain, along with sound recordings from 1925.  They will be free for all to copy, share, and build upon.  The literary highlights range from William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying to Agatha Christie’s The Murder at the Vicarage and the first four Nancy Drew novels.  From cartoons and comic strips, the characters Betty Boop, Pluto (originally named Rover), and Blondie and Dagwood made their first appearances.  Films from the year featured Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, the Marx Brothers, and John Wayne in his first leading role.  Among the public domain compositions are I Got Rhythm, Georgia on My Mind, and Dream a Little Dream of Me.  You can find lists of some of the most notable books, characters, comics, and cartoons, films, songs, sound recordings, and art entering the public domain.  https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday/2026/#ftn4     

Between film, TV, and theater, Planet of the Apes star Roddy McDowall’s resume is a mile long—so it should come as no surprise that he was able to sneak in two episodes as an original villain named Bookworm on Batman.  Committing crimes inspired by literary works, Bookworm was created for the show, but would later come to figure in the Batman comic books as well.  Thank you, reader.  https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/60213/visual-guide-all-37-villains-batman-tv-series 

The comic style of the mockumentary (mock documentary or fake documentary) was preceded by dramatic docu-fiction stories like Orson Welles’s The War of the Worlds and Luis Buñuel’s Land Without Bread.  On April, 1, 1957, the BBC aired a three-minute segment about a family in Switzerland who cultivated a spaghetti tree.  It was presented by famed broadcaster Richard Dimbleby in a documentary-style so authentic that thousands believed it was real.  This is Spinal Tap (1984) is considered by many to be the greatest mockumentary ever made ushered in a new era for mock documentaries.  It was so popular that McKean, Guest, Shearer, and a rotating cast of drummers later toured the world for real.  Christopher Guest’s mockumentary take on Waiting for Godot combines all the best aspects of Spinal Tap’s comic musings with the existentialist nothingness of Beckett’s classic play.  Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s The Office aired on the BBC from 2001 to 2003.  It was then adapted for American audiences by Greg Daniels in 2005.  The Office (U.S.) went on to become one of the most popular shows of the 21st century during its nine year run.  The Office was so popular with U.S. audiences that it inspired other network mockumentary shows like Modern Family and Parks and Recreation.   https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-a-mockumentary-definition/    

Substack is an American online platform that provides publishing, payment, analytics, and design infrastructure to support subscription-based content, including newsletters, podcasts, and video.  It allows writers to send digital content directly to subscribers.  Founded in 2017, Substack is headquartered in San Francisco.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substack 

The claviorgan (also known as the claviorganum, claviorgano, clavecin organisee) is a combination of a stringed instrument (usually a keyboard instrument) and an organ.  Its origin is uncertain, but its history can be traced back to the fifteenth century.   According to one account, the instrument was invented by the Moorish instrument maker Mahoma Mofferiz, with his earliest known example documented in 1479.   Other "Clabiorganos" or "claui organos" are documented in Spain by the year 1500, and the instrument seems to have spread from there.   A number of "virgynalls with regals" are mentioned in the inventories of Henry VIII in 1542/3 and 1547 and Wilson Barry  cites references to the claviorganum in England dating back to the 1530s.  The term claviorgan in its strictest sense refers to the combination of a harpsichord (or other harpsichord type instrument) and an organ, although later could also be used to refer to a combination of a piano and organ.  Michael Praetorius describes the claviorgan in his Syntagma Musicum of 1619 as:  a clavicymbal, or some other symphony, in which a number of pipes is combined with the strings.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claviorgan    

The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers is the 29th book in The Cat Who series.  It was released in 2007 and is written by Lilian Jackson Braun.  The author, Lilian Jackson Braun, died June 4, 2011, making The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers her final book.  Cat whiskers, also known as vibrissae, are super-sensitive touch receptors that help cats navigate the world.  Each whisker is deeply embedded in the cat’s skin and surrounded by nerves and blood vessels.  When something brushes against a whisker, it sends signals directly to a cat’s brain.  These hairs can detect even the tiniest changes in air currents, which means cats can "feel" things before they even touch them.  That’s part of what makes cats such graceful hunters—even in complete darkness.  https://www.petmd.com/cat/general-health/facts-about-cat-whiskers    

December 31, 2025