I have a confession to make: I miss the Friday Five.

For those of you relatively new to this space–I used to post a round-up of five interesting things I’d come across that week. It was fun to share links to articles, books I’d read, and cool sites. I stopped the Friday Five about a year ago because I wanted to be able to write about things that didn’t fit into the format.

But I realized how much I enjoy and look forward to these kinds of posts from other bloggers like Nina’s Do Listen Read post, and Tammy Strobel’s Happy Links, and Let It Be Sunday from Joy. I always find a gem or two I never would have come across in the deep, dark crevasses of the Internet.

So I’m bringing back the Friday Five! (Is that applause or crickets I hear through the Interwebz?)  I think I’ll keep monthly  so I can keep posting longer pieces on specific topics and there might be more five. So…I’m not sure what to call it — the Monthly Few? The Every-So-Often Half-Dozen? I’m open to suggestions.

Without further ado…

Deconstructing the cookie. I don’t bake often, mostly because my results look and taste like frisbees. So I loved Tessa’s scientific study of the perfect chocolate chip cookie comparing things like granulated sugar to brown sugar, adding flour, and melting the butter. (I assume the same theories apply to most other flour-based cookie recipes.)  She also has a troubleshooting guide, which clearly I need.

Kimmy.  The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt has been my guilty pleasure this week. Someone in my office recommended this show (a Netflix original program), which I’ll admit, sounded a bit kooky at first:

From “30 Rock” executive producers Tina Fey and Robert Carlock comes this hilarious comedy series starring Ellie Kemper (“The Office,” “Bridesmaids”) as a woman who is rescued from a doomsday cult and starts life over as a nanny for a socialite (Jane Krakowski from “30 Rock”) in New York City. Armed with just a backpack, light-up sneakers and a couple of past-due library books, she takes on a world she didn’t think even existed anymore.

But if Tina Fey is involved, I’ll give it a chance. This show is like eating a bag of potato chips. It’s fun and charming and cliche, and, similar to eating potato chips, I feel a bit guilty in the morning.

The Last Ice Merchant of Ecuador. Cultural change and adaptation often occurs over generations, but this short documentary (about 15 minutes) is a fantastic glimpse into traditions lost to progress.

From the New York Times article:

For over half a century, Baltazar Ushca has hiked up the slopes of Mount Chimborazo, Ecuador’s tallest mountain, to harvest the glacial ice that covers this dormant volcano. In the past, up to 40 ice merchants made the journey up the mountain at a time; today, however, Baltazar works alone.

Fanesca for the Soul. Now that I’ve got you thinking about Ecuador and since last week was Easter, I want to share this wonderful essay by master writer Calvin Trillin. Here, he takes us along on his quest for fanesca, a soup that is only made in Cuenca, Ecuador, during Holy Week. I love how he makes the mundane laugh-out-loud funny. And since I’m speaking of Cuenca, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point you in the direction of Kathy’s blog. Kathy and Sara are Americans in Cuenca and having the time of their lives. (Hi, Kathy, we miss you!)

Thank you, Patti, for posting this link that explains the Theory of Relativity in a way that I can understand, i.e. an infographic.  I feel like I finally have a grasp on it. Sort of.

Are you at AWP? Like, right now? How is it going? I really wanted to go this year, but the reason I’m not leads me to a teaser for next week.  Coming next week: a quiz, a vote, and a donation to a worthy cause. 🙂

Have a great weekend, everyone! 

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