bufflo’s link roundup

Big milestone this week: I actually drove in the snow. Yes, if you’re wondering, it does snow in Arkansas, but we don’t have equipment to clear the roads, so a snow day usually means just cozying up at home and waiting for things to melt. Here in Denver, it turns out, a snow day is just another day. You and my insurer will be happy to know I managed just fine. Side streets remain snowy but passable, and on main roads, it’s like snow didn’t even happen.

In other news this week:

• Trump’s EPA pick, Scott Pruitt, is a climate change denier, fossil fuel cheerleader, and has actually sued the EPA.
• Ben Carson, who previously said he didn’t feel qualified to take a cabinet position, has been nominated for Housing and Urban Development. Interestingly, he had no policy proposals in the HUD arena on his presidential campaign platform, and has called our country’s fair housing laws “communism.”
• And the nominee for Secretary of Education didn’t send her kids to public school and is a big supporter of charter and private schools. Not expecting her to do great things for public ed.
• Meanwhile President Obama has ordered a full investigation into Russian hackers’ involvement in the election.
• We hear a lot about how the left cares too much about “political correctness.” I liked this piece about the right-wing counterpart, “patriotic correctness.“
• When we lived in Charleston for Jon’s residency, we always parked behind a big, abandoned federal building near Marion Square when we went to the Farmer’s Market. Now it’s apparently a hip, Mad Men-esque hotel with a restaurant called Henrietta’s, and I want to go to there.
• The girls and I really enjoy Oliver Jeffers’ work, so I enjoyed this peek into his studio.
• I look forward to Deadspin’s Hater’s Guide to the Williams-Sonoma Catalog every year.
• And also from the same author on Deadspin, a point with which I am in complete agreement: Fuck Tweetstorms. If you need to say it in more than a handful of tweets, write it on a blog and tweet the link. Twitter is not for essays.
• Patton Oswalt’s “Year of Magical Parenting” is wonderful and heart-wrenching.
• Love this on Molly Weasley’s incredible badassery. A role model for our times.
• You should be following Merriam Webster’s Dictionary on Twitter if you aren’t already.
• I adored the Babysitters Club books when I was young. Loved this New Yorker piece on its feminist legacy.

By the way, I did make the Irish Cream I mentioned in last week’s link roundup. It turned out delicious and has made coffee a special treat all week!