This week’s Top Ten Tuesday at That Artsy Reader Girl is Dynamic Duos. Here are ten of my favorite pairings:

1. Anne and Diana from Anne of Green Gables
2. Fred and George from Harry Potter
3. Jo and Laurie from Little Women
4. Idgie and Ruth from Fried Green Tomatoes
5. Silas and Bod from The Graveyard Book
6. Thursday and Pickwick from The Eyre Affair
7. Ove and Cat Annoyance from A Man Called Ove
8. Agnieszka and Kasia in Uprooted
9. Cecelia and Kate in Sorcery & Cecelia
10. Hugo and Isabelle from The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Who are some of your favorite literary pairs?

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Three free scoops of ice cream (brambleberry crisp, peanut butter with chocolate flakes, and goat cheese with cherries) for my birthday.

2. A card from a friend tells of exciting news.

3. Reading at a cafe under the full moon.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?

As part of my birthday weekend, I took myself to Planet Word, a new museum here in D.C. devoted to language.

The museum is housed in an old school, an appropriate location if ever there was one.

They suggest you start at the top and work your way down, so I did.

On the top floor, one room focuses on global languages. The other focuses on English and where our language’s roots. The former was interesting, but the latter was highly dynamic, using a textured backdrop and animation and lights to:

There are quotes and poems all over the walls in around the doorways.

On the second floor, there is a central reading room, made even larger by mirrors.

Interspersed throughout the bookshelves are these interactive dioramas that activate if you read a particular quote from the book.

You could record yourself giving a speech or share a story about words. And throughout are touch Picture-Picture-like screens with microphones to make the experience more interactive.

There were exhibits devoted to persuasive language, hate speech, humor, and poetic language and music (including some of the techniques that make a song an earworm).

It was such a good visit, I joined the museum as a sponsor as a treat to myself for my birthday. I’ll definitely be back.

It’s been a while since I’ve participated in a formal readalong, but this seemed like a good time for one. Marg of The Intrepid Reader is hosting a Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.

I’m going to sign up at the Victorian Reader level, committing to read 5 books of historical fiction. That seems reasonable, given my current output of reads the past two years has been at an all-time low.

I’ve got Sherry Thomas’ Miss Moriarty, I Presume? sitting on the coffee table and a Victorian romance on hold at the library in Virginia, which seems to be a good starting place. I’m looking forward to reading along.

See you on the other side of my birthday!

My birthday weekend has arrived. I’ve done no formal planning, short of taking Monday off from work. But here’s how I think I’ll spend at least some of the time:

My friend Neal and I are going to do something outside on Saturday. It’s still supposed to be ridiculously warm for February and he’s even more cautious about COVID than I am. So maybe we’ll explore Kingman Island or something like that.

I’ve got some books to read (I started four the other day in an effort to figure out which one would stick first) and some more to pick up at the library.

And I really want to do some baking. Some cookies or brownies or a cake… Since weather is expected tomorrow night, that’s probably a good time to make some comfort food.

On Sunday, it’ll start with the farmers market.

I’m thinking I might head over to Planet Word in the afternoon to see if I can score a day pass. It opened during the pandemic, and I have yet to add museums back into my repertoire. But it’s one devoted to language and that seems an appropriate gift to myself.

I’m going to plan on watching Around the World in Eighty Days and All Creatures Great and Small on Masterpiece on Sunday, plus some Olympics and a movie or two to stream (I caught Legally Blonde tonight) in the meantime. I might even pull the knitting out of the bag and work on it.

Monday, maybe Rudi and I will just head to the movies for the day. There are several things playing, and I’d like to think daytime movies aren’t too crowded. The zoo and the museums aren’t open on Mondays, so it’s either that or go for a drive. There will be pizza for supper and a stop for ice cream at some point, since you should never turn down free ice cream on your birthday.

What’s on your weekend agenda?