An eclectic blend of a conversational Coffee Klatch with a sense of wonder, discovery, and intellectual playfulness, much like the historical Cabinets of Curiosities that housed rare artifacts, oddities, and treasures.
In this weekly miscellany, each issue opens a drawer to reveal something fascinating, funny, or thought-provoking. It’s part archive, part adventure!
Cabinet Drawer of the Week
Stephen King is a famous and prolific author, known mainly for his horror fiction. He has published 69 novels (including seven written under the pseudonym Richard Bachman), 12 short story collections, and 5 nonfiction books, totaling roughly 86 major published works. He has also written more than 200 short stories and 19 screenplays/teleplays, along with 16 other works such as novellas and collaborations.
Ranker.com has a list of the Best Stephen King Works that over 14,000 people have voted on. The top favorites are:
It
The Shining
The Green Mile
The Stand
Pet Sematary
Salem’s Lot
Misery
11/22/63
The Mist
Different Seasons
There have been over 80 movies made that were based on Stephen King’s writing. I have a list of them on my website.
Word to the Wise
Petrichor – (‘peh-tri-kor) n. a distinctive, earthy, usually pleasant odor that is associated with rainfall, especially when it falls on warm, dry soil, rocks, or pavement
Thoughts from the Nook
Speed Bump is a comic strip series by Dave Coverly. They are usually a single panel, like Far Side comics, and they are observations on life that are widely relatable, but with a witty or twisty punchline.
The artist described his cartoons by saying, “Basically, if life were a movie, these would be the outtakes.”
Speed Bump is published in more than 400 newspapers and websites. And you can even purchase 8.5x11” full color prints of any of the comics. He will mail them from his studio and even personalize them. Check Coverly’s website for more details or just to see more comics.
Here are a few samples:
Trivia Espresso Shot
The most common dog names in 2026 are:
Girl Dogs
Luna
Bella
Daisy
Lucy
Ruby
Boy Dogs
Max
Hank
Teddy
Cooper
Gus
Reference Desk
I have made hundreds of lists on my website, ListObsession.com.
I cover many different topics, including TV shows, music, books, travel, quotes, folklore, holidays, food, and more, but my favorites are probably the movie lists.
Some of the lists are just collections of links to IMDb entries for movies in a specific genre, like movies about pirates or clowns or Hammer horror or Robin Hood. Others are ranked lists, where I scour the internet for ranked lists of the best movies in a particular genre, then average all those lists in Excel to create an overall compilation of society’s favorites in that genre.
One of the sources I appreciate the most is Ranker.com. Ranker has tons of lists that anyone can vote on, potentially changing the ranking within those lists. They’ve had over 117 MILLION voters casting over 1.5 BILLION votes on over 250,000 lists.
I have not made my own lists on Ranker.com, but I should probably start doing that, to let people vote on stuff in that forum.
Dad Joke Cupboard
I once told a joke about macaroni.
It was pretty cheesy.
Composer Corner
John Dunstable was a composer who lived in the 1400s. He wrote both religious and secular music, and he helped transition from medieval to Renaissance music.
Very little is known about his life, but he was also a mathematician and an astronomer. There are about 50 surviving works that are attributed to him.
Quam Pulchra Es | O Rosa Bella | Veni Sancte Spiritus | Puisque m’amour
Food Holidays This Week
Sun, May 24 – National Escargot Day, National Yucatán Shrimp Day
Mon, May 25 – World Wine Day
Tue, May 26 – World Sherry Day, National Blueberry Cheesecake Day, National Cherry Dessert Day
Wed, May 27 – National Grape Popsicle Day, National Italian Beef Day
Thu, May 28 – International Hamburger Day, National Brisket Day
Fri, May 29 – National Biscuit Day, National Coq Au Vin Day
Sat, May 30 – National Mint Julep Day
Sun, May 31 – National Macaroon Day
Recipe Card
Pineapple Pecan Quick Bread
Ingredients
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter or margarine
4 eggs
3 cups flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 or 2 Tbsp lemon peel
½ tsp lemon or pineapple extract
½ cup chopped pecans
20-oz can crushed pineapple, drained (reserve 3 Tbsp)
Glaze:
½ cup sugar
3 Tbsp pineapple juice
½ tsp vanilla
Directions
1. Heat oven to 350º. Grease and flour 2 loaf pans.
Cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one.
Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, buttermilk, lemon peel, and lemon extract. Mix well until smooth. Stir in pecans and pineapple.
Pour into prepared pans. Bake for 50-65 minutes.
In small bowl, blend all glaze ingredients. Spoon over hot bread, then cool for 10 minutes. Remove from pans. (Freezes well.)
Puzzle Pause
I always have a jigsaw puzzle going at home. Here’s a photo of the current state of my current puzzle.
Voting Brackets
We’re in the third round of our Favorite Castles voting bracket. We still have 32 castles left from all over the world.
Our Voting Brackets are open to anyone in the world, and we have a website for it: https://votingbrackets.com/. New rounds begin every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
We have completed more than 160 brackets over the last 7.5 years. Here is a full list of all the results back to the beginning.
The Pfunny Page
Marginalia
“The difference between life and the movies is that a script has to make sense, and life doesn’t.”
- Joseph L. Mankiewicz
The Index
Today’s curated list: My top 10 favorite movies based on Stephen King writings
The Shining (1980)
It (both versions)
The Langoliers (1995)
The Running Man (1987)
Note: I haven’t seen the 2025 version yet, but it was directed by Edgar Wright, who also directed Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, etc., so I’m sure it will be great.
The Dark Tower (2017)
Salem’s Lot (1979)
Christine (1983)
The Tommyknockers (1993)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Storm of the Century (1999)
Next Time in the Klatch
AI Facial Recognition in Stores
Until next time, stay curious!