Let’s Talk Turkey!
Hi!
Thanksgiving is coming up next week in the United States, and that’s as good of an excuse as any to talk turkey. But I’m not here to talk turkey. I’m here to talk Turkey. Yes, captial-T “Turkey” — the country, not the bird/food.
Why? Because of this.
Thanksgiving is coming up next week in the United States, and that’s as good of an excuse as any to talk turkey. But I’m not here to talk turkey. I’m here to talk Turkey. Yes, captial-T “Turkey” — the country, not the bird/food.
Why? Because of this.
That’s a copy of my first book, but in Turkish, not the original English. It’s actually been out for a while and I’ve just neglected to mention it, but this week, I received an offer to do another print run, so it’s now top of mind. And with Thanksgiving around the corner, the turkey-Turkey tie-in was too much for me to pass up on.
If you can read Turkish and want to pick one up, great! I found some via this website for those of you in Turkey; I think 20 Turkish Lira comes out to about $1, so that seems like a really great price if I’m reading everything right (although I’m probably not). If you’re in the United States, you can get one on Amazon for about $18. (If you prefer English, all three of my books are available here.) I have a couple of author copies — the picture above is one of them — and I have to admit that I can’t read it, as I do not speak Turkish. And that’s really weird to me — I wrote a book I can’t understand?
Anyway, that’s all I have to share on this. Let’s go to the week in review!
The Now I Know Week in Review
Monday: The $5 Million Comma: I’m a big fan of the Oxford comma, and this certainly helps support my preference.
Tuesday: How to Make Corporate Holiday Parties Even More Awkward?: Just add kitschy songs?
Wednesday: The Curious Origins of Cotton Candy: I don’t want to spoil the surprise; if you haven’t read this one yet, be sure to click.
Thursday: Proof That Trivia Can Save Lives?: This is a story about road signs in Australia, but as an aside in this one, I talk about the peregrin falcon, the fastest animal on the planet. Reader Luke O. — an Australian who has seen these signs and who is also a professional skydiver — shared this great video of researchers jumping out of planes to try to measure the speed of a diving falcon. It’s as incredible as it sounds. Also, reader John P. reminds me of another odd roadside story I wrote about once; check that out here.
And some other things you should check out:
Some long reads for the weekend.
1) “The Ferrari Fugitives” (Toronto Life, 22 minutes, November 2022). The subhead: “Josh Cartu and his brothers collected race cars, hung out with celebrities, and bounced between luxury villas in private jets. But behind their playboy façades was a dark secret: they had thousands of jilted investors and an army of investigators on their tail.” I’m a sucker for a good scam story.
2) “How to move a country: Fiji’s radical plan to escape rising sea levels ” (The Guardian, 19 minutes, November 2022). The subhead: “In Fiji, the climate crisis means dozens of villages could soon be underwater. Relocating so many communities is an epic undertaking. But now there is a plan – and the rest of the world is watching.”
3) “Cold-Oven Thanksgiving Turkey” (Helen Rosner, 8 minutes, November 2019). I’m likely going to cook a turkey for the first time this Thanksgiving. (That’s right — I’ve never cooked a whole turkey before.) This article is a recipe and also a science experiment — and it’s probably what I’m going to do. (Butter isn’t an option but the author suggested elsewhere that a neutral oil would be a good replacement, so I’ll do that.) If you also try this, let me know!
Have a great weekend!
Dan