You Decide To Do The Funniest Thing Possible

The most popular link last time was the Wallace & Gromit font, with these twelve reasons February is awesome coming in second.

1. Mona Eltahawy on being childfree by choice: "By refusing to give birth, I have birthed the version of myself that I always wanted to be."
2. On "trench composting": you can just dig a hole.
3. Learning long pieces of classical music off by heart for performance isn't just a way of showing off or signalling effort. It actually influences musical interpretation.
4. My least favourite thing about running an independent online subscription business (which I have been doing for my podcast since 2019) is when long-time subscribers "dispute" charges to try and get a refund without having to talk to me about it. I will try and remember this Ask Polly piece about an unusual and ultimately heart-warming instance next time it happens.
5. A game for guessing where in the world an English accent originates.
6. A traveller discovers the delights of a 35-year-old light installation on the Korte Smeestraat in Utrecht.
7. I needed a reminder this week: "There’s always five minutes to write. There’s always a way to sneak it in."
8. An Indian author takes a closer look at a claim in the Guardian recently that "most Indians don't read for pleasure".
9. A delightful video walkthrough of four "retro" neighbourhoods in Tokyo.
10. Someone is serialising a novel in the most mysterious way possible, by creating a low-key treasure hunt in Oxford that only a handful of people are taking part in. This reminds me of this author from last year who marketed her book in LA with printed flyers. I'm tempted to do this if I ever have a book out again! It seems fun and weird.
11. I'm always tripping over Austen fanfiction, no matter where I am online. Here's an obituary for Charlotte Lucas that imagines interesting futures for her, her family and her friends.
12. Scene: you're an Amazon delivery driver and you love the chapter in that Robert Macfarlane book about the Broomway tidal walk. You decide to do the funniest thing possible.
13. Five writers give an unvarnished account of what it's really like to do a film deal for your book.