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Crocheters of the world, take heed! You don’t need Funny Hat Day as an excuse to look for new ideas. Browse no further than this handy list of literary hats and their corresponding online crochet patterns. The best part? You don’t need to be kid-sized to wear the finished products in the case of nearly every listing here. (Since one of my goals for 2013 is to improve my beginner-level crochet skills, I don’t have any patterns of my own to share, but I’ve got no problem highlighting the work of other brilliant yarnworkers).

(Image via Flickr)

Nothing goes better with a book than a nice glass of wine. Or a cold beer. Or a shot of whiskey. I think some of our greatest authors knew that, too, and that’s why they spent much of their time in pubs. In some of the world’s great literary cities, you can take a tour of these bars and pubs, seeing where our most celebrated literary minds spoke, fought, wrote, and drank.

So I’ve pulled together a short list of my favorite cities for literary lushes like myself. But don’t stop here—after all, what pub crawl wouldn’t be better with a book in your back pocket?

Image via Flickr

Most consider the act of writing letters a dated activity. With the ease of email – and the immediacy of social media – there doesn’t seem to be a need for snail mail anymore. However, just because there isn’t a need does’t mean we shouldn’t embrace this traditional communication device.

There’s a permanence to snail mail that we can’t find in the digital realm. Sure, pixels on a screen can get a message across, but they don’t fill the heart with joy like the sight of an addressed envelope. We all groan at the thought of an overflowing inbox, but delight in the excitement of receiving a parcel.

Snail mail is synonymous with sentimentality. Writing a letter or putting together a great parcel requires a lot of time and effort. People cherish snail mail for years. Think of all the famous authors and illustrators who have letters on display in museums or in published anthologies (Kerouac, Hemingway, Steinbeck, Gorey – to name a few). It’s time to buy a new set of pens and remind yourself how to write by hand.

(Image via flickr)

You’re an extremely important figure, and you’ve just committed a crime that will definitely land you in a jail cell. It’s OK! We’ve all been blinded by power, and your high-falutin status is precisely why you think you should get a “get out of jail free” card.

Unfortunately, not everyone will agree. You’ve got to get out of the country to avoid the punishment you undoubtedly deserve, and quickly. What do you do? Ok, even if you’re a stellar citizen at the moment, everyone should be prepared to leave the country at the drop of a hat. You never know. Maybe you just need to wait until things cool down enough to assume but you’ve got to play it just the right way.

As a writer, I’m endlessly fascinated by the notion of unreliable narrators in fiction. Whether they’re pathological liars, mentally ill, naïve, or acting out of good impulses, these characters manipulate the readers into believing a certain order of events. They fudge details, hide vital information, and challenge their audience to evaluate not only the story being told, but the way in which it’s being relayed. They’re the most authentic characters you’ll encounter because of this very human trait.

It’s also a trope that exists across literature, TV, and film alike, utilizing the elements of each medium to reveal how deep the deception actually goes. The unreliable narrator is an exhaustive trope, so this list of my personal favorites only scratches the surface. Warning: I’ll be discussing spoilers (some major, some minor) in these entries.

(Image via flickr)

He’s got your Hanson CD; she’s got your ratty, old college sweatshirt. You don’t really want these items back, but you certainly don’t want them to keep your once prized possessions! Even if you have a copy of your ex’s house key, you’ve still got to figure out how to get in there and grab your things without them noticing. We’ve all been on the other side of that locked door, whether a devious ex has slammed it in your face or you’ve simply locked yourself out of your apartment again.

Jimmying the door frame, gingerly picking at the lock with a stray bobby pin, trying to unscrew the windows that are designed perfectly for keeping people out—these are all signs of someone who has not prepared for this scenario. Really, you should know enough by now to stash a small tool kit in your trunk, and as someone who’s been locked out numerous times and still has neglected to buy a screwdriver, I can tell you that it’s time to get creative about breaking into locked spaces.

There’s such a small window of opportunity to get your stuff back after a break-up, and since it needs to be done as efficiently as possible, use this guide from The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Dating and Sex to ease you though safely.