link roundup: chapter the second, 2011

Forewarning: this installment is bigger on the inside very, very large because I haven't cleaned out my links in a while, and in an attempt to space out the items for easier scanning, I may have sabotaged myself and made this post even longer than it originally was.

READING MATERIAL

• The Secret Lives of Artists: eight local artists tell us how they pay the bills, because I know it's something about life as a creative that I've wondered about. Spoiler alert: there are quite a few bartenders in there.


• You Can Put Your Clothes On Now, a guest post at Rachel Rabbit White, in which the author of Vagina Drum auditions for porn.


• Tiny Beautiful Things, probably the best "letter to your 20-year-old self" that I've ever read. [via [via]]


• My hand-picked articles from The Bold Italic, because I am such a connoisseur of... San Francisco? Not really, but anyway:


• The Royal Family, on San Francisco's eccentrics, not William and Kate.


• Kid Stays in the Picture, on auditioning to be an extra.


• Loaf Lessons, on baking. "PROTIP: MAKE SURE THE OVEN IS ON."


• Rye Humor, on the Wise Sons deli, founded by one Beckerman and one Bloom whose mission is to "bring Jews together."
  


• My hand-picked articles from Thought Catalog, because I am such a connoisseur of truth:


• How To Be Alone, for "Go to the movies by yourself and pick one that starts in 15 minutes because it starts in 15 minutes. Buy an ice cream bar from the concession stand. See your roommates. All of you have tickets for the same movie. Bite your ice cream and grin at them."
  

• 50 Things University Taught Me: First Year, for truth and insight.


• On Loneliness, for "Note, if you sit next to a stranger on a bus and smile in just the right manner, they will tell you their life story."


• What It Feels Like To Be Eaten Out, because this is rather entertaining.


• How To Write A Company Manifesto, which is genius and reminds me why I love language.


• Delusional Expectations of an Aging Millennial, because oh my God I don't even have enough faith in myself to hope for a future that looks this Nice and un-tumultuous.


• An Open Letter To Birth Control, because it is a little heartbreaking, a little horrific, and a little funny.
  


• Anarchy in the UK, from Aha Shake Heartbreaker's Sunday Morning Sophisticate (n.), because I'm thinking "illogical brilliance" should be the header to my style statement for the coming seasons.


• THERE IS GOING TO BE A DISCWORLD TV SERIES?! This is even more exciting than when I read that there's going to be an Ender's Game movie! (Maybe because I think there's less potential to ruin Discworld than to ruin the delicacy of Ender's Game.)


• On Emma Watson's appalling lack of concealer. I have nothing to say.
  


• Probability, from xkcd, in case you feel the need to get watery-eyed.


• On that green dress from Atonement, from Sunday Couture, in exquisite detail for the costume-curious.

• This Tech Bubble Is Different, from BusinessWeek.

Any generation of smart people will be drawn to where the money is, and right now it's the ad generation.

Facebook is not the kind of technology that will stop us from having dropped cell phone calls, and neither is Groupon or any of these advertising things. We need them. Okay, great. But they are building on top of old technology, and at some point you exhaust the fuel of the underpinnings.

• Deep Thought and Immaturity, from My Edit. "Nobody does overdone like a fashion student."


• We Make the Sun Ourselves, from Song of the Exile. "But dressing up is not dressing for men, and vanity (because sure, I'm vain) is not the same as sexuality." SING IT, WOMAN.


• On the Importance of Having a Good Support Network, from Musings of an Inappropriate Woman.

Every time I’ve attempted to do something remotely interesting in my life - running an awesome project that earns me close to zilch dollars, quitting my job to freelance fulltime, or flying to the United States on the probably-never-intended-to-go-through-with promise of a cocktail with Maureen Dowd - I have encountered naysayers. People who say things like, “Why would you want to do that?”, “Are you sure that’s safe?” or “Erm, okay, good luck with that.” Or as I’ll explore in another post later this week, “Who does she think she is?”

In many cases, these people have been my friends, which adds a nice dose of salt to the wound. But I’m sure we’ve all been there at one point.

• The Best Time I Got a Bikini Wax, from The Hairpin because I'll bet you a poppyseed muffin that you will laugh while reading this. (Geez, that sounded like a euphemism. I swear it wasn't. I'm just craving a poppyseed muffin right now. Non-euphemistically.)


• What Your Favorite Kids Book Then Says About You Now, because I CANNOT BELIEVE HOW MUCH OF MY CHILDHOOD JUST FLASHED BEFORE MY EYES. Geeking out commence: Ender's Game! Goosebumps! Harry Potter! REDWALL! FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER!!! MATILDA!!! THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH.

• 7 basic things you won't believe you're all doing wrong, because it is hilarious.


• The Complete Guide to Not Giving a Fuck, because if your writing is even moderately good and you start your article with a picture of a horse leaping off a balcony with the caption "fuck this shit," I will definitely keep reading.


• Die on Purpose, from Raptitude, because the little mental exercise this article suggests is fantastic advice and it makes me feel so at peace.


• Dreams Do Come True: A Journal Excerpt from 2005. From Gala Darling, who is in every way a shooting star in the shape of a girl.


• The Love That Dare Not Speaks Its Name, a webcomic from the ever-golden Books of Adam, based on the contents of a spam comment.


• THIS IS SHOW TIME because I like advice that goes like "Suck less, today."


• On washable cloth menstrual pads because I AM SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING THIS AND I KNOW YOU WERE ALL CONCERNED ABOUT THE STATE OF MY UTERINE LINING.


• How to Get a Real Education by Scott Adams of Dilbert. On B-students, adequacy, and entrepreneurship.


• A glorious little 2011 mantra from little chief honeybee.


• A DIY'd Doctor Who Weeping Angel costume - just WOW.


• Fashion blogger + TARDIS tattoo = bow ties are cool


• A word about comment signatures, from Wendy Brandes because HOMG I cannot tell you how much self-promotional comments peeve me. (I guess I'm old-school when it comes to leaving your URL. Which is to say, "don't; it's not like I don't know how to click through.")


• Dear Sartorialist, Let's Chat About Fashion Blogs because REALLY, SCOTT SCHUMANN, IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT YOU. (I'd throw in a "YOU FUCKER" for good measure, but I don't know what I'd do if I ever met him in person.)
  

JUST FOR FUN

• Nyan Cat, ad infinitum. I literally did not stop smiling for the seven minutes straight the first time I watched this. I then proceeded to Nyan for two hours while writing a paper. [via]


• QWOP, which is both insanely frustrating and hilarious, and worth the maybe fifteen seconds it will take before you fall flat on your ass (or face, or left kneecap) if only because it will probably make you giggle.


• Possibly wildly inappropriate, but this Nedroid comic made me laugh really hard the first time I read it.


• So did YouTerus from Hejibits.


• For the tumblr trolls: Y U NO INCLUDE ME?


• Big Ben is on Twitter. It's almost like the real thing!


• Harry Potter nail polish names. (I'll take Fenrir Greyback, Noble & Most Ancient House of Black, Lockheart, and Half-Blood Princess.)


• LOLING TO KINGDOM COME OVER HOW ACCURATE THIS CHINESE CHARACTER IS:
  

• In case you were curious about digital fabric printing, one blogger's experience with several different online services.


• This book carving is incredible.


• My cousin made me look up Tuscan Whole Milk so I could read the ridiculous reviews. A few days later I accidentally stumbled upon the Elegant Moments Leather Kilt, which also has some priceless reviews.


• Lateral, the addictive word association game I still cannot finish.


• Second photo down in this post from Disheveled Trend - RADDEST PHOTO EVER. Roma is a badass.
  


• Remember Legends of the Hidden Temple?


• For the LotR movie geeks out there, I PROMISE LULZ.


• This is a texturally and color...ically beautiful outfit from a smile & a shoeshine.


• Abby from My Yellow Sandbox has fabulous hair-styling ideas and the tutorials to go with them.


• And finally, for some reason, I have a huge collection of DIY tutorials this time around, so here goes. Starting with...

• a reusable snack bag tutorial, if you have a bunch of potato chip bags lying around.


• CASCARONES!!! because there is nothing more fun than confetti- and glitter-filled eggs.


• Glazed magnets made from old maps


• Glazed magnets made from Pantone color chips


• Balenciaga-style metal-tipped collars from Honestly... WTF


• a transparent clutch from Honestly... WTF (I must admit that against all aesthetic sense, I love me a good transparent product. Especially clutches and raincoats.)


• Anthropologie's Party Animal necklaces cost $38.
  


• Coastal Curtsy Skirt because HNNNGHHHH! I don't care if you can't sew for beans - just click through and look at that texture! It makes me want to frolic barefoot on the beach and collect sand dollars.
  


• delicate and kind of eerie leaf skeletons


• beautiful DIY fabric flowers... that involve burning fabric (AWESOME!)


• fabric-covered notebooks: simple genius


• washi-covered pencils! Also simple genius (and would make a fun and classy gift OH JUST IMAGINE IT: handcrafted fabric-covered notebooks and washi-covered pencils wrapped in brown paper and tied up with white string SIMPLE. GENIUS.)


• Friendship bracelets + rhinestones


• Friendship bracelets + chains one and two
  

SONGS AND VIDEOS

Here is my oversized personal earworm playlist from the past many weeks:

1. "Never Let You Go (acoustic)" - Justin Bieber (come at me bro i dare you to judge me)
   
2. "Home" - Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes
3. "Shine On" - Seth Bernard & Daisy May
4. "God Yu Tekem Laef Blong Mi" - The Thin Red Line (WEEPING)
   
5. "Rolling in the Deep" - Adele (who hasn't had this stuck in their head at some point?)
   
6. "American Dream" - Sky Ferreira (I think everyone should try listening to some Sky) [via]
7. "Sex Rules" - Sky Ferreira
   
8. "In My Head" - Jason Derulo
9. "A Comet On Its Way" - Spring Awakening (Will I ever get over this musical?)
   
10. "Mama Said" - The Shirelles, covered by Jordan Corey
11. "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" - The Shirelles, covered by The Like (They are so cute! Also I'm having a bit of a Shirelles moment, I guess)
    
12. "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" - The Shirelles, covered by Amy Winehouse
13. "Nobody" - Wondergirls, covered by Jayesslee
    
14. "Nobody" - Wondergirls, covered by Manny Garcia (where did my pants go?)
    
15. "Misery" - Maroon5, covered by Lindsey Lee
16. "Misery" - Maroon5, covered by ...ScooterMctiny, apparently
17. "I Am The Doctor" - Murray Gold, for my fellow Doctor Who fans (I HAVE SEEN THE LIGHT AND IT IS THE HEART OF THE TARDIS GOOD)
    
18. "Amy's Theme" - Murray Gold, for fans of The Legs
    

Things I recommend you watch:

1. The best cover of "Airplanes" I have ever heard. (I was in tears by the end of the video.)


2. This extremely long recording of Darren Criss's livestream wherein he says, in response to a (wildly inappropriate) fan calling in to tell him "I'm 18 and legal too, by the way," "I don't even know what that means. So you're saying you can vote? So you can vote, that's great. Awesome. That's great. Maybe we'll vote together sometime."


3. Advanced Style (thanks Shelby!) and yes, I know the whole world has seen this already but it makes me feel less like a freak and more like a badass, which is usually a good thing.


4. This TED talk by Brene Brown, on the power of vulnerability. (Thanks, Jess!)
   

An epic UBC LipDub (for "Raise Your Glass" and "Celebrity Status") because IT ENGENDERS JOY IN MY COLD, COLD HEART.



Dormtertainment's version of "Baby" because I don't usually like videos of people dancing in front of their webcams, but I couldn't help grinning at this (and then dissolving into giggles).



DARREN CRISS SINGING "HIT ME BABY ONE MORE TIME" HNNNGHHHHFFFFF WHERE ARE YOUR PANTS NOW EH? EH?! (Confession: I haven't watched Glee since "Born This Way.")



Some Whose Line Is It Anyway?, just for fun. Because I like laughing.



It's been so long since it came out, and I bet you've seen this, but this cracks me up every time: the Inception trailer, a capella. BRRRRRMMMMMMM!!!



The making of the Seven Potters scene in Deathly Hallows: Part I. (DanRad is a fabulous human being.)



Craig Ferguson interviews Matt Smith. Reasons you should hit play: Matt Smith's hair, Matt Smith's accent, Matt Smith's 20,000 leagues of leg, Matt Smith's socks, and Matt Smith's reaction to "Oh, Doctor! I'm bigger on the inside!"