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Showing posts with label trawling: link roundup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trawling: link roundup. Show all posts

Monday, May 16, 2011

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:


  • 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."
  • 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.

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:
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!"
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Tuesday, February 8, 2011

link roundup: chapter the first, 2011

I don't know why there isn't much in the "Just for Fun" section of this roundup, but please allow me delude myself into thinking that the rest of this post makes up for it.

READING MATERIAL
  • The Agonizing Last Words of Programmer Bill Zeller, which I am glad I cannot relate to all that well. But which I can relate to.
  • Here's a little batch of articles from San Francisco-based The Bold Italic, which I am now sure is Solid Gold: Slippery When Wet, a romp through San Francisco's public pools; Secondhand Emotion, on San Francisco estate sales (so near and dear to my heart!); Against the Grain, on eating gluten-free in San Francisco; and SuperBowl, in pursuit of the Holy Grail of ramen. From Secondhand Emotion and Against the Grain, respectively.
    If fixing is chastity, coupons are on par with prayer, saving is religion, and garage sales are your church.

    In short, I was pretty much made from gluten. (And was a very fat baby, natch.)
JUST FOR FUN
  • Do you know what a shibboleth word is? This is, like, Biblical-era linguistics.
  • THE EPIC NOTEBOOK KISS.
  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, condensed. (THIS IS WHY LIVEJOURNAL IS STILL ALIVE.)
    READERS settle into their seats and gather up their Character Death Bingo cards.

    LUPIN: Blast it, Harry, you limp-wanded puff, why didn't you kill anyone?
    HARRY: Uh...sorry..? By the way, my wand moved and shot something all by itself.
    HERMIONE: You're an adolescent. That's normal.

    HARRY: Shut up. He's looking for the wandmaker Gregorovitch. He's having wand performance issues.

    YAXLEY: Good morning, comrades! Don't you just love coming to work, and caressing the new wallpaper made of Mudblood skins?

    HARRY sits around and broods about Hallows, especially the one he doesn't have, the Elder Wand. The Deathstick. The Wand of Destiny.
    HUSBANDS AROUND THE WORLD: Hey, honey? I want my new bedroom nickname to be "The Wand of Destiny."
    RON: Dudes! Potterwatch is on the radio!
    HARRY: I'm so delighted I'll say "Voldemort" out loud!

    Everyone's shooting to injure and kill--except of course HARRY, who flings spells like Remembering You Had A Dentist Appointment Just Now, Developing An Itch On Your Left Butt Cheek, and Feeling Like You Just Walked Through A Spiderweb At Face Level.
  • Here's an interactive Scale of the Universe for you (we?) astronomy/physics geeks/admirers.
  • THIS:
[via]

SONGS AND VIDEOS

Here is a playlist of songs I have had stuck in my head recently. Judge me as you will.
  1. "Baby" - Justin Bieber ft. Ludacris
  2. "Just Like A Pill" - P!nk
  3. "That Should Be Me" - Justin Bieber
  4. "Harry Freakin' Potter" - A Very Potter Sequel
  5. "Hand Covers Bruise" - Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, for The Social Network
  6. "Most Girls" - P!nk
  7. "Bye Bye Bye" - N*SYNC
  8. "Bump n' Grind" - R. Kelly
  9. "The Next Episode" - Dr. Dre
  10. "Never Let Me Go" - Judy Bridgewater (who, okay, isn't a real person, and the song isn't an actual song, but you can have a fictional song stuck in your head, right?)
  11. "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" - Cyndi Lauper
  12. "With Every Heartbeat" - Robyn with Kleerup
  13. "Just A Dream" - Nelly
And here are some videos I highly recommend.



Don't You" by Darren Criss, because don't you want to marry him?



Another Darren Criss video, because honestly, I don't think this video can be watched too many times, especially because this is Darren GQMF Criss for The Trevor Project singing a song from A Very Potter Musical about being ALONE BE STILL MY HEART.



A-1's "All That! (feat. TLC)" because I give you my full permission to eat my first-born son if this doesn't take you back to your childhood.



Kyle Riabko's "What Did I Get Myself Into," because it's been stuck in my head on and off for the past month.



THE BROCIAL NETWORK, because this is brilliant and proves that any choir singing in the background of any trailer makes for an epic trailer.



INTENSE AFFIRMATIONS OF AFFECTION FOR THE INDIVIDUAL WHO UPLOADED THIS VIDEO SEGMENT TO THE FREE VIDEO HOSTING SITE ENTITLED YOUTUBE! I giggled through the entire video. [via]



Word Lens: this has to be the coolest app I have ever seen. Ever. (Says the linguistics major who at one point was pursuing a computer science degree.)



On a much less glamorous (but still very, very cool) note, here's a clip demonstrating Ivan Sutherland's Sketch Pad. We watched this as part of a larger movie in my intro computer science class and it made my little heart soar with that crazy buoying joy one gets from watching something Great that sets off shooting stars of inspiration and possibility and potential. I guess it's kind of ironic for me to be suggesting you watch an inspirational video about computer science, considering how I jumped off that ship quite a while ago because I felt like it was sucking the life out of me, but it doesn't make this video any less remarkable.



Because I feel like Brian Rosenthal's cuteness always gets overshadowed by Joe Walker's hotness in A Very Potter Musical. Show him some Quirrel love! This man is adorable! Which is probably emasculating, but the Potion Master's Corner videos are funny enough to make up for it.



Jakub Hübner's cover of "Touch Me" from Spring Awakening. Will I ever get tired of this musical? I don't know, it's been two years since I first heard of it. Maybe it's a phase, or maybe IT'S MAYBELLINE JUST AN EXCELLENT MUSICAL.



Like I did with Avatar, I watched Gloria Shuri Nava's beauty video spoof for Black Swan before watching the movie, which is unfortunate because if/when I finally do watch Black Swan, I'll probably have ridiculous commentary running in the back of my mind, like "OMG Pandoran acne," but relevant to Black Swan and being really white and perfect. Obviously.


In which Heath Ledger talks about jousting on sheep. (Seriously.)



John Lloyd and Lea Michele cover "A Little Fall of Rain" from Les Misérables. Easily my favorite song from the musical, and GOD do I love her voice.



And finally, (of course), "Bills Bills Bills" for Glee. BECAUSE DARREN CRISS IS MY TEENAGE DREAM.
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Sunday, December 12, 2010

link roundup: for those of you about to rock

In case you needed any more excuses to procrastinate on studying for finals.

READING MATERIAL
  • "The Truth" by Jenny Zhang: "In those two years, I recorded stories of my daily life on 90-minute cassette tapes that my relatives mailed to my parents in New York—little things like how I learned five new songs and how the teacher took away my red crayon and told me to use a yellow one when drawing a sunset over the plane I envisioned my mother boarding."
  • skeuomorph - "a derivative object which retains ornamental design cues to a structure that was necessary in the original" (e. g. the "Impressive, large-diameter concentric assemblages of black and silver 'hardware' encircling the tiny objective lenses on most consumer-grade digital still and video cameras")
  • The Shadow Scholar, via Hypsterism. Written by the dude who writes your thirty-page papers for a fee.
    I've written toward a master's degree in cognitive psychology, a Ph.D. in sociology, and a handful of postgraduate credits in international diplomacy. I've worked on bachelor's degrees in hospitality, business administration, and accounting. I've written for courses in history, cinema, labor relations, pharmacology, theology, sports management, maritime security, airline services, sustainability, municipal budgeting, marketing, philosophy, ethics, Eastern religion, postmodern architecture, anthropology, literature, and public administration. I've attended three dozen online universities. I've completed 12 graduate theses of 50 pages or more. All for someone else.
  • the summer of the unshaved legs over at Eat the Damn Cake. Because this is actually something that really bothers me.
    ...I never let the hair on my legs grow again. And years later, I wondered how I could’ve ever done it in the first place. I began to think that it would immediately identify me with a certain movement, a specific group of people. It would seem too political, somehow. I didn’t want to make a statement. That sort of thing.
  • Hey hey hey, The-F-Word, this is why I'm Team Jacob! (Yes, I've read that crap AND watched it. AND I like Harry Potter, Glee, Freaks and Geeks, and The House of Mirth. BRING IT.)
  • I Want To Be... A Mother! from Gala Darling's career interview series. This woman's responses completely redefined my conception of work-at-home moms.
  • Coated, a little mystery. (It ends in a cliffhanger, though. You have been warned. This is the most non-mundane, unamusing mystery about outerwear you will ever read. Ever.)
  • a conversation with yvan rodic, which I think captures how he appears to the public very well.
    Yvan is handsome. Not in the normal way, but in a very unreal way. He reminds me of a caricature - long spindly legs, a classic button-up shirt, Mick Jagger lips and the brightest blue eyes that I have ever seen, topped with hair that reminds me of a cartoon from the fifties - it just kind of poofs up over his forehead.
    YVAN: We are a bunch of douchebags, on the internet, trying to have fun.
  • isn't is pretty to think so? by Nick Miller. A couple spelling/grammar slips that would ordinarily be an automatic holier-than-thou window-closer, but, well, this guy is actually interesting enough to keep me reading. I mean, I'm kind of biased because he had me at "Catholic school is the goddamn worst thing for a young kid," but COME ON. OPENING LINES:
    Tatiana is a prostitute. I have been sleeping with Tatiana for nearly three months now and I awoke with her again this morning.
  • An interview with Nubby Twiglet over at miseducated. "...but life is meant to be lived. Setting anything in stone feels too rigid"
  • "All the lonely people" by Robert Ebert. The ending is a zinger, but here's some from the middle.
    Whether we use our bodies or a keyboard, it all comes down to two minds crying out from their solitude.
    I love to wander lonely streets in unknown cities. To find a cafe and order a coffee and think to myself - here I am, known to no one, drinking my coffee and reading my paper. To sit somewhere just barely out of the rain, and declare that my fortress. I think of myself in the third person: Who is he?
  • Success is a State of Mind: Talent is Tangible (and not to be compared), from Charade. "Sometimes you just know you are going to be a success: it's glaringly obvious, how could you not be?"
  • Why rejection is good for you - because I definitely believe you have to fail hard to see and solidify who you are and what you want.
  • On that note, J. K. Rowling's Harvard commencement address, "The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination" is still one of the best things I've ever read.
  • Going Commando at Forever Amber. "And yes, I did just write an entire paragraph about dog poop."
  • Come for the Pizza, Stay for the Deconstruction of Masculinity. "'From where I come from, you holler at a girl,' one student tells the group. 'A girl can't be too upset when a guy is paying attention to her.'"
JUST FOR FUN
  • Refinery29 put together THE greatest, most badass earring roundup I have ever had the fortune of seeing.
  • From The Men Who Wear Many Hats... ORGAN TRAIL, "a teaching tool to prepare children for the impending zombie apocalypse and dysentery." (If, like me, you played this around Thanksgiving and were frustrated at the total lack of features... it's called beta for a reason. They've updated it since.)
  • ANONCON FALL 2010 IS LIVE! It seems to be getting slower every year, but there are still a few diamonds in the rough. If you have nothing better to do with your life. (Read this kind of long one if you're a fan of AVPM.)
    when i was in middle school i burnt my arm on a cookie tray and it made it look like i had attempted suicide. my teacher sent me to a counselor who found out the truth, but i didnt tell my friends what really happened because i liked the attention. i cringe at the girl i was in middle school and high school. [link]
    My favorite children's book series was Animorphs, which had an interracial relationship. This is why I am The Most Progressive. [Props to interracial love.]
    You cause in me a spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions. Wordsworth step down, you don't know shit about my feelings for anonymous. [from this massive Want someone to talk about you? post]
    AIDSola [is it ok to swallow plastic?]
    I'm deathly afraid of getting stuck in sweaters... [link]
    BEST MEME EXECUTION EVER
    Dear boyfriend, I like giving you head. I like flossing. But what I don't like is doing them at the same time. PLEASE TRIM DOWN THERE MORE OFTEN!!!! Love, Your plaque-free girlfriend. [link]
    i have a date tonight and it legitimately makes me feel like this: ["You Make My Dreams Come True" dance sequence from 500 Days of Summer] [link]
  • xkcd teaches you how to play tic-tac-toe (this is seriously epic)
  • Conan O'Brien's 10 Craziest Interviews, via The Frisky. (The Martha Stewart one has got to be my favorite, although the Stephen Colbert/Jon Stewart one is badass.)
  • GOD I LOVE MEN. I'll, ah, I'll have some Brazil, thanks.
  • How much was a loaf of Brad in 1975?


This is related to nothing. Maybe to the fact that I'm rereading Raptor Red, but... no, this is related to nothing.
  • The most amazing floral shirt I've ever seen. Like digital print kinda floral.
  • Keiko Lynn, who has had horses since the age of four: "...once you've received a pony as a Christmas gift, you really can't complain about anything. Ever."
  • guess the lighting - a photography blog by Ted Sabarese. This is pure fun to browse through because his guesswork is kind of genius (at least for someone with no photography background).
  • SolarBeat, if you want some pretty noises and an astronomy reference.
  • For those of us who remember dialup with gross clarity, a bit of nostalgia.
  • The Journey of a Jewel. Which aughhhh only stokes that flame of wanting to be an artisan or craftsperson or whatever they're called and feeling like I shouldn't want to because I'm at a public elite university.
  • If you're in the mood for some painfully cute romance, Just The Way You Are from ...love Maegan.
  • I literally laughed out loud at this post from indietutes: the post with many links and a chicken. "Can someone tell me what the heck Big Red Chicken thinks he's doing?... It looks to me like he is actually trying to nail some strings to themselves, but a nasty case of the shakes is interfering with the process."
  • The Great Gatsby, according to Hark! A Vagrant. "OLD AS BALLS."
SONGS AND VIDEOS
  • A female cover of Nizlopi's "Yesterday," which I realize almost no one knows. It's sweet, though.
  • Some song from Academy, because it's mildly catchy and Andy Mientus is in it (though I really, really miss his blond hair. I guess I have a thing for artificial blonds, Tom Felton.)
    It starts with just one leaf.
    It may not seem like much,
    But all those leaves when put together
    Make an auburn sort of rainbow,
    And it's all from the fall of one leaf.
  • Train's "Shake Up Christmas," which, yeah, is possibly the cheesiest thing in the world, but I've been waiting for something that makes me want to kiss the world and dance as much as those old GAP "Love Train" ads do.


Man... now it's Christmas.



  • If you're enough of an AVPS (or AVPM) fan to know "No Way," this video is pretty badass.
  • If you haven't seen this, you must not know what UST stands for.

  • A cover of "This Christmas" by TWENTYFOUR64. I'll let you know when I get sick of young men who can belt like prepubescent boys.
  • One of my favorite YouTube collaborations of all time: Wade Johnston and Julia Nunes sing Baby It's Cold Outside
Now c'mon, those finals aren't going to study for themselves.
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Thursday, November 4, 2010

link roundup: economy-sized

I don't know why this link roundup is so huge. But it is. Like this peach. Isn't it giant, James?

"Marvelous things will happen."

READING MATERIAL
  • I Was Raised A Fundamentalist, via The Frisky. "I was one of the hard-faced tiny warriors lined up on pews being filled with a boiling rage larger than our own small frames."
  • Pretty In Pink, via The Bold Italic. On the growing Lolita community in San Francisco. "When a woman asked, 'What are you guys all dressed up for?' The girls casually said, 'A gathering,' and left it at that."
  • Gorey Costumes, followed by Ballroom Blitz, via The Bold Italic (which by the way is solid. I'm still deciding if it's solid gold, but it is totally solid). The story of Annetta Black's first time attending San Francisco's Edwardian Ball, with a little bit of fashion history thrown in.
    "It's a combination of my favorite things: Edward Gorey, big ridiculous period costumes, freaky people, and a sense of the macabre."
    "I just pulled 88 hairpins, 5 hair extensions, a half dozen paper flowers, and two large black feathers from my hair. The only thing that could have made my giant hair any better would have been to build storage compartments into it, or add nesting ferrets to the top."
  • This article is ancient now, but Asian-Americans Climb Fashion Industry Ladder, via The New York Times:
    This has happened largely for the same reason that the New York fashion industry, through the ’80s, was populated most visibly by designers of Jewish heritage, like Calvin Klein, Ms. Karan, Ralph Lauren, Marc Jacobs and Mr. Kors. Throughout the 20th century, generations of Jewish immigrants had created a thriving garment district in New York, first as laborers, then as factory owners, manufacturers, retailers and, eventually, as designers.
  • #422: Hanging On, via (of course) 1000 Awesome Things. "We grow up, we grow older, some grow hotter, some grow colder."
  • Friends I'll Never Meet: Anthony, an interview with a dude in a wheelchair and his sex life, via Slutever. "There are obviously limitations. Like OK, I can’t stand up, but there is so much more that can be done, ya know? I work with what I have. There have been points in my life when I wasn’t strong enough to be 'on top,' but I’ve found that women really like to be on top anyway, so it works out."
  • Thankfulness: An Unexpected Group Activity, via yikes machine. In which Shilo practices daily gratitude in a notebook, which she loses and then finds again.
  • If you've been hiding under a rock and haven't seen this yet, grit and glamour's Why I'm Not on Weardrobe, Chictopia, Lookbook, or Hypeed kinda hits the nail on the head.
  • You should read What Actually Happens At A Bachelor Party at The Frisky because the third-to-last sentence is so unfortunately romantic and worth reading the rest of the article for. Plus, there are lines like "If he’s damaged in any way, decorated with hickies, or lobotomized by liquor, I will staple your balls to your chin."
  • An interview with David Sedaris, via NY Mag's Vulture.
    I notice when I read something that often what I’m laughing at is a word choice, a word that I didn’t expect to find there, and that makes me laugh.
    I was reading the New York Times a couple years ago, and I learned that there is a certain kind of leech that can only live in the anus of a hippopotamus. So in another version of the story, the hippo is completely different and there wasn’t an owl in it and it took place in Africa. I opened with a quote from the New York Times, and I thought, No, the New York Times doesn’t really belong in this book. So I thought, I’m just going to have a rat convey that bit of information.
  • 10 Emerging Book Genres You've Probably Never Heard Of, via Library Science Degree. I want to look into Hindi Dalit (literature from the lowest caste), Combinatorial ("Dennis G. Jerz compares it to old text-based adventure games, where the developers had to consider every possible move a player could make and create situations accordingly."), and Hmong-American (unrelated, but Hmong dialects are named after the color of their dress. And from what I know, the Hmong-American story is ... tragic).
  • This is going to hurt you more than it hurts me, via Vagina Drum. (Yes, I did read an article from a blog called Vagina Drum. Is there a problem, officer?) "I participated in No Make-Up Week. Which for me is a lot like asking a fat guy to participate in 'Breathe Heavily Week.'"
  • An interview with Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter, via The Rumpus.
    We didn’t have anything before Twitter that allowed a group of people roaming around a city to communicate instantly, in real time, and in a coordinated way, in a group. I’ve probably overused this analogy of a flock of birds moving around an object in flight, but, in reality, it’s so simple, real time communication of individuals that allow for this super organism type of organism to happen.
  • An interview with Rachel Yeomans, professional blogger behind The Working Wardrobe, via IFB. "Growing up, my single career goal was to love my job as much as my father loves his, and I quickly discovered that was a very difficult goal to reach."
  • Former Beauty Editor Secrets - 11 Totally Glam Pick-Me-Ups Under $11, via lemondrop.
    These are sexy little BURNING PAPERS. Like paper-thin incense, lush-rose scented, that you light in a little dish or something, and they slowly burrrn away, emitting fantastic (though not cloying-smelling) smoke. Do you die? You do. I told you you would.
  • Thing you've probably already seen but is still worth reposting: 32 Ways To Make Someone Happy Today, via zenhabits.
  • Another you've probably already seen, but honestly, I think most people need to read So Sorry To Do This! Flakiness Epidemic Sweeps Digital New York, via The New York Observer, because THIS is why I deleted my Facebook account.
    Flakiness is just not cute. It's not cute to make your friends wait for you without any kind of warning or any kind of notice... It's not like it's a quirky trait that's kind of cool and fun—you're just late all the time. It's not that cool. If you're running late, you can text someone.
  • In Praise of Quitting Your Job, via Varsity Bookmarking, via Nubby Twiglet.
    "I always feel like a waste of space in these situations. Part of the depression stems from being so useless. Why do I hate this job so much? What is wrong with me that I’m so entitled? People the world over have jobs they don’t like, why am I unable to stick this out?"
    "I think it comes down to the fact that, for some people, work is personal. Personal in the same way that singing or playing the piano or painting is personal."
    "When I am able to own a project or product, I work hard and I work well, and I like to believe it shows in the results. Not everyone can do this. Not everyone is willing to spend stupid amounts of hours on a project simply because they believe in it. This is worth recognizing."
  • Look at This Article. It's One of Our Most Popular via WSJ. Three words: positive feedback loop.
  • How the OAuth Security Battle Was Won, Open Web Style, via Read Write Web. In which Twitter, Yahoo, Google, other internet juggernauts, and the little guys pool their engineers' brains for the sake of the community and, as a result, are totally heroic.
  • With A Little Help From His Friends, via Vanity Fair. About Sean Parker of Facebook and how he's a genius and a huge flake. (So maybe flakiness is actually a virtue...)
MAGIC and OTHER FUN

"We start so young, wrinkled and helpless and we end up the same. In between, life throws magic at us."
  • Vote for Christina of Profresh Style to be the full-time fabulous fashion blogger for Sunglass Hut! You only need an email address, they won't spam you, and you get a coupon code after voting. C'mon, what've you got to lose?
  • If you're feeling shop-happy, use fazed-girl's (!) coupon code SalGFP at eShakti to get 15% off your order, valid until the end of November!
  • Chef, the programming language, via Wikipedia. Code snippet:
    Method.
    Put potatoes into the mixing bowl.
    Put dijon mustard into the mixing bowl.
    Put lard into the mixing bowl.
    Put red salmon into the mixing bowl.
    Put oil into the mixing bowl.
  • diy: bunny ears, via The YesStylist. Not your run-of-the-mill Maison Michel lace bunny ears - these are more cutesy, more versatile, and more werable.
  • The kaleidoscope jellyfish is endangered. So is the sea piglet.
Above, kaleidoscope jellyfish, via BBC News.
Hilarious details! From here, and attributed to Turkmen, although I can't find this particular drawing on her DeviantArt. (This is definitely hers, though.)

ADORABLE MARAUDERS! From here, by alirodina.

I think this is a little bit beautiful. From here, by burdge-bug.

Cute, but really sad. From here, by mneomosyne.

VIDEOS AND MUSIC
  • If you still haven't seen Kanye West's "Runaway" despite or because everyone's been telling you to watch it, let me join the ranks and suggest you do so. If only for the bird girl. Because watching this made that costume designing flame I thought I had smothered flare up again like a bad case of the clap. And the ballerina sequence is beautiful, especially because they actually had the dancers hold their positions rather than using multiple cameras to get a Matrix-style rotating still shot. (I'm not saying it's really really good or anything, but it sure is interesting to look at, as in you're probably gonna wanna watch this one in HD.) Caps from YouTube:
  • Bo Burnham's "Oh Bo" because the man is epic-offensive-genius. And I spot a little Latino, booty so big call it Oprah's ego. / We go to it, through it, she says, "Dios mio mi amigo!" / Pull it out, stick it in your mouth, and I bust in the back of ya. / Swallow bitch, there's people starving in Africa!
  • Bo Burnham's "Words Words Words," for I'm a feminine Eminem, a slim shady lady / But nice 'cause I texted Haiti and I hate catchy choruses, and I'm a hypocrite. Hungry hungry hypocrite.
  • Genki Sudo WORLD ORDER, because my brother sent me this video of men in suits who dance funny, and I don't get it.
  • Bo Burnham's "Love Is..." for this:
    • I love you like kings love queens
    Like a gay geneticist loves designer genes
    I need you like New Orleans needs a drought
    Like Hitler's father needed to learn to pull out
  • Alex Goot's cover of Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" because he's kinda cute, and I like his voice.
  • Boyce Avenue's cover of Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" because despite Katy Perry's version sounding all bubbly pop, this one is actually... kinda romantic.
  • The Bed Intruder Song, covered in complete seriousness by Vektor.
  • The Bed Intruder Song, arranged for Tsugaru Shamisen, because for some reason, the melody really lends itself to this instrument.
  • Speaking of songs that really lend themselves to instruments, this harp cover of Darren Criss's "The Muse" is very pretty.
  • Justin Bieber's "That Should Be Me," live, because I have bad taste and these are the links to prove it.
  • What I assume is the studio version of Justin Bieber's "That Should Be Me"
  • And something you should actually click to watch: AJ Rafael and Albert Posis cover the Biebs' "That Should Be Me" (with a little Tae Yang's "Wedding Dress" mashed up in there). It sounds better than it sounds, I promise.
  • This one's not music: Barton Seaver's TED talk on overfishing and sustainable seafood. Anyone who's done at least a semester of environmental science should know all this already, but this is a nice reminder.
  • I first heard The Middle East's "Blood" covered by some kid on YouTube posted on someone's tumblr (I think Tyler Knott's, actually) but only saw the video recently, thanks to That [Unreliable] Girl, and it is charming:



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Saturday, September 4, 2010

trawling

Time to clear out my bookmarks.
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