link roundup // 11.15.09
Unsurprisingly, my stamina for daily blogging tapered off after three days in a row. I have, however, bookmarked something every day since my last blog entry, so I'll pick a link from each day and write some commentary for it:
- Nov 8th: a clip about friendship from "The Inbetweeners." (NSFW if your workplace cares about f-bombs, but you probably shouldn't be watching Youtube at work anyway.) Hilarious stuff, though a bit sad. "Ooh, a friend? Since when do you have other friends?" Teens have enough concerns without worrying about whether their friends approve of their other friends. It's almost tragic, really. Jay, the kid who's mocked for making a friend outside of his usual group, ends up shredding his new friendship with the kind of adolescent rage that evokes The Lord of the Flies in its suddenness and absurdity. I was never a big fan of Golding.
- Nov 9th: Make a gift bow from a magazine page. Sure to come in handy for future wrapping needs. It's a simple tutorial, which means I'll probably actually use it, as opposed to just admiring the results of how other people use it. I like drawing and I like putting things together by hand, but I've never really been a craftsy etsy kind of person.
- Nov 10th: No Brain – 해변으로 가요 (Keyboys cover). A music video for a cover of the classic Korean karaoke staple, "Let's Go to the Beach," sung in a raspy growl. I still stand by my initial evaluation: It’s like… Korean ska dipped into rainbows and kool-aid and magic?! a.k.a. AWESOME.
- Nov 11th: One Book, Many Readings – a pretty visualization of data from the Choose Your Own Adventure book series, which Wikipedia tells me is a "gamebook" series due to the participatory nature of the stories. How's that for interacting with the text? Don't forget to check out the animations and the gallery. You can even experience a CYOA book on the site as well.
- Nov 12th: suggestions from Ask Metafilter about vegetables to dip in hummus. My tub of cilantro and jalapeno hummus from Trader Joe's was about to expire and I didn't have any chips left. Dilemma. This AskMe question pointed me to some interesting directions for roasted vegetables (kale chips sound great), but, more importantly, it reminded me that raw mushrooms were good for dipping purposes. I happened to have some mushrooms in the fridge, so I washed them, dipped them, and enjoyed them. They were pleasantly crunchy.
- Nov 13th: Excellent Metafilter comment regarding various ways to respond to a command of "Smile!" from a stranger. My favorite is this:
When I really want to rant (if the tone and body language of the man is particularly condescending), I'll say "Ask a man. (again, I get 'what?') Ask a man to smile. Go on. I'll wait." He never knows what to do with that. "Why do you think you have the right to tell me, a complete stranger, how I should look and feel, when you would never, *ever* ask a complete stranger to smile if that stranger were a man."
I don't have much to add to that. It's just a great counterpoint to an absolutely ridiculous and arrogant notion that some people have regarding other people's faces. Absurd is the word. The only person who should be able to command you to smile is the photographer at your family gathering. (Friends usually don't have to command smiles, they can obtain them easily.)