5 days, 14 findings

Well. It's been a solid 5 days since I last posted, which, I know, was incredibly disappointing to all 8 of you readers (I'm guessing. Maybe there are 5 of you.). It's been a rather whirlwindy couple of days, and I've been compiling a list of Totally Awesome Links, which hopefully are not outdated by now. Also, I promise I will post pictures of the felted bag soon...they're (finally) uploaded and will get a lovely post all about them, and they (wait, it?) will be happy (wait, happy pictures?). Or at least Reed (and maybe you?) will be happy to see that I completed a project involving knitting in the round (oooh) and felting (double oooh)! So Accomplished!

The news in brief: (1) I had my (5, count them 5) interviews at Google on Tuesday. It was exhausting and exciting, and now I just wait...wish me luck! (2) Oliver Twist opened last night, and was quite good. I really enjoyed it, and even (mostly) enjoyed the members of the Dickensian Society [note: I totally want to go to the fair at the Cow Palace] who came dressed in full Dickensian regalia--though rumor has it, some of them were 100 years off in their historical accuracy...or inaccuracy. (3) I am getting a new cell phone today. It has (gasp) a camera! And (gasp gasp) is a flip phone! What? Technology?! I know...it's time to upgrade from my little Nokia bar phone, which I would not do so willingly (creature of habit) except for the "3" key is getting kind of sticky (from dropping it?), which makes text messaging kind of difficult sometimes...I get a lot of "ddd" when what I want is "def" - not a huge problem, but still. A sign that it's time to move on. AND the worst of it is, the snooze function on the alarm sometimes stops working. For no apparent reason. Pure will of the phone, or a sign from the gods that I should sleep more (more than 9 hours? are you crazy? who needs that much sleep?). Either way, I don't like hitting snooze and waking up 40 minutes later only to find the phone peacefully snoozing away...it's like the phone fell asleep and forgot that it was supposed to wake up in 10 minutes with it's nice little beep, exponentially increasing in frequency and volume. Tragedy. Anyway, new phone. And the nice man at the Cingular store is supposedly hooking me up with a student discount and extra messaging features, which (because of the discount) I won't actually be paying for. Cool? Let's see if it works...

And now...on with the links.

1. This is kind of outdated, but Facebook now has a Craigslist-style classifieds section, called Marketplace. I was skeptical at first, but as more people are catching on, I can see how this would be useful. It's good for the "security" factor--you can see how you know all the people posting things. So, like, if you see an ad for someone needing a subletter, you can see that they're a friend of a friend of a friend and can get some sort of knowledge that they're not crazy. Bonus: the article has a picture of Mark Zuckerberg, creator of Facebook. Awww so technologically adorable.
   
2. Google = order out of chaos. Groovy. That's all I have to say there.
3. This is a great article about the dilemma of money vs. job satisfaction. Always an important thing to think about, always a dilemma.
4. Ever get totally freaked out/mystified/dumbfounded by technology? I know I do. So does Mark Morford. I think he pretty much sums up my feelings on this--we love our technology, yes we do, but sometimes, it's pretty darn amazing that I can talk into a piece of plastic and someone a million miles away talks back at me from their piece of plastic, and we can hear each other brilliantly and it's totally insane.
5. mmmm Spinach Brownies. These sound so good I'm just going to have to make them. And they're totally not bad for you! Really...mostly. Cheese+Spinach+Oven=melty delicious.
6. This movie, ONCE, looks and sounds interesting. Might be totally artsyfartsyindieromance, but I totally dig the music (heard it on NPR), it it sounds like it could be a winner.
7. I absolutely loved this totally awesome article about the internet and the music industry. Really, really interesting. That's all I can say right now...just read it. Improve your mind. Or just be entertained.
8. Controversy Alert! Is a "disabled" athlete actually "more abled" than runners with two legs? The NY times reports of a sprinter with no legs (he has synthetic, J-shaped attachments, and has since he was an infant--pictures in the article) who is out-running two-legged sprinters. Fair or Not Fair? Either way, he's a cutie pie.
9. The Discovery Channel reports archaeological findings of ancient, golden, Roman braces (or something). Old School Bling. Weird, but totally interesting.
10. Did you know that there was once a 5-year old girl that gave birth? WHAT?
11. Too weird not to report: growable insulation...made of mushrooms. "Plant" them in your walls (I think) and watch them grow! Make a whole house out of the stuff! Crazy!
12. Boosting your credit rating...if you wanna. I haven't thought too much about it, as my credit is good, if not nonexistent...but check it out if you're interested.
13. 6 ways to get stains out...with regular old household items like salt and baking soda! Maybe there's something here you haven't heard before...
14. And finally, Jessie is hilarious, and you should read her blog. It makes me laugh all the time. Gotta love her. I do, anyway.

There are your 14 Fun Findings for this Thursday evening. Enjoy!