Friday! Yes! Finally! It’s been a strange week. I celebrated my birthday over the weekend in chilly Vancouver and then once I got back promptly got incredibly sick. I’m finally starting to feel normal again.

Let’s look at some links!

Tiny Burrito Hamster had a tiny Friendsgiving! Afterwards he watched tiny football and did a tiny 5k to burn it all off.

Portraits of gender reassignment. These are quite lovely.

How hillbilly reality tv got too real. I am very sad about the unraveling of Honey Boo Boo.

New episodes of Bee & Puppycat!

I fell down the rabbit hole reading these Monistat 1 reviews on Amazon. Moral of the story is don’t use that shit! An excerpt from one of my favorites:

The last 10 minutes of work my boyfriend showed up and I was hunched over a freezer in the back, breathing as though I was about to give birth to satan himself. I followed my boyfriend home with one hand on the wheel and the other pulling my shorts aside praying that the ac would somehow reach my poor little “who” and make her feel better. I waddle in the house and my boyfriend tried to touch my butt… I slapped his hand down and suddenly the devil leaped into my body and lashed out at him. The meanness rolled from my tongue, but I couldn’t be touched. Boyfriend simply couldn’t understand, when I finally came to, that my Netherlands felt as though a large colony of fire ants had decided to call it home and were celebrating by setting off fireworks and eating wasabi covered hotdogs while the red hot chili peppers gave a killer performance of “come on Baby Light my Fire.” I crawled in bed and whimpered for god to just take my life…

Interested in doing a No Pay MBA? Or just learning basic business skills? Here’s a good guide that includes online resources.

I don’t believe in astrology, but this Dating the Zodiac series is pretty fun.

21 women on the dumb things they spend their money on. Hint: food is expensive.

Also, New York women draw their own boobs.

There is an academic journal for Adventure Time research

Classic principles of economics, illustrated with Seinfield clips

The NY Times chats with Gillian Flynn and Cheryl Strayed.

I had a hard time getting into season 1 of American Horror Story (Murder House), but the latest season, Freak Show, seems just up my ally!

Here’s Seal Boy from Season 4 in his real life…. doing burlesque with his prosthetics.

Here’s the original Seal Boy, Sealo! I actually really like that entire site, Human Marvels. It’s informative, but doesn’t really feel manipulative.

Last freak show link, I swear: This essay makes me want to re-read Geek Love

Agency life…

Also, if you are in advertising and love cards against humanity, an ad agency created their own cards…

To celebrate Black Friday, the actual creators of Cards Against Humanity sold poop. 😀

It’s the end of the year-best of lists are coming out like gangbusters. Here’s NYTime’s best books of 2014.

Top gifts for your fitness freak friends. Which at this point is pretty much all my friends. Crossfit dice, anyone?

Scallion pancakes are one of my favorite unhealthy Chinese foods. Now I can make my own at home, Yan Can Cook style.

Haven’t done one of these in a while, but every time I tried to get one together, I felt like my links were too old. But no matter, let’s look at some links!

First off, the San Francisco Gay Men’s Choir singing their parody of “Stay with me.” Preeeettttty great.

I’ve read 21. How many of these 100 “great” novels have you read?

Even better, how many of Marilyn Monroe’s library of books have you read? Growing up I always thought Marilyn was a bit of a ditz, but it seems like she knew what she was doing to some extent. I’ve been surprised to learn how athletic and bookish she was.

The real history behind J Crew clothing spinoff Madewell (aka our culture’s current obsession for buying things with history/a story)

50 underwhelming musician real names

RookieMag interviewed young female artists and asked how they make an artistic life work as a career

Back when I was feeling down last month, I watched the Roosevelts documentary, and it made me feel a lot better seeing how Theodore, Eleanor and Franklin handled their own varying levels of depression (Cliff’s notes version: Theodore and Eleanor kept themselves incredibly busy, Franklin did things for other people and brooded a lot). Ken Burns documentaries are easy to make fun of, but this one was pretty great, even if it was 14 hours long. You can watch it on demand on PBS and the Fresh Air interview with Burns is a good teaser if you’re on the fence.

And after you’ve watched the first two episodes, you might find this Teddy Roosevelt DirtBag article funny.

Ask Polly moved over to NYMag- Here she answers the difficult question “Why don’t the men I date ever truly love me?” 

I just discovered Bee & PuppyCat. Where have they been all my life?

The Economist explains why South Korea is so Christian

Interesting interview with Andre 3000… errr Andre Benjamin about what he’s been up to lately. Especially interesting is how he’s trying to make his artistic life work with being an active dad.

9 must try Vietnamese drinks. What, no avocado shakes?

Cosmonaut crashed to Earth crying in rage. The story is a bit more complicated, but it makes you feel something, right?

I’ve been disillusioned with the SF hot restaurant scene for quite a while now. The fun is just gone. Here, let there be an airing of grievances!!!

Here’s a free e-book that a grad student made for her final project. It’s a cookbook for people who receive SNAP benefits (food stamps).

It takes a lot of work to make good matcha.

Bored at work? How about participating in Office Roleplaying on Facebook?

My favorite mortician was on Fresh Air! Wait, that sounds weird…

Are you following Four Loko on Twitter? You’re missing out. It’s one of the most ridiculous accounts I’ve ever seen.

An informative interview with a professional taxidermist.

Basic Bitches from Literature. Thank god they called out Daisy Buchanan. The entire time I was reading the Great Gatsby I couldn’t get over how terrible she was.

Camping season isn’t over! Here are the best spots 2 hours out from San Francisco.

Friday! Friday! Haven’t been this excited for a Friday in weeks. What am I going to do this weekend? EAT.SLEEP.KNIT. Let’s look at some links!

• John Waters hitchhiked cross-country from Baltimore to San Francisco. Then he wrote a book about it! What an awesome midlife crisis. Here’s an interview with Terry Gross about the book.
• I’ve really been getting into resistance band exercises. Here are 33 moves to get you started.
• If God worked for an ad agency.
• This burger blog makes me laugh.
• Bill Watterson was the secret cartoonist on Pearls Before Swine!
• Go Michelle Wie!
• The actress who played Vee on Orange is the New Black opened up about her nude scene. Can’t believe she’s in her 50s. Good for her.
• Also, somebody rounded up a selection of books from Orange is the New Black. Good eye!
• David Sedaris got a FitBit and freaked out on it.
• I missed the giant Slip n Slide in Potrero.
• A Google Map of Little Free Libraries!
• Opera in the Ballpark is coming back after a year off. This time it’s La Traviata. I’m seriously seriously excited for this one. Garlic fries and free Verdi. Pretty great.
• Bissap Baobab– staying relevant in a changing San Francisco.
• Only in Arkansas. Only on meth.
• Save your pennies, John Cheever’s house is for sale for a mere 525K.
• I love making butter in jars. Making whipped cream is even easier.
• Every four years Brazilians paint their streets for the World Cup. Tour the streets with Google Maps
• A brief introduction to how different cultures understand time. I’m mostly American, with a bit of Chinese. Gee, what a surprise.
• James Franco is teaching a Skillshare class about screenwriting. WHAT.
• Beer + Yoga, it’s a thing.
• Dave Chappelle is back, back.
• The science behind why people wait in ridiculously long lines.
• A ragtime version of the Game of Thrones theme.
• Where children sleep.
• Women have been rejected men in art foreverrrrrr.
• Somebody did the math around the Silicon Valley dick joke.
• I’m loving The Billfold’s series on how muppets do money. I think I’m a Bert, I’m afraid I’m a Prairie Dawn. Props to the writers for making Gonzo a frugal homesteader.
• A British Baroness gives tips on saving $$$. The rich, they’re just like us!
• A million Chinese migrants are staying in Africa and trying to make a life. Definitely adding this book to my To Read list.
• Speaking of Chinese people, these photos of anti-homeless spikes recently installed in Guangzhou and Shenzhen are making the rounds on the internet. Sad stuff.
• I hurt myself in the gym last week. Thanks to this illustrated online guide, I can easily google stretches for my pain.
• This documentary about America’s flawed financial system is backed by American Express but it’s still quite good.

 

I’ve been looking forward to the backlash to EDM, and this Sam Smith cover of “How Will I Know?” does the trick: