Thursday 13: Thursday link love

he past couple of weekends have been busy with home things, actually getting things done! But of course I have taken *some* time out for my usual wanderings around the internet, checking out bits and pieces that intrigue me. And you know I have to share, I'm just the sharing type, right? So I'm not waiting for a "Weekend link love" opportunity, I'm taking advantage of NOW, and sharing 13 interesting places/stories around the web.

1. Why is this news not being blasted from the mountaintops? BPA is found in canned goods as well as plastic? Good to know, even if the researchers are unsure what health effect this has, long term. Good thing we don't eat from tin cans very much. Grrr.

2. I enjoyed this post from one courageous mother, blogging about her cancer journey. Well, she didn't mean for it to be about cancer when she started it as an artsy-jewelry kind of blog a few years ago. But circumstances unfold (cancer, ugh, yuck), and she responded...

3. Have you heard of Fab.com? If you haven't, you should check it out. You have to sign up, but that's a minor whatever. There are many fun, pretty items, on sale. I have yet to buy anything, but it sure is fun to look. Check out these pretty iPhone covers:

4. Remember when Facebook used to update you with information on the pages you followed? I think they were called updates, right? Then they changed the whole "pages" thing and went with more of a business-page idea, and if you like something, updates end up in your feed. But sometimes, you still get messages, apparently. Where are they? Just below your messages themselves, in that left-hand column. I had not looked there in more than a year, and when I read this article, I decide to go looking. There were mostly updates from people/companies/blogs I'd followed for a while, but there were also a couple of "hey, wanna be my friend" messages from people I DO NOT know, and have no desire to know. Maybe I'm the only one who hadn't kept up with the "other" messages, but I'm glad to now know. (Creepy people now blocked, thank you very much.)

5. This interesting story about a small weekly suburban publication in Boston caught my attention. Seems the publisher can't figure out a reason why he'd want to publish online. Given that he doesn't seem to have any competition (print or digital) in his area, I say let's start an online rag to compete! Give him a reason to get digital. OK, that might be mean, but he's pretty much advertising for someone to do it.

6. I have had good luck with interval training in the past, and this post reminded me why I should take it up again. I did a couple of days at the beginning of the week, and enjoyed it. Now to make it a regular thing!

7. So apparently cupcakes are only for the middle to upper classes now? I guess at $2.50-$4 a pop, that makes sense...

8. Take a look at these paper dolls that have been crafted especially for Downton Abbey fans. What a hoot! The scary thing would be to find adult women actually playing with them (I have my eye on you, Jen! And Megan! And all the rest of you!)

And of course, in keeping with the ongoing (and sadly, now waiting for season 3) Downton Abbey obsession, this explanation of the highs and lows  of British cuisine was quite interesting to me. Also in the Downton vein, an article on how Downton Abbey has made PBS "cool" again. (For some of us Masterpiece/Nature geeks, it always was...) Just yesterday I was sent a link to this hilarious recap of the Downton finale. (Language warning. Really. Don't say I didn't warn you.) Just about wet my pants laughing. Thanks, Robin!

9. I enjoyed this blog post about the various kinds of commenters out there in blogland. Glad I only have the kind and thoughtful ones, so far... What's your experience? Any trolls out there in your world?

 9. This "what I really do" meme has taken off like a rocket around the interwebs, and a wide variety of themes have arisen. Mashable has a compilation of career-related ones, but I think my favorites are the ones like the North Dakota one above, where all the pictures are the same. But then I see another one, and then that one is my favorite. I am a sucker for this meme, true story.

10. This piece about how our media diets mimic our actual diets (ie, cheap and easy) is an interesting way to look at both phenomenons. (Here's an interview with the author on NPR, if you'd prefer to listen.)

monasnookie

12. And to follow the point of the article just mentioned (re: media diets), the picture above pretty much sums it up. The fact that I know who that is really bothers me.

13. And back to more enlightening topics, this piece about sleep really woke me up! I never knew that there had been other kinds of sleep patterns, hundreds of years ago. Makes sense that we have tried to jam it all up into one 8-hour slot, so we can get more done! Maybe I shouldn't fight the 3 a.m. wake-toss-thing?

That's it from me this week. Hope there was a link or two that piqued your interest! What have you read lately that kept your interest? I would love to know.

For other Thursday 13 participants, go here. And have a great Thursday, while you're at it!