Thursday 13: Link love for a short work week!

Hard to believe today is Thursday, around here. I kept thinking last night that today really must be Monday, right? Having Wednesday off of work/reality is wonderful, but kind of messes with my brain...

So these links that I had been tucking away for an after-weekend "link love" post, well... it's after the weekend, right? Just a long time after...

1. The Supreme Court health care ruling, explained. Now to actually read it. (Can you give me the Cliff Notes on it, Brent? Oh wait, you kind of did...)

2. Raining poems in London? How awesome.

3. I'm a podcast fan, though I've slacked off lately, what with more work and less time in the yard. This post about podcasting and how the new move to a podcast app in iTunes caught my eye, though I've yet to follow through and explore. And then there's some additional perspective on the move, too. (Both links are from Neiman Labs, an email digest I receive daily.)

4. This saga about Instagram reminds me of the hullabaloo re: Pinterest a few months back. When will people learn to respect others' creations? (Short answer: never.)

5. I've felt this way about the whole "I'm SO busy, really, SO busy," thing at times; glad someone put words to it.

6. But of course, maybe we wouldn't be SO busy if we had better ways of managing our time, a la this post. Some good thoughts, no matter where in the employment-retirement cycle you may be.

7. Not necessarily revolutionary, but great reminders that ideas arrive more readily in certain environments, with a targeted encouragement.

8. This piece on Julia Child's marriage made me want to watch Julie & Julia again, just to see Meryl and Stanley (and Jane Lynch too!). I really enjoyed that part of the movie--the Julie part, not as much.

9. Walking On My Hands is one of my favorite blogs, and this recent post struck a chord, especially the last paragraph--but read the whole thing to get to that wisdom, really. It's worth your five minutes.

10. I have been a little Union Jack nutty lately, what with the London Olympics coming up... I found a shop online with bunches of fun items emblazoned with the flag.

11. Which works best for you, incentive-wise, a carrot or a stick? I read this post recently and it resonated with me. I used to think I was way over on the carrot end of the spectrum (and I *do* love me some gold stars), but I have come to realize that I do actually respond better to the threat of failure/defeat.

12. I saw this post on cooking pasta and had to laugh. I've been under-watering my pasta for years, and often wondered what the big deal is about having a BIG pot, with boiling water... I love how detailed and descriptive this explanation is, though! Check it out and prepare to have your previous assumptions (about cooking pasta) blown out of the water.

13. Aaron Sorkin's new show, Newsroom, has been on HBO for just a couple of weeks and I've only made it half-way through the pilot. I've been busy, OK? I have an interest, from a couple of angles--I like (generally) Sorkin's writing style, even as he can be preachy and heavy-handed, and Sports Night was one of my favorite shows, back in the day. (I've come to believe that has more to do with Josh Charles and Peter Krause than Aaron Sorkin, but whatever.) Anyway... Sorkin has taken heat in a number of reviews on the tone of Newsroom relative to women, so now I'll just HAVE to watch it and see if I agree.

All that is to say, check out this clip of various "Sorkinsims," and you'll see the guy recycles a bunch of his phrases and clever sayings. I'm sure all writers do this to some degree, but mashed together like this, it's rather humorous.



Hope your 4th of July was lovely--even those of you who *didn't* get the day off and have fireworks--and that the slide into the weekend goes all easy-like.

For more Thursday 13s, go here.