* not with ink

Sometimes, the internet is a wonderful tool for unexpected delights and exciting new discoveries. And sometimes, the internet startles you with unwanted knowledge and scars you with images you can't unsee. And I don't just mean the sex stuff. Yesterday, I was looking for an image of a particular person using Google image search, when suddenly, in the third line of images, was a photo that was definitely not someone's face . As my brain processed what I was seeing, I quickly refined my search terms and carried on. Although I was somewhat amused, it wasn't exactly the sort of picture you casually show your boss... So that was it. But last night, when Karen & Jackie (our fabulous houseguest for the week) asked about my day, I remembered. And I needed to share the trauma. So I pulled my computer over to the middle of the living room, entered the same search term, and started scrolling. Of course, from a different account the results weren't the same, and ...

I am very happy each time I see a new post in my RSS feed from any of these men. Their art style is simple, their insights profound, their humour relateable (relatable?). head to xkcd.com to view the scrollover... how true this Marc Johns drawing is. So exactly how I often feel . Thanks, Dave Walker.

I love indexed.

Did the Monday blahs get you down? Is Tuesday being threatened by more gray clouds? No more gloominess for you. I have the antidote, via Youtube and some fun-loving families somewhere in the US. Unless you hate children, these videos will make your day. I am offering a 92% guarantee that you will laugh at least once. Karen laughed so hard she slid off her chair. Without further ado, I present to you…. KID SNIPPETS! And their sister-production, KID HISTORY!  

So I told you all I'd write more this month, and then I had a whirlwind weekend (not an unusual occurrence)  and now I'm realizing that the only way I'll be able to write anything this week is if I do it while at work (shhhhhh)  but it's almost 2pm now and the afternoon-sleepies are in full force. I've been trying to go to bed at 10pm this fall/winter, but I've been a bit lax this past week and am currently feeling the effects. So here's a bit of a light-hearted post, because at least I'm posting content. Can I tell you that last week's episode of 30 Rock  was maybe my favourite yet? If there is any way that Liz Lemon and I are alike, it is on our view of the wedding industry and secretly wanting to be a princess. I loved all her rants. If I get married, I'm pretty sure my wedding will look nothing like the one below, but I hope it is as unique, fun-filled, and exactly-what-the-couple-wants. I hope my husband is as handsome as James Marsden...

It's not too late to join the B-Sides Music Exchange . About half a dozen of us have uploaded our albums, and there is still time to add yours in! In case you're teetering on the edge, I thought I'd offer you my mix in streaming format. And know that of all the mixes, mine is the worst. So if this is passable, the others will be even more enjoyable. Beth's Best B-Sides from bethaf on 8tracks Radio .

All day, my work computer has been prompting me to reboot because of recently installed patches. I have delayed it at least a dozen times, because I have too many important tabs open . So, for my own sake (and your curiousity/education) here they are: Music I want to listen to . Apparel Industry Trends -  looking at forced & child labour in clothing production Once Was Lost - an online store that gives 50% of proceeds to support adoptive families, including my friends Amelia & Varun . 3 Cords - an online store featuring handmade goods from women in Haiti. God is not "everywhere" - a theological conversation with a friend. Self-taught 15 year-old engineer from Sierra Leone . I want to watch the video. End of the Line - an article about the ICU shared by my nurse-friend Laura. Joan Didion on keeping a notebook .

Sometimes I get SO BORED at work and think, Why is the internet so dull and useless?? Then other times, I have SO MANY tabs open that I can’t catch up on all the thoughts I have. Today is a many-tab day. Here are most of them: Charlie Wilson’s “ Music for Sleeping Children ” -  I don’t even know what it is yet! But I’m intrigued. “ Self Service ” via The Walrus – convicting and thought-provoking, as I consider my constant desire to move to a developing nation: This is the conundrum: earnest thinking about work in the developing world brings the potential of neo-colonialism. But if you embrace the approach I felt so proud of, viewing Africa as a place to learn from, then you risk falling down the Kony hole. This can have practical consequences. Young foreigners interested in self-improvement, who may feel unsure about why they are there in the first place, don’t make the best workers, and they can take jobs away from locals.  Does this mean we should disengage? ...

A little curated list of things I've found about-town. By which I mean, on-line. Interesting things just pile up and pile up in my browsers. Here are some of them. This kid's perspective on Maroon 5 's big hit "Moves Like Jagger" cracks me up. This is like pinterest for recipes . It's very, very dangerous. ( Vanessa , you'll love it.) I recently decided to start exchanging postcards with strangers around the world. You may enjoy doing the same. Did you know that  the "City of London" is not the same as the city named London ? A fascinating and informational short video.      5.  Needs no introduction. ( via A Softer World )         6. This amazing art from Marc Johns   continually amuses me. There should be laws like this.     7. I'd hate to make this gaffe , but I do wish jobs would land in my lap...     8. Related:  I feel like this Wondermark comic .

When I'm bored at work, I look for interesting articles and good music online. Often I tweet the links, but not always. Also, link posts seem to be popular these days, so here are some things I've enjoyed this week: An interview with Justin Timberlake , on Botox & being "real" as a musician. The Temper Trap's new album is streaming . So is The Tallest Man on Earth 's. Thisismyjam.com - I think it could catch on. Still very beta, very British. But so was Spotify, once upon a time. Trappist Monks email about the practice of silence . Andy Samberg on why he didn't get a huge SNL sendoff . Rachel Held Evans has a whole series of posts on egalitarianism this week. They're lengthy and many in number, but for church folk who recognize that word, they're a good read.

I'm bored of blogging. Actually, as I think about this more, it's not exactly boredom. I’m at my digital capacity. Maybe past it. I need to rething this whole interweb thing. It was easy when I started, back before Facebook or Twitter or Flickr or Skype or GMAIL! And I’m not even on Pinterest or Tumblr or Instagram (yet!). Back then, I blogged. And I emailed. And now…now I do SO MUCH. Or I don’t do it all, but I want to, because I like staying connected to people, and I like feedback and encouragement (and bald-faced lies about how great I am) and…maybe someday I'll get famous off of this (yeah. right.), and...and …and all the things that are hazards of our current tech-savvy, real-time responding culture. I took this photo back in January of 2008. I was bored. And unsettled. I am bored and unsettled again, although this round is different. Not worse, not better (maybe better), just different. (insert intentional end to a ramble that could vaguely go on fore...

Yesterday I said to the internets, "Entertain me!" These are the two best responses to my demand: This dog is jumping DOUBLE DUTCH. I don't even know if I can still do that! Don't you feel just a little bit sad for this poor melancholic mouser?

Yesterday, I found this on a friend's Facebook wall. I couldn't look away. A little bit funny, but mostly awkwardly awkward. And now I'm watching it again. WHY!? WHY!? My interest in purchasing Nutrigrain bars went from non-existent to intentionally-avoiding-them.

My new job has me clicking online a lot. And sometimes I get a little bit distracted. Today I discovered two websites that could have derailed me from accomplishing anything... That Poverty Project : one man in western Canada is living through three radical challenges to help raise awareness and support to change the reality of poverty here in Canada and around the world. He's currently living out of a tent. Next up, live on $7.50/day. Dear Photograph : Take a picture of a picture from the past in the present. Amazing. I've started thinking about what I will send in. This, of course, means I need to find some photos from my childhood. Or maybe more recent past? Who knows.

Chilled with the famil-am this weekend. Spent part of Saturday morning sitting on the couch with my little brother (This is the one situation in which I insist on being an annoying older sister. He hates that I call him my "little" brother, and pick me up and shook me like a rag doll yesterday to remind me that while younger, he is bigger . But I can't do it. He's got to be my little brother. Sorry, dude.) and hitting "StumpleUpon" over and over and over on his laptop. Finds included: The Aurora Borealis. He has now suggested we go for a trip up north, just to see them "for real." A whole bunch of great quotes. (Oh, Tina Fey!) Hilarious celebrity portraits. I think my fave is Paul Rudd's. (warning: some portraits are suggestive...) This 8-bit music video. I don't like the video, but I'm digging the song something fierce. I will not get StumbleUpon for my laptop, because I cannot handle the temptation to keep clicking. It...

I have been meaning to write this post for months . I don't know why I haven't. I don't read the personal blogs of many strangers, and I'm never really sure how I ended up with the ones I do follow, so I can't tell you how either of these two very different ladies wound up being among my favourites. The Frenemy: Sharp-tongued, slightly cynical, younger-than-I-guessed single girl. I think in NYC. Despite our vastly different worldviews & general life choices, there is distinct and important common ground. She is honest about women, how messy we are (figuratively and literally), and regularly pokes fun of Cosmopolitan . I crack up on a regular basis reading her rants, but rarely (never) share them publicly (until now!) since I know the chance of offending someone within the realm of my readership is quite high. I really love this recent entry, "In Defense of Bodies. " ( warning: crude language - probably not for my mom, girls under 18, or others with se...

From my brother-in-law, Lalo, who loves this dancing. I resisted the song based on the band's name. Buuuuuut, it is catchy. And these peeps have moves . (some mild profanity in the opening dialogue) Did you know that Salvador Dali and Walt Disney had plans for a short film? It was finished by some other people, and is kind of bizarre and kind of amazing. Law-breaking-video is viewable here . And because 7 million people have seen it and can testify to the cuteness, I give you CAT MOM HUGS BABY KITTEN! (baby kittens are so much cuter than non-baby kittens)

Remember how I love Tracy Chapman's Fast Car ? Well, now this year's "male Susan Doyle" has covered it on Britain's Got Talent . Check it out HERE. Because embedding is disabled. Love it. But what I really want to know is how is he an ENGINEER at 19? Or does "engineer" mean something different in Britain? And I will appease you for forcing an extra click to an external page by embedding the original music video by Tracy:

I like P!nk's voice. But I don't often listen to P!nk's music. I find she is a bit too....something. I'm not sure the right word - she pushes boundaries, maybe, and somtimes it's too much? But I will admit to turning up Perfect when it comes on in the car radio. I much prefer it to today's other "embrace yourself" anthems: Katy Perry's Firework or Lady Gaga's Born This Way . I went to watch the video online and discovered two things: 1. It's a bit heavier than I expectd. 2. The song is actually called F***** Perfect . Surprise. #1 made me respect her more. #2, slightly less. Here is the video. Warning: contains images of self-harm.

I love the original song by Tracy Chapman , and I love this cover by Kina Grannis & Boyce Avenue. It's the perfect mix of tragedy and hope. Currently singing along. Thanks, Jess, for sharing this. (I'd apologize for all the music videos this week, but there is at least one more still coming...so I'm obviously not that sorry.)