- Cute animal videos of the week: Owl Assists Illustrator Using Tablet, and French Bulldog Puppy Playing With A Door Stopper, and Pit Bull and Deer Develop the Most Delightful Workout Program EVER.
- Funny illustration series of the week: Grumpy Cat Takes Over Disney Cartoons.
- Mesmerizing but slightly creepy art series of the week: Playfully Surreal Photo-Manipulations are Self Portraits with a Twist, and Fairytale Mugshots.
- Corporate kudos of the week: Tesla Releases Patents for the ‘Good of Mankind’.
- Client Feedback on the Creation of the Earth. As someone who deals one-on-one with clients, this cracked me up!!
- Why introverts make great freelancers.
- The Collaboration Paradox: Why Working Together Often Yields Weaker Results.
- Lean Out: The Dangers for Women Who Negotiate. I wish I could say I was surprised by this.
- The U.S. Has the Most Expensive, Least Effective Health Care System. Is anyone really surprised by this?
- Reading: The Struggle. Fiction vs. Distraction/Short Attention Spans.
- Why Isnβt Just Reading Enough Anymore? My comment: getting an ARC or free copy of a book to review doesn’t mean you have to give it a positive review if you didn’t like it. The agreement is usually for an *honest* review. Personally, if I didn’t like a book I was given to review, I will tell the author/publisher privately, and just do a star rating on Goodreads, no public review. Figure they gave me a free book, no press is better than bad press.
- What Happens When Your Sense of Smell Gets Twisted?
- Proxemics Is the Science of Why You Shouldn’t Stand So Close to Me. I find this fascinating.
- The Secret Life of an Obsessive Airbnb Host.
Things of Note:
Hooo boy, how’s that for a list of links? Apparently I was big on the animal videos and art series this week. Anyway. News from the home front: our double date was a lot of fun this past weekend, we are looking at making it into a repeat occurrence. And also sending the boys to do a BBQ roadtrip while we do our own vineyard tour, because thus the interests align. Also, I had some mysterious car trouble last week: my brake lights would not turn off. Yeah. Leading to drainage of battery even when the engine was off, and people driving behind me having no clue when I’m actually braking. No good all around. Luckily it turned out to just be this little rubber buffer disk thing that wears away over time and needed to be replaced, not a larger wiring issue. Phew. My wallet and I are both happy to have my car back and fixed.
In shop news, anyone who’s been eyeing something in my shop should stop by this Saturday, as I’m having a flash sale with other Indie A List members. Mark your calendars! Also, I applied for my first official craft show (not just something put together randomly and in someone’s living room or driveway). I should hear at the end of this week whether I made it in. Yeah, it’s juried and everything. Official, I’m telling you.
What’s new in your world lately?
Haha! The “Grumpy Cat Takes Over Disney Cartoons” is so funny, I love Grumpy Cat! And no, no one is surprised the US health care is the most expensive & least effective! π
So glad your double date was fun! So scary that cars driving behind you couldn’t tell if you were pushing the brakes or not…I’m glad you’re okay! Also, I hope you get into the OFFICIAL craft show π
Jessica
Thanks! Yeah, I didn’t really drive it after we realized what the brake lights were doing, except to go to the mechanics (and even then, it was Ian behind me the whole way in his car, who knew what was up). Too dangerous. But all’s well now! π
Interesting article about Blogging for Books! In general, that piece covered a lot of the reasons why I’m wary of sponsored posts. When a blogger starts to do too many of them and gets excited about EVERYTHING, then how can we trust them to tell us when something is actually worth our time? That organization is BS.
Also, glad you got your tail light fixed! Whew!
Yeah, I agree – when EVERYTHING is great, then really nothing is great. ‘Great’ loses meaning without the contrast. It’s why I don’t go to my friend who likes every single song he hears for recommendations on new bands to listen to. I can’t trust his taste since he makes no distinctions on quality levels. Same thing happens with bloggers.
I will do a non-book sponsored post once in a great while (I actually have one coming up in the next few weeks) but only if it’s a company or product that I already like. Even then, I’m not going to gush and say I love something if I don’t.