Women Who Rock – #50 Alanis Morissette
The other day I stumbled across Rolling Stone’s list “Women Who Rock: The 50 Greatest Albums of All Time“. On a whim, I decided that I’m going to listen though the whole list. (Well, as much of it as I can access on Spotify, anyway.) I kicked off today with #50: Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill. I don’t think I’ve actually listened to this since college, when (confession) I pretty much had it memorised. In fact, freshman year I went on a road trip to Michigan to see Alanis in concert. Listening to these songs reminds me of who I was back then. They’re very much of that time period, aren’t they? I feel the need to put on some flannel…

“Obamacare”
Somebody Reddit says, “Please explain Obamacare to me like I’m a 5-year-old.” And somebody did. I definitely remember reading through it (especially if you think you’re against it). Also, I was really, really happy and proud to wake up and see the Supreme Court decision. I highly recommend that all the conservatives who are frothing at the mouth over this move to another Western democracy without universal health care. OH WAIT, THERE ISN’T ONE.

How to use Preview in OS X Lion to digitally sign documents – I did not know you could do that. That’s useful!

Birds With Arms – This is pretty much my nightmare, right here.

Spoiled Rotten
This morning over breakfast I saw another post on Ravelry from a parent asking for paper topic ideas for their (high school aged) child. Seriously? It’s great that she’s involved in her kid’s schoolwork, but I just find it mind-boggling that these people (and there have been a few) post on Internet forums asking for this stuff. I couldn’t decide if I should be proud or indignant that my parents never went to such lengths to help me out with my homework. And then I read this article at lunch about how American kids are spoiled rotten and grow into “adultescents” who are incapable of taking care of themselves. Really? This actually happens? I think it’s probably unfair to label it as an American issue; there are no doubt parents in Australia and other places who behave similarly. Nor do I think all US parents are like that; I know that Staci and Nat aren’t raising their kids that way. Even with those caveats, the article rankles. WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE!? I was getting dressed and doing my own homework and, hell, washing the dishes when I was in grade school. If I’d demanded my parents to untie my shoes for me, they probably would’ve laughed in my face. I guess the old “It builds character” excuse for doing chores really is accurate. So thanks, Mom and Dad, for making me do the dishes and start the washing machine and rake the leaves in the yard and decide my own essay topics. I’ve grown into a more capable adult that most of the kids in the article will.

David Cross – Tobias Fünke Plush. That is BRILLIANT.

According to this research, Gmail users are more energy conscious than Yahoo Mail users. Awesome. Also, “Yahoo users tend to lounge around in pajamas at home and enjoy sweet snacks; Gmail folks, on the other hand, are more likely to lounge in jeans and prefer salty snacks.” The Snook commented to me: “You like to lounge in pyjamas and eat salty snacks. Way to break the mould!” Yep. Iconoclast, right here.

Giant Hot Wheels Track With Double Vertical Loop and Real Race Car Drivers? Check. | Playbook | Wired.com – Neat! And it’s in LA. Sis, you should totally go see this!

This morning’s outrage lighting up my Twitter feed: US Olympics Committee sends Cease-and-Desist letter to Ravelry over use of the term “Ravelympics”. The Ravelympics – like the “Tour de Fleece” – is a fun community (non-profit) event where thousands of knitters around the world challenge themselves to finish an item in a set timeframe. Whatever, I get that they have to protect their trademark. But I find it really insulting that the letter says that knitters are somehow denigrating the achievements of the athletes by using the word. Bullshit. No one is actually comparing themselves to an Olympic athlete. This is all about corporate control. I had been considering taking part and watching a lot of the Games, but screw that. I’m on board with the boycott.

Holy levitating Slinky! – That’s pretty cool.