Web Time Wasters

How was your week, guys?  I spent most of mine nursing a cold so I could prepare for a weekend of a loppet party, a Superbowl party, and a birthday party.  Somewhere in there I had some BFF time, trip-planning time, and voracious J.D. Salinger-reading time.

Anyway!  Links!

Don't know where the time goes?  Check out this (free!) time-tracking software. 

I liked these thoughts on "selling out." 

The idea that “real” artists only make the work for themselves (take it or leave it, world!) is not only wrong, it’s boring. We not only need to stop worrying about selling out, we need to be open to the idea that the artist thinking about audience, or, god forbid, seeing what he does as a collaboration with his audience, under the right circumstances, can actually improve the work, or get him someplace different, or more interesting.

Catfish hipster.  In other hipster news: I love the new Cold War Kids single.

Is it possible to be happy and lead a meaningless life?
An Atlantic piece about happiness citing the authors of a study of 400 Americans — aged 17 to 78 — who self-reported attitudes about a variety of factors such as stress, worry and others over the course of a month. "Takers" lead happy lives, while "givers" lead meaningful lives. So while you're out there trying to do what you thought you were supposed to be trying to do all along, i.e., just be happy, it turns out you were, in fact, still being a cooze.

Candles that smell like Butterbeer and fresh towel?  Yes.

On being an adult.

Also: hand-painted rap mugs.

I knew Josephine Baker was awesome but I didn't know she was this awesome.

To make: blood orange lemon bars and curried cauliflower soup.

What does it feel like to be a hot girl who gets old?

A guide to avoiding depression while you're unemployed.

Give yourself an actual weekend.  If you’re a type-A person, you might think that working every single day is a good idea when you’re looking for a job. I did this for the first few months of my job search -- believe me, it was (and is) a terrible idea. If you want to exhaust yourself extremely quickly (and maybe quicker than you thought you would!) this is a great way to do it, and not something that I would recommend.

Related: the world's best (and most honest?) cover letter.

The nature of ambition.  Yes.

Belated: Brandi's favorite tweets of 2012.
- “That’s it. Shut it down. Somebody wrote the best book ever.”- me after I read Island of the Blue Dolphins.” – @thelindywest

If you've ever worked in marketing or advertising you'll appreciate The Creative Confessional.

A pile of gorgeous, inspirational prints for your wall.

Have you heard of The Appreciation Engine?

Weirdo layering.  Love it.

Hope you had a great week!