I collect links the way some people collect magazine clippings for an inspiration board, and Google Reader allows me to star and share interesting tidbits I find as I’m reading. Here are some of my recent favorites:

• We Feel Fine: An almanac of human emotion is a new-media-esque project that tracks emotions across the blogosphere to get a reading of how the Internet is feeling at any given time. – I feel surprised because I’d never seen this before!
• Pencil set made from human remains – Call me Morbidy McMorbidson, but I actually think this is kinda cool.
• Tiny gingerbread houses to balance on the edge of your mug – I should have saved my gingerbread-decorating skills for something like this… definitely less time-consuming than a full-size gingerbread house.
• Pretty wrapping papers – I can’t wrap presents worth a darn, but these designs might get me motivated to try.
• Paper Pudding’s Apple card makes my heart go pitter-pat – Her other designs are just as clever. Via Design Milk
• I’m loving the new Wild Imaginings series from Art and Ghosts – I, too, am currently obsessed with the color pink.

Find these and more at my shared favorites on Google Reader!

I’m a dork. I was checking out my Dashboard at ThisNext, and saw my rank was at 0.9%. I thought, “Geez, my recommendations must suck! 0.9% is a really low number!” That’s until I realized that my rank was actually the top 0.9%. Smaller numbers are better when you’re in the top of it, you dolt.

I’m having a grand time recommending new products there lately, most of which are from fellow Etsy sellers. I think the indie/handmade community is slightly under-represented amidst the upscale designer fashions, housewares and electronics, so I aim to keep the majority of my recommendations indie-related. I’m also tagging my recommendations with “iGift” in hopes of being the lucky winner of an iPhone. That would make a really sweet early Christmas present, no?

Speaking of free goodies, there are 2 more free 5×7’s ready to go out with the next two orders from my shops – more details here!

It’s not listed on the official Prizes page yet, but one lucky participant in NaBloPoMo will get a free 8×10 or 8×12 print of their choice from my shop, provided they play nice and update their blog every day. If that’s not motivation to bare your soul to the Internets for thirty grueling days in a row, I don’t know what is!

I do so much better with lists…

1. I don’t think I will ever get enough of new kitten smell. Mmmmm.
2. My therapist gave me my first exercise: for the next week, I am to enjoy food, no matter what I eat, without guilt. I assured her that I’m entirely up to the challenge, and I think I’m going to like her.
3. I want to offer some of my photographs as note cards in my shops, but I’d have to offer a limited number of designs at first. Help me! Which of my photos would you want to see as note cards?
   
4. Sleeeeeepyzzzzzzzzzzzz.
   

Ok, so here’s the obligatory, “I’m only doin’ it for the BloPoMo,” post.  Look, I don’t intend to miss a day this month, but this stuff is rough for someone whose blog presence is normally sporadic – usually I post once a month, once a week at most. I’m not used to thinking this much, and it hurts, and what’s that smell?  Oh, hey, my brain’s on fire.

In the meantime, here’s a list of my recently-starred entries from Google Reader:

Cadbury kittez – lulz.
Monster Factory @ Cutable – I’m a sucker for strange plushies.
Unexpected Guests @ sfgirlbybay – I want to hire her to decorate my house.
Ffffound! – never lacking for visual inspiration.
Kapow Jewelry @ Indie Fixx – love love love, and I don’t even wear jewelry!
Feelin’ foxy @ Modish – a nice diversion from the birds/deer motif.
Petit Four @ Little Splurge – allow me an ultra-girly moment to say, I heart lip gloss!

I went into tonight’s blog certain that I’d have nothing more to leave you with than “This is me, checking in solely for the sake of not missing NaBloPoMo.” It’s been that kind of day.

But no! We visited my in-laws this evening, and brought back all manner of boxes of nostalgia – old photos, books, journals, and albums from Tim’s childhood. As he was sorting through them he pulled out these photos, and I thought, “Aha! Now that, my friends, is what I like to call blog-fodder.”

Yes, that’s hubby and me in June of 2000.

First impression: Wow, we were young!

Second impression: Holy CRAP, we were YOUNG!

(And suddenly the concept of “aging”, at 24, becomes much clearer. I promise never to scoff at anti-wrinkle cream ads ever again!)

Once I got past the initial shock of realizing that my 24-year-old face looks nothing like my 17-year-old face (*cry*) I realized that, damn… we were cute. I mean, look at those bangs! Look at his dimples!

These photos bring back lots of good memories. They were taken at Tim’s high school graduation dinner, no more than three weeks after we’d started dating, and only months before we started the long-distance portion of our relationship. It’s amazing we made it through the following year, being that we’d only known each other for a few months before he went off to college and I finished high school. This was around the time that Mr. Tim was oh-so-sure that I was going to be his wife someday. Because, you know, 18-year-olds are psychic like that. And crazy.

But I suppose he wasn’t too crazy, because here we are. Happy, together. It’s satisfying to see how far we’ve come, how much we’ve grown up… and in some ways, these serve as a reminder of how far we’ve yet to go.