Phone it in Friday: Share, dammit.

We have given and given until we can give no more. Now it's your turn to share. What's in your Google Reader? And if you're not using Google Reader (ahem: Sir. Shari.) why the heck not? Point us to the best of the Internet, Internets.

Trash talk is all hypothetical like, your momma's so fat she could eat the internet.

I tend to share a lot of the same kinds of things on Google Reader, and those things are articles from The Onion, Overheard Quotes (usually from a child of some sort) and Calvin & Hobbes cartoons. Every now and then I'll branch out into an animal review. Or a discussion about the greatest childhood books ever (if you want your child to write demented stories called The Evil Summer). OR, best of all, every LOST flash forward EVER IN ORDER. That was more helpful before the finale, but whatever.

Actually, I think best of all might be this story by Michael Ian Black's daughter.

Actually actually, I think best of all might be the SOUNDTRACK T-SHIRT. (Thanks, Vahid!)

Oh, who am I kidding? My go-to best of all link is this right here:

Hotline, wanted ad, crazy what you could have had.

I'm not very smart, so it is with great frequency (namely, always) that I forget my Google Reader shared items can be seen by pretty much anyone I've ever emailed. And so it is with great frequency (namely, always) that I end up sharing something incredibly embarrassing and contrary to this whole "brooding and mysterious writer" persona thing I've been (not) so carefully cultivating since 'aught four. You know, stuff like pictures of a shirtless Justin Timberlake. Videos of adorable and precocious four-year-olds being adorable and precocious. The pink sparkly shoes that I really really really want.

So in preparing for today's post I weeded the list down to five websites I've shared in Google Reader which also say "Hello Internets! I'm a brooding and mysterious writer type person! These are the kinds of things I like!"

1. I guess the most badass people by Kevin Fanning.

This is pretty much my favorite thing ever written. It's the kind of thing that makes me stop trying to write whenever I read it, because I know I could never ever in a million billion years write anything that would mean as much to me as this does.

2. Story #1835 from the always entertaining One Sentence.

Despite the fact that it says Cupcake wrote this, I did not, in fact, write this. Though I wish I had thought of it first. (As a matter of fact I've come to realize that I'm not so much a bridge burner as I am a bridge burning instigator.)

3. Sad Kermit singing Elliot Smith's "Needle in the Hay," via kottke.org.



Two things you probably already know about me are (a) I LOVE Kermit the Frog, and (b) I LOVE Wes Anderson. One thing you probably don't know about me is that I LOVE this song. This video is everything that is right with the Internets.

4. Apologies are like monsters from Blank is Like Blank.

This is the truest thing on the Internets.

5. The Girl Effect.

Studies show that when women are educated, healthy, and allowed to marry when and if they choose the standard of living in the entire community rises. This is the amazing organization spreading the word.

So there you have it. My appropriately abridged Google Reader shares. And now, I return to my brooding.

xoxo,
K!

all about my google reader

Google Reader is an RSS reader. I feel like everyone probably already knows that, but, on the other hand, my mom reads this blog. If you want more information you can watch this awesome how to video hosted by a very earnest user.

I am addicted to my reader. Someone once described Google Reader as a refrigerator. A refrigerator that you open twenty times a day because you're bored, but the contents never change so you're crazy. Except with Reader every time you open the door, there is something new. This was supposed to be a negative description (so negative that I can't even link to the source because the blog has been deleted) on the pratfalls of the internet, but I disagree. Obvs.

Google Reader has a fantastic Big Brother option called Trends. It's like Google Web History where you're so enamored with the stats that you don't notice the way Google is stalking you. And since I have nothing else to do with these trends, how about I share them with you? I like sharing, see:

Over the last 30 days,
from your 140 subscriptions,
you read 4,734 items,
starred 37 items,
shared 25 items, and
emailed 68 items.

I have apparently emailed 68 items. SIXTY EIGHT. I would apologize to my friends, family, loved ones, coworkers, former roommates, pets, neighbors, and everyone else I have apparently emailed posts to, but I have a feeling you liked whatever I emailed you. Because who doesn't want the latest pictures of Heidi and Spencer? That's what I thought.

Sharing is caring. I don't read 4,734 posts just so I can keep them to myself. I love passing something on. For example, Trends tells me I read 285 posts from the David Cook LJ Community in the last 30 days. Yes, I do have a unreasonable crush on him. But trust me, I am not reading this community so I can get closer to him. I started reading it because they'd post his TV appearances. I've continued to read it because the crazy fans make me and Heather LOL. For example:

I wanna know the little moments in David's performances that really amaze you. Whether it's a specific line that he sings beautifully, or a facial expression, or a movement he does with his body -- just the little nuances he adds to a performance that give you the chills.

I do have quite a few, but the one that gets me the most is during his live performance of "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing". It's when he's belting the "Yeah-yeah-yeaaaah!" line and he clutches the mic and extends his left arm out to the side and just throws himself into the chorus of the song. It's a tiny little thing, but it completely makes the performance for me.

Hee!

My favorite thing I've recently shared on Reader was Clueless: Where are They Now? Did you guys know that Dionne is 42?! FORTY TWO. I thought we were the same age!

I emailed this post about a toilet mug to my friend Jon because it reminded me of him (and not just because of the name). He replied and said: "We totally had this when I was a kid!" I emailed this faux screenshot of a LinkedIn friend request between two characters from two different TV shows because it's clever and because TV is real life.

I've starred this post about laser engraving your Moleskine or computer or iPod. I've starred MightyGirl's photos of a fab store in Canada. I've starred this Ikea hack to inspire me to redesign my room. I've been working my way through the USA hostel directory planning my next trips.

If you want to follow me around the internet, God help you, you can see all my Shared items here.

Outgoing clicks!

This week on The Collective we're going to be sharing the love. And by love, I mean links, of course. And by links, I mean we'll be trolling through our Google Readers looking for the things we've Shared and Starred and Emailed. I believe that if, for some inexplicable reason, we at the Collective got cut off from all other forms of communication, we could still share our lives with each other just through the magic of Google Reader. It is that important.

Here are some of my favorites:

Caveat Emptor: Dried Wallflower Pressed Between the Pages
" There is a song, sung often, that I cannot sing. I cannot make out the words..."

Harvard Magazine: JK Rowling speaks at Harvard Commencement
"We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better."

Daily Intelligencer: Hey, Europe, you want to get Barack Obama elected? Then shut up
"Yo, Western Europe! Holla! How are you? Isn't it great how frequently we get to see one another these days, because the dollar is so weak and you keep coming to visit? It's so helpful that you're here to buy up all of those luxury things we can't afford. Someone has to wear those Armani bathing suits, right? And we're certainly not fitting into them these days. Ha-ha!

Can we borrow some oil? Just kidding. Did we just make things awkward?"

Best Week Ever: 10 NKOTB Pictures You Should Never Forget

EW.com: 28 Castmates with Perfect Chemistry
(Jennie and Abigail both say EW stole this from me, but that's okay. Spread the chemistry, I say.)

If you are not on Google Reader, you must get on it immediately. They even have a Ninja Theme!