Links and Unforced Errors

Hope you're enjoying the holiday weekend and a break from the heat (finally!)

I'm watching Maria Sharapova get trounced in the 3rd round of the US Open. Not even her fancy pearl earrings can save her today. And what was that dress? I'm suspecting it was meant to be a snowflake but looked more like a Rorschach test. Though I can't deny Maria her two slams (and last year's Audrey Hepburn Breakfast at Tiffany's dress was pretty cute), I do not like her as a player. I find her to be arrogant (and yes, many sports stars are) and I can't stand the shrieking (though I am a hypocrite because I don't find it nearly as annoying with Nadal). Frankly, I blame her father for a lot of this. Yuri gives me the creeps. Oh well, I guess Maria will have to go be the bomb somewhere else. Congrats to Radwanska.

Yesterday Venus Williams debuted her Juicy Couture inspired night wear (though I suspect it came from her own new line of clothing). I'm not a huge fan of black and navy together but at least that skirt was better than her bizarre underwear shorts. Tipsarevic and his Oakley's retired giving the win to Nadal. Hewitt lost, too, and did I call it... Henman is no more. He has one last Davis Cup tournament at Wimbledon and then he is gone for good. Tim could be a bit snippy but I have loads of affection for self-effacing British men, what can I say?

Might I mention that I'm not as superficial as I sound? Or am I? As the New York Times said today regarding fashion, "Admit it. You Love it. It Matters." You might have to be registered to read. If you ever see me you might be surprised that I keep up with fashion as I generally look rather dull. My husband keeps joking that my blog photo makes me look like a Hogwarts student. See, I told you it was a jerky pic!

Though it would be easy to while away the afternoon writing a bunch of drivel, I will instead use today's post to send you elsewhere.

Here's a short guide to things I keep up with online:

Merlin's List of Five Things. Strange, funny, dry, interesting.

Ellen Emerson White's blog and forum. Ms. White is one of my favorite authors. She wrote the best books I read as a teen and I'm glad to see that not only does she have a book coming out next month (Long May She Reign) but that she's started an online presence, as well.

The wit and witticism of Ken Levine. Levine used to write for Cheers, M*A*S*H and a host of other funny shows. I suspect he might be a little grouchy but it's that endearing curmudgeonly Oscar kind of grouch. His blog makes me snicker more often than not.

BeaucoupKevin. Kevin Church wrote one of my favorite blogs ever and is a bona fide comics expert. He is a groovy guy and if you're into all things geek, this is a good site to keep up with (and has the most sane forum I've ever been on) He also has his own comic called The Rack. Kevin loves the Pet Shop Boys.

Aquadoodiloop. I can't remember what that means but have some vague memory of it being part of a bad song. Perhaps author Pat Rock will chime in and enlighten us. Pat ruminates on religion and woodworking and was once on track to become a pastor. He may be one of the whitest dudes I know (if he can dance I would be shocked!) but he is also one of the coolest (even if he did leave Louisville to become a Hoosier).

For news and top-notch opinion pieces, there's Huffpo. Ariana Huffington's all-in-one website plays host to some great blogs by Nora Ephron, Lawrence O'Donnell, Bill Maher, Deepak Chopra, and Alec Baldwin.

And finally (for today), there's What Would Tyler Durden Do? I never saw Fight Club so I don't know if the author is aping Brad Pitt/Ed Norton's alter ego or not. I can only say that i find it laugh out loud funny and that probably says something very unpleasant about me. It's celeb gossip with a twist and way better than Perez Hilton. It might be non-work safe on occasion and there's no shortage of swear words so consider yourself warned.

The tool that makes all of my web browsing possible is Google Reader. This thing changed my life. Sad, isn't it? You can save any RSS feed and it updates automatically. You can create folders and organize it however you want. It's amazing and I swear I am not paid by Google to say this.

I said that was going to be short. Err... Sorry 'bout that.

What are some of your faves?

Googly yours,
Ms. P

ps. Isn't that picture scary? I shot it in Times Square and who knew the end result would be Mickey: Portrait of a Serial Killer.