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AERA

Well, I know what book I'll be picking up at AERA this weekend.

I've spent part of today figuring out my schedule, juggling sessions I have to be at versus those I want to be at, as well as trying to make plans to see friends in town. Also, I've been working on my poster. And making sure I have all the info together for my flight, the hostel, etc.

Link roundup

Some of these links are getting decidedly stale; time to clear them out.

Which are more effective, taxes on junk or subsidies on healthy food?

How would you like to spend half your waking life fetching water? (Via Elizabeth Royte.)

How much land would it take if we all lived as densely as NYC?

High-fructose corn syrup is part of the axis of evil.

Adorable houses, but ignore the twee captions.

The challenges of "data-driven" decision-making.

Horrifying maternity leave story.

Everyone's already linked to this, but ... is TV programming as we know it doomed? "The most watched minute of video made in the last five years shows baby Charlie biting his brother’s finger. (Twice!) That minute has been watched by more people than the viewership of American Idol, Dancing With The Stars, and the Superbowl combined. (174 million views and counting.)"

I don't own a television. It's not because I don't watch any TV, but because I rarely care to watch it when it's programmed to be on*. I don't just mean I want to Tivo things. I mean I didn't start watching Battlestar Galactica (from the beginning) until the final season. It's not just me - how many people were introduced to Entourage by DVDs their friends insisted they borrow? But media companies still judge television shows by Neilson ratings, as any frustrated fan of Joss Whedon knows.

I don't think that the rise of services like YouTube means that products requiring a cast of thousands will disappear. It means they'll have to be delivered differently, though.

* Also, the cost. Paying a bundle for a bundle of stations you don't care about is so old-school.

Questions to which the answer is "no" that I have been asked lately

1. Do you speak Portuguese?
2. Are you a yoga teacher?
3. Are you a lesbian too?
4. Have you heard from [REDACTED] University yet?
5. Are you going to the workshop on Saturday?
6. Do you know Will Smith's agent name in Independence Day?
7. Have you been a vegetarian long?
8. Have you been here before?
9. Do you have change for a $5?

A List of Things You Probably Don't Know about Me

1. Pretty much my favorite band of all time is KMFDM.
2. I really loathe a capella music.
3. I have a secret crush on one of my friends. I'm pretty sure he doesn't know.
4. I would rather do just about anything other than clean the bathtub.
5. I would rather clean the bathtub than call strangers on the phone.
6. I don't like potato chips.
7. Every morning, when I'm home, I get up and write first thing.
8. I could eat a whole tube of raw chocolate chip cookie dough, easy.
9. My hair is turning white.
10. The three hottest celebrities are China Mieville, George Clooney, and Owen Wilson, but mostly China Mieville.
11. I'm a really good flosser.
12. I've never seen any episodes of Gilligan's Island or M.A.S.H.
13. I know it's trendy to say Moby Dick is overrated, but I love it.
14. Sociology? Awesomesauce.
15. I don't like auto-flush toilets.
16. I've never had poison ivy.
17. I think it's weird when people say they don't have memories before, say, age 7; I can remember the house we moved out of before I turned 3.
18. Video games totally bore me.
19. I eat my Oreos top, filling, bottom.
20. I would secretly love it if someone dedicated a song on the radio to me. Except I don't listen to shows with dedications.
21. I covet built-in bookcases.
22. I don't like the color orange.
23. It takes me an hour to fall asleep at night.
24. I wish I didn't suck at team sports.
25. I have no idea what kind of car you drive.
26. Snoring is a dealbreaker.
27. My contact lens prescription is the same in both eyes.