Zooey Deschanel

That's right. Instead of talking about Fall TV (which I really wanted to talk about because I'm really excited), I'm stuck on a bicycle for Zooey Deschanel. Why? Honestly, I think that I've been playing She & Him's Volume Two way too often. Huh.

I'll admit, like most of you, I became fond of her in Elf where she sang a wonderful rendition of "Baby It's Cold Outside" with Will Ferrell (Christmas songs = big points). I loved her music in Yes Man ("I'm not your late night booty-call...") and I instantly fell for her in 500 Days of Summer.

She's one classy lady. Although, I don't know if you remember that one episode of Top Chef Masters where she was a guest star: the contestants had to cook a meal for her and her friends and family. Amazingly she had lots of dietary restrictions...vegetarian, no dairy or eggs, wheat and soy-intolerant (gluten too?), but overall, still very humble about it all.

I look forward to her future roles. Don't you?

Additionally, here's an article you should read: The Face of Facebook

China Thoughts

What if a WikiLeaks happened in China? What would we want to know?

The comments are fascinating.

I love bookstores

An article about one of my favorite bookstores in NYC.

I love bookstores. I love the smell inside of a used bookstore, finding crevices between shelves to hide and read a little and, most importantly, the ability to walk around aimlessly and browse the shelves, finding something new to read.

Certainly with e-books, you can maybe be presented with hundreds of titles for you to choose from, but can you feel the same affinity for a book title the way you do with the way a book has presented itself in the bookstore? Think: the texture of the cover, the artwork, flipping to a random page and reading it. This kind of random book search is also so awesome when you're in a used book store where it's almost like a grab-bag of books to choose from.

I've heard the news that ever since the e-reader there are more people willing to read than ever before. That's great. But, what's so appealing about reading a book on an e-reader that people who distance themselves from print books would rather read on a screen?

Do yourself a favor, and read a book!

New Dating Tool

I like to read about what's happening in the world of online dating. Whether it's as official as eHarmony or as haphazard as a relationship through SecondLife, it's amazing how the internet is changing the rules of dating, love, and relationships.

Recently on the NY Times, I read about a new way to catch someone through new media. The article featured a site called Cheek'd. With Cheek'd you can get cards with cute pick-up lines with your identification code and hand them out to strangers you find attractive during the day. Then, the apple of your eye can log on to the site and find your profile.

What a great way to get social, right? In general, with the rise of the internet, some would say that people have lost the ability to interact in real life. However, with something like Cheek'd, you're pushing people out of their comfort boundaries to find a mate. It can be hard to find someone merely through cut-and-paste e-mails and trite chats, but if you can encourage yourself to approach someone and give them a card, I think you're proving how interested you are in the other person and that you're not solely dependent upon the internet to find "the one".

I really think that the dating tools profiled in the article are useful. Hopefully, if you use them, you'd get a higher date-rate. (Is that the right way to say it? Basically, you'll probably get more dates.) Also, they seem like fun.

If you're not ready to spend money on the little cards though, why not try just slipping someone your business card? On the back, you can write your blog address or, well, "I <3 You." Right? But then that's probably too "old-fashioned", isn't it?