Even though I woke up with the Blue Oyster Cult song, “Don’t Fear the Reaper,” in my head, I am going to continue on with thinking positive thoughts for today. Because after all, it’s Friday now, isn’t it?

Time for the 3rd of my 12-week installment of “how to waste time (and learn something, too) in your rather unfulfilling office job!”

*Go read The Endless Scarf by Blythe Toll.

*Get your craft on at M & J Trimming (or atleast just have fun daydreaming about what you would create if you had the cash!)

*Herd some virtual sheep here (No, really.)

*Once you’ve mastered the game above, learn more than you ever thought possible about sheep (and other livestock) in the largest livestock database. Ever. (I think my new favorite animal is the Racka.)

*If you’re still feeling nerdy, here are more links than you ever thought possible about owls. (Owls are cool!)

*Read No Good For Me and then as a direct result, start dressing better.

*Go check out the ethical library at Downbound Yay!

*Not sure what to make for dinner tonight? Go have a look at Cooking By Numbers, cooking made easy!

*I heart No Media Kings.

*I met Pil and Galia Kollectiv in London, and am constantly inspired by their work.

It’s raining in North Carolina today, therefore, I can’t stop listening to Joy Zipper. BOC be damned!

It’s Friday! Rock on! Which means a little bit of crafty linked randomness for the cubicle-kept and bored…

.check out the work of Fundacion Solidaridad, truly inspiring handcraft from Chile.

.if you ever wanted to learn how to sculpt a Lionel Richie head from clay, this link is for you.

.make your desktop even more badass with Pixel Girl Presents. (Currently the Fury Cow is presiding over my laptop…)

.read about the evolution of hot pants here.

.check out Design is Kinky (Be sure to check out the theory section. To a dork like me, such geekery is hot…)

.read about why my (occasional?) adopted town of Carrboro is cooler than yours in this recent article on zines.

.become as obsessed as I have with Obsessive Consumption.

.learn how to revolutionize your belongings (and get rid of the crap) over at the wonderful DeMaterialiZe. (Who didn’t love the Fugazi lyric “You are not what you own?” Ironically enough, in high school, I wrote that on my forest green Converse…)

.uncover more about the new documentary Jericho’s Echo: Punk Rock in the Holy Land. (More here.

.see how felt is a force to be reckoned with thanks to Hut Up Berlin.

bizarrely, everyone’s favorite fake Russian lesbians, T.A.T.U., has been helping me compile this list. they also helped me get through the last 2,000 words of my dissertation. i don’t quite know what the allure is, either.

I can’t believe that it’s already May. May of 2005. Which means I will turn 30 in 2 months. (11th July to be exact. Mark your calendars now!)

Despite this somewhat-of-a-watershed occasion, this summer also sees me returning to the temporary battlefield world of office administration. While my resume is rejoicing that I can once again put “temporary employee” in the left-hand column often reserved for “job title,” I am not so full of glee.

So while I get my closet properly stocked with clothes I will only wear in the office, my voice ready and steady to say “Good morning/afternoon, this is Betsy, how may I direct your call?” 4323409 times per day, and a bevvy of lists mentally stored to be expunged on endless reams of pilfered Post-Its, I bring you the first in a summerlong installment of Friday posts.

With ethics and activism in mind (as well as good old-fashioned time wasting), these Friday posts will be written with my fellow office peons and cubicle dwellers predicament in consideration, you fellow compatriots in a war against lost memos and improperly delivered mail where we’re armed with leftover food scraps from board member meetings and a rainbows choice of pen colors. And a reminder that you’re not the only clockwatcher, daydeamer or person-who-wishes-they-were-anywhere-else.

And, of course, all links are worksafe!

Atleast this gig gave me a window.

*Realise how bad you are at HMTL with the artistic genius of Huong Ngo.

*Craft and snark make for perfect reading over at Threadbared.

*Learn more about why you procrastinate. Although you will most likely procrastinate on clicking this very link.

*Take comfort in the fact that you’re not the only one in a pen, courtesy of Seattle’s Barking Lounge

*No matter what you’re doing, the The Yes Men are doing something cooler.

*You, too, can make a zine in 24 hours!

*Plan your dinner tonight thanks to these free veg*n cookbooks!

*Take further comfort in the fact that someone else likes Lionel Richie even more than I do. (Hmmm…Remember how I said my birthday was on the horizon?) ;)

*Read about the work of Maakin Lab in Shetland. Discover more about how knitting in Shetland contributes to its historical and cultural heritage.

*Learn more than you possibly ever knew existed about heavy metal at BNR metal. Rock!

Rah Rah Rah! Go and listen to The Chap!