7 stories to read this weekend

Welcome to yet another edition of weekend reader. I know most are burnt out from the madness around CES, but here are some stories to refresh your brain.

• 13 design trends for 2013: Nice piece by Gannon Burgett, who shares some of the new design trends we will see more of. One of them surprised me: Metro-style flat design.
• Design is not a veneer: Talking about design, this piece by Aral Balkan really hit home for me.
• The loves of Lena Dunham: HBO cult series Girls is back and what that means is the return of Lena Dunham, who I admit is just a great television character — as human as a neurotic New Yorker can be. This is a piece about the loves of Lena or Hannah Horvath as she is called on the show.
• Creative aging and the emergence of artistic talents: Richard Senelick, M.D. writes about the how aging and dementia impact the brain and eventually allow emergence of new artistic abilities.
• Suds for drugs: How Tide detergent became the currency for drugs. It is a jaw-dropping piece.
• The gadgets of the future from the electrical show:  A piece about CES from the old days when it actually was cool and the gadgets were worth gawking at.
• 2012: the year in mobile photography: Well, it was Instagram, Hipstamatic and iPhone photo madness. Great recap of the most exciting year in mobile photography.