The A-List: My Regular Timewasters

I am a web surfer-type, mostly because surfing is a brainless activity that requires minimal attention, so I can multi-task.   I skim the headlines of a site, and if it looks interesting, I'll stay for a bit and read. If nothing catches my eye, I'll move along.  I even do this at work, because studies have shown that brief moments of surfing the internet make workers more productive.  I probably just made that up.

Besides the usual sites(news, weather. and blogs),  here are five websites that I visit with regularity, even if my boss yells at me.  Since the tech department is on a never ending quest to make my life miserable by blocking websites for no apparent reason(hello, PTA website?), there may come a point where all of these sites are blocked and my work life will no longer have meaning.  Until then, I intend to enjoy. 


Mental Floss
This is a website devoted to intellectual pursuits. Meaning that this website is devoted to bits and pieces of trivia, pictures, videos, etc., that are probably only the least bit interesting to geeks and nerds like me.  I sometimes will take the quizzes that are posted, but I must always check out the Morning Links and the Weird Week In Review.  Some of the sites that you are directed to have bad language, but the Mental Floss site is generally okay.*

Badass of the Week
The guy who runs this site is hilarious.  He writes about heroes, both past and present, and I love how conversationally he tells the stories of these guys.  And women, too!  War heroes, kings, warriors from various countries--all sorts of interesting characters who have done some pretty awesome stuff. I own both of Ben Thompson's books. There's bad language on this site, but it fits in with the storytelling. 

Toptenz
Various top ten lists on a variety of topics like comic books, music, videos, etc.  Some of the lists are funny, some are a little scary, some are very interesting.  I first found this site around Halloween, when they featured the Top Ten ghost photos, and I've been hooked ever since!  Minimal bad language, if any.

Cracked
This is definitely a not safe for work site, but damn, is it funny!  These guys come up with some of the oddest things to write about.  I remember that at one time there was a magazine called Cracked that tried to compete with Mad magazine.  It may be that this is the incestuous stepbrother's cousin's sister of that magazine, given the internet's gene pool.   Some of the stories contain bad language.

The Oatmeal
This person draws poorly.  I draw poorly.  This person is sarcastic.  I'm sarcastic.  What's not to like?  I love reading about the Bobcats, but my personal favorites have been his cartoons discussing grammar. You can purchase posters of these cartoons, and I would so love to do that, but schools tend to frown on the use of bad language.  This guy uses some bad language, so be prepared for that.  



*I have no problem with cursing, profanity, etc., but I understand that some people don't like it, so I'm being nice and warning those people.