Websites I like...

Why? Because I can. And I'm bored... and I like making lists of things. So there. Nyah! =Þ

Before I get into that though... let's see. What's going on here? Oh, right... nothing at all. Well, I'm going skiing again tomorrow. So that's something. It's the last day of the season before they shut down the ski slopes, and it's free. I can't pass that up. I mean, I still have to pay to rent the equipment and all, but that's on sale too... so I've got a whole day of skiing for 15000Won.

But other than that, yeah. Nothing. So here's some websites I like, put into handy categories just for you:

News:

Fark -- a useful yet hilarious news aggregator that I check at least once a day, and usually more. Basically, people submit news stories (or non-news stories) with new, more descriptive, way funnier headlines. Just check it out, you'll see what I mean. It also actually serves up a pretty thorough picture of what's going on in the realms of sports, business, politics, etc. A must-have, ++, would fark again.

Consumerist -- this site pushes consumer literacy, smart shopping, and just general fiscal well-being. It's also pretty damn funny, and a good place to figure out what scams are going on, which companies like to screw their customers over, and find tips for dealing with the realities of living through a recession. Again, I usually glance over this at least once a day.

Sports:

ESPN -- a given, although I kind of hate their new website layout... if you need quick scores and recaps of games that you can't watch because you live on the other side of oblivion, this is the 1st place to go.

UH Cougars -- I gotta follow my Coogs...

St. Louis Cardinals -- see above, but substitute "Cards" for "Coogs."

Viva El Birdos -- awesome, in-depth analysis of the Cardinals, using lots of fancy "sabermetrics" and whatnot that I don't totally understand... but if you're looking to find a few hundred bigger sports geeks than me (don't know why you'd be looking for that, but I'm not one to judge) then you'll find it here..

Basketbawful -- an amusing take on each night's basketball action, with a separate section celebrating each night's "lacktion," or guys who literally don't do shit to help their teams.

Deadspin -- This site was way better when Will Leitch was in charge (he even let me write up a piece previewing the UH basketball team last year when it looked like they might make the NCAA tourney. They ended up not going, and the piece never ran, but he seemed like a cool guy.) Still not a bad blog, though.

Miscellaneous

Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Pretty simple, really. Each day, they take a picture, usually from NASA I think, and put it on a website. Beautiful and informative. I like it.

Stuff White People Like -- Ashley turned me on to this, and it's pretty damned funny. And true. Sadly.

This Is Why You're Fat -- this is like low-budget, amateur midget inter-racial porn. But with food. And yes, sometimes I sit here on the internet and stare at pictures of American food. What?

Uni Watch -- I know, this is kinda gay... but whatever. Paul, the guy who started this site, is a really good writer, and I enjoy it. Sue me. Basically, he really delves into the mysteries and minutiae of athletics equipment and uniforms. It sounds really boring, like even to me right now as I type this, but for some reason, it's not.

Damn Interesting -- This site is damned interesting. No, I mean it. The writers (who have been taking quite a bit of time off lately to finish the publishing process of a book) do fairly in-depth essays about fascinating things that don't generally make it into the public consciousness. You can read about anterograde amnesia; Chelyabinsk-40, a Soviet nuclear program that caused way more damage than Chernobyl; a European plan to dam the Mediterranean sea and flood the Sahara; the Pepcon disaster; and lots more -- those are all on the first page. Anyway, I highly, highly recommend it.

Ok... I think that's about it for now. I mean, obviously there are other sites that I use all the time for a specific purpose, but those are the ones that I hit up just to see what they've got for me today.