Sites I Stalk

Do you ever wonder what other web sites people are checking out? I do. And not in a voyeuristic "I want to know what you do when you're alone" kind of way, but more in a "if you have a cool site you frequent I want to frequent it too" kind of way. So I thought I would post the sites I check out frequently and then you can all let me know what cool sites you check out. As a bonus I'm going to give you all a little background about my experience with the sites, but if you have a cool site for me, a link would be sufficient (not to say I don't want background from you, I just don't want you to feel like you need to complete a full write-up on any site you recommend).



News:
First of all, I avoid, at all costs, really depressing news. I won't click on the stories involving murder, robbery, war, etc. All of that stuff is out of my realm of control and it just depresses me to read it. But, I do like to know what is going on around me if it is interesting or not too depressing. For this reason I stay away from the hard core news sites and I stick to http://www.msn.com/ and http://www.sacbee.com/. MSN is good for some really fluffy entertainment news and lifestyle pieces that keep my interest. Their news headlines are usually bizarre stuff that is noteworthy, but not necessarily hard news. Sacbee is good for local information, though if you're looking for un-biased reporting, this isn't your gig. I really like Rick Kushman's writing (he does a tv and local area column) so if you haven't already, check him out.

Forums/ Informational:
Now unless you are interested in applying or attending some sort of medical school http://www.studentdoctor.net/ probably won't be of much interest to you. But, I spend a crazy amount of time on that site so I had to mention it here. It's where we get a lot of our information on applying to dental school as the forums are full of overachiever 22 year olds posting with (mostly) good information. It can also be a little intimidating as the posters also have 4.3 GPAs and 1200 hours of community service. But, I can't tell you how much we have found out about this process from this site that we wouldn't have know about otherwise so I guess I'm thankful to all of those overachievers who post here.

If I'm not on studentdoctor, there is a good chance I'm on http://www.babycenter.com/. I'm the kind of mom who wants to know 6 months in advance when my kid is going to hit a milestone so I can be prepared. This site feeds into every desire I have to be prepared. They have "birth clubs" which are essentially forums where people post who have a child the same age as you. So if I am curious what Connor will be doing in six months, I just go to the "March 2005" birth club to check out what those parents are saying what their kids are doing at the moment. This was huge when Connor was a baby because I felt like I always knew what to expect at the next age. It's also good for reading about what other kids his age are doing right now as it confirms that his behaviors are normal (which, so far, they always have been). I don't post on either of these sites, but I read the forums on a regular basis.

People I know:
I know cool people. You probably know this since you're reading this. Forgive me if I forget someone cool who has a site here... Our good friends the Mallorys have about as professional as a family site as there could be. At http://www.themallorysonline.com/ you'll find updates on their little guy, along with reviews on products and funny stories that happen to them (ie, giant pipe broken, water gushing everywhere, while decorating their nursery. Oh wait, was that not supposed to be a funny story??). Matt is a great writer and his entries are fun to read. And if you are lacking for pictures to look at, Jennifer has photographed every moment of their entire lives so you will have no shortage of photos to look at! (Love you Homey!)

Jenner, my BFF, finds bargains like nobody's business. Luckily, she highlights many of those bargains on her blog www.thebrownlodown.blogspot.com. Make sure you go back a few pages to find the cereal picture. Trust me, you won't want to miss it. Jenner is also pretty funny so her other stuff is fun to read too (see Jenner, there is me saying you are funny).

Social Networking Sites:
If you don't know what www.myspace.com and www.facebook.com are, you're livin' in a hole. I don't spend a lot of time of either of these two sites, but they are good for staying in touch with people from your past so I do check them most days.

Sites that make me laugh:
I could use more of these. This site is not PC so if you're super into people not stereotyping or making fun of other races, I'd steer clear of it. If you have a good sense of humor, check it out:) www.stuffwhitepeoplelike.com. This dude is funny. Read as much of the posts as you can and try to ignore all of the book and appearance plugs (that stuff didn't used to be on the site).
I don't check out www.theonion.com as much as I used to, but if you read through the articles, it is pretty funny. I think the funniest part is that these people take so much time to write all of these fake articles. Good stuff.

So I think that's my list. Now, you give me your list!

Loves to all.