Remember when the internet used to be fun? I do, way way WAY back when, before 99% of the internet got super boring (most likely as a result of our ever-shortening attention spans [which is most likely due to over-exposure to the internet]). I know that I (and many of you!) have been guilty of cheek in hand zombie-stumbling the internet for hours before finding something even remotely interesting. That's why I have my trusted bookmarks that will help me make the best of my limited down-time on the internet! I've left social networks off of the list simply because various ways of stalking your ex and all the people you hated in high school would be the entire article, and we're looking for substance, here! The pages below are all different sorts of websites, some interactive, some entertaining, some to get ideas and spark creativity, and others just plain amusing! So check them out and let's make the internet fun again! Happy surfing!

---

LINK: http://www.craftgawker.com

I am a big fan of crafting, DIY, and cutesy stuff, therefore Craftgawker is perfect for me to surf around and get ideas of different crafts to undertake! I can't tell you how many times I've been bored out of my mind of a day off, and surfed Craftgawker for twenty minutes before seeing something so gosh darn adorable that I have to put the computer away immediately and get to making things!

Craftgawker goes into all different types of crafting! Sewing, knitting, crochet, papercraft, foodcraft, and just about anything you could imagine. There are tutorials, pictures with ideas to get you started, and it's updated every day with photos that link to some of the best craft blogs out there! (While I'm on the topic of the Gawkerverse, my other favorite Gawker site is Foodgawker, which is the same thing as Craftgawker but with recipes! Yumm!)


LINK: http://www.ultimate-guitar.com

Ultimate Guitar is great for musicians to look up in the huge database of user-submitted tabs and chords for their favorite songs! There are great features for beginner, intermediate and advanced musicians alike, along with forums to chat with other musicians, music news, contests and giveaways, and even lessons for beginner guitarists!


LINK: http://dontevenreply.com/index.php

David Thorne is a comical mastermind on Emails From an Asshole! The premise of the website is that David Thorne cruises the classified ads and emails people with the goal to "Mess with the, confuse them, and/or piss them off", which is does masterfully. The website isn't updated too often, but when it does get new content it's always worth the wait!


LINK: http://www.abduzeedo.com

Abduzeedo is a blog about design. It is chalk full of articles and tutorials for those of you who love graphic design as much as I do! There are extremely useful and easy to follow tutorials for the most used applications around, and a special section for Illustrator and Photoshop to help you build up your skill set! I use Photoshop and Illustrator on a near daily basis as a big part of my job, and in my downtime I will often pick a random tutorial and give it a spin, just to learn a new skill, or hone skills that I already have.

There is also an inspiration section with all sorts of amazing articles and pictures to help jump start the creative juices if you hit a wall.


LINK: http://www.likezebra.com

I've been a member on LikeZEBRA for a while now, and I am still just as in love with it (if not more so) than when I signed up! LikeZEBRA is a site for fans and musicians to connect (oops, I said no social networks, but I'm making an exception here, because it's so much more!). Fans of music can discover new independent artists, and bands and musicians can upload profiles and share their music with everyone to discover and love. Some of my favorite features of the website are the "discover" button on the front page which allows you to generate ten random songs from a chosen genre, the playlist feature, which lets you add your favorite tracks you've found on LikeZEBRA to a handy playlist to listen to, and BackBEAT, a new feature that allows for musicians to play online "concerts" to fans, or to give music lessons, or do Q&A sessions. Fans use credits to buy tickets, and the musician gets to set the amount of credits required to get a ticket to the show.

Those of you who are regulars around here may remember not too long ago when we ran LikeZEBRA week and featured some of our favorite LikeZEBRA artists, as well as the super fun scavenger hunt that we held that LOTS of you participated in!

LINK: http://www.jakeandamir.com

Those of you who are Collegehumor.com fans are surely familiar with Jake and Amir, but if you aren't the premise is simple: Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld work at Collegehumor.com, and have an internet show of short but ultimately funny videos showing moments of the two working together. Amir being the blundering idiot that we've all worked with in the past who is brutally obsessed with Jake, your all-American bro type. Most of the videos can stand-alone and still make sense, but I highly recommend watching from the beginning!

LINK: http://www.soyouhaveagirlfriend.com

So You Have A Girlfriend is a resource for shot-from-the-hip, realistic and brutally honest relationship advice. This is not the type of advice that you're going to get from Dear Abby, this is the kind of "tell it to ya straight" stuff that typically only comes from your very best friends after they've had a few.

Season one of the So You Have A Girlfriend videos took us every Thursday night through a journey of those awkward beginning moments of "are we, aren't we" dating, when to have sex, when to change your Facebook status, what to do if they're dressing a little slutty, meeting the family, weird rashes, and sadly, breaking up. It's nearly impossible not to adore every single member of the small cast, and it's interesting to see the differing opinions and ways of thinking about relationships. The cast consists of JoE, Dr. Barbarella, Vince, Joanna, Nicole and Nick, each of them offering their own advice and opinions, but all of them being just as brutally honest as the next, whether you want to hear it or not.

The videos are fantastic, but perhaps my favorite part of So You Have A Girlfriend is the Q&A section in which readers submit their personal relationship questions, which generally two members of the cast of SYHAG offer their advice and opinions on the matter.

"But Caity, I DON'T have a girlfriend!" That is A-OK! Even if you don't have a girlfriend or boyfriend at the moment, SYHAG is as entertaining as it is useful! Go watch season 1 and hey, you never know when it just might come in handy someday! Also make sure to tune in on Thursday, January 26th for Season 2! I for one, can not wait!