Internet IV drip

There is no doubt that I'm surfing the web more in Korea than I ever have before. Even if I volunteered for all sorts of menial tasks at school, I would still have time to get in at least an hour of web surfing everyday. As a result, I'm exponentially more web literate than I was this time last year.

Most of what I now know is a matter of absurd necessity. There's just a ton of free time at school, but as long as I sit behind my computer it looks like I'm getting things done. But here's the absurd part: there's nothing to get done, and I can't read books. I tried to read a book once, and my co teacher asked me why I wasn't working. But let me put that in perspective. I routinely see her buying clothes online and checking Korean news sites. So with no work to do, and no books to read, I must gain sustenance from the infernal screen.

As I imagine most of you enjoy surfing the interweb, I figured I should share some of my favorite sites.

A) Uncrate.com - I, at the moment, have no money to buy any of the things available from this site. But at least I now know where people stumble across those trinkets that make me say "f---! where did that come from?" This site specializes in great mens... stuff. Everything from houses (that's right!) to T-shirts. There's a great womens alternative site as well... but right now the name evades me. I'll post it as soon as I can.

B) Thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/ - Here is a legit compendium of the tour riders from over 220 of the world's biggest acts. There are countless hours of brainless fun to be had.

C) Freerice.com - I had actually heard of this site before Korea, but only began routinely using it here. The gist is that you get asked a whole series of multiple choice questions on topics you can choose: spelling, capitols, grammar, math, etc. For every question you answer correctly, the site's sponsors donate 10 grains of rice to a relief fund. It's good for the brain and the heart I suppose.

D) Glidemagazine.com/hiddentrack/ - Probably one of the coolest music blogs I've discovered. It tends to lean more on the jammy side of things, but it has a really thorough list of other blogs that you can check out. Other notables include pastemagazine.com's blog, aquariumdrunkard.com, brooklynvegan.com, and the blog at allmusic. com - sort of an uber blog if you ask me.

E) metacritic.com - Seemingly has the release dates of every album from now until eternity.

F) Popseoul.com - For those of you into perezhilton.com, this blog is THE English language celebrity gossip blog for Korea. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I've always believed that celebrity culture somewhat defines youth culture, and nowhere is that more true than in Korea. There just isn't the amount of individualism here to breed dissent for this kind of thing. Anyway, it's a great site that you all should check out.

G) Fffound.com - There's really no trick to this site. It's just a well-organized set of the coolest paintings and photos that you've never seen; perfect for those people who NEED to have a computer background cooler than their friends.

H) Desdecuba.com/generationy/ - This is a blog from the unlikeliest of places: Cuba. While it's obviously high on the anti-Castro rhetoric, to me it's just a cool look inside a place few Americans of my generation have been to... and none legally.

There's literally millions more, and I will absolutely post them as they're discovered. Time.com has a great list of all sorts of websites - from tech friendly stuff to places that sell the best baby clothes. Literally, they have organized hundreds of sites that I'm sure you never would have found. I actually need to begin forcing myself to try new sites. The last thing I want to do is stagnate, especially when my new go-to sight is, all cliche aside, just a click away. I hope you enjoy. And if you have any cool sites you know of, don't hesitate to send them my way.

*Yes, I already know about twitter and fmylife. But if you don't, you should check them out.