TIME

I just moved to a new apartment this Friday, so things have been hectic and therefore a little slow on the blog. I'm so sorry! But here is an interesting reblog to hold you over. From thecollaredsheep.com, the 5 Most Deadly Websites for Procrastination. Hopefully this article and the sites it sites (hahaha...) will keep you occupied for a little while as I get things together!

Top 5 Most Deadly Websites For Office Procrastination

1

Let’s face it: we all do it. All it takes is for one excitingly titled article or an ill-timed email from a coworker bearing that fateful link and before you know it an hour has disappeared and you suddenly know more about the sexual proclivities of sea slugs than anyone else in the office.

The primary reason for this appears to be the simple fact that some sites are just pure online crack, carefully engineered to lure innocent surfers in and then never let them leave.

Here follows a list of some of the most irresistible siren sites of them all; be strong, lest they claim ye too. Or again. Or make you open up another tab on the same site because you were already browsing it.

Yeah, we’re all screwed.

5. Facebook & Twitter

Despite the disdain with which we usually treat most of them, social networking websites are undeniably powerful things. If you happen to leave them logged in at work, the Facebook and Twitter tabs will regularly inform you of the number of things you’re missing out on by focusing diligently on your work, taunting you as the bracketed numbers rise higher and higher.

When you inevitably give in you simply have to see what’s been said it, who said, if it involves you and comment if necessary. Oh, and also detag those horrific photos of yourself from Dave’s party.

4. Cracked

Cracked advertises itself as a humor website, and to be fair, it is generally pretty funny. For the most part it features interesting content combined with eye-catching titles and images, the prevalence of the list format making its articles even easier to read (and thus get lost in).

Just one more, you think , casting your eye over the several others you’ve already added to your growing queue of Cracked tabs. I can totally finish reading this before my lunch break is over. Just one more …

3. YouTube

Because moving pictures always make things more fun (and, if you’re feeling particularly lazy, often you don’t even have to read anything). While this is frequently hampered by a lack of sound and/or headphones in theoffice space, some videos can get their message across without them (likethis one, for example).

YouTube’s insistence on including those pesky related videos means that it’s highly likely that watching just one video can and will turn into six (or maybe ten on a particularly good/bad day).

2. Wikipedia & TV Tropes

Lumped together as they are both wikis. Wikipedia (and indeed most wikis, really) encourages endless periods of link clicking, luring you into reading the myriads of related articles that are linked within the first one you started reading.

At its core, TV Tropes is simply a wiki cataloging common conventions in fiction, film and television. However, once you start reading, it becomes so much more than that. Reading TV Tropes is a magical adventure where you could start off reading about the depictions of Queen Elizabeth I in cinema and end up finding out exactly how much Japan loves harem anime.

1. Stumble Upon

Do I even need to explain this one? Stumble Upon is clearly the devil incarnate, sent to tempt us away from our more productive endeavors.

Speaking of which, check out this neat thing I found on Stumble.

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Written by Ella

Ella’s office-based occupation is copywriting. When not slaving in the word mines she enjoys video games, tabletop RPGs and other such nerdery (as well as sleeping).

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Dorm Daze #1

I'd like to welcome our newest team member, Eden Redmond (a dear friend of mine and the author of Wildish) and her new series Dorm Daze. She is kind enough to share some of her most interesting experiences as an RA.


There were two sets of legs in the shower, only three feet on the ground. We had had enough. Residents in the hall had complained for weeks about the awkward giggling and extra wet noises coming from the stall at conspicuous hours. So when my co-worker came running to me and said "They're in there!" I was eager to bust the scene. 

It isn't necessarily protocall to directly interrupt a four legged shower, but we had spoken to this couple after-the-fact several times to no avail. It was time for more aggressive, embarrassing action.

I walked into the bathroom with my nervous co-worker and sure enough they were in there giggling away. I banged loudly on the paper towel dispenser, the fourth foot dropped. 

"Good evening folks, this is your RA speaking. Due to constant expressions of discomfort by your neighbors we would like to ask you both to discontinue your shared shower time."

Whispers behind the curtain.

She walked out first, totally naked chin held high with the coldest look in her eyes, her attitude harder than her nipples. She did not break eye contact as she grabbed a towel, wrapped her hair up in it and walked out of the bathroom otherwise naked. Totally ignoring my "Thank you so much for complying to the housing contract you signed."

He stayed in the shower a few moments longer (real simple guess as to why) and then turned off the water. He was flush red and quickly grabbed a towel with much more modesty than his partner. He covered himself up and rushed past my co-worker and I without eye contact. 

I later found out that it was his birthday.

The Big Debut

I'd like to officially debut my online portfolio! I finally got a simple portfolio online so people can view some of my design work. Look at it HERE !!!!!

And a big thanks to Zack Cardenas for taking the photographs of my work. 

Sited: Sam is back!

By Sam Hackerson
Hi guys, it's been a while. I accidentally went off and got myself employed on the East coast (I was all "whoops I tripped and fell, woah how did this office get here?") so I've been trying to navigate that little adventure.
I've been told that we're talking about sites we love...which is tough for me...because I have an attention span of approximately 0. This fact makes it difficult for me to be an avid follower of just about anything, but I'll give my favorites tab a once over and see what I can dig up.

Music:
http://smokedontsmoke.com/
Smoke Don't Smoke has been one of my music go-tos for a while now. Through his consistently informative and on-point posts, Tim Thompson, the site's owner/writer/Head D00d/Chief Guy, has introduced me to acts like Born Gold, Teen Daze, and Blackbird Blackbird. He's great at sharing the music of bands you never knew existed (especially if they fall under the category of "glow-fi"), AND once a month he posts the results of a collaborative scour of the internet for rad music that just so happens to be FREE. If you aren't sold yet, I don't know what else I can say.

Latest-tumblr-Hilarity:
http://trextrying.tumblr.com/
T-rex Trying...I don't have much to say about this one, except that my reaction to the one about the buffet sneezeguard was enough to worry my roommate.

Blogger:
http://lesleyarfin.com/
(http://streetbonersandtvcarnage.com/?s=ask+barf&x=0&y=0)
If Smoke Don't Smoke is where you turn for music, Lesley Arfin is where you turn for advice. Arfin is the writer of Ask Barf, an advice column on the site Street Boners and TV Carnage, and she is my favorite thing about the site, hands down. If you have any kind of life questions brewing in you, send them her way--she covers love, sex, futures, family--you name it. Her answers are honest and practical, without being condescending. OH, and did I mention she tends to be hilarious? She walks the line between entertainment and actually helping you out better than any other column I've stumbled upon, so make sure and look her up.


Mostly-Useless-But-Intriguing
http://moodjam.com/
MoodJam is something I learned about recently from reading about artist Laurie Frick (http://www.lauriefrick.com/) who is all about quantifying her life in these visual and mind-blowing ways. MoodJam allows you to present your moods as a color and give it a small description. The more moods you post, the more colors you can use to describe a mood. You can also navigate the site and see what other moods other people are posting. How is this useful to anyone? I don't know. Maybe you can look back on your collected moods someday and see how your perception of color and feeling changed, maybe you can make a really cool print out or chart for your wall. Maybe you can annoy the snot out of your friends with it. I like to challenge myself with it, use it to force myself to come up with new and interesting ways to describe what I'm feeling or why I'm feeling it. 

In the end, I think the main appeal of Moodjam is that it takes the art of the internet-overshare and puts the emphasis a little bit more firmly on art...which I think we could all use some days.


...And that's that, now go forth and deepen your addiction to this series of tubes.