I just ran across this episode from This American Life; thought I’d share.  Entitled "Shouting Across the Divide," it is a compilation of stories describing people divided by misunderstandings.  Worth listening to.

This hilarious article from the Washington Post gives a possible explanation of our compulsion to exclaim “five second rule!” before eating any dropped food. Don’t look at me like that. You know you do it too.

http://www.wikipedia.org/ Do not use this as a source for your papers in this class or any other. You can, however, wiki a topic and then follow the “References” or “External” links at the bottom of the page for more accurate sources. As always, be skeptical of anything you find on the internet. For example: http://www.ufocasebook.com/. (If I have offended any of you by claiming that aliens have never contacted Earth, please let me know. If you can convince me that anyone, anywhere has made contact with a sentient, extra-terrestrial being, I will make a public apology.)

www.aldaily.com This is an excellent source for news articles, essays, and book reviews. Search “Trashing Teens” to get started.

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/ Has pop-ups. Sorry. Check out some of Kennedy’s speeches; they have pictures. Neat.

http://www.nytimes.com/ I suggest becoming a member of this site. The cartoons are excellent, and membership is free.

http://starbucksgossip.typepad.com/ “Monitoring America’s Favorite Drug Dealer”

www.theonion.com “America’s Favorite [Satirical] News Source”

www.npr.org Everyone’s favorite yuppy radio station, now searchable

www.slate.com Great news source; this is my homepage. They have a weekly (or so) slideshow about an artist or art movement.

www.cagle.com Amazing collection of political cartoons. I think this is a sister site to Slate.

http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html This is a collection of “Common Errors in English.” I do not expect anyone to remember them all, but I find it helpful when I can’t remember the difference between two phrases (E.g. “compare to” and “compare with”).

http://englishplus.com/grammar/contents.htm A smaller list of errors, but with a handy layout for finding what you need.

http://www.tulsalibrary.org/ Go there. They have free books. It’s like stealing books, but you have to eventually return them, but your mom doesn’t make you apologize. But then they let you get some more. Actually, it isn’t like stealing at all. Stealing is bad; books are good. Therefore, stealing books is neutral, morally. [See “syllogistic fallacy” in next link.]

http://www.fallacyfiles.org/ We will be doing a unit on fallacious arguments later in the year. Even though “Because I’m your parent” is not strictly a logical argument (this would be an ethical one), be nice to your parent. He or she is a person too. One who knows you better than anyone (really) and still loves you. This is rare.

http://www.refdesk.com/ This is a very ugly site, but extremely helpful.

http://www.soyouwanna.com/ Information on how to become a vegan, how to give a wedding speech, and how to eat soup, among other things. Cool if you’re bored but want to rationalize wasting time by learning random things.

http://www.instructables.com/ This site is like YouTube without lonelygirl15. This is a positive thing. Again, good time-waster, but you can learn how to build a bookshelf or make a cd case. Good times.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/ Keep up on the latest slang, written by those with an Internet connection and too much free time. Wiki warnings apply.

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php Because sometimes you just need to know.

http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/ Use for quotations from classic novels. Don’t read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn on the computer. Bad for the heart. Really.

http://www.allmusic.com/ For all your music questions. It even lists album moods! Amazing.