This week we are sharing the things that are getting us through the harder times. Monday we did podcasts, yesterday we did tv and today we’re doing the wonderful internet things keeping you going. (Non-porn edition.)
The internet can be a scary sort of place where the loudest and most horrible people get the most attention but it can also be an amazing community of kind and wonderful people and it also houses most of my favorite cat videos.
So today let’s share our favorite online distractions. Maybe it’s a website or blog you love or a youtube video that makes you incredibly happy or someone you follow online who always makes you laugh or feel seen or an online group that is a second home.
I’ll start:
I spend way too much time online so one of my favorite things is falling into dark rabbit-holes on wikipedia like this List of unusual deaths, which kept me clicking on more links until 3am.
Also recommended: Atlas Obscura, which makes me feel like I’m traveling even when I can’t. (I use this site for almost every vacation I take because it gives me weird-ass recommendations that are so me.) And xkcd, which you probably already know. And reddit (once you find the subreddits that are right for you) is fascinating because there are so, so many subreddits for everything you can imagine. (Explain Like I’m Five and Submechanophobia are two of my faves.) And instagram, which uses my past likes to suggest videos for me except Hailey steals my phone and likes weird possum videos and other weirdness so it’s always a surprise.
Hailey suggests The Useless Web (which gives you random, weird websites) and we played with it for a few minutes this morning until it gave me this one which was actually very satisfying to play with.
Now it’s your turn, but first I will show you the best things instagram recommended for me today:
Okay. Your turn. What wonderful internet place do you love?
PS. Thank you for making this a wonderful internet place for me.
This has been getting me through.
https://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/today-i-rise/
Oh come on! Go stand over there. See the “Dog wants a Kitty”. My family laughed and laughed, and all weekend it was “Oh come on!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4pGYXpIvNA
I hope that works.
The Useless Web sent me to this site and I love it!
https://alwaysjudgeabookbyitscover.com/
Omg. I watched that one with the cat and the dock 10 times in a row and now I can’t breathe. Today’s post is lovely, and just what I needed. Thank you!!
It’s actually a magazine but I love the amazing fact generator on their website: https://www.mentalfloss.com/amazingfactgenerator
and also you forgot to mention Pinterest–just start pinning things and your feed gets more and more interesting!
I love the Translator Fails channel on YouTube.
I’m a sucker for animal rescue pages on Facebook (wingspawsnclaws is my favorite so far)! Another good Facebook page is “Can I Pet Your Dog? Podcast” which has zero drama and ALL THE PUPPIES.
I also love online comic strips, such as Questionable Content, Surviving the World, Order of the Stick, Hark! A Vagrant, Hyperbole & a Half, Gunnerkrigg Court, and Weregeek.
All Tony Baker
I’ve been following Amanda Kloots on Instagram, and would recommend her site to anyone wanting a pick-me-up. She lost her husband actor Nick Cordero to Covid 19, and she is determined to honor his memory by living each day to the fullest. She posts her workout classes which she teaches, inspirational quotes and adorable photos and videos of her son Elvis. She inspires me every day with her positive outlook and gratitude for life. I am so grateful for people like her and Jenny who uplift me!😊
https://www.youtube.com/user/janhakon – Unique (and useless) ways to break spaghetti, pop balloons, and use tape with some science thrown in for good measure.
If you love animals, this is always a good go to: https://www.thedodo.com/
I love reading your blog. And I fantasy shop Realtor.com and dream about all the fantasy houses I would live in if I could afford the staff to clean it and garden it for me. I love https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/ for all the things and places you never realized existed in your state to visit and to go do fun things in. I’m not really an Instagram or Pinterest’s person, not because I don’t enjoy them, but because you can get lost down the rabbit hole once you start using them and look up hours later wondering where the time went…. so I’m really happy when you curate videos and photos for us to see.
Thanks for the laughs! There are some really funny ones here. x
Best timing ever and loved everyone of these things… so needed today of all days thank you!
It’s driving me crazy *why* did the cat walk off the pier can anyone help me understand this?
My two rabbit holes are Openculture.com and the Internet Archive at archive.org
https://weirdnj.com/category/stories/ will keep you going for hours!
Dena Blizzard “One Funny Mother” , Meredith Masony “That’s Inappropriate – Meredith Masony” and Tiffany Jenkins “Juggling the Jenkins” are my best friends that I’ve never met. They have kept me laughing and sane through this impossible and insane year.
On facebook, I enjoy the page Doggo Teefs, and also Thoughts of Dog. Here are some youtube channels that always makes me laugh:
A Dog Named Stella: https://youtu.be/V6o7VDJKhkE
Charlie the Golden 18:
https://youtu.be/9eRkkHlHcGA
https://bongo.cat/
Best on computer/laptop, but usable on mobile
I know llama llama duck is old, but I can watch this for HOURS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYWHJwyO5Gs
It’s not quite the same since it’s not autorepeating flash, but I’ll take it.
If you haven’t discovered the Caenhill Countryside Center in Devizes, UK, your life is about to be immeasurably better. Every morning, Chris The Chatty Farmer lets his animals out of the barn for the “rush hour” and calls it like it’s a horse race. He loves all his animals, and he’s exceptionally silly.
https://www.instagram.com/caenhillcc/
https://twitter.com/caenhillcc
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKn7tfvyZEBfhRCuZ0aPVhQ
https://twistedsifter.com/
Atlas Obscura, yes! Also this: https://www.facebook.com/groups/WeirdSecondhandFinds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giG4hKQXAkg
I watch this whenever I need a laugh.
I love this family and their videos.https://www.youtube.com/user/VisitTheGreenroom
I’ll echo what someone else posted and say the webcomic Questionable Content. I also enjoy Wilde Life, The Boy Who Fell, and Oglaf (nsfw).
https://www.seventhsanctum.com/ is an extensive collection of generators for writing, gaming, art, etc. I often use it as a sandbox for my brain.
On Reddit, check out Humanity, Fuck Yeah! (r/HFY) for sci-fi stories featuring humans being awesome.
Ask A Mortician on YouTube is amazing and informative!
I follow Dean and Nala: 1bike1world
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1oHb5i_2GsyefbSPjW-SMQ
Live cam baby otter. Need I say more?
https://youtu.be/OjqyQr1Fa4g
I started a Facebook group on this very subject! I haven’t been keeping it up as much as in the beginning, but the early posts are full of ideas to keep you occupied if you’re stuck at home.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/productivelylazy/
This is an awesome art website – all kinds of contemporary stuff with updates almost daily and archives that go back forever:
https://www.thisiscolossal.com/
I love Ze Frank, he narrates gorgeous nature video clips about geckos and hippos and he’s so silly and amazing. https://www.youtube.com/c/zefrank
https://kitten.academy/
BEST place on the internet!!!!!!!!
https://www.messynessychic.com/ An eclectic dive into lots of history and just oddities from around the world. Fantastic rabbit hole to other rabbit holes, including a grab bag of “13 things I found on the internet today.”
I posted earlier, but had to share this. Courtesy of weirdorconfusing.com by Useless Web: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Coloring-Cat-Farts-A-Funny-and-Irreverent-Coloring-Book-for-Cat-Lovers-for-all/312878611135?epid=15038513903&hash=item48d904babf:g:C1MAAOSwcp9e1ZLp
This blog is a huge part of my internet get always. I look forward to getting the emails for new posts! ❤️
Also I play an MMORPG game called Final Fantasy XIV online. I have met an amazing group of people there, I chat with them everyday. We have exchanged gifts and cards. Even phone numbers! I can’t imagine my days without them now.
Oh, I also have been following 1bike1world. Another I like is MilkyBokiTan about a dog and two cats. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP1CQH2PVJv4-glNTuVJl3g.
Also Takis Shelter is Greece is inspiring – what one person can do. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkrkMMAyxC9vGNa6ZJYyscg
The first pic in this list made me think of “feeling standby”!
https://www.sadanduseless.com/funniest-cross-stitches-ever-gallery/
Do you like history or sewing maybe both?
If you love Harry Potter, Sherlock Holmes , the victorian/Edwardian era. You will want to
Watch Bernadette Banner on YouTube!
Her diction will delight your ears. 💛
Your blog and Jen Yates’ blogs are usually funny, sometimes thought-provoking or poignant, and always fabulous. Hers are https://www.epbot.com/ and https://www.cakewrecks.com/ I know you are familiar with these, but perhaps some of your readers are not.
For animals, I love https://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/ which shows al the baby animals born in zoos and aquariums (aquaria?) around the world.
I feel I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Archive of Our Own. Yes, fan fiction. Yes, thar be smut available within. But there’s also some incredible writing and the chance to read beautifully-rendered fixes for when a TV show/movie/book/etc. let you down or simply ended and you wanted more.
F Yeah History – All the things you don’t know about history, with slant towards women/queer/undiscovered stories. https://fyeahhistory.com/
McSweeney’s Internet Tendencies: https://www.mcsweeneys.net/
For mindless beauty and fun try this mandala maker. https://www.drawerings.com/draw Very relaxing for any age
“WhereTheHeckisMatt?” is the new name for WhereTheHellisMatt? — which has gotten me through many a rough patch over the years… My vision of a perfect world where we all can dance together…… as it should be…
Trixie Mattel & Katya Watch, on Netflix’s youtube channel. Also, How It Should Have Ended, Eons, Kurzgesagt, & the hilarious Jamie French.
Imgur is a bigger time-suck than Pinterest these days, but Pinterest can still occasionally deliver
Ooh, I second Kitten Academy and Cake Wrecks! Also pretty much any live animal cam…
For me, a daily check-in (apart from this site!) always includes The Far Side, which posts Gary Larson archives. https://www.thefarside.com
Another site I frequent when feeling a little down in the dumps is Put You In a Better Mood, which gets its photo feed from a subreddit called aww – just basically cute animal pix. https://www.putyouinabettermood.com
Oh, I have so many…Google Arts & Culture is really amazing (and, you know, just museum websites in general). https://artsandculture.google.com. I’m also getting hooked on Twitter – fun sites include Bodega Cats, Giant Military Cats, M_Crouton (who is a cow that lives on a farm animal sanctuary in NY), A bear, and Yesterday’s Print which is full of old pictures and ads.
Finally, I love cooking videos – YouTube faves include Peaceful Cuisine and Emojoie Cuisine, and I love watching the cooking videos on The Kitchn.
Erm…was that too much?
Messy Nessy Chic
The pianist started off my menopausal,overly emotional first sob session of the day; bless him.
My absolute favorite internet thing is The Colo(u)r Clock. It converts the current time to hexadecimal and then displays the corresponding color. Really simple, but utterly fascinating to watch. I pull it up whenever I need something soothing.
http://thecolourclock.com/
A vlog on YouTube called Ordinary Adventures. A 30-something couple in California visit and review theme parks for fun and food and shop at stores for movie and holiday related items. There is something fun and relaxing about watching them in their ordinary adventures… especially during a pandemic.
QI, the British panel/game show peopled by stand up comedians.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFYZP6I0URc
I love to visit https://www.zooborns.com (baby zoo animals!) and http://www.cakewrecks.com/ is hilarious plus on Sundays they switch it up and post the most beautiful cakes.
That cat on the dock… I can’t stop laughing… I have actual real-life tears running down my face. I needed that, thank you.
WTF, Bear! https://possumscatsthingsgnawingatme.wordpress.com/2020/10/12/artober/
In the music video for her song “Little Bit of Love”, Ke$ha rides a giant chicken across the desert. Makes me think of you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfOif2YkjgU
Walter Geoffrey, Gus Gus, Tuna Makes Your Heart Melt, Tucker Budzyn, Esther the Wonder Pig, The Fowler Herd, Jade & Jasper, Daisy the Newfie, Bulenjy, and of course, the Bloggess
Soooo…I think that cat who walked off the pier must be blind or something. Your blog is my happy place most of the time, but that video genuinely hurts my heart. I understand why people find it amusing, and that the cat was never in real danger, but no matter what the circumstances, an animal in distress should never be used as an object of amusement. Imagine, if she’s blind, how much she relies on her family and how unprotected she must have felt. The bigger problem is that if such videos prove popular and influencers like you promote them, more “accidents” will happen. You wield a lot of influence; please consider carefully what kind of world you want for animals when posting these videos.
Men playing chicken with giant spiders, though? Sold!:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QUC-MPxUzo8
I’ve been listening to and sharing the YouTube video of Ben Platt and the cast of Dear Evan Hansen singing “You Will Be Found” since lockdown started. It’s playing as I type this. Here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_10msPMEick&list=RD_10msPMEick&start_radio=1
The song starts about two minutes in. You are not alone!!
The Golden Ratio – gives me joy every day to see what the dogs are doing, and their humans seem wonderful.
The pianist started off my menopausal,overly emotional first sob session of the day; bless him.
A vlog on YouTube called Ordinary Adventures. A 30-something couple in California visit and review theme parks for fun and food and shop at stores for movie and holiday related items. There is something fun and relaxing about watching them in their ordinary adventures… especially during a pandemic.
I like Information