Five Distractions I Really Don't Need in My Life (But Really Can't Resist)

Every morning I get up with a sense of purpose. I pack my satchel (which my kids call my man bag), drop my kids off at the bus stop, and head off to the office.

When I arrive at the office, I get me a cup of coffee, lay my books and my writing notebooks on my desk, and then engage in scholarly pursuits. Well, I engage in scholarly pursuits as much as I can, but mostly I find myself distracted by some of my favorite sites.

By the end of the day, I am cursing myself for wasting yet another day. So that I am not alone in completely wasting my time, I’ll share just a few of my favorite sites with you.

1. The mental_floss Magazine Website

mental_floss is my very favorite magazine. The tag line for this mag is “Where Knowledge Junkies Get Their Fix”. And I am a knowledge junkie. The only thing I do not love about mental_floss is that it is published only bi-monthly. But while I’m waiting impatiently for the next issue to hit the newsstand, I busy myself on the site.

The site is chock-full-o absolutely worthless facts, trivia, and quizzes that prove nothing except that my brained is filled with a bunch of useless, unnecessary knowledge. If you are one of those people attempting to maintain a certain level of productivity, stay away from this site! [Click here to check out site.]

2. The Knowled¿e Magazine Website

This is my second favorite magazine, and its tag line is “FOR THE CURIOUS MIND”. Perhaps, that’s my problem. I’m much too darn curious for my own good. Maybe if I were not so curious, I might be more productive.

But at least the knowledge contained in this magazine is a bit more useful. Nevertheless, it is every bit as addictive as mental_floss. [Click here to check out site.]

3. Cracked.com

A few months ago my wife called me into my son’s room. I knew something was horribly wrong because she had on her mad face, and he was sitting there looking like a cat caught with a bird in its mouth.

She told me that she thought he was on an inappropriate site and directed me to check the site and talk to him. I chuckled a bit when I found that the site was Cracked.com; I remember reading that magazine as a young man. So, about thirty minutes later she returned, and my son and I were clicking through the site and giggling like school boys. She gave me the evil eye and walked out, and we continued clicking and giggling.

If you are sometimes as immature and irresponsible as I, check this site out. [Click here to check site.]

4. howstuffworks

Again, I am a victim of my own curiosity. When I was a child, I would take things apart just to see how they worked. Man, would my parents be po’d when they walked into the room and found another appliance rendered useless by my insatiable need to know.

But now I have this site, so I know how everything works. And you can too. Just click here.

5. RadioLovers

Back in the day, my favorite Saturday afternoon pastimes was to sit on the front porch with my grandfather and his friend from down the road who only had one arm as the sipped Pabst Blue Ribbon and listened to the radio. I would listen to their comments and sit back, close my eyes, and imagine the action. Even now I love to listen to football and basketball on the radio.

This site contains hundreds of vintage radio shows. Amos and Andy are there. Benny Goodman is there. So are Batman and Buck Rogers and many more. [Click here to check out site.]