In direct contrast to Allison’s time-saving first installment of “Sadie Lou Reads…,” I must admit most of the websites I read provide great ways to procrastinate. One of the best things about the Internet, in my opinion, is that it’s so easy to Stumble Upon websites you enjoy. I wouldn’t know about many of the websites I now look at daily if it weren’t for word-of-mouth (or perhaps word-of-blog).
My absolute favorite has to be Toothpaste for Dinner. It’s run by this guy named Drew from Columbus, Ohio, and every day around midnight, the site is updated with a new comic. Drew may not be the best at drawing, but his clever and quirky captions more than make up for his lack of artistic skill. He added a blog to the site about two years ago, which he posts to periodically. There’s also a store where one can purchase t-shirts emblazoned with choice comics from the site, and a few YouTube videos Drew created. Two other great websites are associated with TFD: Natalie Dee and Married to the Sea. The former is run by Drew’s wife Natalie, and the latter by the two of them together.
After discovering TFD a few years ago, I had the good fortune to come across two other fabulous webcomics. Although Achewood and Perry Bible Fellowship don’t update quite as faithfully, the quality of their absurdist humor is worth it. Achewood is sort of an acquired taste—not everyone will find it funny. But for me, following the lives of anthropomorphic stuffed toys, robots, and pets is something I always look forward to. Perry Bible Fellowship, which originated in the Syracuse University newspaper The Daily Orange, is just as bizarre. The funniness of the strip is usually characterized by the juxtaposition of childlike imagery with morbid humor. The most recent involves a child with extraordinary eyesight pointing out a bee on an eye chart, instead of saying “E.” Of course, the optometrist thinks the child can’t see, so the poor kid ends up getting laser eye surgery. Funny? Well, I think so.
Outside the realm of comics, I love to read The Morning News. Though it can be considered a reliable news provider, it may not report the news one would expect. Today, it covers the huge meat recall in California, the Democratic candidates, robotic sculptures, the annual Tournament of Books, and growing up with strict Muslim rules in mainstream America. You probably wouldn’t find the same variety of articles on Yahoo—and definitely not the clever, intelligent writing.