Time Wasters

Yeah, I'm a procrastinator. But I'm in college--it's part of the job description, right?

Well, to commemorate the fact that I'm one semester away from ending my four-year tenure at The University of Arizona, I've compiled a short list of my favorite time wasters. The list is short because I spend so much time at each of them I don't have time to look for new ones!

The Facebook. Spare me the communications-world and blogosphere hoopla. Facebook really is all that. I've been on the social networking site since the fall of 2004. I've been an addict ever since. At first, I let the identity-theft skeptic in me keep a distance from the site, but since then I've been a several-hours-at-a-time user. Even after the site opened up to everyone, and even with the commercialization. I think it's a great tool for keeping in touch, a great tool for hanging on to contacts, and a great way for organizations and politicians to do community outreach. In relation to MySpace, I have found that Facebook is far more user-friendly and communication-facilitating.

FirstView. So, the site's not 100 percent free for all users, but for the runway-fashion fiend, it's a nice tool. You can search by designer or country to check out past and current lines from the runways. It's also an easy way to figure out the tangents of fashion and different designers, and help you educate yourself about what designer you really like best. I've been using it, believe it or not, since I was in middle school. I found it randomly and have loved it ever since.

The New York Times. Okay, so this only works if you want to know what's going on in the world. But the Times is one of the last good papers, and that great content is online. I suggest you find out what's going on--pay close attention to Pakistan. Benazir Bhutto was assassinated today.

My Story Is Makeover. Much as I hate watching Lifetime movies, or even the commercials on that channel, I have found a guilty pleasure on the Lifetime TV Web site. This dandy makeover tool gives you a daily task--you're going to the movies, or something like that--and you have to dress your "paper doll" for that outing. It's shallow, superficial and for fashion lovers only. My mom groaned when I showed it to her, and she's my "What Not to Wear" watching buddy. Not for everyone, but for those who can get into it, a fabulous waste of time.

Projekt Gutenberg. For those who read in German and appreciate literature, this site is a great way to pass the day. You can find authors and read full text versions of various writings. For example, I found Germany's brightest star, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. You can read all of his works, and some of them even have a version you can listen to or purchase in the mp3 shop. It's a great way to get your daily literature boost.

Songza. It's easy, simple and horizon-expanding. This site plays music clips for free. You can't buy them, but it will save your play list for several days. You can also find music you'd never have found on the Billboard Top 40. I searched for "French rap" and found Neg Marrons, a French reggae group whose song "Le Bilan" I particularly like. I searched for "Czech music" and found Tarafuki, the first contemporary Czech group I've been able to find on the Internet.

Good luck and happy time-wasting. :-)