My Favorite Links

Naturally, I have spent quite a bit of time on the Internet over the past couple of years. My tendency is to hunt down certain bits of information, as opposed to aimless browsing (I do browse aimlessly from time to time, but even my aimless browsing is done with purpose). Over time, I have developed a certain set of sites that I like to visit on a regular basis because they provide the resources that I need. I shall list them for you.

Friend's Homepages

  • Blossom's and Peter's Home Page - These friends of mine from Down Under have been gradually putting together a home page. While they have only just started, Peter has some lovely stories out there, and Blossom has a very nice poem.
  • James Flummer - He does not offer much personal information, but he does have a plethora of stuff about ham radios, which is one of his big hobbies (he has a room in his basement filled with radio equipment). Yep, he's my Dad, and not everyone's Dad has a homepage.
  • Kristal's Page - Kris is one of my best friends, and a really nice girl. I am helping her build her page.
  • Logan's Page - Logan is also one of my best friends, and I am also assisting her in the construction of her page.
  • MaggieQ - Maggie writes some lovely poetry, and sticks new stuff out there on her page all the time. Plus, she is a lovely person too.
  • Pooh Bear's Home Page - Talk about a dedicated mother - the story about what Pooh had to go through for her children is perfect reading for Mother's Day. But they are home now, and everyone is happy.
  • Tinka's Home Page - My dear friend Tinka has her home page, where she tells quite a bit about herself, shows pictures of her dear cats, and talks a bit about Australia, her homeland. (Thanks also goes to her for the lovely book of poetry from A. B. "Banjo" Patterson. It will make for some great reading, and maybe it will help me learn how to speak Australian!
  • Xantia's Home Page - Now here is a real sweetheart of a girl. She is still working on her home page, so there might be some rough corners. But she is a really nice girl. Another Aussie, too! Heck - I have met so many Australians through the Geocites Heartland Chat Room, I probably would almost feel right at home if I were to ever visit.

Entertainment

  • A Prairie Home Companion - Every Saturday at 5, an hour after I get to work, I put on my headset radio and laugh along with the audience at St. Paul's Fitzgerald Theater. Garrison Keillor is classic (and Sue Scott ain't that bad either!).
  • Weekend Radio - Directly after PHC (I should mention that this is not on WDBX, but on some other public radio station in Carbondale that shall remain nameless) comes Robert Conrad with Weekend Radio, that "curiously strange and offbeat potpourri of classical music, crossover wit and convivial companionship". The classic comedy routines oftentimes have me rolling - this is where I first learned to love Monty Python. This show is the only place anywhere where you can hear material like this!
  • The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis - When I saw this site, I just knew that I had to put up a link to it on this page. I have not seen Dobie for more than 10 years, but I consider Dobie Gillis one of the coolest shows ever to see the inside of a television screen.

Literature

Note: I have been a voracious reader ever since I was a child, thanks to my mother (a teacher who had me doing books starting at age 4). I was outpacing my classmates by second grade, and I started reading Shakespeare at 11 (actually, that isn't anything special for a person who was used to reading the King James Bible, just a bit more prose). Nowadays, when motivated, I will read a full-sized novel in one sitting (I think I did Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" in one 8 hour stretch last year), although with all of my other activities, I rarely have the time. Here are my favorite Literary links:

  • The Shakespeare Web - currently undergoing a reworking.
  • The Collected Works of Shakespeare - Need I say more?
  • Emily Dickenson - Emily is my favorite poet. I guess that what I like about her is the spirituality that runs through her work as she writes about life, death, love, baptism, heaven, and other such subjects. Not the politically correct spirituality that is so popular these days, but a deep, heartfelt, yearning for a closer relationship with God. Sometimes, I think that she was writing things that many of us would have difficulty grasping in our modern world had we been in her place. I believe she was truly inspired by God. There are several Dickenson resources to choose from. You can learn about her life and what instigated her muse at Virtual Emily. Or, if you are more interested in reading some of her work, Project Bartleby has published "Poems" (ed. by Mabel Loomis Todd), the edition that first brought Emily to the attention of poetry lovers, online. It is not the ultimate Emily (Todd did quite a bit of editing; I have a better collection in my library), but again it is accessable, which counts for something. You can also read about current research being done on Emily at the Emily Dickenson International Society.
  • Robert Frost
  • Kahlil Gibran - His poetry is deeply spiritual, philosophical, and romantic, all at the same time. His description of what Love is may be the best that I have ever seen, after what the Bible gives.
  • Project Bartleby - An interesting project to publish the works of various great authors. Not quite as good as having all those books in my library (I collect classics), but at least I can access them at work this way.
  • Mark Twain
  • It's Winnie the Pooh!!!!
  • J.R.R. Tolkein - I first read the Lord of the Rings in 7th grade. That time it took me maybe two months to read the whole thing (that included smuggling the books to school and reading them under the desk when I should have been doing schoolwork, something which frustrated my English teacher to no end, in that I alternated this with Shakespeare and comic books). I last read it last year, and I did each book in about a day.

News and Sports

  • CNN - I use this site for news and sports more than any other, especially when I am at the office. They have more pictures, they have video (Quicktime) and audio, and they have a wide variety of content. For up-to-date news, they cannot be beat.
  • USA Today - They also have good content that they keep up-to-date, and their baseball updates are the best. However, once you get past the font pages, the pictures dissapear, and they have no video or audio.
  • Sporting News - A recent addition to my bookmark collection at work (I have different bookmarks at home and work), they have excellent sports coverage. However, they have few pictures, less than USA Today.

    • St. Louis Cardinals kick Cub booty 
  • Baseball might be down a bit in popularity, but some things never change, and I will always be a fan of the Cardinals. I will go to at least two games this year, both of them Cards/Cubs games (that's what I have tickets for so far). I really enjoy going to ballgames. The pace is fast enough to be tense and exciting, yet relaxed enough that I feel that I can soak in the aura of the game. I also must say that the installation of grass at Busch Stadium is a major improvement. The only reason why I don't attend more games is that I am not much of a traveler. Go Cards!!!!!
 

Other Resources

  • PC Magazine - One of only two magazines that I subscribe to, and the only one that I actually pay for (my mom gives me National Geographic as a gift every year). They provide the best computer related information, IMO, and their web site isn't simply a mirror of their print issue.
  • TV Guide - They are interactive, and that is a plus.

Weather Links

Everyone likes to know what the weather is going to be like, right? Well, we can get quality, up to date weather information on the web now, and it is quite often about as good as what you get from the local media, just without the handy weatherman telling you what it means. Here are some of the resources that I use. The combination of what you see below results in excellent coverage of all situations.

  • WeatherNet's Radar and Satellite Menu - Excellent NexRad, satellite, and other radar summary resources. Each image is updated apx. hourly. They also have some animated radar products so that you can see the development of storm systems. This is as good as it gets.
  • National Warnings Area - National Weather Service site that posts printed text of all severe weather warnings (tornadoes, floods, winter storm, etc.). The same stuff that the television stations get. Updates every 60 seconds. If you have stuff going on around you, this is a good resource for up-to-date information.
  • The Weather Channel - Decent forecast information, decent radar data.
  • The Weather Underground - Decent forecast information.

    Miscellania

    • Christians Online - A nice collection of Christian Links
    • The WWW Bible Gateway - The Bible in searchable, online form. I have used this on several occasions, and found what I wanted to find in just minutes every time.

    For music-related links, please check the Galaxy Links Page. For activism links, check out my Activism and Causes page. After all, why should I be repetitive?

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    Last Update: February 27, 1998

    Email: saxman@siu.edu

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