A list of my ultra favourite links, by category (ish).
Ultimate Favourite Daily Online Reads
These are the people I read and check up on every day:-
Ampersand - Chiara is adorable, a great writer, very amusing and entertaining, sometimes heartbreaking, also an interesting job that I want to know more about ... reading archives now.
Bitchypoo - O how I love Robyn and all the delightful kitties! Kitty kitty kitty ...
Debut - Jill's latest iteration details her New Life with her usual flair and gift for words.
Don't Try This At Home - Anna - I want to be like her when I grow up; however if I ever get broody over babies, it'll be all her fault.
Draw the Girl - Eliza - fun, honest, great company; reading Eliza's like having a happy drunken sleepover party with your very best friend. Also she talks about food almost as much as I do (makes my mouth water) and has got through a period of major heartbreak with incredible guts, bravery and determination.
Mimi Smartypants - you all know Mimi. If you don't you should because she will make you laugh and think Profound Thoughts, plus Nora is the super-coolest most kick-ass toddler ever.
Pine Barrens Debutante - Stef - irreverent, honest, rude, laugh-out loud hilarious.
Perpetual Motion - Jessie - the most aptly named journal in the universe.
Selilavie - Selila - that's pronounced Se-lee-la; she is profound, talented in myriad diverse ways, generous, deeply inspiring, and I feel like a pathetic whingeing chickenshit pussy in comparison: she makes me want to live better.
Sundry Mourning - love love love the Sundry - go read her NOW (unless, you are not slow like me and have been reading her for two+ years). A very very cute, funny funny girl, also down to earth and self-deprecating, with a great style of writing. Plus she has a Dog and a Cat and a JB, also very funny and cute. Read back through the archives.
TranceJen - Jen, a goddess of truth, sparkliness and large doses of black black humour to which I relate to a spooky degree - she makes me feel like a whingeing pussy too. And she's one of the coolest damn mums out there.
Online Shopping: Books, CDs, Girly Stuff , Toys ...
Given my addiction to books, it will come as no surprise to hear that I am hopelessly devoted to this site; not only a superb range of books, but also CDs, DVDs, toys and kitchen ware (mmm Le Creuset mmm); all one could ever desire. My credit card gets a hammering anyways. My wish list is way too long, mostly because of my tendency to add six items for every one I actually purchase. Delivery speed is reliable - on time, if not before, even to Oz.
A great CD/DVD site - United Kingdom based of course, but Tuxedo and I were dedicated customers whilst living in NI, and remain on those terms. Exchange rate a bit "eek" inducing but when one's DVD drive and massive DVD collection are Region 2, then there ain't much choice, and Blackstar is the best.
Mostly I use this to drool over, for purely vicarious pleasure as I can't afford anything as they're all Prestige Brands (hardly Cover Girl and Maybelline), plus they don't ship to Oz anyway, but there are great tips, the latest of what's in season (so you can then go to your local Priceline/Target and get the look, for less ... ), how-to's by professionals, makeovers, interesting articles and other bits and pieces.
Heather Kleinman's Cosmetic Connection
I cannot praise this site enough - Heather Kleinmann and her squad do an absolutely sterling job providing an invaluable resource for the beauty junkie or discerning female wanting a good deal. There's honest, independent reviews and recommendations, and it provides lots of vicarious fixes and ideas for the aforesaid web-surfer. I found the Cosmetic Connection site to be incredibly helpful when I was updating/modifying my own skincare and cosmetic regime, trying to figure out what was best and sort through that mind-bendingly bewildering array of products and claims that's out there. I just wish it wasn't quite so USAn oriented ... or maybe they need an Antipodean panellist?
H & H Winners Circle : Hors'n Around
Oh hush up, the lot of you! So what if I'm thirty-something, I still ask for a pony every Christmas. These are both great USAn online shopping sites devoted to my beloved Breyer Models. I collect the Traditional range of these models and the collection is getting quite comprehensive (and worth a few buckaroos, although I'd never sell them); they are absolutely beautiful resin hand-painted collectors items that help somewhat to reduce the pangs of pony-lust (and honestly that wasn't meant to sound dirty in any way. At all.). Both sites are nice looking, user-friendly, and the folks are absolutely brilliant to deal with. Sometimes there can be quite large differences/discrepancies in pricing on the same item so I shop between the two. In general prices - given the currency exchange - and shipping costs are pretty damn good for highly collectable items.
Where Tuxedo buys his undies. Mmm mmmmmm. Good for a perve phwooooarrrr ... um, er, actually its a well-designed site with a wide range of brands and styles for the boys (better than Figleaves, in my opinion), and they often have lots of good bargains and sales (and a great resource for people looking for sexy gift ideas for the fella in their life).
Another one for the beauty junkies, this probably falls into the "thank gawd they don't ship to Australia otherwise I'd be in debt up to my fabulously made-up eyelashes" category. I have major drool issues for the Smashbox stuff - a line naturally unavailable in Australia, you'd think they did this kind of thing on purpose, just to cause me more frustration and aggravation. A fantastically presented site; not just shopping but a really well put-together Magazine format with features of all kinds.
You know what I'm talking about. If you don't; it's stuff for geeks - t-shirts, hoodies, caps, cube goodies, toys and gadgets, stickers and posters, drinking vessels (even soft cuddly blankies), all with pithy geeky (and incredibly appropriate) slogans and logos etc. I have bought Tuxedo a couple of T-shirts, which have caused much amusement amongst geeky friends and colleagues, plus desk toys, cube goodies and the de-motivational "Despair" calendar. If you love your geek then go forth and purchase.
News and Media
TV and Film
The best Film site - great reviews, features, talkback.
A truly excellent resource.
Lord of the Rings-Related
The Official Site. Its a really well set out site, easily navigable with masses of content (and no fucking annoying and unnecessary flashy bits and popups). There's all the information anyone could want about the production, development, cast and crew, effects, plus great downloads (screensavers, desktops, etc etc). It's updated regularly with editorials, interviews with cast and the production team re: visual effects and the WETA workshop (Richard Taylor is a truly gifted individual), character development (the interview with Andy Serkis is mind-boggling and very very funny ... I feel quite differently about my cat's hairball problems now), the different cultures and development of those cultures, the sets ... An enormous amount of fabulous information for the diehard fan (oh and yeah, there's lots of pretty pics of Leggy-baby and Aragorn et al for the squeee-ing fangirls. Not that I am one or anything. No).
The very best fan site around. That is all. (oh okay, how can verbose li'l me leave it at that?) These guys work damn hard providing links, updates, interesting snippets of information and message boards, with input from all corners of the globe. A truly global community. And like I said, the best.
The Many Faces of Viggo Mortensen
Sigh. Sigh. Sigh. ANYway, this is a stand-out site amongst all the badly written/spelled, woefully presented, too many friggin' popups for fuck's sake, drooly fangirrrrl stuff out there, as it doesn't only focus on the LotR/Aragorn phenomenon but on the man as poet /artist / photographer. Fuckit, Renaissance Men turn me on, is all. Of course there are plenty of pics and articles and so forth to sigh over, but there's a great balance. Oh yeah, and sigh. (My favourite poem, by the way, is Thirty Three - being the age I am right now that's kinda cool although of course I'm not sure if chronological age is significant to the poem itself - but it reminds me so much of some of Lorca's work, which I can still read in it's original Espaņol, *smug bastard grin*. There is a rough English translation available.)
Health
Just a few sites, FYI.
Ehlers-Danlos National Foundation
Coeliac UK - a good site but way too much flash, takes forever to download