Cool Sites I Read Not Related to Personal Finance

So one of the reasons I write this blog is to maintain a connection to the outside of my daily work grind and as a reminder that I am more whole than my daily schedule / calendar of events would suggest. Thus, as an FYI to those who only read this blog and don’t know the rest, I thought I would post about some of the other interests that I spend time reading, learning and thinking about outside both 1) my daily work grind and 2) my personal finance struggle.

Chocolate & Zucchini
This is a food blog written by a Frenchwoman, Clotilde, who has now made herself into quite an enterprise. I think this is a really innovative and different blog that tends to veer outside of the equation of topical blogs in general. You get the flavor of passion for food without it seeming one-dimensional. Plus I love the idea of blogging as a way to improve one’s language skills (English is Clotilde’s second language). Just wish it was updated more often. Sidenote: I have made chocolate & zucchini muffins before and they are outstanding. You can’t taste the green stuff but it makes chocolate chip muffins more moist and more nutritious.

TPM Café
I am really into following the minutia of politics. I have finally allowed myself to give up any political ambitions of my own. But I am still very engaged with all of the every last detail. I like the TPM blog for its speed and its randomness. All of the bloggers are very real, personal-sounding people (including one guy in particular, who happens to be a friend I graduated from college with).

Brand Camp
“Brand Camp" is a blog written on marketing and brand management (my day job) by Tom Fishburne, who works for Method. (you know, the soaps and cleaning products they sell at Target). These little postcard cartoons he does remind me of all of the reasons I am sometimes engaged by my work, and sometimes want to slide down the sidepost of the corporate ladder altogether.

Woot.com
Some would say this IS in fact related to personal finance since there are good deals here featured everyday. But I don’t tend to think this way. I think any sort of enticement towards spending on things you don’t need is not so good. But it's fun to look, and I find myself looking often. I like the concept of the updated-every-day site.