A Weeks' Worth of Websites to Entertain You and Impress Your Boss

www.slickdeals.net

Slickdeals.net is like the Ebay of online coupons. Daily deals from thousands of online retailers are updated every day-clearance priced jewelry, electronics, clothing to name a few-but they do not last long, sometimes only a day or two. You can tell your boss you were shopping the Staples sale for discounted office supplies; it's all about the bottom line, right?

Tuesday

www.thesartorialist.com

Fashion blog? Yes. Complete waste of time? Not necessarily. Former fine apparel merchandiser Scott Schuman, armed with nothing but a digital camera and keen sense of style, takes to the streets of New York City to photograph everyday people who look fabulous. Visit often for style inspiration, and if asked, you were doing research on putting your best foot forward.

Wednesday

www.phrases.org.uk

A treasure trove of common idioms, sayings and phrases, and their meanings is waiting for you. Sure, you know what it means to be "three sheets to the wind", perhaps even from personal experience, but do you know where the saying came from? So, when your boss asks you to "put the kybosh" on that proposal you were writing, you'll be able to find out exactly what she means.

Thursday

www.typographica.org

At first smack, a blog devoted to typefaces might seem banal. Give it a minute. It is absolutely fascinating stuff. A good typeface is the essence of form meeting function; it is both useful and beautiful. Blogger Stephen Coles (host of www.midcenturymodernist.com, another stellar site) exposes his font obsession for the whole world to see only to find he is most certainly not alone. To boot, you will find some great fonts for your next PowerPoint.

Friday

www.drudgereport.com

You will look ever the current event scholar in-the-know if your boss happens to see this page up on your monitor. Matt Drudge compiles news from all major sources including AP and Reuters wires, world and business news outlets, and editorial columns from around the country. For a bit more fun, check out the 3 AM Girls celebrity gossip column, The Smoking Gun site, or the political cartoons.

Saturday

www.etsy.com

It's Saturday, and you can do what you want. Still, productivity is not out of the question. Etsy is an online craft fair and flea market all rolled into one glorious vortex of a website. You can use their clever gift guides to buy handmade organic soaps as holiday gifts for all your coworkers, and maybe pick up a vintage top or two for yourself.

Sunday

www.craigslist.org

There are so many ways to go on this online classifieds ad, it's dizzying. You can scope out the local garage sales, find a new car, read a haiku, or for a real kick, look through some of the "missed connections". Here is a real example (typos and extraneous capitalization retained for effect): "Lifetime Fittness Tempe: Today 3-ish you were on the bike hitting it hard ...you have Great Blue Eyes and are bald I also saw you when I was leaving this is not the first time I've seen you ...Tell me where it was if you remember would like to talk to you your very cute." Of course, if you are really so bored with your job that you spend all day surfing the web, you can scour the craigslist job postings for a new one.