The Pigs Must Be Flying

My mother, Luddite extraordinaire, has finally upgraded from DIAL-UP INTERNET!!! This is HUGE, people. HUGE. She has sworn that she wasn't going to change for years, and after badgering her about it several times (conversations that always ended with her feeling cranky and insulted and me feeling bitchy and disrespectful), I just stopped bringing it up, as it was clearly something she had no intention of changing.

I sent her this video yesterday with the warning that it might take her computer a long time to load, but when I talked to her this morning, she said, Oh I loved the video! It downloaded in two seconds because now we have Fios. And I was like woah there tiger, what?!? When did this happen?!? And then, PRESTON AND I DON'T EVEN HAVE FIOS.

A few minutes later, after I'd gotten over my initial shock, she mentioned that she was sad she'd missed the last two Friday Night Lights episodes (a major source of bonding for us over the last year or so) and I said, Well you know you can watch all three seasons online. And she said, YOU CAN? And I said, OH MOM there is so much you have to discover! The Internet is so magical, and now you'll understand WHY!!

So now I'm compiling a list of fun, exciting things for her to do with The Internet and I feel as if I'm introducing her to one of my favorite people I am so excited about it. And then I really think about that statement and realize...do I think of The Internet as one of my favorite people?!? Because, um, NO. I cannot be that big of a loser. So I'm just going to step away from the computer, eat my breakfast, read some Latin, and come back to the list of MAGIC on the internet later this afternoon, when I'm not feeling quite so crazy lady with her computer.

But before I leave, a serious question: what is a valuable internet resource that you use that I can share with my (pretty old-fashioned, Conservative, Southern) mother? What sites could you not live without? And I'm not talking kinky sites AT ALL PLEASE, just places where she can get information quickly--be it practical information or frivolous information (e.g. Weather, news, cooking, running, how-to sites, books, movies, etc.). If you leave your thoughts in the comments/in an email I will love you forever and send you something pretty (like HUGS OVER THE INTERNET YAY!). Happy weekend!