There’s websites I link to (see sidebar), blogs I plug into Google Reader (best thing ever), websites I run through for daily information, and other sites I stop by on occasion. The only sites I can’t live without are View from the Prairie Box and my Gmail account. The rest is icing on the cake.

So, final question for the week:

What are you favorite websites and why do you enjoy them?

Feel free to list between one and ten different sites (I’ll check with the web guru to see if hyperlinks will work) and give a general description of the them. Do you like to read comics online? Watch funny videos or trailers? Do you do all your shopping online or are you addicted to a social networking site? Are you into high fashion or celebrity gossip or NBA scores or MTG cards? Is there a blog author who is consistently hilarious or another writer who is always inspiring? Do you debates politics in a public forum or contribute to discussions of theology online? Share with us your favorite stops on the www.

Now that I’ve asked all the questions, I’ll drop a few sites as well. After I’ve read my mail and peeked at Google Reader, I like to check a few news outlets: the local JournalStar, USA Today, CNN. Then, if there’s time, I’ll head for even lighter fare with entertainment news like Entertainment Weekly and E-Online, with a special stop at some point for the Pop Candy Blog. I enjoy reading Pioneer Woman and Dooce as well as Design Mom. I frequent the Terrablogs to keep up with folks I know from Covenant College days. Recently Jeremy and I have enjoyed Facebook—it’s been fun to delight in reconnecting with old friends (“Did you know so-and-so has kids now? Wow!”) and marvel at some profile pics that are out there (’nuff said). I could go on with the listing, but I’ll let the rest of you do that…

Foods can be seasonal. I had no idea of this concept until one day in college when my friend Carolyn started rattling off a list of delicious fall foods her mother would be making soon. It’s funny what sticks in your head—I’ve managed to forget much of my three years at Missouri Baptist for some reason—but I remember walking the hilly sidewalk to our cars on a warm St. Louis afternoon and thinking gloriously of pot roasts and pumpkin pies.

Think of being stuck in the confines of your living room on a blustery winter day. It feels like weeks since you’ve seen the sun shine and it has been months since you’ve seen anything green and growing outside. You’re cuddled up with a mug of hot chocolate, but you’re longing for a freezing mug of dark Scottish Ale on the outside terrace at Lazlos. You can’t wait until you can pick your Roma tomatoes and long green cucumbers, then eat them on a sandwich mere moments later. So, here is today’s question:

What food or food-related activity means summer to you?

Share a childhood memory, a favorite restaurant, a long recipe, a newfound favorite summer food. You type it, we’ll read it and let our mouths water a bit.(I’ll update this post later with my own favs. I’m cuddling a feverish 4 year old now, poor kiddo, and typing is a challenge.)

Welcome to Entertainment Week on the Prairie Box. Audience participation required (suggested? demanded?). It’s the first week of August which means summer, as we know it, is quickly coming to an end. So this week I’m interested in what the masses do for fun.

Today’s question isn’t limited to summer viewing though:

What is one of the best movies and one of the best television programs you’ve seen in 2008? And why?

(Only answer why if you can do so without dropping spoilers. Oh spoilers! The bane of my non-cable-watching existence!)

I’ll go first. For movies I’ll pick Wall-E for all its Pixar-y goodness. It was great to see a movie on the big screen that my whole family could really enjoy. And while watching the film, I was very aware that I wasn’t catching every fascinating detail, that there was a lot more to discover during future viewings. Wa-a-ll-eeeee! Ev-ah! Who could resist such charm? For tv shows I’ll go with a recent delivery from my Blockbuster queue: Mad Men. I almost quit watching the show (note that it’s not recommended for everyone) because it got dark and somewhat discouraging. But I love history that comes alive and with Mad Men I’m constantly wondering about historical accuracy as it relates to the show’s central office, a marketing firm on Madison Avenue. It may not be the “best” of 2008, but certainly one of the most interesting programs I’ve seen.