... In which the Drifter uncovers the secret to his success by revealing some of the sources that have provided the brick and mortar that has kept this digital edifice standing for over a year and made it appear to be made of sturdier stuff. 

http://www.aldaily.com/  

Arts and Letters Daily.  Self described as home to articles, essays and criticism related to : philosophy, aesthetics, literature, language, ideas, criticism, culture, history, music, art, trends, breakthroughs, disputes and gossip.  Left side column of links alone makes it an absolute treasure. My internet default page since it began in 1998. Site survived bankruptcy of Parent company Lingua Franca  when  Chronicle of Higher Education bought them. Founder Denis Dutton (died last year at age 67 of cancer) wrote a fascinating book entitled "The Art Instinct".  

http://www.refdesk.com/   

If you think this site has neglected to include anything--and I mean anything- chances are you're mistaken. 

http://www.loc.gov/index.html

The Website is just about everything you would expect it to be, and then surprisingly a whole lot more. Access to  original manuscripts is one thing, access to dozens of related documents and presentations and photos and the like is reason enough to raise a toast to Al Gore in thanks for having invented the internet.


http://www.wikipedia.org/

Hate to admit it, but how can one avoid it?

And like any source, it's gonna be imperfect, though not all sources provoke the paranoia that comes with the suspicion that your information may have been born in ignorance, arrogance and chaos.  Search: Phillip Roth vs. Wikipedia for apropos story...very funny. 

http://manybooks.net/

One of many (emanating from Project Gutenberg and seems like another pops up everyday) free book sites online.  It's where I discovered and devoured Chesterton, Melville, Voltaire, early American West novels, Seneca, who was the early Roman equivalent of (actually more like inspiration for) Shakespeare and most entertainingly of all, site has enough great reads from long forgotten masters of pulp, mystery and noir to satisfy anyone with  appetite for the rarest cuts of raw meat from the literary stockyards. Did I mention that it's all free?  First year I started downloading I felt like a kid set loose in a toy store with an unlimited gift card.  Now I take it for granted...which I shouldn't because did I mention...?  IT'S ALL FREE!

http://www.laphamsquarterly.org/
Fascinating premise: Cover current topics in the news by finding appropriate historical antecedents.  You can read a recent "Tea Party" manifesto then read an almost identical one dating back to Revolutionary War era.  Read a  current "Global Warming" warning, then read another from 43BC.

In their own words:
"Not to know what happened before
one was born is always to be a child."—Cicero

Lapham's Quarterly embodies the belief that history is the root of all education, scientific and literary as well as political and economic. Each issue addresses a topic of current interest and concern—War, Religion, Money, Medicine, Nature, Crime—by bringing up to the microphone of the present the advice and counsel of the past. Valuable observations of the human character and predicament don't become obsolete. 

http://www.youtube.com/

At first it was dancing cats, "Jackass" stunts, and trained babies being abused by offscreen stage parents.  But when I first discovered a long lost video of Wes Montgomery, I knew a revolution was happening. This is real "Public" Broadcasting.  Today I'm a frequent visitor for reasons mostly related to my guitar studies, and hardly a week goes by that I'm not astonished and touched by some of what I see and hear from dedicated musicians  around the world who would otherwise be (like me) limited to an audience of a tolerant spouse and dog with no choice. 

special mention to:

http://www.straightdope.com/
Their motto is...

Fighting Ignorance since 1973 (It's taking longer than we thought) 

http://thebrowser.com/
Their motto is:

Writing Worth Reading.

And then there's...

 http://failblog.cheezburger.com/thereifixedit

I check this out every once and a while, cause I don't know about you, but I can't resist a photo collection called  ThereIfixedit

with such stunning examples of wit, diligence and resourcefulness as ....

 

And in the blogosphere, I just gotta wave my flag for...

http://www.randomactsofcommentary.com/

Yes, I'm biased . 

TeddyVegas (blogging handle) was a colleague of mine eons ago when we were both practicing Madison Ave.witchcraft and cooking up stews of bull and baloney for mostly low-nutritional products from the american film, TV and theatre industries.  He is without question the most gifted wordsmith I know.  And it's no wonder.  He's an award winning poet, a natural born as well as well read social/political/cultural philosopher, a true scholar of the games of basketball and tennis, a razor sharp wit of laugh out loud brilliance and a helluva great guy. Reading his blog day in and day out for years is what ultimately gave me the courage to take my own shot. (The house in the Springs adventure was just the thematic spark)

I've sent you his way before, so I'll only add that if you follow NBA basketball, he's a must read.  BTW, I don't think he comes here often, if at all, so rest assured, this is no back-room blogger quid pro quo deal, I just really like his stuff.  

Just  remembered, I've posted all (or almost all) of this before. 

But what are the chances any of you noticed it? 
I almost didn't notice it myself.

So why even bother to mention it?

Because I would feel remiss if even--

 only one of you had noticed it.

 But the chances of even one of you noticing it
 are virtually the same as the chances 

of any of you noticing it.  

 So, never mind.