[There are over 100 million sites on the Internet. 100 million! You might think you know about all the important ones (CollegeCandy, Gmail, Google, Facebook…), but there are thousands of other sweet sites out there (like Elfster, FashionStake, and GoFobo) and more showing up every day! We get it – it’s not easy or fun sifting through the crap and porn to find those gems, so we’re gonna bring the gems to you. Just sit back, kick up those feet and allow us to introduce you to the diamonds in the internet rough.]

There are only a few short weeks left until Christmas, and some of you are probably either still stressing out about finals, finishing up grad school applications, or trying to finish buying gifts. It’s so easy to get caught up in our own problems that sometimes we can forget about other people. The holiday season is a great time to think about what you can do to help others and consider giving back to the community.

One great way to give back is through volunteering.
Love the idea of volunteering, but think you’re just too busy?

Think again.

How many hours a day do you spend on the internet, browsing Facebook, watching funny YouTube videos, and reading CollegeCandy? Sparked lets you put some of that time to good use.

Sparked works through a process called “Micro-volunteering,” which lets busy people (like college students, for example) volunteer whenever they have free time. Nonprofit organizations team up with Sparked to get work done for free by micro-volunteers. They post these tasks, or challenges, onto the site and site users submit their answers.

Challenges range in difficulty and time commitment–they can be anything as simple as reading an organization’s website and posting feedback to helping design a poster or brochure.

Here’s how you can get started: first, sign up. Once that’s done, you’re asked about your skills (research, copy writing, graphic design, social media, and more) and what types of issues you’re concerned with (such as animals, civil rights, or the environment). Sparked will show you challenges that fit your skills and concerns, and you can also browse for more challenges.

Sparked makes volunteering so easy and stress-free, you really have no excuse not to start giving back!

There’s plenty more web where that came from. Check out the other sites that are on Laura’s web radar!

Fact is we connect to others by learning about them. And everyone has something to share (even if it’s a secret love for The Food Network). So to give you yet another reason to procrastinate, we started ‘The Five Questions We Ask Everyone’ (and five just for that one person) because we know whether we’re schmoozing with an A- list celeb or your local bartender, you’ll be equally entertained.

We watch America’s Next Top Model (and all subsequent marathons) for 3 reasons:
1. The crazy chicks.
2. The crazy judges.
3. Nigel Barker.

He’s hot, talented and has the sexiest accent on earth. And he agreed to talk to us! We tried to sit down with Nigel in person (sans shirt), but the guy is just too busy taking pictures of models in exotic locations (we spoke to him from Canada) and doing good deeds around the world (he works for tons of awesome organizations). So we just imagined him sans shirt while we picked his brain on the phone. Nigel told us a bit about himself, gave us some much needed photo advice and lured us in to ANTM’s 13th season, which is airing now. We didn’t think it was possible, but after getting to know the guy we love him even more.

Swoon.

1.  What is one of your craziest, most ridiculous college memories?
It’s one of those things that was quite a long time ago (laughs). I can tell you one thing that I remember that has haunted me ever since. I went to an English boarding school and we put on the musical Grease and I played Danny, who’s the lead. The reason why it was particularly funny is because it was an all male cast and my Olivia Newton Jon was played by another guy. It was sort of the amorous scenario where I was holding my love interest in my hands but it’s actually some sort of bearded rugby head trying to sing back to me in this sort of soft falsetto. When you look at how serious people were, that’s one of my most excruciating and more ridiculous college moments.

2. What are the 5 things you can’t live without?
Without sounding extremely cheesy, straight off the bat I’d say my wife, my son and my daughter. But obviously, other than them, I could never live without good wine, Guinness, cheese and almonds.

3. What’s your motto or life advice that you life by?
“If you compare yourself with others you may become vain or bitter for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievement as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career however humble, it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.” It’s weird considering what I do, that I’m a judge in a talent show. It’s important to realize what you do and even if you’re cleaning bathrooms, it’s still important.

4. You said you like to sing, so what is one of your favorite songs?
The stuff I used to sing would make you laugh if you knew. I actually was a backup singer and went on tour with Barry Manilow. But I’m afraid I’m a rocker at heart and I’d have to say Led Zeppelin, Stairway to Heaven. That’s almost as cheesy as Barry Manilow these days when they play it so much on the radio but I still love it.

5. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
I try to live day by day and see what’s happening and obviously as a photographer and someone in the creative industry you’re constantly changing and moving. I’m moving more into film work and I would love to be directing motion pictures by that point.

5 Questions Just for Nigel:

1. How did you get involved with America’s Next Top Model?
I knew Tyra Banks and I had worked with her before. It wasn’t like other shows where they are put together by production companies or networks that are looking for celebrities and stars to fill roles. The difference with Top Model is everyone that went on the show knew each other, we were all in the industry, we all worked together, and we were friends. I was asked to do a photo shoot initially as one of the photographers and I got a callback right before I was going to do my shoot saying “Listen, we saw your footage and we like you, would you be interested in having a more permanent role?”

2. What do you think is the hardest part about being in the beauty and fashion industry.
I don’t think there is anything really difficult, I think we are very, very lucky. It isn’t a hard industry; I find my job extremely easy. I definitely work hard and get tired but who doesn’t? If I’m going to look around at people and say, “Oh goodness, I have a hard life” who am I trying to kid? I take my hat off to people who really save lives and do difficult things. I think for us, we really have an easy job and for me it’s a means to an end – it’s something that helps me with the things that are more important.

3. You say “more important things.” What do you mean?
I’m a spokesperson for the Humane Society in the United States, the Protect Seals campaign spokesperson. I also work on the Protect Sharks Campaign and I’m a spokesperson and Wish Granter for the Make a Wish Foundation. I shoot the national ad campaign as well as grant wishes. I think I’m up to 24 wishes I’ve granted now. I also just got back from Africa because I’m a spokesperson for the Elizabeth Glacier Pediatric AIDS foundation. We shot a documentary and a series of photographs for an exhibition in Tanzania reporting on the state of the country’s pediatric AIDS programs and how they’re advancing.

4:  ANTM has been around for a long time. What can we expect this season -  anything different, anything new?
It’s always something different and there’s always something new. That being said, it’s the old classic recipe. We don’t change that up too much. It’s like your favorite food; you don’t want it to change too much. But what we do have is fresh ingredients and those are the girls. This season happens to have a particularly rowdy bunch of girls, which is always fun. That being said, some things happen during judging and photo shoots that have either never happened before or when they have happened have been so scandalous we questioned whether to put them on TV or not. This season was full of those moments. I don’t know what it was, if there was something in the water or if it was something with this group of girls. It was one of those great seasons that only comes along every three or four seasons for us.

5. Do you have any advice as to how to ensure good pictures every time?
There isn’t a golden bullet for these things. There’s all kinds of boring advice as well as fun advice; The boring advice is if you know you are going to have a photo shoot, for example it’s picture day at school or it’s Christmas and you know you are going to be taking pictures, try not to drink beforehand. Try to drink plenty of water, try and get a good night’s sleep.

People have a tendency to model in candid pictures and a candid picture should be just that. If you are the model try and forget the camera as much as possible, even if it means looking at your friends and squeezing and tickling each other so that you actually get off the subject for that moment and you’re going to get a much more natural and memorable shot.

Not this year!

Inevitably, there will always be people on your holiday-gift list who stump you (especially now that you waited until the last minute!). Maybe you haven’t seen Great-Aunt Ruby since you were ten, but you have to get her something this year because she just sent you a ton of cash for your birthday. Or maybe you just made a new friend, but you aren’t sure of this person’s likes and dislikes yet.

Charity to the rescue!

If the people you know are nice, they’d probably really appreciate a charitable gift. Not the kind of charity where you give them money—the kind of charity where you give others money in the name or honor of those you’re gifting.

Here are some great places to start.

Heifer International – This organization has a gift catalog link from their home page, which will lead you to a menagerie of offerings to give in the name of friends or family members. You can give a flock of chicks or ducks for as little as $20. Heifer is all about providing livestock to people who need it to become self-reliant, and it’s a great cause.

World of Good – This place is partnered with eBay and sells eco-friendly, humane, fair trade, etc. gifts of all kinds. You can search for gifts in four categories: people positive, eco positive, animal friendly, and supports a cause.

Global Goods Partners – Offering gifts and the opportunity for donations, Global Goods Partners aims to relieve poverty around the world and empower women by giving them the resources they need to become self-sufficient and successful.

Build a Nest – This site supports women artists and artisans in developing countries by providing them with loans to start or maintain creative businesses. The products are sold online, and much of the proceeds go back toward helping the women.

Hooray for the Underdog – Sells fun and funny notecards and images, then donates a portion of all proceeds to benefit rescue dogs and animal-welfare groups.

Animal Gift – For the animal lover in your life, Animal Gift provides you with tons of donation options that will help animals from seals to elephants.

World Vision – This aid organization provides an online holiday gift catalog with options ranging from goats and chickens (similar to Heifer International) to emergency aid in Darfur to portions of clean-water wells in Africa.

[Photo courtesy of World of Good. We just bought that beautiful bag!]

This girl directed a film on the Chupacabra. Fashion-wise, she is all about extremes. An article on Radar Online quotes her as comparing herself to a lizard and saying, “Clothing is meant to be fun, right?” As much as she is known for her constant headband-donning, she does not confine herself to one fashion genre. In fact, she seems to be all about extremes, liking “things long and loose, or short.”

It seems many New Yorkers, in our daily quest to make the A/L/N/6 train without attracting any unwanted attention, have resigned ourselves to the same hoodie, leggings and “I’m NOT a Plastic Bag” as every other chick on the platform.

Conversely, Wohl’s socialite peers are partial to Tory Burch (boooooring) logo flats and “ethnic” paisley print muʻumuʻus. Now you may say, “Hold on a second, Nora- Arden Wohl wears those mu’umu’us, too!” Let me tell you something about Arden Wohl: though she was born into privilege, Arden Wohl sure seems to know a little more about the world and its problems than most of her peers. Arden is dedicated to saving Darfur and is currently promoting Libby Spears’s documentary, The Playground Project, about the commercial sexual exploitation of children, with Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney. Arden is also passionate about the Nest Foundation, which raises awareness for the same cause.

The girl can rock a headband and doesn’t take herself too seriously when it comes to style, saving all of her true conviction for causes helping others. And on top of that, she’s worked with George Clooney and managed to concentrate on the task at hand. Arden Wohl is one fashionable, focused philanthropist.

Person: Alison Goldfrapp

You know that crazy catchy song from the Verizon LG Chocolate commercial a few months

back? If you weren’t already sure, it was Bath, England duo Goldfrapp’s “Strict Machine” off their second studio album, Black Cherry. Singer Alison Goldfrapp’s style is constantly changing both in the realms of fashion and music, not evolving but rather bouncing around like a tennis ball tossed forcefully into a small box, and her performance energy is just as frantic.

Like a club couture superhero, she seems introverted by day and mostly shuns interviews, but when the lights go down and she hits the stage, she is a breathy, writhing sex goddess in stilettos. She is famous for her short short/horse tail combinations and admits to having an aesthetic fondness for hybrids, which is reflected back into her music. It seems one cannot exist for her without influencing the other.

For all of her talent and sex appeal, however, Alison’s traumatic youth left her feeling undesirable and her first interviews gave her nightmares. I applaud Alison’s brave wardrobe choices through her worries, and Madonna herself has been photographed on at least 2 occasions wearing blantantly Goldfrapp-plagiarized inspired ensembles. The English press has even begun calling Madge “Oldfrapp”.

Goldfrapp’s latest album, Seventh Tree, released February 28th, has a more (widely-publicized) folky sound to it, but the band insists that it is not folk! And, you know, I believe them — because Alison has taken to wearing harlequin getups (Sorry, I know I mentioned this in my last blog, but it was before I even realized what was influencing me!), marabou-accented pirate hats, and, apparently, entire owls. This isn’t your Mama’s Joan Baez in a maxi skirt.

It is now nearing the middle of October. If midterms aren’t bringing you down just yet, something probably is. Whether it be guy problems, money problems, annoying roommate issues or simply a general feeling of crappiness, you want nothing more than to vent, drink, and wallow in your world of misery.

Naturally.

I’ve been there. We’ve all been there. And everyone needs a little time to bitch.

But after watching an episode of Oprah all about giving back, I was inspired by a young girl who was battling a life threatening disease. Despite her condition, she found the time and energy to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for children suffering from AIDS in Africa. Makes our problems see quite trivial, eh?

Sure, your guy issues may seem like a giant deal when you have a date party coming up and the guy you love just hooked up with someone else and now you are going to be forced to be the only one in the entire house to go alone and that is not only totally embarrassing but a complete waste of the $250 you spent on that hot new dress.

Let’s face it, people; there are people out there with real problems. People who need real help. Children battling cancer, families living on the streets, women being abused in the homes they have built for their families. Situations like these force us to wake up and realize that our “problems” are trivial. So, instead of sitting around and bitching about the small stuff, why not use that energy to help those who really need us?

Need some ideas? Start here:

1. Find your local Habitat for Humanity

2. Hold a book drive for inner city schools

3. Volunteer for various city clean up projects

4. Volunteer at a children’s hospital

5. Tutor inner city students

6. Donate your old clothing to a battered women’s shelter

7. Help out with adult literacy programs

8. Join your school’s Dance Marathon or Relay for Life (Don’t have these at your school? Start one!)

9. Donate blood

10. Lend a hand at the local Humane Society

These projects will not only directly affect those people (or animals) you work with and for, but will also make you realize that those huge problems you had aren’t so bad after all.