I'm the last person to need another distraction to keep me from working, but I have a new obsession: StumbleUpon. It's a free toolbar that sends you to random sites once you've picked a few areas of interest like cyberculture or activism. You can then rate the sites as something you like or "not for me" so your recommended sites become more tailored for you as your results are matched against those of like-minded users.

I like this so much because I realized that I haven't actually played much on the web in years. I almost always jump right to Google or to my Bloglines feeds and I sort of miss how I used to just find interesting things while sifting through the results of a dozen search engines. StumbleUpon is like channel surfing with your TV remote- great for when you want to see something new but you're just not sure what.

Today I found Their Circular Life, a beautiful Italian site. It's just pictures and sounds from a few different locations in Italy. I love the Campos S. Barnaba (it's in the picture above) as you move your mouse around a circle and the images change from day to night. I find the distant ambient noise of people and water really relaxing. You can move the circle quickly and see and hear just a jumbled blur, or you can linger and experience each part of the day. There's probably a metaphorical lesson about life in there, but it's also just nice to appreciate the beauty of such simplicity, when so many sites out there buzz and flash and don't say anything at all.

StumbleUpon is a free download for Internet Explorer or Firefox.