In Need of a Chuckle?

The internet is a funny place. Among all of humanity's mindless blabber, flood of selfies and battles of mutually wrong opinions, there exist little square inches of hope. You've got to take your eyes off social media for a minute, let your mind wander off to far richer terrain, and stop yourself from spamming everyone's wall with the treasure you've stumbled upon (though sometimes the treasures are more like well-known comfort corners of the internet). The best of the internet is revealed for you to savour:
Zenpencils: (http://zenpencils.com/) You know those so-called inspirational quotes that pop up in your newsfeed which contain no decipherable meaning whatsoever? Well, forget them. Zenpencils is the place to go when you want to be truly moved by famous people and their sayings. While most of us would take quotes at face value, Gavin Aung Than, the cartoonist behind zenpencils will paint a story for us. From the hundreds of submissions he receives, the quotes he uses are usually those that inspire people to be better human beings and to fight for their dreams. A refreshing website.
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal (SMBC): (http://www.smbccomics.com/) Granted, SMBC comics are not always easy to comprehend for non-geeky folks, but people with a basic understanding of most modern scientific, philosophical and economic theories could find themselves considerably amused with quirky little comics that tease the mind. If you consider yourself to be a troubled intellectual, this is a site that you'll love coming across every day.
Oatmeal: (http://theoatmeal.com/) Brainchild of a web-designer who's funny, smart, and surprisingly good-looking, theoatmeal.com is one of the best known humour sites on the internet. It provides everything from grammar lessons to ways to suck at your religion, all along with funny life anecdotes that will have you chuckling at the artist as much as the creation.
 

Rantages: (http://www.rantages.com/) Love it or hate it, Rantages is a matter of pride for Bangladeshi internet community, not least for being one of the only national websites that pops up on Google search without needing a location prompt. Some articles have made thousands laugh, some have inspired hundreds to start writing and yet others have made readers question their sanity. Still the Goat emblem persists. With a recent revamp in the website interface and the birth of a fiction partner, Glyph, the website is likely to go much further.
XKCD: (http://xkcd.com/) Kind of like SMBC, with stick-figures, more math and a lot more sarcasm. XKCD is an old favourite for computer programmers, linguists, sociologists and plenty of other people who just drop by to figure take a good look at themselves in the self-reflective mirror that is XKCD.
Hyperbole and A Half: (http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/) The only blog in the list of internet goodies that I've mentioned so far, Hyperbole and A Half is unique in its unblemished humour and strangely endearing voice. The posts are mostly inspired from funny childhood stories, weird adult realisations and weirder pets - all with the aid of roughly-sketched stick figures that convey more emotion than you'd believe. Allie Brosh, the creator, has turned more into a close friend to most readers than an icon, and when she stopped writing for a period of time due to her battle with depression, the internet community joined in massive support for her. I'm just happy she's back.
Cracked: (www.cracked.com) “America's Oldest Humour Site', has been tickling the world's funny bone for some time now, and their decent videos, articles and regular columnists writing them are all well-known to most internet users. By dividing the majority of their articles into easy-to-read numerical lists that build in fun momentum, they seem to have cracked the code to keeping the internet audience interested for more than one and a half minute (which is totally not the place where we got the idea for this).
Cyanide and Happiness: (http://explosm.net/) How many laughs could stick-figure comics get anyways, right? Millions, apparently. Each comic has separate plots with plenty of dark humour and innovative punchlines that somehow manage to consistently surprise/shock readers. C&H is for tough-skinned people and most of their material should show up with disclaimer signs but they don't care who gets offended and neither do their fans.
The Classics: If you're having a bad day and you really need a pickup, or you're having a great day and just want to reach new highs, the classics are always by your side. Whether it be Calvin and Hobbes, Peanuts, or Garfield, the internet has the archives of the classic pieces.
Next time you're in the middle of an all-nighter assignment-frenzy that decides your fate, remember these foolproof ways to blow off steam and procrastinate.