Confessions from a bored individual.

Like most of the population under 35, I go on Wikipedia for reasons that are otherwise pointless to the history of mankind. Don't even get me started about how awesome it is. Yes, high school teachers and college professors abhor its pure existence for merely obvious reasons. Citing Wikipedia as a source for the word "teabagger" being a historical political term is just failure on your part. But it is home to actual facts for obscure subjects. They have page listings for that girl in that random French indie movie about that hipster eccentric intellectual. There's lists of links for pages that have educational value. Lists of literature terms, lists of National Historic Landmarks by state, lists of defunct airlines, etc. Wikipedia has actually defined really weird science and math terms that my professor failed to properly explain. (Psst, I went there for a much clearer definition of synesthesia, than what my psych prof had given). Not to mention, there's actual applications on the site that allow you to cite sources if you are able. So you can't say that everything posted is crap.

But let's get this straight. I write for a living...sort of. I don't get money from doing this, but I believe I have a decent amount of talent. If I didn't, I'd be getting hate mail from all of my former English teachers who read this. But since I actually have skill, it wouldn't require me to strictly rely on the 'ol Wiki for complete information. It's notorious for letting anyone edit or vandalize a page, and it's not really top notch for web moderation. That in itself can make it even better, but not for important or academic information. On that note, let's expose what it should really be so awesome for. Well, for one, it's great amusement when I get in there and edit grammar and spelling. Proper nouns and word usage were taught in school, right? But then you stumble upon stuff like this, and I'll let you continue the Wikipewlunking at your own risk.

WikiWTF #1: California English and slang

We all have probably joined one of those groups called "You know you're from [insert place here] when..." and then laughed at how true and pathetic it is because nobody else gets it. Same for people in California. You know where to get the best Mexican food, you say gnarly or hella, etc. But did you know that there was a Wiki page for that?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_English

Now I won't spoil the enjoyment of reading this entry, but here's an excerpt of what you may find:

A common example of a Northern California colloquialism is hella (from "hell of a (lot of)", alternatively, hecka) to mean "many", "much", "so" or "very". It can be used with both count and mass nouns. For example: "I haven't seen you in hella days"; "There were hella people there"; or "This guacamole is hella good." Pop culture references to "hella" are common, as in the song "Hella Good" by the band No Doubt, which hails from Southern California.

I don't really need to expand on this, but it's cool in its own sense. There's pages for other states, regions, and countries as well. I personally recommend the entry on Texas and other southern states.

WikiWTF #2: List of sexual fetishes

This one needs no explanation. In fact, it's probably not for the easily offended or with a weak stomach.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_paraphilias

WikiWTF #3: People who ran in the '03 recall election for governor

I was in 8th grade when this happened, and knew nothing about politics, much less who was running. But I remember hearing that a bunch of random people were running. I wish we had this kind of lineup for this election, because I'd rather vote for Gallagher or a porn star than any of the people on the bill now. I love how I can understand how stupid and pointless politicians are now that I'm able to vote for one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_recall_election,_2003#Results