My Favorite Reads

I'm planning on posting a "real" blog post about real issues today, never fear. But I often wonder about the blogs people link, why they like them, why they read them, and  -most importantly- why I should give them a chance. With that in mind, I'd like to explain some of the reads I've been adding with somewhat alarming frequency. I'll start at the top of my list:

Cake Wrecks: I found this site via Feministing, and it is laughs a plenty. After reading serious sites, I like taking some time to see some truly atrocious cakes -and I like reading the snark attached to them. From dead clowns to ill-advised content to spelling errors, I'm generally guaranteed a good time.

Chris Hayes: As the Washington editor of The Nation Magazine (something I also link to), Chris Hayes is an intellectual crush of mine. It just so happens that he is also snarky and not completely insane. Which is good when we're discussing people on the left because they can be just as crazy as those on the right.

Dissection and Introspection: I'm assuming most people who stop here know that this is one of two blogs by a good friend of mine. But in case you're one of the few who doesn't know me personally, you should still check out this blog because it offers an in-depth, well-written look at diverse but prevalent issues.

Echidne of the Snakes: Right now, I'm trying to muddle through the thorny issue of health care. EotS is offering 15 days of examining the health care system. Score! Actually, that was just a random perk. EotS covers a lot of topics that interest me, like feminism, and mixes in issues I am woefully undereducated about -like health care and economics.

Elyse Sewell: So, I watched the first season (or whatever they call it) of America's Next Top Model. Obviously, something is wrong with me. But through watching ANTM, I discovered a smart, sophisticated, sometime raunchy, cool atheist in Elyse. And then later, I discovered she had a livejournal relating anecdotes about being a smart, sophisticated, sometimes raunchy, cool atheist working as a model in places like China and Hong Kong. Definitely check it out if you're looking for some witty, self-deprecating, and funny commentary about the state of the world.

Enough: Maybe it is just that I'm currently unemployed, but I am deeply interested in the consumerist culture that permeates the landscape. I had been planning on writing a blog post about Wal-Mart commercials and how apparently all a girl needs in life is a cool shirt -but then they took down the necessary commercials from youtube. The bastards. Anyway, Enough is a cool website that really delves into what is financial security versus just plain greed, and all of the things it encompasses. Because as much as I love capitalism, sometimes enough is enough.

Feministing: Jessica Valenti (and others)'s site. I love Jessica Valenti. I love feminism. I like pop culture. And I like learning about a host of things that will both cause me to take heart about this crazy world we live in and also about the things that make me want to crawl under my covers to never emerge.

Ill Doctrine: A video-blog about hip-hop. I don't listen to hip-hop. Obviously, this is the blog for me! But seriously, Jay Smooth is incredible and smart and funny. He's someone I've just discovered, but now can't live without. Even when I don't really know anything about what he's talking about, he still makes my day.

Jane Espenson: A writer for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gilmore Girls, Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, and many others, she is sweet (or at least plays it really well), witty, and wonderful. And her blog is a combination of helping screenwriters get started/how she writes/what she has for lunch. If you've enjoyed an episode she's written, you'll probably like her blog. If you enjoy food, you may enjoy reading about what she eats.

L.A.me: Sara M. was probably my first internet intellectual crush. I found her on Television Without Pity where she recaps House episodes (one of the worst things about the writer's strike was a serious dearth of recaps from her), and she makes my life better by writing about her crazy life. I love her Evil Roomie stories, her crazy deaf neighbor stories, and all of her posts labelled "I lose". She is someone who can take something mundane like dealing with shopping carts and make it a laugh riot, and I need that in my life.

Mighty Crankosaurus: A random feminist blog I found. Sometimes I disagree with Crankosaur, sometimes I agree, and sometimes I learn something new.

No Cookies For Me: One of my biggest peeves is the idea that a guy can't be a feminist. I understand some girl feminists think that guys can't be feminists, but I'm willing to say they're wrong. This site is one written by a guy who identifies as a feminist, and for that reason alone it is worth noting. But it is also really well-written. He tackles arguments against things like universal child-care, and does it calmly, logically, and well.

Notes on Popular Culture: From the same author as Dissection and Introspection, NoPC is her blog about... Well, I think the title's kind of self-explanatory. Well worth the read.

Racialicious: There are things I don't know a terrible amount about. I enjoy reading blogs that take the time to sort of unmuddy those waters a bit. This is one of those blogs. It deals with race, and racial construct, and racism, and anti-racism. And does so without me wanting to crawl into a whole for being born white or reacting like, "I'm not like that; I would never do that", which is always good when trying to learn about the issues.

See Emily Blog: Emily is someone I went to college with, is smart, and has a different take on a lot of issues than I do -like Hillary Clinton. She also highlights different issues that I wouldn't even think of until I travel to her little corner of the interweb, like her current post on Gardasil. Plus, she gives good book recs, which is always a good.

The Feminist Underground: I love this site. It is always informative, calm, and cool. It highlights different aspects of feminism that are of interest, like right now they are running a series of guest blog posts about feminist parenting. I find it to be a respite in the sometimes frightening and divisive world of on-line feminist thinking.

The Pixar Blog: I like Pixar. Here is a blog devoted to news about Pixar. It seemed like a good fit. Plus, sometimes you want something like this that is less intellectual and more fun.

The Thrift Store: Honestly, the first time I saw this blog, I read it because of the name. Another find from Feministing, the author writes about various things and introduces me to stuff like artists and books. I haven't read a lot of the back entries yet, but I do think it is worth the look.

The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks: I kind of have a love affair with punctuation and snarky goodness. This blog combines both, by humorously examining exactly what these signs are trying to say with their quotation marks. Be sure to check out their "Other Snarks" section. I like Passive-Aggressive Notes myself.

Triangulations: I have smart friends who have different interests than me. This is yet another example of that. I love reading this blog because it is both well-written, and gives me an idea of what I know too little about. For instance, Taxing the Rich was confusing, because I know almost nothing about economic policy. I didn't know how little I knew. I'm now reading about economic policy in order to better understand it and this blog. He writes about other things too; politics is his passion -as it says in his little "about me" section.

What About Our Daughters: A site that examines different facets of life for African-American women and teenagers. Like Racialicious, I read this site because I think it is important to know and note the disparity between things like the amount of time given on network television to white children who go missing and the amount of time given to children of color who go missing. Informative, anger-inducing, and a great place overall.

What Claudia Wore: A blog about the Babysitter's Club member Claudia Kishi and her fashion sense -along with the fashions of the other members. The blog offers passages of the BSC books detailing the clothing and then alternatively mocks or salutes them.

Women and Hollywood: A blog that covers women in hollywood; how many of them there are, what levels of success they have, what issues they face, the percentage of women employed in the studios, the percentage of women who are studio heads, women writers, and movies about and for women. Very interesting stuff, especially since I keep thinking on Pixar and their lack of a strong, central female character as the protagonist in any of their movies.

Whew!