I read some political blogs occasionally, but for the most part i tend to get my political news and views from a bunch of magazines that i sibscribe to, and some article-based websites. I’m not looking for recommendations for political blogs here.
The blogs i like to read on a regular basis are those that provide a window into a world—often on a hobby or an occupation—that many people never really experience. This can be everything from the mundane to the exotic.
My two favorites at the moment are:
Clublife: a blog by a bouncer in a Manhattan nightclub.
Waiter Rant: a blog by a waiter in a Manhattan restaurant.
As a former waiter myself, i love reading about the waiter’s trials and tribulations with his customers. He also provides links to some other interesting websites devoted to the hospitality industry.
The bouncer’s blog is really fascinating. He writes well, and gives a good sense of what the job is really like. He comes of as something of a misogynist asshole at times (although he denies it), but i still find his stuff really interesting.
So, what are some of your favorites? Any cool stuff i should know about?
My two favorite blogs are both posted on the Freaky Trigger Web site. The best is I Hate Music, which provides a nice counterbalance to critical raves. The writer claims to hate all music and takes delight in mocking bands and songs. The best is reading about bands you actually like: her instructions on how to write a Talking Heads song are brilliant. Also from Freaky Trigger, I love Popular. The concept is that the blogger reviews every UK #1 single in order from a modern perspective. He’s up through March 1966 right now. It’s a really interesting experiment and it’s had me check out older songs that I’d probably never hear.
I enjoy following several webcomics, so I’ve been happy lately to have been finding a few excellent blogs that discuss them. For instance:
Websnark has detailed and thoughtful commentaries (or “snarks” as the site’s main writer calls them) about webcomics and the people who create them. The site has posts about other topics, but it is best known for covering webcomics. This blog’s main writer, Eric Burns, does the writing for a webcomic.
Webcomic Finds, to quote the site, is “about finding new and lesser known webcomics (Hence the ‘Find’). Starting out from my homepage, I travel from one new webcomic to the next using only the links page” on each visited site. This blog’s writer, Ping Teo, is a webcomic artist and writer.
For other subjects, I enjoy Making Light, which comes from book editors and married couple Patrick & Teresa Nielsen Hayden.
The Bad Astronomy Blog, by Phil Plait, whose Bad Astronomy website is also one of my favorites. (Phil used to post here, but I haven’t seen him around lately.)