Blogs of Note: A Writer's Edge

The blog world is populated by, among others, an expansive community of writers. Writers who earn their living by writing….writers who want to earn their living by writing…writers who will never earn their living by writing but who write for the sheer love of it…writers who write because the words filling their minds and their souls and their feverish imaginations demand to be set free…writers who write because that’s what writers do. It’s a gentler madness…a wondrous calling…a sublime compulsion…

A community of writers is almost an oxymoron because writing is, in so very many cases, a solitary endeavor but a community exists just the same. There are many blogs for and about writers…for and about the art and the business of writing…so very many to explore, to learn from, to draw information and inspiration from. Georganna Hancock’s A Writer’s Edge is my favorite of these. It is warm and welcoming, very well-written and wonderfully informative.

A long-time resident on my blogroll, A Writer’s Edge has always been a blog of note to my mind and now it’s a Blog of Note officially :-) If you’re a writer, you’ll find an excellent resource with a compelling and charming hostess…if not, you’ll still find it a wonderful reading experience.

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And, of course, the previously featured Blogs of Note are still heartily endorsed:

Worldman

Michele

(The post on Michele's wonderful blog also features links to other Blogs of Note)

Blogs of Note: Worldman

The world of blogs is, of course, expansive and fairly all-encompassing. There are blogs for just about any interest and we all have our reasons for preferring the ones that we do. My personal favorite blogs tend to be those that are written by inquisitive, open-hearted people who share themselves and their view of the world (both personal and at large) in engaging ways. It is, therefore, not at all a surprise that one of my favorite blogs to visit and savor is Peter Voegtli’s charming, witty, and thought-provoking Worldman.

Worldman is never anything less than a delight to read and Peter is a wonderful blog host who makes sure that everyone who visits his site feels welcome and totally engaged. Another plus from my point of view is that music informs and permeates the entries which adds to the experience of the blog (especially considering that he has wonderful taste in music :-)

I am an unabashed fan of Worldman and I heartily recommend you visit…chances are you’ll become a fan, too (tell Peter that Michael sent you :-)

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FYI: This is, according to Blogger's count, the 400th Bread and Roses post. Yay! :-)

Blogs of Note: Michele

Blogs of Note was at one time a reoccurring feature of Bread and Roses; it spotlighted interesting sites that I had encountered during my excursions through the blog-o-sphere. As time and circumstance shrank my time to surf as much as I would have liked the feature fell by the wayside. But now I have been inspired to resurrect Blogs of Note by the site being spotlighted today.

You can find no more engaging a site than Michele Agnew’s delightful eponymous blog. She is a warm and welcoming hostess who encourages her readers to become part of an ever-burgeoning and interactive community through clever posts that ask thought-provoking questions, make pithy observations, and encourage dialogue and discovery by sending them out to visit each other’s blogs. It’s a lovely site well worth a visit…though I warn you if you visit once you will be visiting often (when you visit, tell her Michael sent you…it’s a Michele thing that you’ll understand when you get there :-)

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Some of the Blogs of Note that were spotlighted in the past have stopped being published or updated for one reason or another but most of them are still going strong and are still highly recommended (as are all of the sites on the blogroll on the left.) I happily direct your attention to:

A Gag Reflex (our very first Blog of Note. Most of the original posts have been removed because, happily, Cori Crooks' harrowing, beautifully-written memoir is going to be published next year but attention must still be paid. The original Blogs of Note post about this site is here.)

Dog Eat Doug (a delightful comic strip by the talented Brian Anderson...now being featured in newspapers around the country...that presents the sweetly humorous adventures of a puppy and a baby...the original B of N post is here.)

The Donegal Express (a thoughtful, well-written, and challenging site which features politics...but not exclusively. Original B of N post is here.)

My Neighbours are Hoors (a wonderfully charming blog featuring the wry and witty observations of a woman whose downstairs neighbors are "ladies of negotiable affection". The original B of N post is here.)

PSotD: Political Site of the Day (a great, incisively written site that, despite its title, is not exclusively political. Original B of N post is here.)

So What Can I Do? (Karima Neal's engaging positive action advocacy site. Original B of N post here.)

Waking Ambrose (the ever-erudite Doug Pascover's witty updating of Ambrose Bierce's classic Devil's Dictionary is always entertaining, thought-provoking, and undeniably clever. Original B of N post is here.)

Blogs of Note: Waking Ambrose

Undaunted by the passage of time and the shifting of social norms, Ambrose Bierce's The Devil's Dictionary remains a wondrous treasure trove for word lovers and for observers of the human condition. Its acerbic wit, biting social commentary, and sly whimsy are...sometimes lost or arcane words and phrases notwithstanding...as potent, provocative, and illuminating today as they were in Bierce's day (he was born in 1842.)

I hadn't read much of Bierce's work after leaving college (so very many years ago) but, much to my delight, this site re-introduced me to the Dictionary (as the work is in public domain, it is available online but, ever the book lover, I preferred to get a copy from my friendly neighborhood bookseller.)

With Waking Ambrose, Doug Pascover deftly updates entries from the Dictionary (juxtaposing the original Bierce entries alongside clever new offerings on various words) with appealing wit and thought-provoking aplomb. It's a delightful, compelling site that, agree or disagree with individual entries, is consistently worthy of time and attention. I invite you to go there and be amused...to be challenged...to be given food for thought...to be outraged (if you must)...to be enthralled (I know I am.)

Blogs of Note: Blog Cruiser

This neat little site, functioning as an informative conduit to other interesting blogs out in the ever-expanding blogosphere, is one of my favorite sites to visit (it was one of the first sites I included on B&R's blogroll and I have been remiss in not featuring it here before this.)

Blog Cruiser features even-handed blog reviews, ratings, and news that introduces us to engaging blogs we might not otherwise stumble upon. It's an oasis of information and positive energy with a clean, easy-to-navigate presentation. It's a highly recommended stop for those looking for intriguing new blogs to discover, enjoy, and share.

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The previous "blogs of note" all remain sites I think well worth your time, attention, and consideration:

A Gag Reflex

Dog Eat Doug

No One's Child

So What Can I Do?

My Neighbours Are Hoors!

63 Days

PSoTD

The Donegal Express

Blogs of Note: PSoTD and The Donegal Express

A somewhat significant number of politically-oriented blogs are so askew when it comes to the signal-to-noise ratio…eschewing the notion of anything even remotely resembling fair and balanced (so to speak :-) discourse in favor of vitriolic, occasionally profane, attacks on opposing viewpoints and/or self-righteous chest-thumping about the unassailable virtues of their own sides in the right/left, “blue state/red state” divide…that they add little to the exploration...and healthy exchange…of meaningful ideas.

I have an abiding fondness, undeniable warts (especially nowadays) and all, for politics and political discourse (something that stretches from my youth wherein I followed the twists and turns of local…that being Los Angeles at the time…state, and national issues with more genuine interest than my peers…and sadly, more genuine interest than most of the adults in my life at the time as well) and well-written, thoughtful and thought-provoking “punditry” (from whatever point in the wide political spectrum…the notion that there’s only two viable political points of view is, of course, absurd; a thinking person’s politics is as complex as many other parts of their lives and beings are) will find favor in my eyes.

Two of my favorite blogs to visit, to savor, to be challenged by (and occasionally to be provoked by :-), PSoTD (Political Site of the Day) and The Donegal Express, are welcome outposts in the cacophonous storm of political blog crossfire. Neither is exclusively political (there is more to life than that, of course) but both are engaging, extremely well-written, and filled with thoughtful, often witty, commentary and interesting links to other interesting and illuminating sites and posts in the ever-burgeoning blog world. For those who approach politics...and life...with an open mind and the ability to listen to opposing viewpoints with same...as well as those who can agree to disagree without pointless acrimony...I heartily recommend both of these fine sites.