Links
Here are links to some blogs that might give you some ideas for your own class project blogs.
I’ve tried to categorize them if possible or to provide a brief description.
If you want to explore on your own, Technorati indexes thousands of blogs, and even has a ranking system. If you come across some interesting ones, let me know and I’ll add them here.
Many blogs also have “blogrolls” where the author of the blog will list other blogs they think their readers might be interested in, so as you’re exploring check out the blogrolls too.
And, I must thank my colleagues from across the country who turned me on to many of the blogs listed here (and apologies if I’ve forgotten anyone): Angela Crow, Jim Kalmbach, Steve Krause, Cheryl Ball, Ben Reynolds, Alec Hosterman, Carrie Finn, Marcy Bauman, Devon Fitzgerald, David Thomas.
Books/literature
http://books4breakfast.blogspot.com
http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/
This is an “official” New York Times blog written by the paper’s senior book review editor, Dwight Garner.
visual arts
http://artblog.net/
Photography
http://craigwolf.com/news/
a photo blog on landscape and nature photography. What I like about this blog is that the photographer posts photos and discusses the techniques he used.
http://www.catherinejamieson.com/
Another photo blog. The photographer provides some written explanation or commentary with each photo.
If you are interested in looking at other photo blogs, explore the following blog index sites. Many of these blogs feature photos only and very little text, so they are not exact models for what we will be doing in class, but they can give you an idea what photographers and other visual artists are doing with blogging technology.
www.photoblogs.org
http://www.coolphotoblogs.com/
(make sure to click on the “URL” button to go to the actual blogs and not just to the website’s description of them.)
Film and Video
http://www.daviddylanthomas.com/category/blog
This is the film blog of David Dylan Thomas, who was super helpful in providing me, a complete stranger with the links to and descriptions of most of the film blogs that follow. This blog got me thinking about films I haven’t thought about in years and made me laugh out loud–that’s a good combination in my book.
http://www.filmmakermagazine.com/blog/
Independent film
http://vidiocy.com/
By blogger and online film critic/journalist Karina Longworth.
http://www.cinematical.com/
Group blog covering all aspects of the industry
http://glennkenny.premiere.com/
Premiere writer who tends toward more obscure films.
http://www.mcnblogs.com/thehotblog/
Critic David Poland’s acerbic take on the industry. Good economic analysis and good analysis of the media that covers the industry. See also The Hot Button, his daily online column.
http://filmchatblog.blogspot.com/
Interesting for a somewhat religious (but not dogmatic) take on cinema.
http://johnaugust.com
Blog of screenwriter John August (Go, Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). Very interesting. A lot of advice for screenwriters.
http://twitchfilm.net/site/
Good for Asian and horror genres.
Feminism/Women’s issues
http://blog.iblamethepatriarchy.com/
This is a hardcore feminist blog and wickedly funny.
http://www.mothertalkers.com/
A blog about women’s issues and activism related to parenting.
Journalism
http://www.dailykos.com/
This probably one of the most famous liberal political blogs and it has a long list of regular posters, but it is managed by one person, Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, who founded the blog. Dailykos also has a long and interesting blog role you can check out (scroll to the bottom and you’ll see it on the right-hand side of the page.
As a lefty myself, I don’t have good information on the conservative blogs out there, so if anyone in class knows of a few, let me know and I’ll add them here.
http://icga.blogspot.com/
The title, Informed Comment Global Affairs: a group blog, explains the topic of this one.
http://www.juancole.com/
Juan Cole also writes for ICGA (above), but this is his individual blog.
http://onlinejournalismblog.wordpress.com/
UK blogger comments on online journalism
Here are some interesting blogs that defy categorization
http://waiterrant.net/
This is a creative (fiction or non-fiction–hard to tell) blog
http://andreaseigel.typepad.com/afternoon/
The blog of author Andrea Seigel. I haven’t read any of her books, but after reading her blog, I want to. All her posts have a cynical, oddly feminist edge to them.
http://postsecret.blogspot.com/
People mail in their secrets on postcards and they are posted here.
http://onemillionfootnotes.blogspot.com/
This blog, One Million Footnotes, has recently provided me with random thoughts for my day.
http://www.yarnharlot.com
A blog all about knitting (yes knitting) by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, who has written several books on the subject.
http://www.flylady.net/
Flylady was recommended by Cheryl Ball, Assistant Professor at Illinois State University. This is a website, not a blog, but it is updated every day in the style of a blog. Cheryl’s description is as follows:
My sister has become a huge fan of Flylady (followers are called FlyBabies), which is one woman’s crusade to help other women get in control of their lives (thru housework, cleaning, cooking, organizing, etc.). My sister proselytizes about how effective this woman’s daily email reminders and website tips are for her life. FlyLady was just written up in Money. There’s something crazy like 400,000 subscribers to her email list!
I love this sort of independent, grassroots entrepreneurship. I expect to see Flylady on Oprah soon (if she hasn’t be on already).