Some Cool Blogs I Just Found Out About

Someone asked Joseph Mallozzi (a writer/producer of Stargate) what blogs he reads and he suggested some good ones. I really like The Hot Librarian, though there hasn't been a new post for over a month. One of her posts led me to a brief list of funny amateur blogs, which led me to this priceless bit of inanity: Ugly Outfits in New York. I've seen plenty that would qualify, but sadly, have never been able to get my camera out and snap the pic in time to either get a shot in focus or to avoid being seen by the subject and having either my camera or face broken, or perhaps both. People can be so sensitive about their fashion choices.

BTW, here are glimpses of the less glamorous side of snow in NYC. You'll note it warmed up a bit and has started to melt, leaving many Manhattan corners resembling mini frigid lakes.


I had the day off for New Year's (yeah, it makes as much sense to me as it probably does to you), so I went to get my comics and on the train, had to listen to a group of tourists all armed with little guides to NYC. In the summer and during the holiday season, I especially hate the 49th Street stop on the Broadway line because there are a lot of hotels in that area and tourists flood the subway at that point. I had to listen to such comments as "Where's the business district?" "Check page 28." "I want to see the Empire State Building." "That's the other way. How about the Statue of Liberty?" "That's what I meant. The Statue of Liberty." "Where's Lincoln Center?" I came thisclose to grabbing the book out of the hands of the one I guessed was the mother and telling her Lincoln Center is the other way, in the W. 60s, and why didn't you bother figuring all this out before you got on the train? Instead, I reminded myself that tourists pump money into the city's economy by paying for hotels, food, and funny little souvenir hats.

I end this randomized post with a picture of some of the delicious petit fours a grateful library patron sends us every year for the holidays. My boss and I managed to eat most of them.


Feeling: still mellow




~~~o0o~~~

Bloggy Goodness

This humble blog got a shout-out from the Guide to Culinary Schools! Very cool. A lot of wonderful chocolate blogs are listed, so go take a look at the list and check them out. Your mouth will be watering for sure.

Feeling: happy


~~~o0o~~~Technorati Tags: chocolate

Random Pimpage

It's been a while -- a long while -- since I pimped blogs here, so I figured I was long overdue.

First off, I moved The Jannaverse from General Interest & Miscellany in my blogroll to A1 Special Treats. Janna is wickedly funny and never fails to entertain me, even when she's being serious.

Also in A1 Special Treats is a new addition: Tiny Little Division, a group blog from the folks at Shoebox Greetings, "a tiny little division of Hallmark." Humor is the name of the game here, from cartoons to fun links and commentary, to odd little lists and quotes. Great from when you need a chuckle or two.

I don't enjoy everything on The Boomer Chronicles (just because I share a generation with folks doesn't mean I have the same interests), but there are a lot of posts there that resonate. This one, listing how long a boomer has been doing something, would make a good meme. So, look for a post along these lines here in the future.

And now back to cleaning. Nothing like a day off from work, nice weather, sunshine, and an apartment badly in need of scrubbing and dusting.

Feeling:

~~~o0o~~~
Technorati Tags: blogs

Once Upon a Link

Been working my way through the list of PC's Favorite 100 Blogs and some are really cool. One of them, Neatorama, led me to this altered Pez dispenser gallery.

I've added Neatorama to my blog subs, and also, Ironic Sans, also on the PC Mag list. Ditto, The Sneeze.

Indexed is intriguing, too. So is Evil Mad Scientist.

Feeling:

~~~o0o~~~
Technorati Tags: links

My New Mantra Should Be

My new mantra should be:

Do not, under any circumstances, follow links on other people's blogs. Ever. And never, ever, click links on the blogs you clicked through to.

Because, you know, I don't need more blogs to read. Not even after trimming my blogroll. Because a couple of more just slipped in when I was careless and clicked. *sigh*

Here's what slipped in:

• The A.B.B.
• Inane Thoughts and Insane Ramblings

And it's EmmaPeelDallas' fault. heh


Feeling:

~~~o0o~~~
Technorati Tags: blogs

Busy Day of Fame

Imagine my surprise when someone left a comment on The View from Here that it was listed as today's Blogger Blog of Note. Very cool. Back on AOL, my photo meme journal, not my main photoblog or any of my other AOL journals, made it as an Editor's Pick of the Week. AOL picked 5 blogs a week so the odds were better and still, they picked the lesser of my journals there. But View is one of my main blogs, along with this one and the comics and book blog in terms of how often I update. View is my first beta version blog, so to have it chosen is a real honor. Fame is fleeting, but I'm enjoying it while I can.

Heroes was confusing and fascinating tonight. It was interesting to see how many of the powered characters started to realize they were different.

Got a few things done and crossed off my To Do list at work, and the weather was delightful, so all in all, a great day.

Feeling:

~~~o0o~~~
Technorati Tags: blogs

Cupcakes

Just because.

Some cupcake related blogs:
Cupcake Bake Shop.
52 Cupcakes.
All Cupcakes, All the Time.

Feeling:

cupcakes

Blog Pimpage

Haven't done this for a while, so it's due. There will be repeats. With so many AOL exiles with excellent blogs now on Blogger, I thought I'd post a mix of blogs I love to read.

First, I can't talk about favorites without starting with Brian Damage (irreverant humor), Anonymous Rowhouse (as good as memoir gets), Puglet Ponderings (she hasn't been updating much lately, but I love this blog), Little Paper Drink Umbrellas (a new addiction), and Because I Am (real life trials and tribulations). Other good ones are This is My Body, this is My Blood, Zydeco Fish, Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda, and Fading the Surface Noise. And really, I could name more. Many more, but I intend this to be a sampling only. Feel free to browse through my blogroll in the sidebar.

AOL Exiles: Ellipsis... Suddenly Carly, Outpost Mavarin, The Daily Snooze, Robbie's Ruminations, and Judith Heartsong. I've slowly been working my way through the AOL in exile blogs I've been finding. And hoping folks will stay put for a while so I don't have to keep changing my subs.

In the special interest category: 75 Degrees South (life in Antarctica), my so-called strife (Kirk is our guide to modern culture), The Comics Curmudgeon (Josh reads comics so you don't have to, or so he says; funny stuff), Savage Chickens (weekday chicken comic from Doug Savage), Drawn! (for art and illustration lovers), Generator Blog (for fun things to use on your blog), Booklust (book talk and cartoons from Patricia Storms), PostSecret (people share their deepest secrets on postcards), Sites and Soundbytes (a link blog; I love a few others, but am highlighting this one because I only recently discovered it), Stuff on My Cat (there are many other, better photoblogs, but none this much fun), Bill Crider's Pop Culture Magazine (yes, he's a writer, but this isn't a writer blog, exactly), and Bacon and Ehs (a link blog with a personal touch).

Truly, I could go on and on, but these are all ones I enjoy immensely, and I found many of them by clicking on the links on other blogs I was reading. And by clicking Blogger's Next button. And by surfing on BlogExplosion.

Cross posted on Presto Speaks!

Feeling:

links

A Guide to the Cyber Chocolate Realm of Blogs

The following are my blogs with brief descriptions that offer a bit more info than the links in the sidebar.

Cyber Chocolate

This is the place, my main blog, the continuation of the original Cyber Chocolate, now defunct, on AOL. I don't give away too many personal details and I discuss work only in vague terms, but here's where I blog about life. You'll find oldies concert reviews, one-shot memes, quizzes I enjoy taking, fun or interesting links I stumble upon, and of course, anything chocolate that catches my attention. Basically, this is a catch-all blog, a bit of this and that.
LJ username: cchoc.


Shelly's Book Shelf

Book reviews, a list of my books read for the current year, a link to my online reading journal, entered back to 1965. I don't read very fast so there are rarely more than one review per month. I also post the occasional book-related link and list many links in the sidebar. Also, I run a more or less monthly meme about books and reading called "Booked by 3."
LJ username: shbkshelf.


Shelly's Comic Book Shelf

Comic book reviews (mostly DC Comics) and links. I'm not a critical reviewer; I just tell you whether or not I like the comics I read.
LJ username: shcomics.



Creative Endeavors

My photoblog. I try to post daily, or close to it. Most of the photos are taken in New York City, primarily Manhattan and Queens, but photos of my trips appear, too. Also links to other photoblogs.
LJ username: shellysphotos.
My flickr page.


The Write Stuff

My writing blog where I post links related to writing, and discuss issues of interest to writers, mostly about process. I also post updates on my writing projects. This is a LiveJournal and has threaded commenting. Well-mannered discussions are encouraged.
LJ username: prestoimp.


Nothing Special

A LiveJournal community I created for LJ members who write to share their graphic endeavors, mainly icons and bases, plus some backgrounds. Mostly, the graphics are mine, but with luck, the community will grow a bit.
LJ community name: impish_writers.


Alternate Reality

This is where I indulge my love for space and science, mainly Mars, the setting for a series of science fiction novels I'm wriitng with a friend. I post here occasionally, mainly links related to Mars and space.
LJ username: alterreal.



Presto Speaks!

A blog for blogging about blogging. This is an evolving blog. Once my writing blog, then a floundering blog seeking its identity, it seems to be nicely suited for my thoughts about blogging and blogs in general. I also discuss politics and issues that matter to me here, such as censorship and freedom to read. I sometimes discuss libraryland in general here. I'm mostly a liberal democrat who will occasionally cross party lines when voting and I decide each issue on its own merits. I don't post my opinions to start debates or arguments; I post to share my thoughts. Links to sites of interest to me.
LJ username: imppresto.


The Malt Shop

My Meme Place. This is where I post answers to memes I answer regularly. Currently, I answer 5 or so weekly memes.

Blog Linkage

In the one blog leads to another to something else department, I checked out the blog of someone, actonbell of Hoppytrails, who left a comment on Shelly's Book Shelf, which led me to some links to other blogs, where I found this Sheep Dash game on Is Anything Truly Random. I also found Chevron-2, a neat blog even with the annoying music. I don't like automatic audio on blogs, especially when I have the radio on. Not even the theme music from one of my favorite shows. But the content was nice, for fans of the show.

Blog Delight

Thanks to Russell's Ramblings, a blog I sub to, which linked to Trials and Tribulations, I'll be adding the following blogs and sites to the Blogs Links page on ImPRESS Books. These are sites that offer downloads, links, and tutorials for working with html, css, and Blogger templates, among other bloggy delights. These are very good sites with a lot to offer for both novices and folks with some experience.

• Blogger Templates
• Metro Station
• Mandarin Design

And for fun:
Pixel Museum

Cool Blog

Saw this link on a blog I surfed past while on Blog Explosion tonight, and added it to the sidebar: Post Secret.

The Pimping Post

I ranted a bit over on Occasional Blog about a blogging controversy that involves popularity, rankings, and blogrolls. And I found out about the controvery on Scribbling Woman, a blog I read regularly.

A new find: Surfilicious, a websurfing blog I found via Blog Explosion.

Trevor Little is a nice photoblog I've added to my blogroll.

Miss Information is a library blog I've been enjoying for the last couple of months.

Yet Another Comics Blog has some nice surveys and finds things a bit off the beaten track.

Get Your Goth Name on this generator.

Some sites I've added to the links on ImPRESS Books:

World Time Zones

HTML Goodies, with tutorials.

AOL's J-Land Expands

AOL is now allowing people with AIM accounts to make AOL journals. Personally, I don't get the attraction. AIM journals have ads and there are still free services out there that don't have ads, like Blogger and LiveJournal. And there are more features on other free blogging services, especially Blogger, or on services that also have ads, like Blogigo which is pretty cool, which I tried out so I could review it (and I didn't like the ad on top). And there's also Bravenet, which I didn't much like, and Blog-City and Blogdrive. AOL is just one more place to blog, that's all, one that's more strict about what you can post, given the few journals that got into trouble with AOL's TOS (the most recent mess hadn't even been a violation of TOS but the journal was deleted by AOL, anyway. Oops). And I'm assuming that AOL's TOS applies to their AIM journals, too. And these AIM journals probably stem out of AOL's desire to become more of a web presence in an attempt to bolster its bottom line. But if folks are looking for another free blogging service, that's one way to go.

Did I mention I deleted Cyber Chocolate, Jr.? Just didn't make sense to keep it. And this blog lost a Bloglines subscriber. It just got a new one a few weeks ago, and since most of the subscribers are private, not public, I don't know who came or went. Could be the same person, could be not. I shouldn't feel bad about it, since these things happen and I've dropped subs, too, for various reasons, but I still feel a bit bummed about it.

In other news, I woke up this morning with a stiff right shoulder and it now hurts every time I extend my right arm. I thought we're supposed to wake refreshed after a night's sleep, not like we'd been plowing fields all night.

Pimping the Blogs

I thought it was time to do some pimping of my fav journals, thanks to a discussion over on Anonymous Rowhouse. I have approximately 150 blog subs in Bloglines and another dozen perhaps on my LiveJournal's Friends page (mostly writing blogs), and another half dozen AOL blogs I didn't want to add to Bloglines because I'm still undecided about them. Among the subs are a dozen or so photoblogs and another dozen or so links journals and then there is the group of publishing/writing/book info/library-related blogs. So not counting those, here are some of my personal favs. A couple, listed in the sidebar here, don't seem to have rss feeds, which is the only reason I don't have a Bloglines sub for them.

These are ten of my favorites. Except for on (Brian Damage), all have longish entries, if not all the time, then fairly often. For everyone I left off this list, please don't hate me. I don't have room for all of you. A couple of really good blogs aren't included in this list because they don't update often enough; others were left off because the entries are mostly links. Actually, Brian Damage doesn't fit with the rest and is included simply because he never fails to make me laugh, or at least chuckle.

Some of the blogs I read were links on other blogs I read, so do take the time to check out the sidebars. A couple came from clicking Blogger's "Next Blog" button in its new navbar and I'm also reading 2 blogs now that I found surfing with BlogExplosion. At least with BlogExplosion, unlike with Blogger, you don't get blogs with annoying popups. They're not allowed if you want your blog listed. If you want a more complete list, check out Impish Delights and my LiveJournal Friends page.

Anonymous Rowhouse. JustRose discusses her life as wife and mother, but also posts memoir-type entries about her life. She's a wonderful writer and I find her prose compelling.

Brian Damage. The entries aren't long, but they are funny. The sidebar is also funny. Brian has a wonderfully wicked sense of humor that coincides nicely with mine.

Aaron is Not Amused. This was primarily a library-related blog, but since I've been reading it (since the spring), it's moved and morphed into an all-purpose blog (or perhaps I came in during a particularly library-oriented time for it). In any case, Aaron gives cranky a good name.

Bored But Busy. Another well-written slice of life with a sense of humor thrown in.

Cheaper Than Therapy. A nice blend of real-life and an eye on the absurdities of life. I like the tagline: "If everything had a point, there'd be no place to sit."

Puglet's Ponderings. A recent find and a real treasure. She can really write and she makes me laugh, though she writes serious entries about her life, too.

The Pink Bee. Aside from creating one of my favorite looking blogs, Barrie writes about her life and thoughts in a very real, honest way.

This Fish Needs a Bicycle. A fun slice of life blog by a woman with a good sense of humor and nice writing style.

Unhinged. I thought I should include an AOL blog and this is my favorite (not counting the photo ones). Andrea is an aspiring writer who writes about her life, her writing, and anything else she feels like.

Pink Lemonade Diva. Another recent find, and a well-written one.