Two years ago I didn't have a clue what blogging was--if you had said the word "blog" to me I would have thought you were trying out a new creative curse word. Then I stumbled upon Snarkywood, which was, once upon a time, the most amazing celebrity mock-fest in all of creation, and I kept clicking back each week to see what new pop culture icon they were featuring. From there I became interested in the stories of the women behind the scenes, the brilliant minds behind the Snark. I began reading Martha and Amy regularly, but still didn't realize what a huge phenomenon blogging was.
Then I happened to notice that there were comments enabled on each of their websites. I began scrolling through the lists and I discovered that there was this whole community of writers on the internet that I'd had no idea existed. I immediately noticed the common reocurrence of a few names, dooce, Finslippy, Fussy, Stephanie Klein. Apparently, these people were the blog celebrities and so I began reading them as well.
Eventually, I realized that I could join this community just by clicking over to Typepad and setting up my very own account. I had plenty of stories to tell and I figured I'd just give the link out to some family and friends and we could use this medium as a way to stay in touch since we all know how terrible I am at picking up the phone and dialing.
From there I ventured out even further into the world of blogs, I started commenting, I became invested in the lives of people I'd never met and my blogroll took on a life of it's own. Through comments and emails, I feel like I've made some great friendships with people I've never even met. I've had opportunities present themselves to me that probably never would have been there if I had never written that first entry.
Now I've realized that the "Blogebrities" just don't interest me as much anymore. My daily reads are the Happy Travelers, the Crazy Momcats, and the Shoppers of the blog world. Over the past year, the big names have dropped from my blogroll and left openings for plenty of new daily reads. And this, my friends, is where you come into the picture.
I've found most of you through blogrolls and comments, but I want to ask you, who is your most favorite daily read? I'd love it if everyone out there, whether you're a commenter or a lurker, would recommend a new blog for me to read. I love reading what you have to say, and you clearly have the amazingly good taste to be reading my site, so why wouldn't I just love your recommendations? All I ask is that they not be someone I'd find on the Technorati top 100. Oh, or on my blogroll already. I know, duh, but I have learned from many genies that one must be very specific when making wishes.
Also, I'm really running out of reasons to put off packing any longer, so if I just had more blogs to read I'd have no time for cardboard boxes and Rubbermaid.
The people I look forward to reading most are the ones I know the best - either in real life, or people I've developed a relationship with over this here crazy internet.
One of my friends that I don't see on your blogroll is http://spacesuitcase.com - she's awesome, she has a pair of cute kitties, and she's a fantastic writer, too.
Posted by: Dawn | January 22, 2007 at 05:42 PM
Well, thank you very much for the mention, m'aam!
Let's see...if you don't mind a little crudity and general shock humor, I love Karlababble (another Texas gal).
She has me in stitches constantly and I've mentioned her on my blog several times:
http://karlababble.blogspot.com/
Posted by: Steph. | January 22, 2007 at 08:08 PM
I've had to curtail my daily reading because my blogroll has gotten larger and larger, so there's no one blog I frequent regularly. This experience, for me, however, started out at www.thewvsr.com, which is technically not a blog but which gave me the nerve to start commenting, which led to visiting other commentors' sites, which led to doing my own thing. While I wish I had more time, I'm thankful to the blogosphere for the friends I have made along the way.
Posted by: wordnerd | January 22, 2007 at 11:12 PM
I think we connected by way of blog explosion--I can't say that about any other reads.
I think that Marisa is the one on my blogroll that you would be most likely to enjoy.
http://www.johnwaynesdaughter.blogspot.com/
Posted by: sophie | January 23, 2007 at 12:42 AM
I'm new to your blog but I'll join in the fun.
I really enjoy reading
www.girldislocated.blogspot.com
She doesn't update too often but when she does, she has these hilarous post's about her rare, horrible disease EDS.
Posted by: Chrissy | January 23, 2007 at 12:51 AM
My current favorite blog is Baggage and Bug, but since you already have it... How about http://cluelessincarolina.blogspot.com/ ?
Posted by: Amanda | January 23, 2007 at 05:08 AM
You know everyone I read, I think... M, Anon G, RG, A, Mel etc. Dunno if you ever read my friend Ian's hilarious blog, but he's taken his down now, so no point giving you the link. The only other one I read with some regularity is Erica at http://www.aquariandragon.com/lifetime
Posted by: E | January 23, 2007 at 09:55 AM
Haha, actually, yours is the one I check most obsessively, followed by Sarah's An Officer, World Traveler, and Runner at http://capricious-sarah.blogspot.com. Following that though, and what really got me into blogging, would be Kat's Kitty Can Scratch at http://kittycanscratch.typepad.com, followed by Marcia's The Pink Shoe at http://mypinkshoe.blogspot.com.
And thanks for the mention! I'm honored!
Posted by: Lynn | January 23, 2007 at 04:06 PM
I'm just like you in that I've long since dropped the celebrity blogs and have mainly concentrated on "friend blogs." I realized that almost all of my regulars have been around for more than a year and many have been around for almost two. It's hard for me to pick my favorite because it often depends on my mood, just as the same as it's hard for me to pick one best friend.
Posted by: Becky | January 23, 2007 at 10:39 PM