Friends’ and Family’s Blogs …

Okay, so my blogroll is really shaping up now. It’s looking more like my Google reader, showing what I read every day.

Here are a few more. These are more personal – family and friends, and friends I’ve just met through blogging. But some good talent here, and mighty fine people. …

Know the Score — This is my son, so I might be a little biased, but I think he’s awesomely terrific. (!!!) I don’t think you’d ever guess it was a 15-year-old writing this (except that I just told you). Tell me what you think. He’s covering sports, but he doesn’t want to cover any specific team or talk too technically about specific games – he just likes to “talk sports” in general: trends, theories, etc. He has posts here about how important numbers are for your jersey, the Top 10 sports movies of all time, Michael Phelps and how his “fall” might affect teens, the death of Nick Adenhart, etc. My son wants to be a sports writer someday, so I think he’s on the right path. : )

QuinnanopolisBill Q. is a commenter on my blog, and a friend of mine from the newspaper days. I always enjoyed his writing. He keeps a blog about politics, writing, religion, running – you name it. He’s also a stay-at-home dad with four children, which you would think would give him fodder for at least four additional blogs! Anyway, Bill is always smart and always presents himself so clearly. His last two posts were “Another One Bites the Dust,” about how sad it is to see stores closing, and “Random Notes to Self After First Marathon” – very cool! Continue reading

Blogs That Are So Well Written They Make Me Jealous

Okay, here’s our next installment of the “New and Improved” blogroll …

Some blogs  I just read every day because the bloggers are amazing writers, and they make me a little jealous with their unique twists on the ordinary. Here are some of my faves:

Sheye Rosemeyer — Sometimes she makes me cry; sometimes she makes me laugh. And all of Australian Sheye Rosemeyer’s photographs stun me. Her tale of her daughter’s death is so sad it makes my heart hurt, but I love the way she shares the “missing” with us in a way that’s so honest and loving. I also love the way she enjoys her three small children and shows us to celebrate every day of our children’s lives. … Oh, and did I mention the stunning photos? Stunning, stunning, stunning …

The Fabulous Geezersisters’ Weblog — Ruth Pennebaker describes herself as a “woman old enough to call herself ‘fabulous,’” who writes about “families, politics, marriage, friendships, feminism, aging and whatever else occurs to her.” Her observations of life around her – and how inane and ridiculous it can be – always make me smile. I’m  betting she was a columnist somewhere – she has that “newspaper style” I love. Continue reading

Blogs That Make Me Laugh

I’ve found so many terrific blogs. I review them for work, so I stumble across some really great finds. Sometimes they’re not exactly appropriate for work (where I’m looking for a health focus), but I scribble them down so I can add them to my own Google Reader at home. Plus I’ve met some really cool people on Twitter and in the blogosphere and would love to add them to my “friends” blogroll. I also have a few family members who are blogging now, including my son, who (of course!) I think is a brilliant new talent!

So, without further ado, I present the first installment: blogs that make me laugh.

I’ve already told you about Cake Wrecks. I still read that one every day and find it to be hilarious. But I have a few others in my “Funny” folder:

The Typing Makes Me Sound Busy — J-Money cracks me up every day with her adventures as she approaches 30, not really sure where she’s going or how she’s getting there. Her rapid-fire punchlines and stream-of-consciousness humor have a bit of a Dennis Miller sound (but make more sense!). Her site was nominated for Best Humor Blog in the Blogger’s Choice Awards. She never lets me down.

Amalah — Amy Storch’s tales of mommydom make me laugh as often as they make me tear up. This editor-turned-blogger weaves us through her tales of raising two small boys in Washington, DC, battling confusing “learning evaluations” for her older son (who she constantly worries has a learning disability) and wondering if she’s taking as many pictures of her second son as she should (they’re adorable!). Her writing style is top-notch and always has me tuned in the next day. She’s a 2007 Weblog Awards winner for Best Parenting Blog. Continue reading

The Cake Wrecks Blog: When Pastry Goes Wrong

I like to start my day with a little humor. Especially when it doesn’t involve me. (Pre-8 a.m. “humor” involved in running out of ham for lunches and having to resort to fried eggs, for instance, doesn’t count.)

Anyway, if you like to start your day with humor also, you might want to add this little gem to your RSS reader: It’s a blog called “Cake Wrecks” (“When Professional Cakes Go Horribly, Hilariously Wrong”).

The famous Wal-Mart “under neat that” cake started it all, and – since then – the blog writer, Jen, has had so many cake wrecks e-mailed to her that she’s able to post one or more daily. Her writing is really the funny part, though: Her commentary on what must have been going through the cake-decorator’s head, or what the recipient must have thought when she first saw the cake, is hilarious and spot-on.

My personal fave is the “flash-drive” cake (in the entry entitled “The Problem with Phone Orders. …”). The post starts out with the conversation that Jen imagines must have taken place to get the cake ordered. (“I need to order a cake for my boss. We have a photo of him playing golf that we’d like to put on it, though – can you do that?” “Of course! Just bring the photo in on a USB drive and we’ll print it out here. …”) (You can probably see where this is going. … Definitely visit the site and see the unfortunate result.)

The big reader favorite (and I must chime in with agreement) is the “naked mohawk-baby carrot jockeys” cake, which you simply have to see to believe. Must’ve been the last cake left, a sad little carrot cake that needed to be converted to a baby-shower cake at the last possible second, and all that were left for decorations were these little … plastic … naked … babies … with … mohawks? … hmmm … well, why not?

Jen writes hilarious commentary on cupcake “cakes” gone wrong, badly placed flowers on a cake offering congrats for a vasectomy, greetings to “Aunt Slash Mom,” a “sexual harassment” cake that looks like something Michael Scott would have brought in, and many, many more.

The site won best food blog (which is kind of scary) but also best humor blog, which is ideal, because that’s where Jen really shines. She’s up for some awards for this year, too.

And now Jen has a great new coffee-table book! The book is a collection of some the best of the best. The link to the book on Amazon is here. (I think I have to get it for my mom, who doesn’t read blogs, but would LOVE to see these entries in book format. …).

If you’re short on time, just go through some of the “Fan Favorites” in the right sidebar. Then add this to your RSS feed. It’ll give you a good laugh every day.

How about you? Have you ever ordered a cake that turned out to be disasterous? Or tried to make one with less-than-stellar results?

Secret Society of List Addicts: Unite!

I’m in a link-love mood tonight, so I’m throwing out a little love to the Secret Society of List Addicts. …

Now, I don’t know about you, but any blog with the phrase “list addict” is going to get my attention. I’m a frenetic list-maker (the 27 Post-it notes strewn across my desk should convince any nay-sayers), and I can hardly imagine life without an endless series of lists: things to do, calls to make, e-mails to return, home improvements to tackle, gifts to buy, books to read, birthdays coming up, things to get at Target, things to get at the grocery store, places I want to go, possible weekend getaways, etc., etc. … The list (of lists) goes on. ….

But the fine ladies at the “secret society” have converted what feels like a crazy compulsion into something … well … fun. They’ve put together a blog that’s lovely to look at, fun to read, and really makes you appreciate some of the finer things in life – like your favorite album cover titles or the silly traditions you create with your significant other. Their list of “Things I Love About My Home Town” really made me think of all the loveable things about Placentia (the water tower, Rosa’s pizza, the 1920s adobe homes, the Bradford house, the old Music Plus, etc. …) and it just gave my heart a little lift for the rest of the day. And the list of “Things At My Desk” made me think about how all the little things you surround yourself with can really add up to tell quite a story about you …

So go on over and check them out! I think I’m going to have to join the society myself. I wonder if they’ll give me one of those cool little blog buttons. … (I’ll add that to my list of things to do today.)

What about you? Are you a list-maker? Give me a list of your lists. …

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