Entry #1. Bloggin' Along.

In my never-ending quest for new, semi-useful information, as well as a theme for this blog, I've decided to poke around a variety of existing blogs. I found blogs about food, shovels, video games, comics, carpet, toenail fungus, children, music, animals, and even poop. Quite literally, blogs about EVERYTHING! I ignored anything dealing with nasty bodily functions and dove in. My search quickly brought me to the Twelfth Annual Weblog Awards, a massive listing of supposedly superb blogs. "Ah," I thought, "here I shall hunt. Here I shall find ideas, or at least a few good reads." I started to scan the list (mostly at random)...

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/

   One of the first blogs to catch my eye was "Hyprbole and a Half." All it took was the name to draw my attention to this charming, silly little pile of exaggerations. And I'm glad it did. Reading through Allie's stories about blowing life out of proportion was a hoot, with many of them reminding me of my own life, though I don't believe I've ever let anything get THAT bad. The simple drawings are a cute way to illustrate the stories, and they do a good job of driving the point home. A big thumbs up!

http://yankee-kitchen-ninja.blogspot.com/

   Browsing down the list, the next name to pique my interest was "Adventures of the Kitchen Ninja." "Oh goodie! A cooking blog. New recipes, here I come!" This wouldn't be the first cooking blog I had seen, and I doubt it'll be the last. Cooking is always a fun, almost Zen-like experience for me, so anything promising new exercises in the culinary arts excites me. After being greeted by a tiny, grape-slaying, Lego ninja, I was a little disappointed by the recipes displayed on the front page. The opening selection includes items such as Black bean chocolate cookies , Lightened clam chowder, and Maple walnut crackers, and while there's nothing really wrong with any of those recipes, none of them really catch my attention either, sounding a little too much like "weird health" food to me. Also the layout is a little simple and boring (like I'm one to talk at this point), and I expected a little more whimsy after that opening picture, like maybe seeing the ninja climb up a stack of cookies. They are in the middle of  "Detox January", so it might just be bad timing on my end, and I'll check back in a while to see if the recipes look more appealing.

http://thebloggess.com/

One blog that was nominated several times, and even won the "Best Designed" award, was "The Bloggess". I was hesitant to check it ouit, since I thought it would be a "girly" blog, but a quick look at the design of the page couldn't hurt, right? "Hmm, let's see. Picture of girl with curlers and blow dryer, post about valentine's day, picture of scale... WAIT! WHAT'S THAT!!!"

"HOLY CHEESE! I RECOGNIZE THAT VISAGE OF PURE EVIL! THAT'S THE EYE OF SAURON" I had once again fallen prey to the preconception that girls and geeks don't mix. I immediatly had to read the post that spawned a picture of such an awesome cake. Then I had to read the rest of the page. Then I had to go to the bathroom before I peed my pants from laughing so much. I now have a number of new, and slightly evil, ideas for valentine's, I know what twitter thinks you do when you're bored, and I have new evidence that scales are evil. This blog is fun, and not afraid to let you know it. Be sure to give it a read.

   I only scratched the surface of the tip of the iceburg with these few blogs, but already I'm hooked. I know that by now there are nearly as many blogs on the internet as their are stars in the sky, and the content can focus on literally any subject the author feels passionate enough about to write about. I'll continue to look though many, hoping to find more inspiration.While I'm no closer to having a subject, I can rest easy knowing that as long as I put my heart into my writing, I'll never be able to write about the "wrong" thing.  Good Evening to all, and I'll see ya next time I post