three years: natural selections
I was thinking last night about this site, and how astounding it is to me that a few people found random things I had to say interesting.
Three years later, those few people have turned in to a few thousand, and the amazement still hasn’t worn off.
As I told you, I came into blogging entirely by accident. I didn’t even know what a blog was until I happened to hit a Yahoo “Picks of the Week” feature on Blogger.
I started reading other blogs, again entirely by accident. As I got into it, I started taking little bits of wisdom from them, laughing along with them, and even participating in them.
I’ve never done anything like this before (because it might cross over into the realm of the childish), but I got to thinking about the 10 blogs I would choose to read if I could read no others. So, here’s the 10, roughly rank-ordered:
- protein wisdom — I saw a quiz somewhere once that asked which bloggers I would pay to read in print. My list has only one name on it: Jeff Goldstein. I can hardly wait to see what strange and wonderful thing will pop out next. And, when the need arises, Jeff can direct his prodigious talents into a stinging rebuke of the outrage du jour.
- Citizen Smash — I began reading when he was known as Lt. Smash, serving a tour in Afghanistan. His unpretentious and unassuming style and his senses of pride, loyalty, and outrage (read: he knows a true outrage when he sees it, and is not afraid to confront it face-to-face) make this one a compelling must-read.
- (Now defunct) Allah is in the House — The archives are lost now, because his former host, and mine, Bloghosts, went down the toilet and the owner skipped town and for other unspecified reasons; it’s a real shame, because it’s one of the few political-commentary sites that could induce a belly-laugh or a good monitor coating of Coke from me in the university’s computer labs.
- The Politburo Diktat — Commissar has dropped the schtick, but it doesn’t matter: he takes on the issues with gusto (and with tongue planted firmly in cheek). Also, he has done as much as anyone for new and/or small-time bloggers by promoting them or writing advice columns.
- INDC Journal — I like a political commentator whose feet are firmly planted on terra firma. They don’t exist on the blow-dried hair-farms of cable news. One such person exists here, and his name is Bill Ardolino. With his “moonbat taxonomy” humor series and his work on the Dan Rather memo scandal, he showed me what a blog can do if it’s used effectively.
- Legal XXX — Brought me out of the blogging “vacuum” by being the first blogger to link to something I’d written. And, again, another political commentator with feet firmly on the ground. Also, he showed me the most effective ways to trawl for hits.
- Little Green Footballs — An object lesson in the power of this medium. Charles Johnson has turned over rocks that for years we denied to ourselves even existed to show that the “tiny minority” is really not all that tiny. He endures all manner of abuse from lower-order elements in our society to do so.
- Winds of Change — Covers all manner of world events and problems from the rare perspective of having a positive attitude that there are common-sense solutions for these problems, and believing that good people of differing views will be there to solve them.
- Classical Values — Can take on touchy subjects with (again) a lack of pretense and a down-to-earth approach. This blog’s motto is “End the culture war by restoring classical values.” It’s too bad too many people out there derive such pleasure from it.
- The Moderate Voice — It’s rare to find a journalist who doesn’t have a gigantic ego and a pretentiousness about him or her. Joe Gandelman certainly has neither of these.
Anyway, that’s my list. Add yours in the comments section; and keep it positive, please.
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