To refine the whole blog thing a little bit, for this course, what I'm looking for are blogs that also qualify as creative nonfiction. So essay, memoir, etc. -- they should have something personal / literary to them, not be strictly news or other kinds of info. Is that a clear distinction? So, say a style / fashion blog would be okay if it also regularly conveyed something personal from the writer(s) -- opinion, attitude, etc. Here's another definition, if it helps:
"The word 'creative' refers simply to the use of literary craft in presenting nonfictionthat is, factually accurate prose about real people and eventsin a compelling, vivid manner. To put it another way, creative nonfiction writers do not make things up; they make ideas and information that already exist more interesting and, often, more accessible." -- Lee Gutkind, editor of Creative NonfictionI know, it's a muddy distinction. Not fiction. Not purely information. Muddy. But it's what I have for now, at any rate. So given that, here's the master list of possible sub-topics I might have them look at:
- purely personal sites (will probably include Scalzi's Whatever, as well as mine)
- cooking / food
- sex
- health
- infertility
- adoption / birthmother (first mother)
- parenting (probably Dooce is a must)
- politics
- feminist
- queer / GLBT
- fat acceptance
- sustainability / green
- military
- fashion
- style
- gardening
- clean house
- happiness / philosophy / inspiration
- nature
- travel
- arts projects / photos
- literary / writerly
- ethnic-focus (like Sepia Mutiny)
- webcomics (as memoir?)
- science / technology
...and I guess
- sports
What I need now (and urgently, since it'll help me figure out which sub-topics go into the syllabus Monday) are specific blog suggestions that:
a) fall into one of the above categories (please tell me which!)
b) you think qualify as creative nonfiction (memoiristic, essayistic, etc. -- not just data, facts, but a personality, opinion, literary style, etc. behind it)
c) you actually like, and ideally read
For example, I might suggest under infertility and/or parenting, "A Little Pregnant" and "Julia".
What blogs do you love?
Help???
I can do this myself, based on what I read and research, but I think I'll get a broader and more interesting sample with your help! (And I would REALLY appreciate suggestions for military blogs, as I'd very much like to include that category, and haven't done nearly as much research on that yet as I'd planned to.)
I also don't have to determine these right away, since we won't get to the sub-topics until around week 4-5 of the course. But it'd make me feel better to have them pinned down sooner.
hmm, I have quite a variety of blogs which I read. There are a lot of British and Australian blogs, but mostly I find I like the ones that tell a story…that show a snippet of someone’s life. I like Kyle Cassidy’s blog (found it through Neil Gaiman’s blog), there’s one called Backwards in high Heels, which I really like, because its very much how I view life.
I also read some organic/localfood blogs and websites, and then there are blogs I poke my head in on once in a while…
I find it turns me off when a blog becomes too commercial, though. I used to love Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef, but then they started having ads. Yes, they were carefully chosen, and for ‘good’ products, but for me, that feels like it is no longer a neutral blog. I used to love My Marrakesh, but then Peacock Pavillions opened, and now it feels like a way to sell P.P.
I do read some parenting blogs, but because they are good (Julia, Alice Bradley, Motherhood the Final Frontier) not because they are motherhood blogs… (MTFF also thinks the same way I do about a lot of Americana)…
A few food blogs from my RSS feed that might fit the bill.
http://soupscarvesandsf.com/ – You’re probably already got this one, but it’s Cat V’s new blog on food. Yum!
http://habeasbrulee.com/
http://fedupwithschoollunch.blogspot.com/ – Started as photos and evolved into much more personal and political commentary. What’s interesting here is the way the blog evolved.
http://christiescorner.com/ – Food.
http://www.lovetoeathatetoexercise.blogspot.com/ – This one is a health/exercise/food cross over. Great personal voice without being too preachy.
http://smittenkitchen.com/
http://www.accidentalhedonist.com/index.php – Food.
I have soooo many more, but if I fed you my whole RSS feed you’d be overwhelmed very quickly. I think the few above are great examples of food writing done really well.
A couple of other blogs I especially love that aren’t food focused:
http://alisonmcghee.com/blog/ – Purely personal, but so much more. Each entry is a perfect little personal essay. Glorious!
http://notesfromtheclass.blogspot.com/ – A great blog which probably fits in either “politics” or “education” from a middle school language arts teacher in Florida. Lots of thought on policy mixed with real world classroom experience.
http://open.salon.com/blog/byron_ayanoglu/ – Memoir by a food writer food.
I very much like clarissasbox.blogspot.com and
Female Science Professor.
I don’t recall the second url here. I will post it later.
It is science-professor.blogspot.com
She is a tenured professor in a physical science who discusses the difficulties and experiences involved, with a focus, but not an exclusive focus, on the effects of being female in such a job.
Clarissasbox, mentioned above, is by a tenure track assistant professor of Spanish literature at Edwardsville IL.
Science:
http://natureofbeast.typepad.com/ Susan McCarthy on animal behavior.
http://pipeline.corante.com/ Derek Lowe on biology, pharmaceuticals, & related science.
http://crookedtimber.org/ (social sciences) Also politics and economics
Religion:
http://reallivepreacher.com/ Gordon Atkinson on Christianity.
http://hugoschwyzer.net/ (also feminism, academe, politics, sex)
Technology:
http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/ Also academe
http://diveintomark.org/ Also personal/writerly
http://blog.melchua.com/ Also personal/writerly/inspirational/cooking/travel
Feminism
http://tigerbeatdown.com/ Sady Doyle (pseudonym, plus others on a group blog) on politics, feminism
http://www.fugitivus.net/ Harriet J (pseudonym) also on politics, LGBT,
http://bitchphd.blogspot.com/ Group blog. Also academe, politics, polyamory
http://geekfeminism.org/ Group blog. Also tech and politics.
Sex
http://www.realadultsex.com/ Also politics, feminism
http://sexisnottheenemy.tumblr.com/ (porn)
Personal & writerly:
http://www.yatima.org/ (also parenting, politics)
http://www.susansenator.com/ (also parenting)
http://rivka.livejournal.com/ (also parenting, science, academe)
http://tinderbox.homeschooljournal.net/ (parenting)
http://vito-excalibur.livejournal.com/ (also feminism)
Fashion/style/art project:
http://www.academichic.com/
Entertainment industry (sort of the ultimate art project!):
http://kfmonkey.blogspot.com/ (also politics)
Sustainability/green:
http://www.yearofnoflying.com/ (also politics, ethnic)
One more:
http://chchch.ch/ Finn Brunton – technology, travel, academe
It may be too late, but in case it’s still useful:
Politics:
Megan McArdle http://www.theatlantic.com/megan-mcardle/ (non-doctrinaire libertarianish econoblogger)
Jeffrey Goldberg http://www.theatlantic.com/jeffrey-goldberg/ (mostly Middle East-related issues– author is an American who served in the IDF before returning to the US)
Instapundit http://pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/ (short snippets and links from a conservative/libertarian law prof with a definite editorial line)
Law (which you didn’t give as a topic, but is about the only place these can go):
The Volokh Conspiracy http://volokh.com/ (multi-author blog touching on legal issues, mostly academic contributors, including some biographical posts and personal reactions/activity)
Law and the Multiverse http://lawandthemultiverse.com/ (the ultimate crossover point for law and geekery: two lawyers do serious legal analysis of the issues raised by superheroes and their milieu, from testitying in court under a secret identity to whether a citizen of an other-dimensional US is an illegal immigrant here)
Science:
second Susanna’s recommendation of In the Pipeline http://pipeline.corante.com/ In particular, anyone who can read the series on “Things I Won’t Work With” without being torn between laughter and horror is dead inside. http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/things_i_wont_work_with/
literary and/or purely personal:
The Way the Future Blogs http://www.thewaythefutureblogs.com/ (Frederic Pohl blogs about his life in the SF world, politics, people he knew, etc. At 91, if he’s not the oldest blogger on the Net, he’s in the running, and he’s basically the history of SF and SF fandom incarnate.)
“second Susanna’s recommendation”– sorry: Sumana’s. (I wish I could blame autocorrect, but the error was mine.)