Elle Effect

I have been sitting on reporting this best blog for a little while now (work, school, and such has kept me distracted) but now it is time to let it out of the box.

About a week and a half ago I was browsing around the tag surfer when I (happily) stumbled across Elle Effect. Lauren, the author, is an eighteen year old artist who not only gives us a glimpse into her artistic works but also into the thoughts and situations of her daily life.

What I quickly discoved is that this young girl possesses a mind able to delve into the deeper end of life through both the visual arts as well as the written word.

All this is why I consider Elle Effect a best blog.

A Slice of Life

Witty, down-to-earth, and great with a good cup of coffee.  That is what A Slice of Life is. 

I stumbled across this blog after Susan, the author, left a very nice comment on my own personal blog.  Little did I suspect that clicking on her name would lead me to several enjoyable musings.

So take a minute, pour yourself a cup of coffee and relax with a bit of A Slice of Life.

Tiny Cat Pants

According to the Blog Stats sidebar widget, Tiny Cat Pants — a very smart, funny, idiosyncratic blog — has tallied more than 23,000 hits since coming to WordPress March 03, 2007. Written semi-anonymously, by someone who calls herself Aunt B., Tiny Cat Pants takes on all comers, doles out sharp criticism for idiot politicians, picks fights with other bloggers, periodically redefines feminism to suit its author’s mood, and in general, has a heck of a good time not taking itself very seriously.

Gosh, it’s funny. If you visit, start with the FAQ page to acclimate yourself to its quirky sense of humor.

It can be moving, too. Here’s an example that impressed us:

“I came home from work today to find [my brother] the Butcher sprawled out on the floor in front of the TV. “How was your day?” he asked and I said, “I hate my life.” He asked, “Why?” And I said, “No good reason. Nothing bad happened. Everything is fine. I’m just miserable.” And he said, “I know just what you mean.”

“And you know, that’s the thing about brothers, when your brother says “I know just what you mean,’ you know it’s the truth. You know he’s looking right at you and really seeing you as a person he has loved his whole life and who he knows as well as he knows himself. And it’s like you can put it down for a while, whatever it is that you’re carrying around with you, you can just leave it right there at the front door, recognized, acknowledged, and of no consequence, at least for a while.”

That’s just a tidbit from a blogger who will only consider running for President if it doesn’t interfere with her real ambition to be Queen of the Planet.

Jahsonic

Where do you go for information about a movie you can’t quite remember? Or maybe it’s a quirky music act from the 60s, an avant-garde art movement that never quite caught on? In other words, where do you go when the encyclopedia doesn’t help and Wikipedia’s oblivious?

 

If you’re like the Best Blog team, you surf over to Jahsonic: A Vocabulary of Culture. Sure, it’s about culture, but it’s anything but stuffy. A glance at the categories will tell you that. Yes, he covers Art and Architecture, but also Drugs, Eroticism, Fashion, Grotesque, and Horror, just to name a few.

 

With any luck, you’ll get lost hopping from link to link, following your instincts and enjoying one wild ride. Always entertaining and thought-provoking.

Tiger Feet

Given that Tiger Feet really hates spiders, maybe it’s not so nice to begin this post about her blog with a picture of one.

Still, she’s also quite funny and this particular spider, which resides on her wonderful personal blog, isn’t really all that scary.

If someone can make you laugh about the rotten weather in Manchester, and get you to cheer her on as she loses weight, then she’s created a very fine personal blog.

Mennogirl

Well, after a long hiatus I finally bring you another offering from the fine editors at bestblog.

Have you ever wondered what went on inside the mind of a young woman? Well, Abby over at the Mennogirl blog has decided to give us a glimpse into just that.

Abby is a current Chicago resident who has dedicated her blog to the purpose of self expression. As she says:

I don’t tend to write about much beyond the random thoughts that enter my head, so if you are looking for consistently amazing writing, biting social commentary, deep personal revelations you might want to look elsewhere. But if you are up for some randomness with a bit of dorkiness and a twist of wit, welcome.

Indeed, the writings of mennogirl are rather random but still quite engaging and personable. So for a bit of dorky randomness (in a good way) check out Mennogirl.

– Tylor

Soon and very soon…

Well I guess all of us editors have had a bit of a busy streak lately (at least I know I have) hence the infrequent updates. Soon and very soon though I’ll be getting back into the habit of best blogging. So hold tight for a little longer. Thanks.

– Tylor

photo by Andrew Becraft

Things That You Gotta Note!

Where can I get a free email marketing app? What is a good place for sending animated notes? Where can I get a free GB of online storage? Where did I put that other sock?

Though it might not help you find your missing sock, for the other questions you need not look any further than Things That You Gotta Note.

Over at Things That You Gotta Note blogger Cris has put his experience as a web researcher to use and compiled and reviewed, for our benefit, the best of his web finds and useful applications. I know, personally, I was happy to find a free, screen recorder program on the site.

So head on over to Things That You Gotta Note. You just might find just what you were needing.

Learning From Best Bloggers

The blogs we feature here on Best Blog on WordPress are a diverse lot, as diverse as our editors, as diverse as the enormous community that makes up WordPress. And yet again and again I’ve been struck by how much Best Bloggers have in common with each other. To wrap up the year, I’d like to share some of those qualities with you:

• Best Bloggers respect their readers. They don’t take you for granted. They respond to your comments. They keep their promises or tell you why they haven’t been able to. (For example: We tried to do a Blog-A-Day every day this December. But we went to too many parties to do one EVERY single day. Still, even falling short of the goal, we gave you more great blogs this month than we have in many months this year.)

• Best Bloggers hook you. They drawn you in from the first sentence. That can happen in as many ways as there are imaginations, but it never, ever means this sort of beginning: Sorry I haven’t blogged in so long, but I’ve been busy. Or Not much to say, but I don’t have anything else to do but blog. A Best Blogger has got something to say, and they make you want to hear it.

• Best Bloggers know how to use the tools at their disposal. Mostly, that means they’re good at the language in which they blog. Their writing is clear and sharp, they can punctuate, they proofread, and they sound like the smart people they are.

• Best Bloggers are generous. They know there’s room for everyone. They know that another great blog in no way diminishes them. They link to people they admire, regardless of whether that other blog is bigger or smaller than they are.

• Best Bloggers never stop learning. They read other blogs and learn from what they discover there. They read books — books that are so well written they feel compelled to try to do the same. They’re curious. They’re not afraid to say, I don’t understand that. They try new things. Maybe they’ll learn to podcast. Or take some pictures. Or try out a new template. Find out what CSS is.

• Best Bloggers know themselves. They don’t try to be other people. They know what they love, even if it’s a little odd, and their enthusiasm and affection for their subject animates their writing.

• Best Bloggers know they’re part of a community. They contribute to forums, help new folks out, welcome people to blogging.

Every single one of you has displayed best blogging in one way or another this year. Keep at it. Even if there are more than half a million blogs on WordPress, we’ll find you, one way or another. And if you want us to take a look at your blog, or the blog of someone you generously want us to know about, then go right ahead. Send us a comment on the comments form. Nothing would give us more pleasure than finding your Best Blog and featuring it here on the site.

Happy New Year!

–BL

Stand in a Queue

Stand in a Queue is a single subject blog of such staggering originality, I had to almost physically remove myself from my seat in order to avoid spending the rest of the day today reading it. Its brilliant author explains the site far better than we at BestBlog ever could, so I let him speak for himself. In typically restrained British fashion, he begins with a quote from someone else:

“An Englishman, even if he is alone, forms an orderly queue of one.” (George Mikes)

 

The author of this wonderful blog goes on to say, “This may be true, but it’s friendlier with a few more people in it. If you find yourself standing in a queue and want to talk about it, you’ve found the right place. Let it all out.”Pictures of queues you’ve had to endure are welcome, no matter how poorly composed or focused they are.  This blog, however, is neither of those things.  It’s beautifully composed and sharply focused and it’s a gem.