Category Archives: Spotlight

Spotlight: Daily Plate of Crazy

Posted on by

There are two things I love equally about blogging– my blog and your blogs. With that in mind, once a week I’ll be devoting some space to one of the blogs I read. Prepare yourselves to be introduced to the gazillion facets of my personality because the scope of the blogs I read is vast, wide, and assorted like a jumbo box of chocolates.

This week’s blog: Daily Plate of Crazy

I’ve seen many blogs attempt daily posting. They almost always fail miserably or they generate some pretty silly posts that are just all-around weak or over time they become increasingly repetitive (like where I feel GRS is lately). This is not a problem over at Daily Plate of Crazy who manages to generate quality posts every single day. I’m totally jealous. But more than that, I’m totally grateful.

Her subjects are varied: dating, single motherhood, empty nest, midlife womanhood, gender issues, raising teenagers, self-esteem, and on and on. But the essays are all well-written and carefully thought out. She often elaborates or provides commentary on interesting news pieces. And sometimes, she just lets her emotions take the lead– frustration, loneliness, confusion, humor, whatever. Nothing seems off-limits– even her own doubt on whether writing daily accomplishes anything, affects anything, makes a difference.

It’s refreshing to read her writing because it flies in the face of so many other blogs (not all, of course)– the vocabulary is eloquent, the essays are long but concise, and she does a great job of pointing a reader to other very intelligent and worthwhile reading as well.

Have you discovered Daily Plate of Crazy? Do you try and write daily?

Spotlight: 101 Books

Posted on by

There are two things I love equally about blogging– my blog and your blogs. With that in mind, once a week I’ll be devoting some space to one of the blogs I read. Prepare yourselves to be introduced to the gazillion facets of my personality because the scope of the blogs I read is vast, wide, and assorted like a jumbo box of chocolates.

This week’s blog: 101 Books

There is a special place in my heart for books and the people who are involved with them one way or another. And it’s because of that special place in my heart, which I wish everyone on earth shared, that I take a special pleasure when I see a new post from Robert at 101 Books pop into my WordPress Reader.

The core of Robert’s blog is Time Magazines list of the 100 Greatest Novels (since 1923). The book that puts the 1 in 101 would be James Joyce’s Ulysses which was published in 1922 effectively disqualifying it from Time’s list. Robert has dedicated himself to reading every single one of these books. Don’t worry, he’s not crazy enough to try and do it in one year.

Because Robert is not forcing himself to tear through this list at breakneck speed, it gives him time, I think, to really contemplate each book. Yes, he always gives a final review on the book when he’s done, but Robert also peppers his blog with updates as he progresses through each one. He often will let his readers choose his next book and because of that we have gotten to force him to get Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret out of the way. This, it should be said, prompted a couple of posts on clever ways one may potentially hide a book one is reading in public.

And it’s posts like these that set Robert apart from just another checklist type of blog. There have been discussions on movie tie-ins, book cover art, the nuances of specific words, insane Google searches (that got way creepier after he read AYTGIMM), reading methods, and other such things. And the best part is, Robert’s got a great community of commentators. I’ve gotten more than one chuckle reading other readers’ comments or have found myself wildly nodding in agreement.

Robert’s blog is the kind of blog that made you wish blogs were actual physical places you could visit. It’s comfortable and welcoming and filled with nerdy people like me who aren’t total snobs about it (most of the time).

Have you already discovered Robert? Are there any blogs you read that aren’t necessarily associated with the core of your content?

Spotlight: Perils of divorced Pauline

Posted on by

There are two things I love equally about blogging– my blog and your blogs. With that in mind, once a week I’ll be devoting some space to one of the blogs I read. Prepare yourselves to be introduced to the gazillion facets of my personality because the scope of the blogs I read is vast, wide, and assorted like a jumbo box of chocolates.

This week’s blog: Perils of divorced Pauline

I didn’t intend to share another single mom blog right away, but Pauline’s story has recently gotten even more interesting with a visit to a wilderness camp her son has been sent to in an effort to correct his behavioral problems. I always think good writing is good writing regardless of the topic and this is definitely well-written material.

Pauline had a vicious divorce that recently culminated in the loss of custody of one of her children. There is a lot going on in her story– nasty divorce, horrific co-parenting situations (I don’t even think what they do is called co-parenting, maybe co-torture?), and behavioral problems.

Her writing is intelligent and carefully thought out. She also has a feature called Blogger Space that features the different places people write from.

Spotlight: The Pepperrific Life

Posted on by

There are two things I love equally about blogging– my blog and your blogs. With that in mind, once a week I’ll be devoting some space to one of the blogs I read. Prepare yourselves to be introduced to the gazillion facets of my personality because the scope of the blogs I read is vast, wide, and assorted like a jumbo box of chocolates.

This week’s blog: The Pepperrific Life

The Pepperrific Life is a blog written by a single mom with a daughter. She covers topics related to that  lifestyle including– general parenting adventures, motherhood and its horrors wonders, dating and love as a single mom, discipline, co-parenting, and managing a work life with a parenting life among many other things.

Pepper and I often have “rhyming events” and you can often find us on each other’s blogs saying things like “me too” and “I am also dealing with this” and so on and so forth. She also has a wonderful community and her comments’ section is often lively and active because of it. I enjoy reading her blog and hope you do too.

Have you already discovered Pepper? Do you have a great blog you’d think I’d like to read? Do you like finding out about blogs this way or do you prefer stumbling upon them in other ways?