(image courtesy Nelleke Verhoeff)
There’s a little song my girls like to sing that goes, “Make new friends, but keep the old; one is silver and the other’s gold.” Today I’m going to tell you about some new and old blogging friends.
Two new friends recently gave my blog awards and a kind mention. I look forward to getting to know (or imagine) them better:
G. Martinez Cabrera has several blogs, writes many genres, and has been published widely. I can’t keep up with this guy but I’m having fun trying. One thing I like about his personal essays is that he often starts writing with a gun pointed at the thing that irks him but by the end of his riff, the gun is always pointed at his own temple. I like a writer who can dish it out and take it. Make sure to check out his graphic novel: Ostenspieler & the Book of Faces.
On his blog, Abominations, Marc Schuster is multi-genre, widely published, and always clever. I appreciate a writer who can be cerebral and scatalogical at the same time and Marc knows how to skillfully balance the high and low. He has book reviews, interviews with rock stars, short stories, his own paintings, links to published work, and writing and grammar lessons which he manages to make fun (and funny).
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When you read somebody every day, they come alive in your imagination. The following is a list of four of my imaginary friends (and a brief description of how I imagine them). These are blogs I truly enjoy, but I tried to limit myself to those I have not already mentioned.
If WordPress was high school, then Averil would be the most popular: the prettiest, smartest girl, everyone’s best friend, voted “most kissable” in the yearbook. Even the teachers hum “Don’t Stand So Close To Me” when she walks in. And man, can she write. Her blog is a banging, flashing party crammed with all the people you want to know and the hostess walks around in her stilettos and backless black dress, introducing everyone with clever anecdotes and telling racy jokes. It’s FUN.
David Halliday
He’s the best English/Art professor you ever had, the guy who changed the way you saw the world. He’s ambidexterous; he does collage and fiction and often at the same time. You get to class early so you can sit in the front row, but when you arrive, he’s already talking, and when it’s time to leave, he’s still busy at his easel. He has glue caked under his fingernails a faraway expression and when he goes off on a riff, it’s like falling into a kaliedescope.
These guys are a clique of cool upperclassmen who wear architectural glasses and curated “pieces” of clothing that scream New York, with pockets full of fountain pens and French cigarettes. They quote Nietzsche and Faulkner, read first editions, know famous people, and have a secret handshake you’re dying to know. (Be sure to check out their questionnaire.)
Bluebirds are cheerful. Courtenay Bluebird is, too. She has the kind of optimism that moves you so when I need a little song, a little tralalala optimism and a break from the ruthless world, I visit her blog. She does essays and poetry and photography and dance parties. She is funny and introspective and deep. Don’t miss her pillow book, a la Sei Shonagon.
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It occurs to me as I write this that my favorite blogs are the ones that seem to be written by a clear, strong personality (or an artist with a consistent style)-if not a caricature then a fully realized and undeviating character.
I wonder which came first, the personality itself or the characteristic style of writing? Did you think up a personality for your blog or did it arise naturally? If you could characterize the face behind your own blog or the personality you show to the world, how would you?
What does your blog face look like?
Thanks! I’ll be sure to check out the other blogs!
You’re more than welcome! Just passing it on….
Thanks for this. These look like excellent blog sites.
They deserve attention. Thanks for yours, too-
Goodness, thank you. Keep talking like that and you may find yourself lured into a shadowy corner by some tipsy chick in a little black dress.
Now I’m off to make some new friends.
Ha! Was it too much? (But it’s all true.)
You are a good writer too ! LOL
Thanks, Carla. Hopefully I’ll get back to that someday.
Anna, you’re a peach. Thanks for sending me to Bluebird Blvd. You had me there at ‘optimism’ and ‘funny’. I need a lot of that now. When I have more time I’ll be visiting the others I haven’t discovered yet.
I think you guys will like each other, Re. Warm hug from the west coast.
Oh my good golly gracious manners! I am blown away! Thank you for including me in this utterly compelling list that you’ve crafted with a fine hand.
Girl in the Hat, you are a FANTASTIC writer! I am thrilled and humbled at the same time. (And actually, I’m quite excited to be reading your blog this evening. So many goodies! So much panache!)
Thank you, honestly, for including me in this list. And I am going to be stopping by every single blog you mentioned. You really know how to hook ‘em in a few crafted sentences!
I’m loving your list, Anna. Courtenay’s piece about the language of the interior was a treat for this potty mouth.
You’re in good company, Averil. Glad you like Courtenay!
I’m glad that you’re glad– Hi! I’ve been enjoying your blog for awhile now, figured my friends would like it, too.
Anna, I hope 2012 is treating you well. I have had my hands full with “stuff” and let writing fall to the wayside. But I’ve been trying to get back on track and this is just the nudge I need. I trust your taste and will definitely check out these blogs. Thank you!
Donna! “Stuff” sounds like a bad word. I’ve missed reading you and am so glad you’re back!
what settings do you have on facebook that links this post with facebook?
With my old layout, I had a link to friend me on Facebook. My new widgets don’t allow this. Thanks for pointing that out- I’d forgotten. Do you know how to do it?
Oh. Here it is: http://en.support.wordpress.com/facebook-badge/ Easy! Thanks!
for some reason i’m totally confused about who is imaginary and who isn’t . but regarding my face, i often don’t know what i’m going to say until i start, which is one of the nice things about talking that i get to listen.
Woah. That sounds like one of those confusions that might happen on one’s first visit to a cafe in Amsterdam. I’m afraid what would happen if I let my mouth run away with itself. I am heavily edited, as you can see. *wink*