The 22nd Task

I'm not an avid blog reader. Even when I find a good one, I can't seem to make the commitment. However, there have been some blogs that have had some sort of impact on me, because I can remember their names and where to find them. The first one that comes to mind belongs to an up and coming author named Brad Listi that friended me on Myspace a few years back. When musicians, writers or other artists that I don't know send me a friend request I usually always check out there material and if I like it, I accept. I'm trying to make the starving artist scenario a myth. (The only exception to this rule is if somewhere in the initial interaction they say things like 'holla atcha boy', 'lemme hitchu up', 'ladies send some love' {all of which have definitely happened to me before}). So, anyway, this author sent me a friend request. I had never heard of the book he had published, Attention Deficit Disorder: a Novel. However, upon reading his blog, I was hooked. He has this very dry and very irreverent sense of humor, but it's the type of irreverence that isn't aware of itself, almost innocent and naive. I don't know better how to explain it, you'll just have to check him out. The book he wrote is also very funny. It's sort of a coming of age story about a twenty something who doesn't know what to do with his life. I haven't kept up with it recently, but when I do drop in I am always reminded of why I started reading it in the first place.
The other blog that I check up on from time to time is actually a video blog on YouTube. It's by a guy named Phillip DeFranco and it's aptly called the Phillip DeFranco show. My boyfriend actually found this guy while browsing YouTube one day and he's definitely hooked. PhillyD (as he sometimes called himself and which is supposecd to be ironic because he's very white and does not in fact rap) has an in your face sort of blog. His sense of humor is caustic and he edits his videos together to give it a fast-paced, choppy sort of feel. It's not always my cup of tea, but sometimes he can be very poignant. My boyfriend and I really like both The Colbert Report and The Daily Show, but he has much more admiration for Colbert and I've always been more of a Jon Stewart fan. That is probably the difference between the two aforementioned blogs. So, you can see why I'd like one better than the other. I appreciate subtlety and smooth delivery. Others may be more drawn to hosts/pundits/bloggers that crucify their subjects for the joke.
That being said, I really enjoyed Tastespotting. I too can't stand pictureless recipes. I t gives you more incentive to cook the dish if you get to see the final outcome beforehand. The other blog I thought was really great was Crooks and Liars. While, definitely one sided, I could appreciate many of the jabs they took at some talking-heads. And, finally I enjoyed Lifehacker. There was too much information to sort through at once, and I felt a little intimidated by its hipster, cyber-nerd vibe. All in all, though, there were some really rad posts. One in particular was about a guy who made a tree house type workspace. Way cool.
I'm kind of sad that we're now down to the nitty gritty; only one more entry left. I really liked blogging for Webolution- much more than I thought I would. My heart will go on.