Day 15 - Your Favourite Blogs

It is actually kind of bad how many blogs I read: as of this moment I have something like 620 unread posts in my Google Reader stream. There are just so many people out there blogging who have interesting perspectives on the world and lots of interesting things to say. That is, after all, the purpose of a blog - to get fresh ideas and perspectives out to whoever is interested in listening. Here are some of my top blogs:

The Personal - Broken, In Repair

Just a guy being healed by Grace

It may embarrass Hansen to be mentioned - again. But I actually appreciate and read his blog quite a bit. He writes with brutal honesty about personal issues and struggles, as well as successes and joys. He approaches his blog with the same kind of openness which he helped me foster when he was my leader at camp, and that I appreciate.

The Tech - Gizmodo & Engadget

These two rivals share space as my favourite tech blogs. I read Engadget for the long list of new and shiny tech invading the world, as well as for their excellent coverage of the Windows Phone 7 plateform, aka the phone I own, which Giz has more or less annoyed much to my annoyance. The only thing that really annoys me about Engadget is the commenting community which more resembles YouTube than anything particularly useful. Flame wars abound and there are often more admin-deleted comments then not. That is where Gizmodo steps in. Like any tech blog, they have their fair share of trolls and fanboys; that said, they do a better job then most at keeping them in line. Giz is also my source for tech news that falls outside of the realm of personal gadgetry: it collects the gamut of gadgets as well as essays on gadget culture and the science behind the tech. Note: as much as I love Gizmodo, it is best viewed with the t/not:NSFW tag appended to the end, unless of course you are in to reviews about sex toys. In which case, fill your boots!

The Awesome - io9
My favourite blog of the lot and the one I follow the most, io9 is a must have for any geek's reading list. They bring together sci-fi and fantasy fandoms into a crazy mix of books, comics, tv shows and movies as well as covering cool scientific breakthroughs and just keeping you well informed of the things geeks love to know. Add to that probably the best community online for respectful and engaging discussion and you have one of the absolute best blogs on the web.

Jumping On The Band-Wagon

I enjoy writing, really I do. That is part of the reason why I started blogging in the first place: to have a place for me to put my thoughts down and to have a (somewhat) creative outlet. Well, that plus it was something that none of my other friends were really doing at the time - and, now that I think about it, still aren't. But looking at my progress on this, my chance at a fresh start in the blogosphere, I can't help but be reminded of the same troubles I have had previously trying to have a blog: I'm just not very good at the whole upkeep thing.

However, this being a shiny new year full of opportunity and new chances, I intend to overcome that blockage in the hopes that maybe if I start writing here on a regular basis I might start writing again in general. And so, partially inspired by my friend Hansen, I am taking up a 30 day blogging challenge; I am committing to updating this blog every day till the end of January. Now to make sure that I actually do this and don't beg off a day because I can't think of anything to write about, I will be laying out the topics I'm going to tackle in advance. And because I completely lack in the imagination department imitation is the highest form of flattery, I'm also going to be more or less stealing Hansen's topics, with a few modifications.

The List:

• Day 01 – Your highs and lows of this past year.
• Day 02 – Where you’d like to be in 10 years.
• Day 03 – Your views on drugs and alcohol.
• Day 04 – Your views on religion.
• Day 05 – A problem that you have had.
• Day 06 – Write 30 interesting facts about yourself.
• Day 07 – Your Myers Briggs Personality Type and if you think it fits your personality.
• Day 08 – Your views on mainstream music.
• Day 09 – How you hope your future will be like.
• Day 10 – Discuss your first love.
• Day 11 – Put your ipod zune on shuffle and write 10 songs that pop up.
• Day 12 – Bullet your whole day.
• Day 13 – Give pictures of 5 girls who are famous who you find attractive.
• Day 14 – Your earliest memory.
• Day 15 – Your favourite blogs.
• Day 16 – Someone who fascinates you and why.
• Day 17 – Your beliefs.
• Day 18 – Disrespecting your parents.
• Day 19 – Something that you miss.
• Day 20 – One of your favourite shows.
• Day 21 – How have you changed in the past 2 years?
• Day 22 – How important you think education is.
• Day 23 – Your favourite movie and what it’s about.
• Day 24 – A moment you felt the most satisfied with your life.
• Day 25 – Somewhere you’d like to move or visit.
• Day 26 – You're favourite books.
• Day 27 – What kind of person attracts you.
• Day 28 – Your current relationship, if single discuss how single life is.
• Day 29 – Your highs and lows of this month.
• Day 30 – Goals for the next 30 days.

I'll try not to pull any punches, but this should be an interesting month