I dropped the ball this month on my "blog of the month" award! I'm sorry. But I've been thinking about my rule of not giving it to anyone who is too popular. And I stand by it, because my whole purpose in the blog of the month is to popularize little known blogs. However, there are two blogs that are amazing and also amazingly popular, and I would just like to recognize them, here and now.
Maria Popova
The first is Brain Pickings. Maria Popova reads and reads and reads and reads, and then she processes this information, and she writes and writes and writes and writes. She just picks out the best, most relevant quotes from the books that she reads, and writes little essays about them. I wouldn't say she reviews them. She basically only writes about good books. A lot of the books she reads are really old. Most of the stuff she reads and writes about is somehow to related to the meaning of life. Her web site never fails to fascinate me. Today, she has an article up about Susan Sontag's essay, "Against Interpretation," which very much relates to one of my favorite themes, "What is art?"
I would recommend signing up for Popova's weekly newsletter, and reading it. It's just lovely. It always makes me think about things in new ways. Art, life... everything.
Doug Muder
The second too popular blog (but amazing in every way blog) is The Weekly Sift by Doug Muder. Muder also reads and reads and reads and reads, and processes the information, and then he writes and writes and writes and writes. But Muder reads current events. It's basically a news blog. Muder takes the news of the past week and analyzes it. His slant is most definitely liberal, but even if you aren't liberal, I encourage you to give him a try. Sometimes I honestly don't know what to make of things going on, and then I read what he's written, and everything is much, much clearer. This doesn't sound like the greatest review, but I mean it to be. When I read the news I just feel like going and crawling into a hole somewhere and expiring of my own existential angst at the HORROR, but if I read it in the Weekly Sift, I feel more hopeful. Although, honestly, Muder doesn't really seem all that hopeful. Let's just say he puts things in perspective, one week at a time.
Muder also has a "subscribe" button.
Maria Popova
The first is Brain Pickings. Maria Popova reads and reads and reads and reads, and then she processes this information, and she writes and writes and writes and writes. She just picks out the best, most relevant quotes from the books that she reads, and writes little essays about them. I wouldn't say she reviews them. She basically only writes about good books. A lot of the books she reads are really old. Most of the stuff she reads and writes about is somehow to related to the meaning of life. Her web site never fails to fascinate me. Today, she has an article up about Susan Sontag's essay, "Against Interpretation," which very much relates to one of my favorite themes, "What is art?"
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| Popova teams up with artists who make these beautiful illustrations, which compliment her articles, like this one by Wendy McNaughton. |
Doug Muder
The second too popular blog (but amazing in every way blog) is The Weekly Sift by Doug Muder. Muder also reads and reads and reads and reads, and processes the information, and then he writes and writes and writes and writes. But Muder reads current events. It's basically a news blog. Muder takes the news of the past week and analyzes it. His slant is most definitely liberal, but even if you aren't liberal, I encourage you to give him a try. Sometimes I honestly don't know what to make of things going on, and then I read what he's written, and everything is much, much clearer. This doesn't sound like the greatest review, but I mean it to be. When I read the news I just feel like going and crawling into a hole somewhere and expiring of my own existential angst at the HORROR, but if I read it in the Weekly Sift, I feel more hopeful. Although, honestly, Muder doesn't really seem all that hopeful. Let's just say he puts things in perspective, one week at a time.
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| Muder often includes charts like this one, to help us understand the news. |
What is the significance of the number 2703?
ReplyDeleteWhat's my birthday?
ReplyDeleteThe day of publication of ASwF, I 'spect!
ReplyDeleteDuh! I totally did not see that.
ReplyDeleteIt's backwards. That's why. European style.
DeleteDoug's a treasure. I always enjoy the sift!
ReplyDelete