Links
Writing
My top favourite blog is Will Buckingham’s Think Buddha. Will is a philosopher after my own mind. He asks questions like: “Why do we feel the need to make stories out of our lives which are not at all story-like?” And he does it beautifully in every way. Yum yum.
Heather Armstrong needs no help from me in pointing people to her website, Dooce. She has so many hits a day, she is able to support her whole family through her blog. I’m a fan because she proves you can turn mutterings on poop, boobs and a broken washing machine into an art form and a whacking great pay cheque to boot. Go girl.
Prisoner Ben blogs from his cell with the help of his friends. He is serving a jail sentence for murder. I am very glad to hear his perspective on things like sentencing and why convicts don’t tend to talk about their crimes. The posts are always well written. Thanks Ben.
It’s worth putting Emily Churchill into your reader even though she’s taken a break from blogging. She’s another thinker who writes very well, particularly around relations between people of different cultures.
Because I like good writing, I appreciate people who help writers. Linda Jones is very generous in the tips she offers in You’ve Got Your Hands Full and she is a good pointer to other supportive organisations.
Birmingham
There are some local blogs that give good information but fail to capture the spirit and personality of a place. This is not a criticism that could be levelled at Birmingham It’s Not Shit. It makes me laugh, keeps me informed and causes me to realise I’m more Brummie than I’d reckoned.
I also like to watch out for hyperlocal websites. At one level these are only of interest to people in the postcode they cover but I keep my eye on a few because I’m interested in the role they could play in the media of the future. Ones I follow include Digbeth is Good, Bournville Village, B14 Guide, Eye on Moseley, The Harborne Mile (set up by my ex-boss Marc Reeves) and grounds’ posterous, which is about the businesses around Colmore Row in the city centre.
Chris Duggan brings all the green initiatives in the city together in a one-stop Green in Brum website and LiveBrum is the epitome of a user-friendly listings site.
Media
I can depend on my former colleague Jo Geary to keep me up to date with the changes taking place in the media industries. Who knows how much she has to scroll through to find the pearls she delivers to my inbox? I wouldn’t want to be without the Online Journalism blog either or Jeff Jarvis’s BuzzMachine.
Podnosh
Nick Booth is in a category of his own. It’s taken me a while to work out why I find his work exciting, but I think it’s because he thinks beyond an individual or single organisation. He uses social media for social change, connecting the small with the corporate, holding a vision for the whole.
Singing
I love to sing and I love to think about singing. Liz Garnett analyses things like why singing makes us happy and the different parts of the brain involved in the learning process. And I always thought I was the only person who thought about such things…
Motherhood
Blogging about being a mum is a genre in itself, which is quite surprising considering how hard it is to snatch even a minute at a computer when you have a bab to care for. (It is after midnight as I type this.) Sleep is for the Weak is the most beautiful one I have come across.
Prayer
I have to admit, I was sceptical at first. “You can use the internet for many things,” I thought, “but an aid to prayer, it is not.” I was wrong. Pray as You Go offers daily prayer for your desktop or mp3 player compiled by the British Jesuits. It will bring you to your knees.