Blogroll

Back in 2004 when I started blogging and even earlier in 2003, when I lived in Boston and flirted with the idea and started really reading blogs, I liked a certain kind of blog. The author would be a fan of Amelie. Tea/coffee. Fancy notebooks. A Mac or otherwise non-standard computer. Funky glasses. No cussing. Only nice things to say. Fondness for books, especially poetry. Sharing recipes. I was joking one time that there was a uniform for the Cuddlebloggers: Amelie soundtrack, Moleskine, Timbuk2 bag, gel pens or, better, a fountain pen with some obscure color of ink in it like Nipple of Venus Rose Pink. I formerly identified some Cuddlebloggers as hipsters (read here), but it has lasted far long enough to be official in some way. I think.

I don’t mean this in a bad way, really. I have so many Moleskines that I need a shelf. Not to mention my affection for Amelie and utter and complete caffeine addiction. I’m just saying is all. And, to be sure, I totally tried to be a Cuddleblogger at first, whether I realized it or not. Until our car wreck, that is, when I let loose with my first naughty language (here). That sumbitch in the land-yacht changed everything for us, literally knocking us out of a pattern of contentment that was leading us to somewhere we did not want to be. But that’s another story.

I like making up words and definitions. Cuddleblogger. You know what I’m talking about, though they are certainly a dying breed. I’m hard pressed to think of more than one or two who still blogs regularly. And I miss them.

This is posting in the future, when I’ll be off to Harper’s Ferry for a nice day trip and hike up to Maryland Heights. I went there the day after Thanksgiving in 2002, too, and they had homemade cinnamon rolls with fresh icing poured generously with a ladle at the ice-cream shop. It was cold, and the plates of heaven steamed on the porch when I confessed to a friend of mine that I was a vegetarian.

My friend Kate is pregnant! She is new to blogging and sharing the trip at Urban Mama, which you should definitely check out. I’m stoked for Dan and Kate and very much looking forward to helping to test bike trailers for Baby. Dan and I figure that, if said trailer can hold a keg of beer, it can definitely hold Baby. And, in this testing, we can have a keg of beer. See, safety can be fun! And yummy, provided we get the right beer.

Specialized blogs can be a lot of fun, like the one about pencils that guy (!) used to run:^)

Seriously, though, here are two great blogs for your weekend reading.

Free Advice on How to Fix Your Bike is written by a fellow who has it in his heart to help those of us who are not very technically-inclined fix and maintain our bikes. When I kept losing my chain in the front a few weeks ago, when I used the smallest chainring for the first time, his site hooked.me.up. I got the limits adjusted and peachy in a few minutes. I’m drooling over the plans to build a bike trailer now. If you own a bike, you should check it out. And if you don’t, you should definitely check it out and learn to fix something you might find at a yardsale and join those of us who love the joy of bikelife.

Another great blog to come out of my former home of Carbondale, Illinois is The Beer Philosopher. I don’t mean to disrespect the other bloggers of Carbondale, but this is my new favorite Dale blog — not just because I am…fond of beer and trying new brews. It’s well-written, and this gentleman not only knows his beer, he loves it. And that comes through in the blog in wonderful ways.

One of my original favorite blogs is back! Gary has resurrected Inkmusings, and I for one am stoked :^)