Blogs I like

These are blogs I follow on a regular or semi-regular basis:

* Chris' Invincible Super Blog -- because every day that you can start with a kick to the face (or, for variety, punching out a bear) is a good day. Also, because I'm a geek.

* Contrary Brin I'll never be as much of a fan of David Brin as David Brin is, but i do like to make sure I expose myself to views I don't always agree with.

* Naked Villany -- this guy writes about politics from a more or less conservative viewpoint, but has strong libertarian tendencies, which I can sympathize with. Also, he writes well.

* The Hatemonger''s Quarterly -- these guys are so completely over the top it's usually entertaining to figure out what godawful synonym they'll use for a perfectly normal word. This blog is solely responsible for the fact that I know the word "animadversion".

* The Corner at NRO. These guys are way more hardcore than I'll ever be, but most of them write fairly well, and it's a decent source of commentary.

* University Diaries -- an English professor at GWU commenting on sports in higher education, plagiarism, and mail-order degree mills. Very funny, usually spot-on even when I disagree with her, and of course, very well-written.

* Easily Distracted -- a very low-volume blog by a history prof at Swarthmore; He'll comment on everything from comic books and movies to posting a syllabus for his fall class on postcolonial sub-saharan Africa. A polymath of sorts; you never know what sort of post he'll make next.

* Andrew Sullivan's blog, of course.

* Boing Boing -- because they have their pulse on the psyche of the average geek in a way hardly anyone else manages. Very cool links, and a regular podcast that will rock your geek socks off.

* Slacktivist -- this guy is a liberal Protestant evangelical (I know, I didn't believe they existed either) who writes a weekly column on Fridays basically ripping the Left Behind books to complete and tattered shreds, both literarily and theologically. His politics and mine couldn't be more different, but I try to read his other posts as well, just to remind myself that my perspective on religion and Jesus isn't the only one, or even necessarily the best one.

* Amy Wellborn's blog. Her commenters frankly scare me at times-- I posted once about a thing my parish does during the collection, which is really lovely: Father and the deacon (if there is one, and there usually is) stand in front of the main aisle and all the children who want to walk up to them and get a hug and sometimes a blessing. The commenters went absolute batshit on me for some reason; maybe it's because they're mostly east-coast Catholics, and you guys have had a harder time than we have out West about the abuse issue, but they acted like he was a complete nutjob for doing what I think is a sweet and wonderful thing that can only help kids feel better about the Church and more open to talking to a priest about whatever. Still, Amy posts a lot of links that help me keep up on what's going on, and I think she even pointed me at your blog.

* Whispers in the Loggia-- because, well, this guy writes well, speaks well, and knows more about the Church hierarchy than most priests, and probably several bishops. Also, he's a U2 fan, so he can't be all bad.

* What Does the Prayer Really Say? Fr Z is way more hardcore than I am about a great many things, but then again, he's a priest-- it's his job. I'll say this for him-- he's definitely expanded my knowledge of what Catholicism has been and what it could be. I wasn't even remotely interested in a Latin Mass before I found his blog, and now I am looking into whether or not there's an indult parish relatively nearby.... turns out there is, but it's about 30 minutes away. Still, given that some people on Fr Z's site post about driving 2-3 hours for an indult Mass, I shouldn't complain, I guess. Fr Z also posts some absolutely gorgeous pictures of Rome and the Vatican from time to time that just blow me away and make me want to visit Italy now. :)

* ruhlman.com, because Michael Ruhlman writes about food the way I dream about it. He's an excellent chef and food writer, and his friend Anthony Bourdain-- of Kitchen Confidential, No Reservations, and A Cook's Tour fame-- has begun posting there.