Alternate Routes:

Throughout the summer, This Magazine is presenting a special blog chronicling the cross-Canada travels of Shayna and Dominique, a pair of wanderers who are setting out to discover what community is all about. Here, in their own words, is an introduction to the project:

We are thinkers, dreamers and poets, continuously questioning our place in this world. We both spend a lot of time watching and listening to the world around us. We love learning and have a deep passion for sharing what we learn with others through our respective arts — Shayna through written word, and Dominique through photography.

We are traveling across Canada exploring the topic of community. Bartering our skills and labour for accommodation, food and transportation costs, we will make our way from coast to coast, community by community.

Specifically, we will be visiting various type of intentional communities (any group of people that has come together with community as a central uniting purpose). Many of these communities are seeking alternatives to the environmental destruction and social decay perpetuated by mainstream society; some seek to provide a community environment of love and support to people of diverse mental and physical abilities; others just want a place to share ideas and resources with people of a similar perspective — religious, political or otherwise.

Along the way, we will record and share our experiences with This readers through this special blog.

Posted by Amy as Blogs and Bloggers, Daily Life, Community at 1:48 AM EDT

No Comments »

The results of the 2007 Bloggies were recently announced, and some of my favourite blogs won an award.

Here are a few of the winners:

• Best Web Application For a Weblog: YouTube
• Best European Weblog: My Boyfriend Is a Twat
• Best American Weblog: Cute Overload (It beat Dooce, Boing Boing, and PostSecret—go Meg and the kittens!)
• Best Food Weblog: Help! I Have a Fire In My Kitchen
• Best Writing of a Weblog: Waiter Rant

If you’ve got some time to spend, the short lists and the winners in each category make for great browsing.

Posted by Amy as Blogs and Bloggers at 1:06 AM EDT

2 Comments »

Garret Vreeland at dangerousmeta! has written a brilliant post about the responsibilities of bloggers—the responsibilities of all bloggers to the blogging community, and the responsibility that longer-term bloggers have to newer bloggers.

He recounts how, when he first started blogging, good blogging behaviour was “gently” enforced. This is not possible now, however:

A good example is about the only tool with which we can teach, and because of this, many of the current crop of leading lights leaves me dispirited. There’s a responsibility with being popular, and linking other blogs … a responsibility to first and foremost, reinforce good weblogging habits.

There’s too much good stuff here for me to recount it; I just urge you to read his entire post.

Posted by Amy as Blogs and Bloggers at 1:01 AM EST

5 Comments »

It’s now time to vote for your favourite blogs; the shortlists are up at the 2007 Bloggies.

Scroll down when you get to the site, and you’ll see a variety of categories. Here are some of them:

• Best Canadian Weblog
• Best American Weblog
• Best African or Middle Eastern Weblog
• Best Photography of a Weblog
• Best Craft Weblog
• Best Food Weblog
• Best Sports Weblog
• Best Weblog About Music
• Best G/L/B/T Weblog
• Best Teen Weblog
• Most Humorous Weblog
• Best Writing Of a Weblog
• Best-Kept Secret Weblog
• Weblog of the Year

You have until 10:00 PM EST on Friday (02 February) to vote. Then you can check back on Monday 12 March to see the results.

I love the Bloggies—through them I get to discover all sorts of wonderful blogs that I would otherwise never have heard of. Last year I learned about Finslippy and Waiter Rant (they’re still must-reads).

This year I’ve only browsed very quickly, but I’ve already made some great finds (like Kill The Goat).

Posted by Amy as Blogs and Bloggers at 9:25 AM EST

No Comments »

The deadline is rapidly approaching to nominate your favourite blogs for the 7th Annual Bloggies–you have to get your nominations in by 10:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (GMT-5) on Wednesday, 10 January 2007.

The blogs in each category that receive the most nominations go on to a panel of judges. These judges vote on their favourites, and the top five become the finalists.

The finalists will be announced on Monday, 22 January, and you can vote from then until 31 January. The winners will be announced in mid-March.

I see there is no category for literary blogs, so I’ve tried to get around that by nominating some of my favourite litblogs in other categories (e.g. Books, Inq. in Best American Blog, Petrona and Grumpy Old Bookman in Best British or Irish Weblog).

There are lots of other categories; here are a few:

• Best Food Weblog
• Best Music Weblog
• Best New Weblog in 2006
• Most Humourous Weblog
• Best-Kept Secret Weblog

Spread the word!

Posted by Amy as Blogs and Bloggers at 7:41 PM EST

No Comments »

. . . but it’s pretty funny anyway: No One Cares About Your Blog.

You can buy T-shirts, mugs, buttons, caps, fridge magnets, tote bags, messenger bags, or mouse pads.

Via I Buy Books.

Posted by Amy as Blogs and Bloggers at 1:14 AM EST

2 Comments »

Here’s an interesting little calculator. It’s not meant as a joke; the numbers are generated based on research into the value of each link.

Tristan Louis explains that, “Many in the blogosphere say that traffic is not a good measure of what blogs are but that conversation, as represented by links and indexes like Technorati, represent a more accurate view of the value of a blog.”

Accordingly, Dane Carlson built this little tool for us to figure out what our blog is worth in (American) dollars.

Via random Walks.

Posted by Amy as Blogs and Bloggers at 7:31 AM EDT

No Comments »

If you’re interested in any aspect of food or cooking, make sure you check out the links on Kiplog’s Foodblog.

There are a dazzling number of links here to other food blogs, sorted alphabetically.

Some links include The Adventures of Pie Queen, Algerian Cuisine, Eli’s Cheesecake Blog, Gluten-Free Girl, Hot Sauce Blog, and many, many more.

This site is definitely worth visiting numerous times.

Posted by Amy as Food, Blogs and Bloggers at 12:08 AM EDT

No Comments »

If you like to blog, don’t mind staying awake for 24 hours, and want to benefit a charity, you might like to take part in Blogathon 2006.

Here’s how it works:

· you sign up at the Blogathon site
· you pick a charity to support (if you can’t think of one, they provide a list of possible charities)
· you collect pledges from sponsors (you can put a button on your site to let people know what you’re doing)
· on 29 July you sign in at the Blogathon site (so they can monitor you);
· beginning at the same time as everyone else (according to the Fixed Time World Clock) you blog every 30 minutes for 24 hours

There is also a Sabbath schedule for those who do not wish to blog on Saturdays.

This event began in 2001, and over the years several hundred thousand dollars have been raised.

Via Yahoo! Picks.

Posted by Amy as Blogs and Bloggers at 1:58 AM EDT

No Comments »

I’ve just discovered a wonderful food blog called One Whole Clove. It’s sub-titled “Sweet and Savoury Experiments Through Quebec’s Kitchens.”

I particularly like it that many of the recipes are vegan or vegetarian. There’s an interesting recipe for vegan tourtière that I may try.

The blog is well organised and attractive with categories such as the following:

· Savoury Recipes Inspired By Quebec Kitchens
· Sweet Recipes Inspired By Quebec Kitchens
· Original Recipes
· Quebec Food Products: Reviewed
· Quebec: The Mini-Series

There are also some great food memes (stay tuned, some of them will be showing up here).

This blog author and I share a lot of interests—I think I’d like every one of the books on her Amazon wish list.

I love the name of this blog, and I’m particularly impressed with the blog’s official mascot.

This is definitely going on my list of regular reads, and I’ll be checking out her intriguing list of links to other blogs and food sites.

Posted by Amy as Food, Blogs and Bloggers at 5:32 AM EDT

2 Comments »

Calling all cupcake fans! Here’s a fun link: All Cupcakes, All The Time.

This blog features photos of cupcakes, recipes, articles about cupcakes, and more.

You can find such nifty cupcakes as Red Velvet Cupcakes With Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting, Oreo Cupcakes, Lemon Meringue Cupcakes, and, topically, World Cup Cupcakes.

I’ll put up my hand for the Red Velvet cupcakes!

Posted by Amy as Food, Blogs and Bloggers at 5:15 AM EDT

2 Comments »

I had never heard about moleskines until I read about them on poet Brenda Schmidt’s blog.

Now that I’ve had my eyes opened, I seem to see references to them everywhere. Here’s the most recent one in which a brief original blog post has, to date, 118 responses.

Here’s another site for fans of moleskines to visit: moleskinerie, “a blog dedicated to the proposition that not all notebooks are created equal.”

I may even experiment with a moleskine, although I’m pretty much a fan of cheap coil bound notebooks (for my purse) and looseleaf (at home).

Via 43 Folders.

Posted by Amy as Popular Culture, Blogs and Bloggers at 5:29 AM EDT

2 Comments »

I love the bears at onepotmeal.

The posts are always entertaining, whether they’re about wholesome menaces, the adventures of the resident dog, gremlins, omens, or milk going bad.

Often there are some terrific links, such as the one in this post on pardons.

Note too that the bear in the upper left corner has taken to supporting his favourite sports team.

Posted by Amy as Blogs and Bloggers at 4:51 AM EDT

2 Comments »

You may remember Owen and Mzee, the baby hippo and the tortoise who formed an unlikely friendship after the tsunami of 2004.

There is now a blog that features them and the rest of the animals cared for at the animal sanctuary where they live.

As well as the blog, there are links to sites describing the animals and plants of the sanctuary, a link to a newsletter, a link to a free Owen and Mzee screensaver, and a link to free ring tones for your cell phone.

Via How To Save The World.

Posted by Amy as Animals, Blogs and Bloggers at 4:40 AM EDT

2 Comments »

18thC Cuisine is a blog that manages to combine two of my interests: history and food. Even when I know I don’t like the food (e.g. anything licorice-flavoured), I love reading about it.

This blog invites readers to “Explore with me 18thC French cuisine as a habitante in Nouvelle France may have cooked.”

She works her way through 18th century recipes and techniques (e.g. sugaring off) and provides the old recipes first in the original French and then in translation.

This blog has wonderful links to other food blogs (as well as sites with instructions on how to write food blogs). There are also links to sites on 18th century history, cooking tools, kitchen gardens, and blogs/sites in French.

As background to the time she’s interested in, here’s a link to a very good site on Nouvelle France (also known as New France or Quebec).

Via The Old Foodie through Epicurious.com.

Posted by Amy as Food, History, Blogs and Bloggers at 4:19 AM EDT

No Comments »

Photo by Brandy Agerbeck

Numo the hedgehog has his very own blog.

I’ve always read that hedgehogs love to play with empty toilet paper or paper towel tubes, and Numo certainly does; there are some great photos of him tubing. We’ve had six hedgehogs over the years, and none of them has looked twice at these toys (or any other toys).

When you’re done admiring Numo, check out Hedgehog Central.

Via Cute Overload.

Posted by Amy as Animals, Blogs and Bloggers at 5:25 AM EDT

No Comments »

Something Beautiful is a great idea—a blog that links to sites featuring beautiful photos.

In the past couple of days the sites have been about gardening, but recent posts also feature the Sutton Hoo site, a cheetah, and some Viking chess pieces.

This site is well worth checking out.

Posted by Amy as Arts & Culture, Blogs and Bloggers at 4:38 AM EDT

No Comments »

Quite a few people feel hopeless after hearing so much about war, death, poverty, natural disasters, and our inhumanity to each other.

The people behind the Good News Blog have decided to help show us that there is hope for humankind, and that good things do happen in the world.

Recent stories cover the amount of money George Clooney’s Oscar gift bag received at an auction for the United Way ($45,000) and a discovery that will help sufferers of Muscular Dystrophy.

Posted by Amy as Blogs and Bloggers at 4:58 AM EDT

No Comments »

Despite its morbid name, The Blog of Death is a site I plan to visit regularly.

This blog posts fairly complete obituaries on famous people who have died. Recently, Octavia Butler, Don Knotts, and Dana Reeves have been featured.

This blog also featured an obituary on Andreas Katsulas, the actor whose death was (I think) under-reported in the blogosphere.

Via Word Pangs through Books, Inq.

Posted by Amy as Death, Blogs and Bloggers at 12:33 AM EST

No Comments »

O.K., I know I’m a few days late with this; they were officially announced on 13 March 2006.

Still, in case you missed it, here are some of the winners:

- Best Canadian Weblog: Photojunkie
- Best American Weblog: PostSecret
- Best Tagline of a Weblog: Joshuaink.com (”More love than a bus full of hippies”)
- Best Food Weblog: Vegan Lunch Box
- Best Teen Weblog: It’s Raining Noodles
- Best-Kept-Secret Weblog: Needcoffee
- Most Humourous Weblog: Overheard In New York
- Best glbt (Gay/Lesbian/Bi-sexual/Transgendered) Weblog: Queerty
- Best Group Weblog: Boing Boing

To see the complete list of 2006 nominees and winners (and prizes) click here.

Posted by Amy as Blogs and Bloggers at 5:02 AM EST

No Comments »

Photos like this one are the reason I visit Cute Overload daily.

In addition to wonderful photos everyday, Meg often adds screamingly funny captions.

This photo is probably the best one I’ve ever seen of a hedgehog.

Cute Overload has been nominated in four categories for the 2006 Bloggies.

Posted by Amy as Animals, Blogs and Bloggers at 4:42 AM EST

No Comments »