As an urban city with a tech orientation, Seattle has its fair share of blogs, though probably 60 percent of them are moms talking about their children. But don’t worry, that still means maybe 40 percent of blogs are ones you (as someone who is not related to the children of the mom blogs) would read. Well, actually probably 15 percent of those have been abandoned and/or are not interesting at all. So you’re really left with only about 25 percent of blogs you would look at (20 percent of the 25 percent are probably food blogs by the way, but who doesn’t love those?).
For a while now as part of a work project, I have been rummaging through the Internet looking at some local blogs. Here are a few to pass along for their intensity of interest on a particular subject, quirkiness, or just plain fun nature.
“Lovely little things: a little bit of this + a little bit of that” is probably my new favorite. It is by school teacher Michelle (that's all the ID she provides, as is common with blogs), who loves discovering “lovely little things.” These can range from great restaurants, cooking ideas, how to make jam, or how to turn your laundry room cool by using glass jars, chalkboard tags, and enamel-handled scoops for your detergent. Her pictures are whimsical and her comments are short and sweet. I mean just look at her post from the other day: "Yesterday mom and I had a jam session, raspberry jam that is. My mom is the "jam master" if you will, she makes jam every year; strawberry, marionberry, blackberry, you name it! It's kinda her thing. This jam session was extra special because jars of this raspberry jam will be the favors at our wedding - pretty sweet, huh?" Oh yeah, she's also planning for her wedding. Many bloggers use their blogs to complain or voice their worries about their weddings, but Michelle continues to be fun and upbeat--which also allows us to love those posts she does make about her wedding plans.
“It’s My Darling-Seattle Street Style” is a great photo blog depicting street style. As far as I can tell, Dana, “a Seattle girl always on the hunt for things that inspire” wanders around the streets of Seattle, finds someone everyday whose style she loves, and asks to take their pictures. Sound simple, yet comes across as a great fun blog. While she doesn’t always write comments, when she does it’s honestly simple and fun. Take for example her July 30 post:"There was just something special about Grace's style when I came across her. Super simple but with a few quirky touches that I'm guessing make her smile because that is what they did for me. Bag casually undone, shirt a little too big and mismatched socks... I liked it all. People always ask me what I am looking for when I take photos for this site and it is style like this that really helps to show my typical answer to the question. I don't know until I see it." Bonus, she occasionally does a food post, most recently revealing a secret to a fabulous apple pie (If you want the secret scroll down to the post on Friday July 29).
Photo blogs are a dime a dozen, but this blog stands out because it’s all history: “Vintage Seattle: A high-res blog visualizing the Emerald city’s past” is an amazing blog. The goal of the site is to document the history of Seattle using old photos, vintage postcards, advertisements, and historical buildings. The author, Jess, is hoping that the blog "will help us find our way forward by looking back.” Very sentimental, and very true. The photos are beautiful and the comments are very intelligently written. My favorite picture so far is actually brand new, Aug. 2—it’s a view from the Space Needle in 1962.
The Northwest is known for its lush green landscapes, even within city limits. “Metropolitan Gardens: Gardening in Cascadia” is a good gardening blog for all types. There’s a section for tourists, garden designs, parks, and gardening advice. Jordan, the author of the blog, takes great photos to go along with in depth commentary. Jordan's little tidbits of advice include: How to make a garden, how to design a privacy screen, how to make a townhome garden and how to use botanical Latin. The advice is broken down into easy steps, and while the advice is simple, it’s perfect for people just starting out. My favorite part of the website is his garden color section. Here he has seven lists each dedicated to a specific color (red, blue, yellow, white, pink, purple and orange) and in each list he lists plants with either colored flowers or foliage of that color. Bonus? All the plants are appropriate for Seattle, the Pacific Northwest and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Zone 8. Need another great gardening blog? Check out "Garden Help.org." The author is both witty, and knowledgable. "My garden is giving me the blues." They write, "And that’s a good thing ’cause these blues come with berries. Very tasty, tart, sweet berries. Yep, our blueberries are coming in – pint after pint each day."
I love ramen, and I am constantly made fun of by my friends because I love ramen. All you other ramen lovers out there might know of "The Ramen Rater." So far, this Seattleite has tried and rated 464 different kinds of ramen. Unusual? Yes. Quirky? My dream job? Probably. (I’m also still hoping the Queen of England will call me up and offer me the position of royal taste tester.) The only thing I dislike about the website? Out of the very few I have eaten I love Nong Shim Bowl Noodle Hot & Spicy soup, (which is probably one of the highest sodium content ramen out there) and he hates it, giving it only a 2 out of 5. My heart breaks a little inside, maybe more at the thought that my taste buds are inadequate then his judgment on my favorite ramen.
My blog list would not be complete if I didn’t include a Mariners blog. "Sodo Mojo" is a part of the Fansided Sports Blogging Network (basically a network website which houses sports blogs written by savvy fans for different parts of the country). The two leaders of the blog, Harrison Crow (who named himself Lord Overmaster, which gives me another reason to love the blog) and Keith Myers (with a less cool title of a contributor) are serious Mariners' fans. The site is well put together and easy to use. They also talk about the minor leagues, have an easy link to the schedule, and a store. A defiant must stop for the world of the Mariners. Most importantly, their posts are up to date. Also, unlike so of the many blogs I searched through, this site isn’t just a place where two fans rant or rave about the Mariners, instead it also talks about the intellectual aspects of the game, why specific trades happen, and what we can expect. What I love most about the blog is that they don’t give up on the Mariners, like so many Seattleites do. “I’ll tell you what,” writes Alex Carson, a writer for the blog, “there are reasons to continue watching baseball games even when your team has been bad and found themselves out of the race.” I couldn’t agree more.
Link summary:
Lovely little things: http://lovely-little-things.blogspot.com
It's My Darling-Seattle Street Style: http://www.itsmydarlin.com
Vintage Seattle: http://www.vintageseattle.org
Metropolitan Gardens: Gardening in Cascadia: http://www.metropolitangardens.com
Garden Help.org: http://www.gardenhelp.org
The Ramen Rater: http://ramenrater.wordpress.com
Sodo Mojo: http://sodomojo.com.
