This is not a blogroll.

OK, so maybe it is. Kind of.

The Chicagoland Contingency

Although these ladies don’t write directly about life in the Windy City, their awesomeness reflects the city I used to call home. I like to imagine them all eating hotdogs with poppy seed buns while they’re writing. Janice writes Snide Reply and Lisa writes A Gripping Life. It’s good that at least people will get all my references to the 773-202-LUNA commercials.

Your Virtual Living Room

Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name. Or at least where you will be lambasted with Canadian magnificence, in the case of Le Clown. Sweet Mother once wrote that one of the best things you can ask for is for your readers to have a party in the comments section, and I agree wholeheartedly. It’s a lot easier to set up a tidy blog than it is to clean up your place after a raging kegger. Head over to Madame Weebles’, Guapola’s, and Brigette’s Banter too for a place where you will get swept up in a community that won’t give you a hangover. Or maybe it will. Whatevs. We don’t judge.

Don’t Call It a Mommy Blog 

My friend Paul sent this to me:

After I got done crying a little pensively thinking about the weight of that tweet, I thought of the mommy blogs that are (by the grace of God) thoughtful, fun, and not trying to sell you Ergo carriers. And I came up with Shoes on the Wrong Feet, Piperism, and Excitement on the Side. All have made me laugh out loud and tear up at one point or another, and all inspire me to be the best mother I can be. A Rich, Full Life In Spite of It and Becoming Cliche are also fantastic blogs by ladies who might get on to me for putting them in this category. But like I said, these are not mommy blogs. They are blogs by women whose motherhood collides with their sense of humor and creativity.

My Real Life Friends

My real friends blog too! Well, at least the good ones do. My friend Melissa has a nature photography blog over at ::crickets::. You have no doubt checked out besfrinn Cameron’s blog at Krug the Thinker by now, but now her mama Mary Beth has also joined in the blogging chorus at Mindful Magpie. For delectable treats and food tales, check out my old pal Kendra’s blog Over the Spoon.

Vitual Besties 

Here’s the part where I declare unabashed love for several bloggers who have shown me that rare kindness that is made all the sweeter given that we’ve never met in person. Ashley of Zebra Garden knows all my secrets and I am honored to call her a friend. Never Contrary is written by one of the most multi-faceted ladies you’ll come across, and I love the way she thinks about pretty much everything. Same goes for Southern Sea Muse. Her mind meanders in the best possible ways and invigorates and refreshes me. She’s basically the blogging equivalent of Orbitz gum. Mockingbird, Don’t Write is freaking WONDERFUL. She grew up in the Memphis area, too. Since I don’t write too much about Memphis, I defer to her thoughts on the South and ditto all of them.

Humor

Why get cable when these people are clamoring to entertain you? (Actually, given the current lineup on TLC, why have cable anyway?) Lily in Canada is hilarious (and FYI, a pretty golden tweeter to boot @longlegslily). Mooselicker sees the world from an intriguing perspective and will have you doing the same. Then there are those who are single-handedly keeping the adult diaper business going strong: Speaker 7 and Childhood Relived comment on current and nostalgic pop culture, respectfully (haha not that kind of respectfully). More recently, I’ve gotten borderline obsessed with Psychobabble (this girl is madly clever) and Sincerely, Slapdash.

Babies, etc. 

I like to think that I was pregnant with the best people on the Intertron (Jell’s word, not mine.) Babies on the internet are much less stinky, much more quiet, and cuter than the ones out in the real world. Plus their parents are pretty cool. That’s why I love these moms and their babes: I’ll Sleep When They’re Grown, Shotgun Fetus, Bellissimom, Broken Condoms, Dear Expletive Baby, Southern Fried Chicken in Vegas. And this dad: & Squatch Makes Three.

If You Tried to Categorize These, You’d Be Missing the Point Entirely

Ever wanted to know what goes on in the mind of an ever-inebriated Canadian teddy bear? Liquorstore Bear. Boom. You’re welcome. How about a skewing of the most redonk clip art Microsoft ever produced? Clip Snark. And crafting mixed with posts about a dog named Panda, comic strips about going to Denny’s with your family, and pictures of whales? The Tragic Whale. These are some of the most creative blogs on WordPress. Your head will explode.

Korea and Elsewhere

There are roughly 21,334,986,830 travel blogs. Luckily, I have skimmed the fat and deliver to you the ones that won’t bore you to tears. Obvs, I have a place in my heart for Korea. Topicless Bar nails the expat existence in SoKo with levity. An American in North Korea is an amazing photo blog that gives you images into the Hermit Kingdom. I highly, highly recommend it. Moving away from Asia and into Scandinavia, I also love I’d Rather Be in Iceland. It’s written by a British gal who (duh) would rather be in Iceland.

60 thoughts on “This is not a blogroll.”

  2. I cannot wait to read some of these – and I’m thrilled to have been exposed to a decent number of them in my less than 1 month life in bloggoland…I have to check out Rutabagas and Elephants – another Rutabga lover??? And I posted about Elephants yesterday, so it must be kismit…

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  5. Holy freaking crap! I’m first!!! Thank you so, so, so much. I’m slogging through today’s post and this gives me such a boost. I tried to do a blog roll and it just got overwhelming. You’re one of the only blogs on my role! So, thanks again. It’s an honor.

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    • You are indeed first! You earned your place near the top from the time you wrote that post about libraries. I’ve loved you ever since I read it (what felt like) forever ago.

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  7. Aww! You’re so sweet! You will get far with me with all those comps (compliments)! I haven’t looked at my blog roll in months! I’ll update it and add you! You’ve inspired me with this!

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  8. I was just telling Lily how proud I feel to be part of the Chicago contingency! I love this group of blogs and the people that write them. Nice job, Emily : )

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    • I was debating on putting her in the Chicago Contingency as well, but I decided against it because then someone would click on her blog and see “Lily in Canada” and think I was mildly idiotic for reading “Canada” as “Chicago.” I’m glad you approve of the list! We run with a pretty awesome clique of bloggers. ;D

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  11. That “motherhood may collide with my sense of humor and creativity” is the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me in my whole life. If blogging mean my path has crossed with folks like you, Emily, then I’m the lucky one. Piper thanks you.

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    • You were one of the first people I thought of when I started writing this. Thank you so much for setting a wonderful example of how to have a remarkable blog AND be a hilarious person!

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  13. Thank you so much for including me here! I wouldn’t get on to anyone who puts me on their not a blogroll, in the mommy blog category or not. Looking forward to checking out who you are reading these days. At first glance, we read a lot of the same blogs!

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  15. Aw, thanks for including me Emily. It is greatly appreciated as I totally enjoy your writing and pics of the wee one. I look forward to reading all of your posts and seeing how you travel this new for us both road of parenthood!
    Xoxo
    Emily

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  16. Thanks so much! I enjoy making heads explode (figuratively of course). As a side note, Snarky would like to let you know that the Victory Auto Wreckers commercials have not changed. We like the logo with the dinosaur eating a car.

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    • My pleasure. Thank you for being both an awesome friend and blogger AND photographer.

      Snarky is amazing. It’s only updated once or so a week so I usually read it about 32 times.

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    • Wow, Daan! I am really flattered that you want to be on my blogroll! I was planning on doing a big update of it in February (six months from when I originally posted it), so I will be sure to include you when I update it. By then I will’ve been reading your blog for a bit longer so I will be able to give you a proper write-up.

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  24. Pingback: Orbitz Gum for the Soul « Southern Sea Muse

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