Thirteen Blogs I ALWAYS Read

1. First off, I have 4 friends that I read pretty much religiously - every time that I get one of their posts in my feed reader I immediately go to their website, and I often comment. These friends are:

Bug - An Indian Summer
Mouse - My Bitch Files
Brittany - Bitter Amalgamations
Amy - Perches in the Soul

2. Lisa @ justagirlintheworld.com - she’s the mastermind behind E. Webscapes and Blogs-About Hosting, and she’s also super nice and funny. She doesn’t post a ton, but I always read when she does. And, to top it off, she’s famous! She’s currently writing Wordpress for Dummies!

3. And two of my favorite “mommy bloggers” - Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer and Anne from PalmTree Pundit! These ladies always have great parenting anecdotes, links to great articles and sites, and an uncanny knowledge for what’s going on in the blogosphere!

4. And of course, Leanne at Intricate Art. Her beautiful art always lifts my day!

5. To get my OCD fix, I always turn to the organization queen at I’m an organization junkie! - she’s the best. She has great organization tips all the time, as well as neat and creative uses for bins, baskets, and more. Plus, she hosted that great Organization Challenge last year that forced me to get my closet into shape!

6. Stephanie over at Back in skinny jeans knows all about what’s going on with our self-image issues. She uses all the senseless reporting on celebrities to showcase our culture’s obsession with thinness - and she’s not taking it anymore. It’s refreshing to see someone with a healthy world view so prominent in the blogosphere.

7. Mama over at mamaVISION is an ex-model who lived through the horrors and is here to share all the nitty-gritty with us. Her real life experience in the fashion industry shows us how women are literally killing themselves to be beautiful and skinny. It’s disgusting, but it’s all true, and my heart aches. I’m glad that she lived through it and is now strong enough to share with the world.

8. I could not live without Lifehacker. It is an AMAZING site. Updated constantly, this site shows the latest downloads and techniques for making technology work for us instead of the other way around. From backing up your computer to managing your finances to figuring out the most efficient way to grocery shop, this site is on top of things.

9. As the proud owner of a Palm Treo, I have to post my favorite resource for programs and products for my Treo - Treonauts. This site is a wonderful resource for any questions you may have about Treos.

10. And my two favorite gadget sites - CrunchGear and Engadget. They are on top of the latest in technology news, constantly updating with reviews and announcements, with a healthy dose of commentary. Invaluable for any technophile!

11. For interesting religious commentary on current issues, I turn to ThinkChristian. The slant is a little more intellectual and theological, but still down to earth enough that I don’t feel like I’m reading a text book!

12. For quick headlines that are of interest, SmartChristian.com is the way to go. The posts don’t really say much, but I’m always directed to interesting material!

13. And to round things up, my two favorite green sites - TreeHugger and WorldChanging. These sites update constantly to show the latest in the news, renewable resources, sustainable design, and basic green living. If you want to learn anything at all to help our planet, these sites are a GREAT starting point. Not too much political agenda, they’re designed as resources to help us figure out the smartest and greenest way to live.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Leave me a comment and I’ll give you a shout out!

As the past year has gone by, a lot of changes have occurred in my life. I graduated from college, started graduate school, left graduate school, and have basically moved out of my parent’s house. As a result, some of my interests and goals have changed. Now that I’m “in the real world,” I find that my time and interest for web design and participation in the online graphics community are not what they once were. As a result, four of my previous 101 in 1001 goals are no longer things I am interested in pursuing. I may still try to work on them some, but they are not things that I am vitally interested in completing anymore.

Also, in the past couple of months, I have a renewed sense of dedication for making our planet a better place. This happens to coincide with the time that An Inconvenient Truth came out, but that is not what got me started. I actually can’t remember the initial trigger, but the Internet has fueled this interest with its vast resources. About 10 years ago I was VERY committed to environmentalism - my weeks consisted of collecting the recycling in my school and my weekends were spent on beach clean up trips and letter writing campaigns. Then high school came, and I was more concerned with myself than the planet. Then college came and I didn’t have time to be concerned with the planet. I always figured I had gone through an “environmentalist phase,” so I was quite surprised to discover that little piece of me come back alive!

So, I have replaced these goals:

62. Create my own WordPress template.
66. Create new printables section for Doodlebug Designs.
69. Rework all of my websites so they use valid XHTML.
70. Rework all of my websites so that they use valid CSS.

with a new section in my 101:

Green Living
62. Change all the incandescent light bulbs in my apartment to compact fluorescent light bulbs.
66. Stop using plastic bags at the grocery store and switch to reusable canvas bags.
69. Switch a significant portion of my food and cooking supplies to organic. Healthier for me, healthier for the planet.
70. Search for organic and free trade coffee and tea that I like, and make the switch.

I imagine that when I create my next 101 in 1001 that this section will be larger, but for now I’m starting small.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programing.

HolyMama has started something that I can’t give enough support to - Club 17! Basically it’s a reminder for the female blogosphere to do their monthly Breast Self Exams (BSE).

As many readers know, my mother is a breast cancer survivor. She found 2 lumps in her breast when she was doing her BSE, and because of her diligence they were able to remove the cancer. Please know - the lumps NEVER showed up on a mammogram! Had she not been doing her BSEs, they probably wouldn’t have found these lumps until it was too late to do anything. As it is, she has her 7 year in the clear mark this summer.

Please check out Club 17, and PLEASE do your monthly Breast Self Exam regularly!!! Tell all your friends about this - breast cancer is not the taboo subject it used to be. We should talk about it, and talk about it often! Only through education can we create prevention!