TypePad Featured Blogs

Real Estate Snippets

What’s the state of real estate? In Minneapolis/St. Paul, at least, it’s alive and well in the pages of Real Estate Snippets, a blog written by Twin Cities realtor Bonnie Erickson. What makes the site special is Bonnie’s approach to buying a home: when you buy a house, you buy the total package, including neighbors, traffic, and potential issues. Bonnie may live and practice in Minnesota, but she covers topics that are universal, as her posts on neighborhood safety, the ups and downs of “found space”, and the money drain bear out. Her posts on home improvement and moving will strike a familiar chord with buyers and sellers alike, too. You may not be moving to the Twin Cities soon, but here’s a blog that you should call home for a long time.

NYBarfly

More fun to read than Page Six, NYBarfly is a laugh-out-loud blog about drinking in New York. This blog is what you'd get if Perez Hilton joined Charles Bukowski on a bar crawl. Dominant, deliberate, and drunk, there is a random mix of gossip and bar reviews that read more like personal diary entries than some stuffy bar guide. We love that they make up drinks for their readers' entertainment and enjoy their love/hate relationship with holidays. "New York City is built on a river of alcohol. Around a bend in that river hides the perfect, crystal-clear Martini," they say. Agreed. But reader beware, this blog is not for the faint of heart. NYBarfly contains nudity, violence, sexual content and all the other good stuff that would make the author of the original Barfly proud.

Juxtapose Photography

No poses. Never say "cheese." No clichés. Kate at Juxtapose Photography steals moments during a one- to three-hour adventure that reveals a person's individuality. Her blog, with the same name as her business, shows off some of her work and is updated regularly. "Life is chock full of adjectives and adverbs. I prefer to capture them ALL in our photo shoots," said Kate. It's obvious that she has a way with children and is able to bring out their true personality, and the testimonials on her main website attest to it. She loves working with teenagers, and does bridal portraits and couples as well. Occasionally the blog will point to a special sale or proud posts with photos of her own child and friends, but mostly Kate updates her fans on what she's working on. Warning: viewers might be inclined to pick up the phone and ask if  Kate leaves Texas for out-of-state assignments.

Yanksfan vs Soxfan

Not everyone  is interested in Yankee pitcher Chien-Ming Wang’s hamstring or a reported eBay sighting of Manny Ramirez's barbecue grill, but for Yankee and Red Sox fans, such a thing as irrelevant minutiae does not exist. Yanksfan vs Soxfan has been chronicling the vicissitudes of these two mortal combatants since 2003, and doing such a fine job that it logged hit number 1,000,000 last January. On the Sox side of the foul line, you’ll find posts on new Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka and his amazing gyroball and Curt Schilling’s blog, among others. For Bronx Bomberites, there's nostalgia for the Reggie Bar and a triumphal but premature note at the Yankees 3-0 spring training record. And of course, the continuing saga of A-Rod remains popular. For those fans who'd rather spend a month of jury duty with Barry Bonds than root for either of these teams, check out posts on general baseball and baseball history. This blog's a home run.

Beerleaguer

A new baseball season is on the near horizon, and while the casual fan is probably gearing up for opening day, die-hard aficionados of the sport never have to endure down-time, thanks to a whole new league of blogs and fan sites that track the moves and maneuvers of their favorite teams.  One such site, Beerleaguer, covers the Philadelphia Phillies, who are coming off a 85-77 campaign where they narrowly missed a playoff berth. So, if you're a Phillie fanatic and want to go deep into the personnel and personalities behind the plate, on the mound, and in the batter's box, it's time to add this passionate, opinionated blog to your daily roster.

Owen Bloggers

U.S. News & World Report ranked Vanderbilt University's Owen School of Management among the top 50 of America's Best Graduate Schools. Owen Bloggers is a student-run blog with more than a dozen writers shedding some light on the lives of current MBA and MSF students. Now prospective students can see what life is like in grad school at Vanderbilt.Topics range from balancing academic life and marriage, all the way to the students' 2007 trip to China. Tyler has been bombarded with questions from employers and friends as to why he chose Owen Graduate School of Management and has written a series of posts about why he chose a health care MBA, why Owen, and his opinion about the finer things in Nashville. There are also plenty of posts that crossover into mainstream life from a student's perspective -- and you won't want to miss Sharran's 42 Reasons Normal People Can Switch to Macs.

Hedonia

Hedonia is either the food blog of an exceptional person or the personal blog of an exceptional foodie, we're not sure. But instead of worrying about categories, let's just eat! Follow writer Sean Timberlake as he traipses through the restaurants, markets, and food-related emporia of San Francisco. If you can tear yourself away from Sean's mouth-wateringly detailed posts on hearty home-cooked dishes, you'll also find hundreds of categories worth of entries -- from accessories (home of the Popener) all the way down to wine. In fact, Sean seems to accomplish more in a day than most of us could in a week, and judging by the depth and breadth of Hedonia's wonderful content, he gets more cooked in a year than most of us do in a lifetime. So whether you're looking for culinary tips for your own kitchen or just want to live vicariously through Sean's, a trip to Hedonia is a must.

Chicago Police Department

The Chicago Police Department Weblog is online and ready to help the men and women in blue "serve and protect." You could add the verbs "inform and engage" to that familiar law-enforcement slogan and you'd be reflecting what many police departments, large and small, already understand -- that talking with the communities they serve is a  key to affecting change and  reacting to challenges. Chicago's force has been blogging since the beginning of this year and you can already see the breadth of information that they're willing to share -- from crime statistics to technology initiatives to a prayer for a fallen officer. It's clear that this resource will not only benefit the citizens of Chicago, but also the officers of the department that protect its neighborhoods.

Vintage Film

U.K. photographer Jodie Chapman is kind enough to share her blogging passions right up front, in the header of her TypePad blog -- vintage film, music, sewing, writing, knitting, thrift finds, polaroid art -- just to name a few. She only started blogging earlier this year, but her initial posts already offer a great example of a personal blog with an artist's touch. You'll find longish posts about travel (most recently to New York City) and shopping and, of course, classic films, each nicely illustrated with imagery hand-crafted or hand-picked with the aid of Chapman's keen eye for visual impact.  Check her sidebar for a  list of films she loves -- from Gone With the Wind to The Great Escape. Hopefully, in the coming weeks and months she'll have a chance to post about each of them as craftily as she did about 12 Angry Men.

Invade My Closet

Shopping + Gossip = Shossip. That's a formula for a pretty great blog. Invade My Closet delivers both subjects, with a vengeance. Your guide to who's wearing what, and how you can get it on sale -- that's the beat of Invade My Closet's author, Tara Fisher, a 26-year-old New Yorker addicted to soy lattes and dreaming of working at Elle. We love that she speaks through her clothes in What I Wore 2 Day, because what you wear is often dependent on your mood. Find the right handbags, catch a sale, help Tara make more room in her closet, or use your lunch breaks to see what's hot (and not) with the glitterati. Invade My Closet also offers a Q&A for the hesitant shopper, and encourages others to leave her a message in the sidebar. Like a magazine, you'll be looking at the ads just as much as the posts for hints on what's hip today, but it's fun! Hooked and eager for a fix between posts? Check out the IMC blogroll for more like-minded sass.

TheWashCycle

TheWashCycle is a resource so informative that non-cyclists will rush out and buy a Cannondale just to be a part of the commuting revolution. This blog covers everything that’s right, wrong, and in progress with bicycling around Washington D.C.. From local trail routes, to parking issues, and suggestions for urban planners to get with the times. One of the cooler things about this advocacy site is that it's not all about them. TheWashCycle also points to other bike-friendly cities working to improve their lifestyle, making this a site of greater appeal than to just those living in the D.C. area. If you're moving or traveling to Washington and need the short list of which Metro buses are good (and definitely not so good) for extending your ride, TheWashCycle has your back. Can't afford a bike? Rent one! The Commuting Revolution is here.

Anke: Royal Tunbridge Wells

The English town of Royal Tunbridge Wells is in the southern county of Kent and by most accounts, it's a lovely place. Of course, the account we're most familiar with is from Anke: Royal Tunbridge Wells, which offers a perspective on the town from a very happy resident. Anke clearly loves his hometown and describes his blog as "a way of sharing it with the world." After blogging about Tunbridge Wells for a bit over a year, he's discovered another benefit, "It gives me an excuse to get out exploring and discover new things." It seems like that's a common theme with bloggers who pick a subject and stick with it: They get to do more than just share their knowledge with others, they get to deepen their knowledge and build a whole new set of experiences. Call it a delightful side effect of subject-based blogs.

The French Journal

Vive La France! Francophiles will enjoy this regular serving of news, events, and cultural discussions about their favorite country. Unveiled this past August, The French Journal has already taken to blogging like a pig to truffles. There are photos, links, and long list of categories and other French websites so you can find just what you're looking for. The author lives in Boston but spends his days dreaming about his next trip to Paris. There are tips for book lovers, leads to magazine articles, and a summary of news and events every day. If you want to know about the French Elections, learn more about Toulouse Latrec, have a hankering for French cinema, or want to get a taste of the blue, white, and red before your next travels -- The French Journal is a great place to join like-minded friends before Bastille Day.

Park City

Park City Mountain Resort is a popular ski resort in Utah. This is their second winter blogging from the slopes. Their team of writers are Park City vets with 55 combined years of experience at the resort from the director of mountain operations to the ski patrol and avalanche control route leader. The Park City blog is filled with mountain reports, lift opening and closings, and deals that anyone can cash in on. You might see an absence of categories, and that's because the weather changes daily at a ski resort. This blog is for reading regularly so you can get the latest before you pack your bags and put chains on the tires. Filled with inspiration and nav bar links to essential info like snow reports, the only thing missing is more frequent pics (and videos) for far away dreamers who want to ache with the powder their missing out on. Stay tuned during the summer, this is a year-round blog.

Restaurant Girl

Restaurant Girl is here to guide you through the New York City dining landscape, from Food Trends to Gourmet Gossip. "Think of me as your culinary concierge, always here to guide you to the hottest menus in town & take you to the best restaurant for every occassion." From her home in the Big Apple, she eats, drinks, and delivers in-depth write-ups of new local restaurants that read like they're straight out of a hip, travel guide. No wonder, this experienced foodie also writes for Time Out magazine. We love that she gives us both "Don't Miss" dishes as well as "Don't Bother" dishes, and we're crossing our fingers she gets hit up for a television deal. Move over Rachael Ray, there's a new food femme in town.

Filmi Geek

Got Bollywood? Carla Levy is obsessed with Hindi films and when the movie category on her personal blog outgrew itself, she decided to create a new site to support her pastime. With each review on Filmi Geek, Carla gives a us an overview of the plot, and then offers her honest opinion of the film and the actors. To an outsider, it might seem like the films are similar, but keep reading and you'll find that not every beautiful Indian actress is alike. This is the world's largest film industry, and the films in this blog take us from elite Muslim society in mid-Nineteenth Century northern India (Umrao Jaan), to the holy city of Banaras in the 1930s (Water), and even into arthouse films that delve into the world of schizophrenia (15 Park Avenue). Bollywood buffs will go ga-ga for the actor/actress index, while newbies will appreciate the navigational guide that explains Filmi Geek's categories and qualitative descriptions. Either way, you'll be rushing straight to your Netflix queue to load up on Carla's recommended films.

Confessions from the Velvet Ropes

This past summer,  scenesters everywhere were dying to get inside of the latest tell-all book about New York clubs and celebs. Confessions from the Velvet Ropes and the companion blog are the work of Glenn Belverio, a NYC writer, and Thomas Onorato, king gatekeeper to New York's hippest party scene. Madonna, Nicky Hilton, Kimora Lee Simmons, and Adrien Brody are all part of the book and featured in the blog as well. Fans will appreciate that the blog keeps the club scene flowing well past the book covers, and beyond virtual velvet ropes into current beautiful-people fantasies. See a picture of Onorato amidst a line outside the MisShapes party at Don Hill's, link up to Onorato's predictions for the best New York nightclubs this fall, see videos from inside MisShapes, and get tips for how you can get beyond the velvet ropes.

Ante Up!

It's true that the poker craze has taken America's best-loved card game into a whole new world, where avid No Limit Holdem players become professionals and aspire to become high-life-living celebrities. In this brave new poker world, Ante Up! (one of several blogs hosted on TampaBay.com) is almost certainly its very own nation. Primarily a companion to the long-running Ante Up podcast, this TypePad blog offers hosts Chris Cosenza and Scott Long a chance to share their good humor and their good advice for beginning players. Not only are these affable amateurs enthralled with the poker world -- professional, home game, and online -- but they've also got enough chutzpah to get big-name poker players to sit down for interviews. Check out recaps of the shows where the likes of Daniel Negreanu, Johnny Chan, and Kenna James have appeared, read reviews of poker television shows, discuss all kinds of poker topics on their forums, or start your education about a wide range of poker games. If you’re a player and you've got questions, you might enjoy their hand analysis category or their "Columbo 1-Minute Mysteries" -- a great new feature of the podcast that recently moved over from another venerable poker show. To become a card-carrying citizen of the Ante Up Nation, check out the blog, tune in to the podcast, and get ready to play.

The Movable Buffet

The Movable Buffet is Richard Abowitz's Las Vegas blog, a daily dose of Sin City news for the Los Angeles Times website. It's been running for nearly a year as part of a collection of 13 great LA Times blogs. Abowitz gets his street cred from being a Contributing Editor for the Las Vegas Weekly as well as having lived in Glitter Gulch since 1999. The Movable Buffet is primarily for Vegas-o-philes that enjoy a local's perspective. Topics skew towards local politics, local crime, and local celebrities more than the typical tourist information, but for those considering a trip to Vegas, there are posts about new shows, regular entertainers, club openings and closings, and some cool event pics for bigger holidays like New Year's Eve. Travelers looking for  planning information will find a handy link to the LA Times'  Las Vegas Travel section.

redbankgreen

Red Bank, New Jersey. Some might know it as the place where legendary musician Count Basie is from. John T. Ward knows it as home. An award-winning writer and 20-year resident of Red Bank, Ward created redbankgreen to give exposure to local business owners while also providing news that folks in Red Bank and the surrounding six neighbor towns might care about. Stroll through the blog and read about a small-town bank robbery, when the Ben & Jerry's is opening up, and how their local antique shop manager Judy Barnaby got written up in newspapers around the world because Bruce and his wife Patti stopped in and gave her the scoop that "the gossip item in the previous day's New York Post about an imminent split in the Scialfa-Springsteen household was bunk." Don't you dare say Bruce who. A lot can go on in a town with a population under 12,000, just ask Kevin Smith. Blog addicts will go crazy trying to figure out how creative guru Trish Russoniello (of Red Lamb Design) animates and frames the posts' wonderful illustrations. Next question, does Jet Blue fly to Red Bank?

Ha Ha Ha!

Ha Ha Ha! is the blog of Hamakua Springs Country Farms, a farm on the north coast of Hawaii's Big Island. Specializing in sustainably farmed tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, and bananas, Hamakua Springs is first and foremost a family affair. Richard Ha is the head of the family, but he defers to the whole group, joking that everyone gets a vote, but he only gets 3/4 of a vote. The blog details the individual employees, awards, travel, the farm's products, the challenges of sustainable farming, and personal challenges as well (good luck with the weight loss, Richard!). If the idea of working on a family-owned, modern farm in a truly gorgeous setting isn't enough to whet your appetite, then perhaps we need to mention that Hamakua Springs works closely with noted Hawaiian chef, Alan Wong. We can't imagine anything much more sublime that farm-fresh produce in the hands of a culinary superstar, enjoyed on a Hawaiian island paradise.

SawxBlog

The Boston Red Sox are in the midst of a late-summer swoon and the outlook for the current campaign is getting gloomier by the day. Despite all that, the SawxBlog is hitting well above the league average for fan sites, and it shows no signs of fading down the stretch.  Derek Hixon has put together a great hangout for any member of Red Sox Nation, whether they live in the shadow of Fenway or across the globe. A number of innovative features keeps fans coming through the turnstiles, from a Player of the Game adorning the footer of each outing's post to a recently implemented message board. Related links, photo galleries, original SawxBlog illustrations, and a whole host of assorted Boston baseball goodness fills the blog's sidebars like fans packing the bleachers for a playoff game.

I Heart Farms

Those who've only seen San Francisco in movies, or on a short vacation wouldn’t necessarily connect the Bay Area with farming. But Tana Butler has found a love for small farms and those that devote their lives to them. I Heart Farms introduces you to the people and the landscape behind the produce in farmers markets and local Bay Area restaurants. See a world you might not have thought about before via photo albums of farms, farmers she's met, and locally grown farm food. If you are interested in finding out what types of chefs and restaurants support sustainable agriculture, check out her Chefs & Farms Map. Foodies will love the other blogs she links to, and fellow farmers will find I Heart Farms a great networking resource. If you want to get to know these farmers at arms length, read Tana's carefully cultivated interviews.

Living with Legends

The Hotel Chelsea is a legend, there's no doubt about it. The historic Manhattan building has been home to countless writers, artists, musicians, performers, and other creative types for over a hundred years. Living with Legends is an amazing slice-of-life blog that chronicles the tapestry of personalities at the Chelsea. Written by Debbie Martin and her husband Ed Hamilton, the blog interviews current and past residents, profiles odd characters, recounts moments that could only occur at the Chelsea, and otherwise serves as an overflowing repository for stories, links, and bits of assorted Chelseana. Our recommendation: Learn a little about the history of the Chelsea and then check in for an extended stay at what one commenter called "the most consistently fascinating blog on the interweb." You'll be glad you did.

Eggs, Bacon, Chips and Beans

Eggs, Bacon, Chips and Beans, better known in its domain-case eggsbaconchipsandbeans, is a great food blog from the United Kingdom. Your host, Russell Davies, delivers a bunch of variations on the same theme -- the eponymous dish of, what else, fried eggs, bacon, french fries and beans, also know in Britain as a "fry-up." Sampling this favorite meal at diners all over the U.K., Davies not only found the ingredients for an ongoing series of succulent blog posts, but he also discovered the recipe for a book, Eggs, Bacon, Chips & Beans: 50 Great Cafes and the Stuff That Makes Them Great.  Davies, of course, doesn't limit himself to a single meal, or a single blog. He also writes a good place for a cup of tea and a think, about better beverage-brewing establishments, and the intriguing 10,000 bands, which aims to identify the best single song from 10,000 different artists.

The Nata Village Blog

Jon Rawlingson was travelling through a remote village in Botswana when something profound occurred to him. He could make a difference. After meeting Peace Corps Volunteer Melody Jenkins and seeing her efforts to help the struggling community fight the spread of HIV/AIDS, Rawlingson, a film producer and editor, offered to create a website to focus attention on the village's plight. The resulting Nata Village Blog is a moving effort, with photographs, stories, and amazing videoblog entries. The blog documents both the challenges and the successes of the residents, clinic workers, and educators facing the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Here is a case where no description can do justice to the actual content. Please, just go visit the blog. It offers its authors and its readers alike a chance to do something profound.

Stickyrice

"I'll have the Xoi Ga, the sexy cakes -- and whatever he's having." If you're the type of foodie to go to a restaurant and sneak a peek at what the table next to you is having, this blog is for you. Stickyrice is written by an Aussie parked in Hanoi, Vietnam. His pen name shares the title of the blog, and he meanders from meal to meal seducing the reader to travel with him. Plenty of travelogues center around a movable feast, but Stickrice is quite serious about eating, drinking, and joining the other Hanoi locals in their favorite pastime -- people watching. There's a good list of links to other Vietnam blogs, as well as his favorite food blogs. Be careful: Start clicking through the archives and you might not be able to stop, or stop salivating.

Greetings from New Orleans

Justin Lundgren is a New Orleans based physician and photographer who created a photo exhibit of postcards from New Orleans shortly before Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast. He converted 33 images to postcards and crafted messages to and from fictitious characters. Whether the senders took the persona of a newlywed on her honeymoon, a recently released Angola inmate writing to a lost love, or a visiting Army Corps Engineer—each postcard began with the line, "Greetings from New Orleans." This blog is now home to this exhibit of postcards and shows off images from St Anne's Parade Chearleader Squad, a Stepper Convention, the trees on North Gayoso Street, and costumed locals celebrating Mardi Gras.