Small Favors

Another post about the loneliness of a long-distance blogger. Well into my seventh year, nearing 2000 posts (with a little help from my friends!) the itch is still there, although dreams of world domination have devolved into a more realistic "one-reader-at-a time" scenario. Most of the bloggers from 2004 which I have followed have given up. I don't blame them, writing to an audience of 20 or 30 is a Sisyphean task, but it does have its rewards.

Maria Roff at Iceland Eyes has been showing us intimate glimpses of her Iceland for seven years, recently she has been specializing in macro photography. That's an interesting concept. How is Iceland at a microscopic level different from the rest of the world? She's also been writing the "Great Icelandic Novel", excerpts of which may soon follow. She had a personal blog before this one which she allowed me to read, if the new work is anywhere near the quality of the old it should be smashing.

Tavi Gevinson has been mentioned here before, she has a new blog/magazine aimed at teen-aged girls titled simply The Rookie and it is simply tremendous. Not just for its content, which so far has been exemplary, but also for its format: most commercial sites could learn a thing or two about effective presentation from this site EDITED BY A 15-YEAR-OLD.

There are two Japanese sites I frequent, Mitsufi Friends is a blog by a baker in Tokyo who simply chronicles her experiments and exhibitions, with occasional side trips. Her impressionistic style is partially due to the fragmentation of Google Translate, but no words are needed for the photos of her whimsical pastries. A very, very personal blog.

The other site is "Yowayowa Camerawoman Diary" which has received widespread exposure on the internet due to the enchanting "levitations" photographs in which the author/photographer/model, Natsumi, captures the sense of flying in various Japanese locales. These images can be taken on many levels, from a simple escape to a profound sense of yearning. This is capital A "ART." There should be a HD slideshow made from this series- I could watch it for hours.

UPDATE: As of 2023, all the above bloggers are inactive.