I know, you were thinking I wouldn’t add any further thoughts to my series of Why the hell am I blogging, right? Wrong!

Have you heard the public snide about bloggers, blogging and the blogosphere? I have. Comments are usually along the line of “bloggers share their own personal opinion”, “there’s no censorship or guidelines that bloggers are bound to” and “the quality is crap, because there is no one editing what bloggers put out”.

I wholeheartedly agree with the first two comments: blogs are about personal opinions and they aren’t restricted by any guidelines applying to other forms of media. And you know what? THAT’S A GREAT THING! As to the third comment, let me dispel the myth of lack of quality by showing you some of the blogs that I absolutely adore.

All of them are quirky, different, offer a unique and creative point of view and – Oh MY – they quality of content is astonishing.

I’ve only come across IWDRM recently. It contains movie shorts and famous associated quotes. The reason I love it is its simplicity, whimsical and its convergence of internet, movies, moving images and short texts.

Letters of note is a must blog to know. It features, guess what, letters of people who’ve left a mark in our world and their letters – addressed to loved ones, or people they didn’t like – are worth a good look. Reading someone’s letter is a terribly personal experience and it always triggers my curiosity to find out more about the people behind it, got to love the internet!

The middlest sister merges craft, cartoons, story-telling and modern media to narrate the creator’s little anecdotes from her childhood. This is a very popular blog, deservedly so, and if you don’t know, well, shame on you!

Ryan Andrews “draws stuff”. He is an artist and story-teller whose works are deeply inspiring. I’m following his stories and creations with bated breath and  am so lucky to have discovered his blog.

A must know blog is Underground New York Public Library. The creator is photographing people reading books on the train in New York and every photo gives you the opportunity to borrow and read the book the person is reading. This is a great example of how anthropology, art and new media come together and create something quirky, beautiful and interesting.

These are five of my favourite blogs and just the tip of the iceberg of the ones I’m following. Of course, there’s plenty more to discover and read.

Also, giving myself another plug: If you’re interested in finding out more about blogs come and join me on 16 September for my workshop in Perth.