The Blogger – Kerry Miller is the woman behind the blog, but she depends on readers just like you to submit “passive-aggressive (and just plain aggressive) notes.”

A Post We Luv – As a Human Resources professional myself, I laughed out loud at the first note featured in oh! shit! Though this particular note is not mine, I have been known to send out company-wide emails regarding bathroom etiquette.

The Blog

The Blogger – Andy Andrews is the author of the New York Times bestsellers, The Noticer and The Traveler’s Gift.  He is also one of the most sought after speakers and business consultants in the country.  He has spoken at the request of four different U.S. presidents.  Once homeless, he is living proof that dreams do come true.

A Post We Luv – After spending 15 years with the Andrews family, Andy’s Dalmatian recently passed away.  In I Loved Lucy, he shares  just how much this beloved pet meant to him, and how there will never be another who is better – because “Lucy was the best”.  Grab your tissues!

The Blogger – Andrew is self-employed and resides in New York with his wife and two children. He is a lifelong comic book fan, and even spent a number of years working in the industry. In addition to Comic Book Marks, he also authors My Blog Rules and Everybody Loves Coupons.

A Post We Luv - I Bleed for Captain America – Andrew has his eye on a new Honda Element, painted with images of Captain America. You can win it just by donating blood at Comic Con in San Diego later this month.

For more information about Andrew, be sure to read 10 Questions with Andrew of My Blog Rules, Everybody Loves Coupons – A Blog We Luv, and My Blog Rules – A Blog We Luv.

Cheryl doesn’t collect beanie babies. Well, at least not that I know of. She does, however, have a collection of manual typewriters. Her passion expands to include nearly all pre-digital forms of communication – drawings, old film slides, typewritten documents, and handwritten letters. She shares this passion with the world through her blog, Strikethru, which focuses entirely on typewriters, typecasting, papercasting, and retro content.

Having been a dedicated blogger for nearly four years now, I thought I knew all about the many forms of blogging. But when I saw references to “Moleskine blogging” while perusing the Strikethru archives, I was a bit confused – but very intrigued. It seems that there are bloggers, including Cheryl, who write and doodle in Moleskine notebooks and then digitize and post the pages to their blogs. You can see Moleskine blogging at work in Papercast: Death of a Diarist. I checked out the other Moleskine blogging posts on Strikethru, and I just have to point out Moleskine Blogging: Flat Cats. Cheryl claims that she isn’t artistic, but I beg to differ. The flat cat in her Moleskine is absolutely adorable! The post even includes instructions for making one of your very own.

Another regular feature of Strikethru is typecasting. You’ll find a number of posts that have been created using old manual typewriters from Cheryl’s collection. She even identifies the typewriter used in each post.

So, what have I learned about Cheryl during my several visits to Strikethru? First, it comes as no surprise that she works as a technical writer. She obviously loves the written word, and being able to record her thoughts through the use of obsolete writing tools creates a sense of nostalgia for her. I’m willing to bet that she often looks at her old photos, reads her old diaries, and remembers what life was like as a child and a teenager. And though I have no particular interest in manual typewriters, I think that Cheryl and I have a lot in common.

If you’d like to take a stroll through time and find some pleasant reminders of days gone by, head on over to Strikethru. Maybe you’ll even be inspired to do some Moleskine blogging!

For more information Cheryl and Strikethru, be sure to read 10 Questions with Cheryl of Strikethru.

10 Questions with Cheryl of Strikethru

1. Describe your blog in five sentences or less.
Strikethru is a blog for nostalgic types who still remember the smell of ditto paper. Who still have a shoebox of earnestly-penned letters from school crushes. Who possibly haunt thrift stores and eBay auctions for Royal Quiet De Luxes and Remington Quiet-riters. Who are still in search of the perfect turn-of-phrase. Or, who just like reading about this kind of thing.

2. Link us to one post from your blog that best defines who you are.
Slide Film, Resurrected. This was a very early post that captures my attempt to find the human story behind ephemera like letters and pictures, a source of endless unread stories.

3. What sets you apart from other bloggers?
I spend a lot of time waxing nostalgic about obsolete writing machinery.

4. When and how did you first discover blogging?
I began blogging in 1999, uploading pages of a site called The Hall of Heads via FTP. This was before blog was a word and people used to churn their own butter.

5. What is your biggest pet peeve related to blogging or the internet?
The way comments or letters sections for controversial blogs (e.g., Salon’s Broadsheet) quickly become dominated by tearer-downers.

6. Name one plugin, blogging widget, or service that you can’t live without.
I’m going to turn this question sideways and say, I put a tag cloud on my blog, but I have no idea what it does. Can someone explain it to me?

7. If you could choose anyone, living or dead, to write a guest post for your blog, who would it be and why?
Oh, John Updike, for sure. I think the opening paragraph of “Rabbit Run” is the greatest writing I’ve ever read. I love what he said about old photographs in a recent issue of the New Yorker, which I, of course, blogged about.

8. How has blogging made you a better person?
Community. Learning about other people’s lives. Seeing behind labels. When I was nursing my daughter, I often read The Lactivist, written by a woman with very different political/religious ideas than myself. She’s amazing.

9. What are your tips for becoming a better blogger?
Be earnest. Irony is dead.

10. Name one great blog that you read on a regular basis. What makes it unique?
Uppercase Woman. Cecily is so open about her life and her flaws. She is not afraid of controversy. She is not afraid of taking a hard look at herself. And she does it with style.

Mrs. Lisa tells about books she is reading, favorite books and she even reads stories to your kids right on the blog. This is just one of the great Storytime videos you’ll find from Mrs. Lisa at Bookworm Broadcast. The book for this video was Paddington Takes a Bath. You know you love Paddington bear and his sandwiches.

A few more of my favorite posts from Mrs. Lisa:

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Wayside – the cartoon
Smooth bedtime routines lead to smooth morning routines

What books have you read lately?

If you’d like to find “a place to relax and read poetry”, Poetry 2.0 is the place for you. Author Ethan Christ has been publishing original poetry to the site since September 2007. Poetry 2.0 also offers poetry lessons and occasional glimpses into Ethan’s personal life. I’d like to share a couple of Ethan’s poems that I really enjoyed.

Unravelling with Time – A poem about a pair of worn and weathered shoes, and how they relate to the pressures and pain of life.

Forever – My words can do this poem no justice, so I will let it speak for itself.

In addition to the many poems Ethan writes for the sheer joy of it, his work is also for hire. If you are looking to win a special girl’s heart, Ethan’s your man. Just give him some details to work with, and he will write an original poem just for you. Check out his Buy Poetry page for more details.

Poetry 2.0 is currently hosting a great contest with a $50 Adwords account up for grabs. There are several ways to secure entries, and unlike many other such contests, this one will reward the hardest working individual, not a random participant. You have until January 25th to enter.

I have really enjoyed my visits to Poetry 2.0. The site is frequently updated with interesting material. My only suggestion for improvement would be to add an About page so that information on the author and the site is more readily available.

If you’re a poetry lover, or if you’d just like to meet another interesting blogger, head on over to Poetry 2.0. I have no doubt that Ethan will greet you with open arms.

1. Describe your blog in five sentences or less.
“Henson’s Hell” is a humorous blog covering a variety of topics, mostly centering around pop culture. The blog is written by Henson Ray, the main character in the online comic-mystery “It Happened in Plainfield.” (A new chapter has been released every week since April; the final chapter being released on Monday, December 31st.) The blog is a spin-off of the story, allowing Henson’s character and humor to live on after the final chapter is released.

2. Link us to one post from your blog that best defines who you are.
The strange facial contortions of Celine Dion.

3. What sets you apart from other bloggers?
“Henson’s Hell” is unique because it brings a fictional character to life, giving him the opportunity to socialize and interact in the real world. In the online story “It Happened in Plainfield,” Henson has his own blog called “Henson’s Hell.” In fact, his blog is one of the main reasons he gets tangled up in the weird celebrity mystery in the first place. So it seemed only appropriate to bring the blog to life. It also serves as ongoing publicity for the story, as well as a way to placate fans who didn’t want the story to end.

4. When and how did you first discover blogging?
I’ve known about blogging for years. But I guess I really didn’t get interested until I was looking for ways to promote “It Happened in Plainfield.” That’s when I really started reading other people’s blogs and learning a lot of useful information.

5. What is your biggest pet peeve related to blogging or the internet?
I don’t really have many peeves. Not yet, anyway. Except maybe how to find readers. That’s always a constant struggle, I guess. I’m not really in it to make money, but that would certainly be nice as well.

6. Name one plugin, blogging widget, or service that you can’t live without.
I like the Blog Catalog widget because it shows me who has visited my site, and then I can go visit them as well. It’s a nice way to get to know the blogging community. I’ve found a lot of great websites that way.

7. If you could choose anyone, living or dead, to write a guest post for your blog, who would it be and why?
I think I would like Noel Coward. He was always so witty and clever. And blogging would be a great outlet for his talents. He could do his social commentary on a regular basis, and entertain us with his witty observations. Maybe even write a song lyric or two.

8. How has blogging made you a better person?
It’s gotten me to look at the world around me with new eyes. And of course, it disciplines me to keep writing. I get to explore topics I might never have written about before, because I don’t have to write a whole story around something. I can just write a few paragraphs.

9. What are your tips for becoming a better blogger?
Don’t get so focused on your blog that you can’t appreciate other people’s blogs as well. Blogging is about community and bringing together ideas. But if your ideas are the only ones you’re interested in, then it’s going to be very hard to establish a loyal readership.

10. Name one great blog that you read on a regular basis. What makes it unique?
Catontape.com – Well, this blog isn’t really one to read, but I definitely visit it a lot whenever I need a laugh. I admit it, it’s a pretty sad indulgence.