Innovative Ways to Use Blogs

1947 Project

http://1947project.blogspot.com/

The 1947 Project is a blog devoted to displaying daily posts from Los Angeles newspaper stories published in 1947. Writers Kim Cooper and Nathan Marsak use period reporting to tell about the lives of ordinary people at that time dominated by a film noir sensibility and inhumane tabloid stories such as the "Black Dahlia" murder mystery.

20/20 Hindsight: Special 1945 Anniversary Commemorative Edition

http://www.2020hindsight.org/

For about a month, blogger Susan Kitchen posted daily entries on her site as if it were still 1945. Kitchen clipped items from contemporaneous news sources to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the first atomic bombs dropped on Japan in World War II. This site is unique because it brings history alive and makes it relevant to the twenty-first century.

Automaddox

http://www.automaddox.blogspot.com/

Now that blogs have gained popularity, they've reached the point of parody. Several fictional blogs have popped up that poke fun at public figures and fictional characters. Some wag started this blog in the voice of Angelina Jolie's son, Maddox. It's a funny comment on America's obsession with celebrities.

The Comics Curmudgeon

http://www.joshreads.com/

If you haven't been able to keep up with your favorite comic on the funny pages, The Comics Curmudgeon is the place for you. Josh reads and recaps the current funnies each day on his blog. He takes his job very seriously and analyzes each panel for the social, political, and historical commentary. He's also very funny. After reading a panel from the "Family Circus" comic strip in which Dolly says she loves the smell of a box of new crayons, he notes that soon Dolly will be huffing paint outside the 7-11.

The Darth Side: Memoirs of a Monster

http://www.darthside.blogspot.com/

Here is a funny blog created during hype around the final installment of the Star Wars saga. This blog is written in the fictional voice of Darth Vader.

Julie/Julia Project

http://www.blogs.salon.com/0001399/2002/09/01.html

In August 2002, Julie Powell, a frazzled Brooklyn resident bored with her job, decided to cook every recipe from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking and record the results on a blog in order to find some direction. She declared her ambitions in the blog's first entry "365 days. 536 recipes. One girl and a crappy outer borough kitchen." Julie's vivid writing and quixotic quest attracted a large group of influential readers. A profile in the New York Times attracted an agent who sold the project as a book. Little, Brown released Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen in September 2005.

Samuel Pepys Diary

http://www.pepysdiary.com/

A bit esoteric, but this blogged presentation of the diaries of Samuel Pepys, the renowned seventeenth-century diarist who lived in London, England, is one of the first blogs to expand notions about what a blog could be. No one said that it had to be a journal kept for a present-day diarist. The blog's author, Phil Gyford, promises to put a new entry of the diarist's work on the Web every day for the next 10 years.

The Woodcreeper.com: The Alien Has Been Removed

http://www.woodcreeper.com/2005/07/16/197/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/woodcreeper/sets/598206/

Scientist David La Puma had brain surgery to remove a benign brain tumor, which he'd nicknamed "The Alien." He not only described the experience on his blog but also had his neurosurgeon take photos during the operation. The pictures are so amazing that David uploaded them as a Flickr photo set. The images are very graphic. If you are squeamish, do not open the Flickr.com link. This site is for mature audiences only.