It feels like taking off a tie.

I like Gaping Void a lot, so last November I followed Hugh's recommendation and subscribed to these ten blogs in NetNewsWire. This morning I decided to delete nine of them. I've been leaving the “Hugh says” folder for last, and I zip through the posts like they're old e-mail. Maybe I'm tired of blogging about blogging. Brief reviews:

1. Jeff Jarvis writes almost exclusively about how newspapers don't get blogging. He does it well, and I'm sure it's great reading if you're interested in the future of journalism. I'm more interested in other things these days.
2. Scoble gets excited about things that are very lame to me. Maybe if I worked at Microsoft, Windows Vista would seem like something to be proud of, instead of a clunky, ugly mess designed by a few hundred people.
3. Doc Searls seems like a nice guy, and he's a good writer, but I always feel like I'm a few posts behind when I read his blog. To me, it reads like the commentary to the real blog, which is hidden somewhere else. I never really know what he's referring to, even though the concepts are interesting.
4. Seth Godin is the one I'm keeping. He points out where marketing and advertising suck on a daily basis, with good fixes.
5. Loic Le Meur, though his name is like magic foreign-juice to my tongue, has only written about conventions in the last four months, and posted some interviews about blogging. Too meta.
6. I might come back to Fred Wilson. He actually writes about music and his kids and New York, rather than just blogs and venture capitalists. I like his musical tastes, and I've still got that soft spot for NYC.
7. I missed the boat with Jason Calcanis, who writes about the aftermath of selling his company to AOL. Lotsa blogger in-jokes.
8. Tom Coates is funny and pleasant, but I see most of the things he links two a few days earlier.
9. Reading English Cut makes me covetous of bespoke suits. Far too covetous.
10. Manolo the Shoe Blogger is a funny concept but wears thin if you're not in it for the shoes.

Have you ever met a group of people who are already best friends? You might get along well, but there's a whole web of shared something that you missed out on. These blogs might have been awesome a year or two ago, but they seem like rehash and reflection now. All together, they felt too much like fluorescent lights and MBAs. I wanna run around outside and eat Chick-o-sticks and listen to Afrirampo.

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Comments

[Robert Scoble]

So, who are you reading?

Also, I write about a ton of things that have nothing to do with Microsoft. Over the past week I think about 80% of my items aren't about Microsoft.

[droob]

Reading my feeds has begun to feel like a chore or an addiction, so I'm cutting back. The Great RSS Winnowing has left me with a few groups: friends, tech news, and focused blogs on different topics. Even old standbys like Kottke and Zeldman, who have been in my bookmarks for years, didn't make the cut.
I've kept Paul Ford, Kathy Sierra, and Merlin Mann, and I jump to read anything they write. I prefer funny, longish, meaty essays to lots of short posts (except for Jorn, who blows my mind daily).
Tastes change, though. In a few months, I might eschew this ascetic style and go back to reading everything, knowing everything that's happening in the blogosphere. Hey--did you notice what book was at the top of my wish list over there?

[Tom Coates]

I completely don't blame you - I've been a bit rubbish recently. Work pressures.