The Best Blog Posts of 2010

Hot damn. I can't believe this year is over.

It was an eventful year, to say the least.

I was let go of one job, immediately found work at another job, and then left that job for a job in publishing. The artist/dreamer side of me should have taken THAT FREAKIN' UNEMPLOYMENT, but being raised the way I was and the current state of the economy, I decided it was best to, you know, be a working adult. I'm excited to see where my new job will take me.

I road tripped through West Texas and New Mexico with my mother. We wanted to strangle each other and at one point I had to take a *pee in the middle of the desert, off the side of the road, in front of everyone driving on the God forsaken New Mexico highway known as I-25. It was a memorable trip full of romantic meth villages and endless horizons.

I was voted Blogger of the Year in Austin and Hipstercrite won the category of "Best Blog to Find Comments or Discussions" over at the Austin Blogger Awards. Though she may try, Hipstercrite will never be as good as me. EVEN THOUGH SHE TRIES, SHE WILL NEVER CONTROL ME.

Romantic life was lackluster, so I gave up on it and decided to sit at home A LOT and watch Purple Rain A LOT.

I got more acquainted with Austin, made some wonderful friends, saw some kick ass music, movies, and art, and overall just had a pretty good time...when I wasn't freaking out about what the hell I'm doing with my life.

One of the most important aspects of my 2010 was the amazing blogs, bloggers, writers, SMORES (Social Media Whores), characters, and good ol' human beings I met through having no life and being on the internet way too much. Some of these characters I'm convinced our my artistic soul mates, all of us trudging on the same plain through this journey. Below are some blog posts that really stood out to me this year. Blog posts that got me laughing, crying, drooling, or dreaming. Please check out all these talented writers below and make it your New Year's Resolution to follow their blogs.

What were your favorite blog posts of 2010?

*pee is a polite term for something else.

Best Blog Posts of 2010

Blog: Humans Are Funny featured on The Next Family
Posts: A Day For All Fathers. Even Dead Ones and Dead Dads Part 2: Acceptance, Leftovers, and Magic Wands
Author: Laurenne Sala
Why It's So Good: No blog post struck me more this year than Laurenne's blog posts about her gay father and his suicide when she was 13 years old. Her story and writing is the kind that makes you want to get up and cheer for the future of writers. Laurenne has the wonderful capability of balancing funny and somber line after line. If reading her posts above don't make your day, well then, your day doesn't deserve to be made then, does it?!

Example: "I love that you were gay. I love the fact that you had the courage to say it and live it. I’m so proud that you didn’t stifle yourself, even if it meant divorce.

Unlike many at the time, I thought nothing less of you. You were my dad. That’s it. My big and tall gay dad. I know you knew I supported you. I know you knew I stood proudly in the audience watching you sing in the Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus. I really was proud. I wish I had made that more clear.

But I was thirteen. I didn’t really know how to talk about my feelings so much. Now I’m much better. I bet now we would have long conversations about how it felt to finally be your real self or your first experiences frolicking with men. I would love to know.

But thirteen was bad timing for me. I was insecure, ugly, and trying my hardest with padded bras to be popular. ‘Faggot’ was the most common insult in junior high. So I told you to tone it down when you came to the suburbs to watch me lead cheers.

This has been one of my only regrets. You built up so much courage to let your real self out after so many years, and here I was asking you to put it back in once in a while for the sake of my popularity.

I sometimes close my eyes and wish that had never happened. But time never lets me change it. If it did, I’d have completely erased the whole Hammer pants trend (You, by the way, were the first to tell me that those were out of style and that I should stop doing my bangs. You were right! Sorry I didn’t listen. You were gay; I should have known.)"

Blog: Blackberries to Apples featured on The Sassy Curmudgeon
Post: Me : STD Testing :: Weezy : Music
Author: Meghan
Why It's So Good: I've been a follower of both Blackberries to Apples and The Sassy Curmudgeon for awhile now. Both ladies, Una and Meghan, have a knack for capturing Gen-Y life in NYC with humor and poignancy. That is why I was stoked to see that Meghan guest posted on Una's blog back in October. By far one of my favorite posts by Meghan this year, her ability to create an engaging post that tackles both the fear of STD testing and her love of Weezy is awe-inspiring.

Example: "I’ve been tested for STDs three times in my life. Two of those times were in 2008, as precautionary measures at the beginning of new relationships. The third time was this week, after my gaynocologist* did a routine exam and found a “sore inside the vagina.” Now, on a list of things I do not want in my vagina, a “sore” is really near the top – so when my doc delivered the news from behind the purple sheet separating me from the stirrups, I freaked out."

*I’m 93% sure my OB/GYN is gay, based entirely on eyewear, shoe and career choices.

After I was moderately clothed again, he told me the cause could be a number of STDs and that he wanted to test me for everything to make sure. It might also be the result of “trauma.”

He crossed his legs and raised his eyebrow at me. “Could you have injured yourself in some way?” I paused for a long time, cocking my head to the side and running down a list of all the things I had recently inserted into my vagina. There was a somewhat relevant incident recently – some pain when there definitely shouldn’t have been any – but I decided to withhold that information for two reasons: 1. It was embarrassing and 2. I doubted seriously that said incident could have caused any permanent damage."

Blog: The Hitch List
Post: Prayers During Purgatory
Author: Polly
Why It's So Good: The Hitch List is some of the damn finest writing you'll see out there. Too bad she doesn't write nearly enough! Polly's way with words is captivating and no other post shows this better than the homage to her dying Grandmother, Rosie. Beautiful imagery flows from Polly's sentences like water from a faucet and deep down, I think I secretly love her or hate her, I'm not sure.

Example: "I prayed for the first time in months today. I pushed back hair and pressed my forehead to steepled fingers, stretching myself diagonally across the landscape of a bed, elbows out like wings. I prayed to my grandmother, whose stroke was no surprise, whose stroke separated everything we'll remember of her from a memorable frame. Her body is still here, someplace in New Jersey, sunk into starched hospital sheets and stiff pastel blankets, but Rosie herself is elsewhere. They use the word "unresponsive." There's minute peace in knowing it was coming."

Blog: When Will It Start
Post: The Day I Told My Daughter
Author: Sophie Neutron
Why It's So Good: "I'm a transsexual woman in the, fairly, early stages of transition. I'm finally free and I'm ready to live." is Sophie's short and sweet blog bio. One of my favorite posts of this year was Sophie's recollection of telling her daughter about her transition. What immediately struck me with Sophie's writing is her honesty and optimism. I always find myself engaged in her stories. If only she wrote more! Help me convince her, will you?!

Example: "My daughter has surprised me countless times before with her beautiful heart. But this time, I absolutely melted. She wasn't concerned with the possibility of losing me as her dad or anything like that. My daughter was excited that I was going to be born again. That she was going to be able to take care of me. My daughter was offering to be my big sister as I grew up as a little girl. The look that filled her face after I explained I couldn't be little again and I couldn't grow up into a little girl broke my heart. She was so upset that I couldn't be a little girl. But I explained that I can live as a grown up woman and I could be happy that way. She went silent again, gave me a hug and said - At least you don't really look like a boy! Can we watch Hannah Montana?"

Blog: Lesbifriends
Post: Vaginas: Nature's Fortune Cookie
Author: Ashley
Why It's So Good: Lesbifriends has been one of my favorite blogs since I first discovered it earlier this year. Ashley is one damn good writer and another one who should write more! As I've said about her before, her ability to create relatable stories always floors me. I always feel like she's reading my mind. Ever if our lives are taking us on different journeys, her writing always reminds me that we're all in this boat together.

Example: "it was my first sleepover birthday party hosted by none other than the popular girls of elementary school. i couldn't contain my joy. new house, new smell, new experiences; it was going to be a great night, all i had to do was not be weird.clearly, i was destined for failure.

as the girls huddled around a table full of glitter, markers, pens and paper, my nose pulled me elsewhere. in my own little world on the floor of the laundry room, i crawled around sniffing everything. instead of leading to a life of coke binges and huffing paint, i hoped that my keen sniffer would simply lead me to the smell source. after all, i was investigating a suspicious scent (which, to be honest wasn't as suspicious as it was just shitty). the other girls undoubtedly got a whiff but they lacked my nancy-drew-like curiosity for the unexplained and chose to color bears and flowers instead.

unbeknownst to me, slinking around an unfamiliar house and rummaging through boxes of christmas decorations is frowned upon- it might even cause one to never be invited back to said house. moments before i lifted a towel off what i would later find out was a dog cage (with one very ill, shit-covered dog inside) a dainty hand of shocking strength pulled me up off the floor and ushered me back to the party.

"wouldn't you rather be drawing poinsettias like the rest of the girls?" the birthday girl's mother asked in a tone that said, "seriously you little snoop- sit, color and stay outta my shit."