Beautiful Railway Bridge’s Top 12 Blogs of 2012

It’s that time of year again when everyone makes lists. Unfair to stop at 10, and even 12 leaves out blogs I visit regularly. But I had to stop somewhere, and 12 fits in with 2012, opening up the possibility of 13 in 2013, and so on. Until I run out of room on the flag. I left out some excellent blogs that only publish sporadically, some that are no longer active, and some for which there is no room this year. As you might expect, my list has a lot of photography and art blogs. In alphabetical order.

biblioklept: As the title suggests, a compendious collection of art, writing, music and film clips, all of it surprising and unexpected. A reflection of the written word in different genres.

Chicquero: An art, design, fashion, and photography blog, with stunning photos.

ciapannaphoto: An Italian photography blog, mostly street photography, which catches scenes and moments to perfection.

Expressions of my life – An evolution of art: An American painter’s personal blog, detailing the work in progress, the painter’s thoughts and poetry, even the music he plays while painting.

Fear No Weebles: Madame Weebles is funny, fearless, and thoroughly opinionated. Splendid rants.

GingerFightBack: Inspired and hilarious comic characters from a founder member of the Ginger Resistance. He’ll photoshop a ginger wig on you at the drop of a hat.

Leanne Cole Photography: Tutorials in digital manipulation. If that sounds dry, it’s not, because she illustrates them with her own superb photos of the Melbourne area and gives you the background story to each shot. I visit to gawp, since I don’t have any of this new-fangled software, but you’ll learn something if you do.

northierthanthou: Thoughtful essays from a native of Alaska, complete with photos of a land most of us can only imagine.

Ooggetuige: Brilliant portrait photography in this Dutch blog. He brings out the character of his subjects to such an extent that they look right back and say, “Who are you looking at?”

The Accidental Cootchie Mama: Warm, sly, engaging stories from the American South, some made up, some real. Always worth reading.

The Bookhound: Prolific, thoughtful book reviews from a dog-loving librarian.

WISIWIS (What I See Is What I Shoot): Photography blog from Moscow. Daily life in the street as lived by ordinary Russians.

Thanks for all the good stuff!

Putrid Poetry Award

As threatened promised, here is the Beautiful Railway Bridge Award for Putrid Poetry. This version is suitable for proud recipients to display in their posts. The detail would be lost on a sidebar, so I’m designing a simpler version for there.

ayaladn and John McCallum (see Putrid Poetry: A Wee Ballad), you can now right-click the image and resize it for your blogs, and many thanks for kicking off this award. Please note that you do not have to wait for me to nominate your blog for this prestigious honour. If you already know you are a putrid poet, download the award, and/or pass it on to your deserving colleagues. Indeed, if you don’t wish to receive the award, I am open to bribery. An envelope stuffed with cash will do nicely. Unfortunately, Beautiful Railway Bridge is unable to accept credit cards at this time.

And here is the sidebar version, weighing in at 201 x 76 pixels, but also resizable.

Dotty Headbanger Award

I’m surprised and delighted to receive the Dotty Headbanger Award For Being Mental & Loving It. Recipients are awarded this honour for partaking of Dotty’s blog, Notes From A She-Hermit, which reaches parts other blogs don’t even know exist. Think of it as an unbirthday present, where you give presents on your birthday. That way you also get them all year round.

I am particularly pleased because in over 3 years of blogging at Beautiful Railway Bridge nobody has ever given me an award. Did I mind? No, ever so ‘umble, me. But to be suddenly recognised has put the spring back into Beautiful Railway Bridge’s girders, and I think we’re good for at least another hundred years before blowing down in a gale and causing great loss of life.

Remember, you too may be so honoured, simply by visiting Dotty’s blog and embracing your inner mentalness. You know it makes sense.