A blog on blogs

When my young colleagues, Lina and Joanna, started talking about blogging four years ago, I listened with one ear.  I grew up in a world where people wrote newspaper columns and letters to the editor when they had something to say publicly. Or they became Andy Rooney.  The rest of us either agreed or disagreed with their opinions, ideas and observations.

These things called blogs will never succeed, I brilliantly surmised.  Today, Joanna’s blog, A Cup of Jo, is one of the most popular in the world (seriously, in the world) and Lina works with me on the creation of faboverfifty.com and critiques my blog. I’ve also learned to enjoy and appreciate blogs (although it is entirely possible to spend too much time reading them.)

While not all blogs are created equal, overall they encourage creativity, dialogue, sharing, venting, learning, laughing and even crying. I try to read at least one new blog every day. When Maureen commented on one of my blog posts, I noticed the words islandroar in her return email so I started to investigate.

Turns out, Maureen is an RN (not practicing at the moment) who does “an assortment of odd jobs to support my writing habit until the time I achieve my inevitable fame and fortune.”  Her blog www.islandroar.com is a joy to read.  Maureen writes with charm and warmth and you feel as if you’re in the room with her when you’re reading.  Although she still has a few years till she’s Fab Over Fifty, she’s pretty fab nonetheless.

You’ve got to read the latest blog on her dog.

Another blog you should take a look at is Fabulous Over Forty, created by Kari Solyntjes to offer women “fabulous insights into maintaining their beauty without feeling like surgery or injections are the only options.” Although Kari is the full-time business manager for Gunkelman Flesher, a classy interior design firm in New York and Minneapolis, she has been “obsessed” with beauty products since she was a little girl and experimented with everything on her grandmother’s vanity.

Kari covers the latest beauty, hair care and skincare tips, products and issues with humor and honesty. Her views and suggestions are based on research and interviews with experts. She told me the section on skin is the most popular because we really do want to know how to treat it properly as we age.

We’re glad Kari’s bosses let her feed her obsession.