Until next week

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What with one thing and another, I’m going to be offline for the next week, although I should be back in time for my birthday.

If anyone is wanting to read more of my writings and hasn’t explored the archives, take a look at the sidebar on the right under the “Find Your Favourite Topics” section. In there you’ll find everything from Fatherhood to Photoshop, Religion to Epiphanies, Audio blogs to Mental & Physical Health gripes.

However, if you’d rather read something more current, allow me to point you to a few other blogs worth visiting. I recommended Sang Lee and Mary Witzl to you the other week, so here are a few more of my favourites.

For lightish fun and entertainment, you could do far worse that Daphne Wayne-Bough (rhymes with muff) - “international style icon, epicure and older woman par excellence” - over at Chocs Away Old Gal.

Fat Mammy Cat is the place to go if you want straight-up, no bollocks opinion. Feel free to engage in polite discourse, but should you choose to state your position from a position of superiority, expect to get skewered by 5 inch heels.

Jimmy Bastard is full of tales of the harder, darker side of growing up in Glasgow. From street urchin to hired thug to a man reflecting back on a violent past, its pure dead brilliant

Charlie flips between book reviewer and writer, and he excels at both. I always hesitate to recommend him because on at least 2 occasions in the past, when I have he’s suddenly stopped blogging for several months. But maybe we’ll be lucky this time.

Fat Lazy Guy is nothing like as Fat or Lazy as he used to be (though he is still a guy). Over the past couple of years he has lost over 200lbs in weight and really started engaging with life. He’s also a budding singer-songwriter and many of his blog entries are now Vlogs. Do ask him about his peanut butter cheesecake.

I desperately want to point you to Eryl and Sam who are 2 of my favourite bloggers, but life seems to have been keeping both of them away from their blogs for long periods of time. They are still worth going and saying hello to and having a rummage around in their archives.

More recent discoveries on my part are former TV writer, Jayne, a self-confessed, bleeding heart liberal; Ron, who at 67 has just got back from marching for gay rights in Washington and is about to head off to his 50 year school reunion; and Erika whose daughter has Angelmans Syndrome – she will make you smile and laugh, and at the same time break your heart with tales of Izzy.

When I've been caught up in several days of life being weird, chaotic or panic inducing, it's always wonderful to go over to Conny Wenk’s portrait photography blog and catch up on warm, smiling faces that are just so full of life. She has a superb talent for creating an atmosphere of relaxed fun for her subjects and then capturing them beautifully

American Hell is one of the great unsung cartoon blogs on the net. Eolai’s scribblings look like quick doodles, and yet there is often profound mood and depth reflected in them. But the accompanying words are always funny, painful or both.

And to round off, Pat is where you go when you want to sit with your favourite aunt in a café, supping hot chocolate with cream, marshmallows and a flake. Sometimes she’ll regale you with stories of when she was a famous model and sometimes you’ll discuss the best place to go for a pub lunch on Exmoor. And you feel you could tell her anything because she’s been there, done that, and modelled the t-shirt.

Do be polite and well mannered while you are visiting. Make sure you wash your hands after going to the loo or playing with the pets; say please and thank you when appropriat; and make sure you have clean underwear on in case anything happens to you on the way there or back.

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