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My Favorite Bloggers
| | by James Cowlin
Subscribing to blogs in an RSS reader is like constructing your own personal magazine. Every day your reader is filled with articles about topics you choose written by people you enjoy reading. And like a magazine, you can skip over articles that don't interest you at the moment, dive into the ones that peak your interest and mark a few for later reading.
My reader currently has feeds from 65 blogs. Topics covered range from photography to travel to blogging with a few oddballs thrown in for entertainment. I'll admit that I only read about 20% of the articles on any given day. However, there are ten writers that I always take the time to read whenever they post.
Here, in no particular order, are my ten favorite blog writers.
Peter and Donna Thomas: Adventures of the Wandering Book Artists in Their Gypsy Wagon Bookmobile
 Just as the title of their blog states, Peter and Donna travel around the U. S. in a hand-built gypsy wagon. They conduct workshops and display their artist-made books. The beautiful gypsy wagon attracts a lot of attention and they are proud to show it off. I think Donna does most of the writing on the blog telling stories about the people and places they visit on their cross-country travels. Right now, the wagon is parked in Florida while Peter and Donna are at home in Santa Cruz. They will be starting a trip back to California in February, so subscribe to the blog now to follow their next adventure.
Wayne Ranney: Earthly Musings and All in a Day's Karma
Wayne is a geologist living in Flagstaff. He is an early supporter of the US Route 89 project and wrote the introductory essays for the Road Trip Guides. On his Earthly Musings blog he writes regularly about geology and illustrates his articles with photographs. He is very good at making what can be a daunting subject for non-scientists into very enjoyable reading. On All in a Day's Karma he writes about more offbeat subjects that he encounters in his travels.
Andrew S. Gibson: Writer & Fine Art Photographer
There are a couple of photographers who write about the craft that I read regularly and Andrew Gibson is one. He is both a prolific author and a fine photographer. His blog posts are always high quality. Many of the subjects he covers are from his books. For example, he recently did a series of interviews with photographers who use long exposures creatively, a subject he wrote about in his new book, Slow, from Craft and Vision.
Ian Plant: Dreamscapes
Another photographer who writes about the art and craft of taking pictures is Ian Plant. He delves into aesthetics in his articles on composition and the technical in articles on post-processing. Both Plant and Gibson have free e-books available on their websites so you can get a taste of each one's writing and photography.
Barbara Kemp Cowlin: B. Kemp Cowlin Blog
 Barbara's blog was originally titled At last...making art full-time. She started it when she quit teaching art and started making art full-time. She documents the trials and tribulations of making art and making a living as an artist. I'm a little biased here since, as you probably know, Barbara is my wife and partner in the US Route 89 project. I enjoy reading her blog because her insights about being an artist are revealing and inspiring. Be sure to visit the galleries of paintings on her website.
Jeremiah Rosethorn: The Haunted Past
When my oldest son revealed that he had started a Tumblr blog to post his photographs, I was totally surprised. I know that Jeremiah is a talented musician but I had no idea that he was also a creative photographer. He posts his images without comment except to identify the location. They are very evocative and as the title of the blog suggests, haunting.
Terry Border: Bent Objects
This blog is just for fun. Terry takes objects and brings them to life with wire arms and legs. He has sense of humor that always tickles my funny bone. Bent Objects is hard to describe but once you see one, you'll want to see them all.
Salena Lettera: The Daily Rant
Salena and her husband, Ed, are long-haul truckers. They spend about six months a year on the road away from their home in Tucson. The subjects of her daily posts are quite varied. One day she will post a photograph with a brief caption. The next day's post will be a description of a restaurant in which she waxes poetic about food. She writes eloquently about the lifestyle of truckers highlighting Eddie's skills (he just completed one million accident free miles). Salena has a wry sense of humor that elevates her rants above the ordinary.
Ann Torrence: Pixel Remix
Ann spent three years traveling on US Route 89 photographing and researching for her book, U.S. Highway 89: the Scenic Route to Seven Western National Parks, which is when I began reading her blog. A couple of years ago, Ann moved to Torrey, Utah, from Salt Lake City and started a new adventure. She is in the process of planting cider apple trees and most of her articles revolve around life on the Stray Arrow Ranch. Ann writes as well as she photographs and it has been enjoyable to follow along with her evolution from city girl to farmer.
Christina Nellemann: Tiny Yellow Teardrop
This is the newest additon to my blog reader. Christina contacted me recently and asked to feature our teardrop, The Pod, on her blog. I have gone back through her archive of articles and look forward to each new one. The subject of teardrop trailers is near and dear to my heart and I'm glad to have Christina's insights and advice on teardrop living.
Each of these blogs somehow relates to travel or photography or both. What I like most about them is the unique personality that each writer brings to the subject making the blog informative and fun to read.
If you are not already using a blog reader (also called an aggregator) here are a couple of articles that explain how to get started:
What is RSS? on ProBlogger
How To: Getting Started with RSS by Paul Stamatiou
It may sound a little complicated at first but once you have the reader set up you will find yourself building your own personal magazine. Be sure to add the US Route 89 blog to your reader. Click on the orange RSS symbol to the right of the main menu to get started.
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New Articles on the US Route 89 Blog
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2013 Calendar-Landscape Photography of the American West
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Special Bonus Offer: The next five people to join the US Route 89 Appreciation Society will receive the 2013 Calendar as an added benefit of membership. Offer ends March 1, 2013. Use the link below to activate your membership.
There is still time to order my landscape photography calendar. It is a 13-month calendar including January 2014, so you can use it for the next twelve months.
 The format is 11x17 with each month displaying a landscape photograph above the calendar. Major US holidays are indicated and there is space for you to note your important dates throughout the year.
The price is $12 plus shipping. To order, click here to go to the website of the printer, Magcloud, where you can use a credit/debit card to complete your purchase.
View a slide show of the calendar photographs on the blog.
Proceeds from the sale of the calendar will help us continue to publish this newsletter and support the US Route 89 website and blog which benefit the many small businesses located along the highway. Take a look a your holiday gift list and consider ordering several calendars. For orders of 20 or more, a discount of 25% applies.
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