Those that Defy Categorization
For Musicians and Music-Lovers
Challenge the Status Quo
Swing Dancing
Amusement
Friends and Creative Types
Blogs, Blogs, and More Blogs (Not That They Aren't Friends Too)

Those that Defy Categorization

All Recipes
Lots of recipes (yum!) with ratings and reviews that are worth reading for modifications.

The Encyclopedia of Arda
A resourceful site for all things Middle Earth.

Mozilla
Try Mozilla Firefox, the open-source alternative to Internet Explorer and the best web browser ever (you'll never look back, I promise you), and Thunderbird, which is everything you ever wished Outlook could be.

Rip-off Report
"Unlike the Better Business Bureau, badbusinessbureau.com/Rip-off Report does not hide reports of 'satisfied' complaints. ALL complaints remain public in order to create a working history on the company or individual in question; unedited."

Urban Legends Reference Pages
Wondering if that child is really missing? Did he really propel himself off a cliff with a jet pack? Here's a place to look.

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For Musicians and Music-Lovers

Ariel Publicity
Useful info for indie musicians. Marketing, PR, etc.

CDs from the Artist
Find indie musicians and buy their CDs.

CHaT Venues
An excellent resource for venue listings.

Coffeehousetour.com
More venue listings!

The Future of Music Coalition
Educate yourself on music/technology public policy issues (say that three times fast!).

GoGirls Music
Promoting indie women in music. "Cuz chicks rock."

Grassroots Music
Indies and more mainstream acts.

The Guitar Chord Name Finder
What's the real name of that chord?

The Indie Bible
One of the most recognized resources for independent musicians on the net.

Indiegrrl
An incredibly useful network for female independent musicians and affiliates (get on the email list!). A great site for fans of such artists as well.

Just Plain Folks
A worldwide community of 25,000 musicians and music industry types.

Michigan Acoustic Music
For acoustic musicians (and this is a pretty loose categorization) in the mitten.

Music Dish
An online music journal.

Music Paper
An extensive collection of music paper in PostScript and PDF files from the University of Virginia.

MySpace
Hear music, connect with fans/musicians, blog, etc.

PasteMusic
My favorite place to discover new artists (with full-length song samples!). Go Beyond Pop Culture.

RUF Hymnbook
Chords, sheet music, overheads, lyrics, and sound files for original and reset hymns.

Songwriters Toolbox
A rhyme dictionary, chords, scales, thesaurus, and tuner.

Star Polish
Advice for indie musicians and more.

Third Rail Productions
Studio and live recording, mastering, etc. Rich Blatt co-produced and engineered First Verse.

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Challenge the Status Quo

Factcheck.org
A non-profit, non-partisan group that checks the accuracy of political figures' assertions. Incredibly useful and much needed.

Relevant Magazine
God. Life. Progressive Culture. (Highly recommended. And not just because I'm one of the editors.)

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Swing Dancing

BlessedFeet.com: Video Clips
Videos of various dances from the social floor.

Bob Bills Studio
I'm teaching blues dancing, and you can take classes in other forms of swing dancing as well. Located in Chicago's West Loop.

Dtownstomp
Where dancers from throughout Michigan waste time.

Erianeiran.com: Lindy Hop and Balboa Video Links
A great listing of sites with video clips (his own swing page has videos too).

Lindy Exchange
The place to find information on upcoming lindy exchanges (large gatherings of swing dancers from all over the country and sometimes world).

Studio Viva
Of course it's a fantastic place to learn bellydance, swing, blues, and salsa in Palatine, Ill. And I don't just say that because I teach there.

Swing Ann Arbor
Lots of links, event listings, etc. for lindy hop addicts in Michigan.

Windyhop
Chicago's swing dance hangout.

Yehoodi
I have no idea what "yehoodi" means, but it's a good place to be.

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Amusement

Babylon 5 Quotes
A huge repository of funny and/or significant quotes from a wonderful science fiction series.

BBSpot
My brother's favorite source for satire.

The Dancing Paul Page
Just click on it.

Eric Conveys an Emotion
You just need to click on the link. Pointless but fun.

Latin Sayings
Sentio aliquos togatos contra me conspirare. (I think some people in togas are plotting against me.)

The Onion
You know you've heard of them before. Satire with a long and glorious tradition.

The Postmodern Generator: Communications from Elsewhere
"The essay you have just seen is completely meaningless and was randomly generated by the Postmodernism Generator."

Rotten Tomatoes
More movie reviews than you ever wanted to read in your life.

Spacefem
Adopt a useless blob, watch stick death scenes, and take a quiz.

UglyDress.com
"Archive of the world's ugliest bridesmaids' dresses." Having attended far too many weddings lately....

Wong Fu Productions
Fun music videos created by a crew of kids from UCSD in California. "Maroon" is especially funny and "Senorita," while amateurish, has some sweet dancing.

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Friends and Creative Types

Josh Allan
"All the acoustic pop you can drink." Give him a listen--he's amazing.

Lee Bey
Architecture critic, writer, and photographer.

Crystal and the Wolves
Genre-hopping alt rock.

Monica del Castillo
An incredible voice and solid songwriting. And an amazing story.

Tom Elenbaas
A collection of essays, creative writing, and more from my former pastor.

Ennei
Beautiful photography--everything from fashion to editorial to landscapes--from Toledo. Great to work with (if you need photos, I highly recommend him!).

Brent Floren
Well-crafted songs and a bluesy feel.

Kristy Hanson
Another University of Michigan alum making her way as a touring singer-songwriter.

Kara Kulpa
Self-described "B-rate musician," in reality adorable and incredibly talented.

Karen Kosowski
Steadily becoming one of the most recognized Canadian singer-songwriters.

Benjamin Low
My brother's website. 'Nuff said.

Christian Matjias
Composer and Professor of Dance and Music at the University of Michigan. Gorgeous material.

Shelley Miller
A fabulous alt-rock singer-songwriter from Chicago.

Over the Rhine
Only the best band ever. Intelligent acoustic pop with an increasing amount of jazz in their live shows.

Bryan Pardo
One part Balkan/jazz/klezmer saxophone and clarinet, one part Northwestern University computer science professor.

Amanda Sena
Pop rock from a great Chicago singer-songwriter.

Tu-Shea Originals
Ceramics, paintings, and other art by Kathleen Shea.

Vienna Teng
Impressive piano chops and wonderful lyrics make Vienna one of my favorite singer-songwriters.

Dan Vaillancourt
Funktified folk from one of the most amazing guitarists around.

Waypastfrown
Acoustic pop/rock with strong emo influences.

Kurt Wenner
The art of street painting as you've never seen it before. And hey, the last pope liked it.

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Blogs, Blogs, and More Blogs (Not That They Aren't Friends Too)

All Kinds of Time
David: "A rock. Me. A hard place."

Chromogenic.net
Gorgeous black and white photography.

Daily Dose of Imagery
A photoblog. "I started this experimental project as a visual practice."

Deceptive Media
Photography from the UK and great design.

Fabulous Females
Lots of women (and a few men) on the single life.

Faith and Less Important Things
Ramblings on church and life from Steve Hawthorne.

The Internet Never Lies!
Lots to say, but grad school and a full-time job keep Carolyn from play.

Homeward Bound
Thoughts by actress, writer, and soon-to-be-gypsy Nora.

Jeremy's Random Stuff
Photos and stories from Jeremy, usually involving music or dance or both.

Jesus Creed
Noted theologian Scot McKnight explores the significance of Jesus and orthodox faith for the 21st century.

John's Blog
So the name isn't creative, but John is a good friend.

Last Girl on Earth
"The wacky musings of a girly New York musician who is attempting to prove you don't have to be a 19-year-old anorexic model babe to be successful."

Musings from a French Fried Texan
Mentanna on life, God, and being an American in France.

Orbit1.com
Beautiful photos from Wisconsin.

Parableman
Essays from a professor of philosophy. Wonderful, thoughtful material--but it's long, so be prepared to be around for a while.

Picture... Her
Ryan: Talk little, photograph a lot.

Shades of Gray
From the mind of Joe.

Slacktivist
Caustic political and religious commentary. Left Behind Fridays are the best.

Sometimes I Just Wanna...
The answer to that eternal question: "What do you do with a BA in theatre?" courtesy of Jane.

This is my Missive.
"And quite derisive, curmudgeonly cries but nary dismissive--may sylphs' sylvan sense be diffusely permissive, and concuss my wry tongue and compel it submissive."

Trying to Listen
Parke Brown: "Pursuing ageless stories with patience."

A View of Ivy
Rachel's blog. Engineer and future rep for a toy company.

Watching for Dogs
God, jazz, food, music, art. Honesty, integrity, loyalty, humility. Rich.

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