In preparation for a blog post I threw a question up on a number of social networks last night asking friends and followers to name a blog they would recommend someone read if they could only read one blog for all of 2009.   I have already gotten a number of responses from a number of sources and I’m getting really excited about the post.

Following that I thought to myself, what blogs could I recommend to my readers that may interest them?  What are some of the blogs that aren’t already on all of the lists out there that I read? Alas, this post was born.  I read a number of blogs on a number of subjects; from SEO to Social Media and Parenting to Design.  From my list of over 190 blog subscriptions I have compiled a list of my top 5 that I find the most influential or useful.  There are a TON of great reads in my reader, but these ones stand out time and time again.

The Fire Horse Trail: David Harry’s SEO Blog -  David Harry does an outstanding job at covering news and info on search and internet marketing, but what I like about his blog is that unlike a number of  SEM blogs out there he doesn’t just regurgitate a bunch of information.  Most of the time he is exploring facets of search that most search bloggers aren’t paying attention to or talking about; from personalized search to search patents, David has offered a wealth of information and ideas that don’t fall within the norm of search marketing blog topics.

Mashable – OK this is probably one of the bigger ones and I’m sure it’s probably been on some lists, but I know there are still a number of people out there who don’t read it or know about it.  Mashable is the one blog I have to keep up with every day.  If I only read one blog in my reader before selecting ‘Mark all as read’ it’s Mashable.  Why you ask?  Because there is a wealth of information and resources presented on Mashable.  I also love that they like lists, I’m a list person so if you can give me a list of  100+ More Ways To Organize Your Life you’re ok in my book.  Not to mention their news covers search, social media, gadgets, startups and more.  There’s a little bit of something for everyone on Mashable.

TwiTip – A sideblog of Problogger Darren Rowse, TwiTip shares some tips on how to get the most out of Twitter.  A newer blog which only started in October of this year it has offered some really interesting ideas on ways to better your twitter relationships and generate stronger traffic to your blog or website with twitter. Some tips have included use of Twitter landing pages and What To Do When You Lose Twitter Followers.

Jon Swanson’s Levite Chronicles – What I love about Levite Chronicles and Jon Swanson’s writing is that it makes me think.  It always throws some sort of different perspective at me that I rarely consider.  It’s one of those blogs that make you stop and reflect after you read some of the posts.  In a world that moves at the speed of light and we are surrounded by information overload, this is one blog that actually slows it all down for a moment and helps you refocus.

PluginID – Another blog to come out of 2008 and another sideblog, this of ViperChill blogger Glen Allsopp, PluginID has one purpose; to help people plugin to their identity and aid in their personal development.  Again a very inspirational blog, which has caught my attention a number of times and made me reflect on who I am and how I live my life.  If you’re still trying to find yourself or make yourself, or simply just need a reminder as to who you are at the core this is the blog for you.

I hope you each find some value in at least one of these blogs and that you are able to add it to your reader for 2009.  For now I will leave you with the same question I opened the post with, if someone could read only one blog for the duration of 2009 what blog would it be and why?  I’d love to hear your responses and the list of entries will be posted in Friday’s blog.

So this evening I was doing some research related to a question one of my readers left regarding the online availability of some of the songs from the Twilight Soundtrack, and came across something that I personally hadn’t seen publicized much previously.  Looking into it further it seems that it may have gotten a lot of smaller blog attention but none of the major Twilight blogs from what I can tell picked up on it.  Unfortunately since none of the major blogs picked it up I am having trouble validating the authenticity of it, but regardless I thought I would share.

It turns out that about a month ago Catherine Hardwicke, the director of the Twilight film, did commentary for the movie’s soundtrack on imeem soundsessions.  Catherine gives small 30 second introductions to each of the songs on the soundtrack and gives some back story on their origin as well as why and when they were used.  If you’re a die hard fan of the Twilight soundtrack or the Twilight movie you’ll enjoy this.  Even more interesting was that she mentions another song that isn’t in the film or on the soundtrack that she really wanted to use by The Cold War Kids.

Cahterine Hardwicke Twilight Soundtrack Commentary

One of the things I liked most about it was that it confirmed some of my assumptions that I made in my Twilight Soundtrack Review; including the use of Muse and Linkin Park based on their ties to the Twilight book series and Stephenie Meyers’ playlists.

For the last 6 months I have been an avid user of the website Mixwit.  The “mix tape” sharing site allows users to create online mixtapes and share them with friends.  Users can pull songs directly into Mixwit using a built in search from services like Skreemr, Seeqpod, and ccMixter or they can manually add songs from outside websites.

Unfortunately I received a message in my e-mail this evening from Mixwit announcing that the site is shutting down on December 27.  According to Mixwit’s blog the original shutdown date was December 21, but due to hosting issues they will be up for 6 extra days.

No real details were provided as to why the site was shutting down, but Mixwit creators Mike and Radley had this to say,

“We’ve put a year of work into Mixwit so this choice wasn’t taken lightly. I
won’t go into the details of our situation but state simply that we
boldly marched into in a position best described as “between a rock and a
hard place.” We’re very grateful to be have been part of the mixtape
revival of ‘08 and are satisfied to be able to to bow out while things
are still good.”

On December 27 profiles will be turned off and by December 31st the site will be completely dark.  Mixwit’s creators are looking for a way to make the mixtape artwork and playlists available for historical purposes, and will notify users via e-mail where they’ll be able to find their stuff by the end of the year. In addition they are considering donating their source code the OpenTape project.

I have personally put months of time, effort, and even emotion into some of my mixes.  Over the last six months I created nearly sixty mixes, many of which had significant meaning to me.  A close friend of mine and I exchanged mixes on an almost daily basis for months.  The mixes themselves tell a story and act almost as a yearbook for her and I.  I also built my popular Twilight Saga soundtracks on Mixwit.

I hate to see the site go since I was a big fan of the site and saw a lot of potential in it.  I wish the best of luck to Mike and Radley, and any others involved in the project in their future ventures.