Who do you aggregate? Beginnings of a blogroll...

This is not to be confused with 'who's yo' mama?'  although there may be similarities.  As we develop a blogroll for the Virtual Tea House, wanted to start with who I currently aggregate and move outward in concentric circles.

 
oops that's an eggroll not a blogroll. I'll get this right yet.

I realized this week that many faithful users of the internet don't use an aggregator to keep them in touch with the sites that they are connecting to.  I'm no pro at this, but right now I'm using Netvibes as a  web-based aggregator, and FeedDemon as a rich-client aggregator.  Google Reader, My Yahoo, and Pageflakes are other popular examples of the former, and RSS Bandit is another popular example of the latter.

Netvibes is the opening page when I go to the internet.  On it there's lots of general info that is set to feed info for my specific locale, including the weather in Bend, Oregon, a to-do list, wikipedia, an image search,  my Facebook feed, daily moon phases, etc.  And then there are the tab feeds.  That's where, through the RSS feeds or ATOM syndication of these sites, I can tell when there is a new post or new information on each site that I have chosen to aggregate.

On the Netvibes feed, a number shows up if there's a new post, and I can click on the site and it will open.  I can then click on the number after I've read the feed to show that I've read it so I know when there's a new feed.  Sometimes if I'm having a lazy week, there will be 3 or more posts on the feed that I haven't read or attended to.   Bad me.  Maybe happy me. Depends on the week.  

Here are the sites/writers being followed (it sounds a little like stalking doesn't it!) on my aggregator-du-jour (Netvibes):

Life, as it is:

• my everyday memoirs (Karen Crone is a writer, mother and oncology nurse.  She thinks deep thoughts and writes soulful poetry and reflections.)
• How to Save the World  (Dave Pollard's salon on environmental philosophy, creative works, business papers and essays. In search of a better way to live and make a living, and a better understanding of how the world really works. Dave is a big-picture thinker and challenges the status-quo every chance he gets.)
• 37 days: what would you be doing today if you knew that you had only 37 days to live?  (Patti Digh is a writer, artist, teacher and facilitator of process.  Her new book Life is a Verb is available in early September.  More to come on the Virtual Tea House about this book!)
• Crossroads Dispatches (Evelyn Rodriguez, a neo-renaissance, eco-epicurean savors, curates and shares slices from the surf's edge on the inspiration, imagination, the art of living, the living of art - and anything that screams Life.)
• Bullseye Baby (Jena Strong is a powerful voice for keeping life vibrant! She was one of the finalists on the Where's Home writing exercise.)

Newspapers: The New York Times and my local paper, Bend Bulletin.  I also have the NYT headlines delivered to my email address.

General:

• Steve Pavlina: Personal Development for Smart People (this is a forum that I sometimes read, seldom contribute to. It can be interesting, especially about esoteric ideas and to see what people are thinking about)
• Boing Boing a directory of wonderful things (it really is)
• Blog Carnival home page
• Bend Blogs (local bloggers)
• Technology Review (just an overview of all the stuff that's out there--I don't spend much time here, but like to take a few minutes every now and then to review)

Poetry:

• Written on the Wind (um hm, and waiting on the moon too)
• Sister Julia (Julia is a frequent visitor to the Virtual Tea House, as well)

Social/spiritual intersections and creativity:

• The Campaign Blog (the campaign for love and forgiveness by the Fetzer Institute)
• Soul Shelter: Live, Work, Thrive  (even though I didn't win in their recent contest, I still love this site....here's my non-placing entry into the excellent contest on changing how we live in the world: Nothing left to lose)
• Wake up and dream (Greg Wendt is out there playing on the fringes...and he brings back news!)
• Otherwise (Sam Mills, another fringe-dancer, well worth the time)

Mythology and imagery:

• Mythology Between Old and New Moons: The Sundoor to the yonder world (just plain interesting stuff)
• Beyond Zen (like the images here)

Religious/Political/Social:

• Anamchara: The Website of Unknowing (Carl McColman is a writer, neo-Pagan returning to Christian roots, mystic and connoisseur of the mystery of life.  He's currently working on a book on Christian mysticism.  He's also a great integrator of disparate strands of thought.)
• Jesus Manifesto (What's happening in the missional evangelical and post-modern Christianity realms. Interesting stuff. Site loads slowly, but it's often worth the wait.  They didn't choose my recent submission to a Pentecost Now contest, but I love them anyway--just like Jesus would do... Here's my submission, and I'm sticking to it: Stepping into a violent wind)
• Square No More (Phil Wyman is pastor at a radical evangelical church in Salem, MA. His inclusivity and openness to dialogue with 'the other' have earned him many nicknames, among them 'Friend to Witches'! He's funny and humble. Here's the byline to his blog: Since discovering that church was pretty much out of touch with people today, I've been having a few sharp corners knocked off. These are lessons which I am learning in the process. Anybody is welcome to challenge me, refute me, denounce me, exorcise me, or tell me nice things about my curly hair.)
• Conversation at the Edge (Helen Mildenhall is an excellent integrator of agnostic, atheistic and religious thought)
• Re-dreaming the dream (Glenn Hager is recovering from being a pastor.  His offerings are heart-felt and honest and I like him!)

Living more simply and sanely:

• Wise Bread: Living large on a small budget (tips and inspiration for reducing the clutter of our lives)
• Zen Habits: (Great stuff here on living sanely, staying connected and getting stuff done.  I also have this post sent to my email.)
• Get Rich Slowly: Personal finance that makes sense

Personal sites I like, and don't aggregate, but read regularly:

• Zodiac Times (Ella Moss)
• Mountain Moma (Gayle Roberts)

If you have an aggregator, and you're so inclined, you can add the Virtual Tea House to it here.  Thanks!

If you'd like to have any of the blog posts from the Virtual Tea House come directly to your email, follow the instructions below:

For Bill Ellis's posts, click here.

For Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer's posts, click here.

For Michelle Meech's posts, click here.

For Holly Holbrooks' posts, click here.

For Krayna Castelbaum's Poem of the Month posts, click here.

For Rita Clagett's posts, click here.

For Beth Patterson's posts, click here.

If you need help figuring out how to use an aggregator, let me know--I'll connect with you and see if we can figure it out together.  Bet we can.

NOW...what are your favorite sites: ones that inspire, challenge and enliven you?  What are sites that the readers of Virtual Tea House might want to add to their list of 'friends in the ether-zones'?

Happy Sunday--

Beth, VTH Host