My favorite weblogs of 2004

I love lists, especially those end of the year ones. Following Rex’s lead, here are some of my favorite weblogs from 2004. (Note: This list is not objective. I’m not surveying the entire landscape of weblogs and picking the best ones, just choosing my favorites from among those I follow on a somewhat regular basis.)

12. Mr Sun! - The funniest celestial object in the blogoverse.

11. Collision Detection - Clive’s got some writing chops — he’s a professional journalist — but his enthusiasm for the subject matter is what I look forward to when clicking through his site.

10. Gothamist - As Jen’s posting frequency has decreased (that she kept that pace for so long is amazing), the site has become a little aimless, but it’s still worth a few daily visits.

9. Dooce - Heather can (and does) talk about anything and make it funny. Despite several challenging episodes in her life over the past couple of years, Dooce is still going strong and from what I can tell, keeps getting better. One small request though: TONE DOWN THE ALL CAPS SHOUTING. Please?

8. Slower - Except for the celebrity photos, which he posts specifically to irritate me, Eliot’s work somehow gets better with each visit. Well, I don’t much like all the people photos he’s been posting recently. On second thought, maybe I should reconsider…

7. Anil Dash - His professional duties for Six Apart has resulted in a substantial decrease in volume on his site, but Anil was a must-visit for me in the first half of the year.

6. My del.icio.us inbox - Josh, I know you’re hurting, but hook me up…I need my del.icio.us inbox back!

5. Gulfstream - The best weblog that you don’t read. Michael updates somewhat irregularly, but every single link he posts is gold.

4. Boing Boing - Cory’s the engine that makes BB run…when he’s posting regularly, the site shines.

3. Waxy.org - One of the best edited sites on the web. Andy highlights so much interesting stuff.

2. The Morning News - Apologies to Rosecrans and Andrew for including TMN in this list of weblogs, but the site’s too good not to mention because of semantics.

1. Photos from my Flickr friends - Flickr is the most fun on the web right now. Period. It’s the closest thing I’ve experienced online to hanging out with your friends at the coffeeshop. (Note: your Flickr friends page looks different when you’re logged in and is a lot more useful.)

And a special mention…

0. Kottke.org - Oh man, am I gonna get mail about this one…the nerve! But I really enjoyed doing my site this year and I’ve already told you this isn’t really a “best of” list. Earlier in the year, I was thinking about quitting entirely and the site’s been a little, uh, crappy the last couple of months (if you haven’t noticed, you’re not paying enough attention…wake up out there!), but other than that, the site’s been really good to me. Thanks for reading, your emails, your comments, and for indulging me. Expect good things next year.