Niche Blogs for Everyone!

If you find yourself yearning for a fresh dose of websites featuring something different and bizarre that you'd never think to look for yourself, you've come to the right place. That is, of course, after you've read everything new at mental_floss! Here's another round of blogs that focus on one very specific subject and still manage to update on a regular basis.

ANIMALS

Owls are nocturnal predators, so if you catch a chance to photograph one in the daylight, they are probably sleepy. You can imagine they aren't too happy about being disturbed for a picture. Hungover Owls pegs that look and features owl pictures that remind you of that great party you attended but took days to recover from.

NOSTALGIA

Relive old memories or learn about what life was life before you were born with nostalgic blogs like Vanished Americana. You can participate yourself by contributing pictures to When I Had Braces and show off your family at My Parents Were Awesome. Hippy Kitchens (pictured) brings back memories of preparing food with your counterculture friends in the 1960s and '70s.

COMICS

There are a multitude of blogs dedicated to comics and comic books, so some specialize in just one comic, or just one facet of the comic universe. Comic Book Cartography concerns itself with the maps, charts, and graphs found in the comic book world. Ever-lovin' Blue-eyed Whirled of Kelly is a blog devoted to the genius of Walt Kelly, creator of Pogo. Although Pogo is history, the possum and his friends worked on so many levels that there is no dearth of material to discuss.

Some also find entertainment in putting words into pictures, especially when no picture is intended. CAPTCHArt tried to make sense, in a way, out of the tests we often go through to prove we aren't 'bots, by illustrating their nonsense (some images NSFW). And don't forget Twaggies, the project in which artists illustrate interesting Tweets from all over.

POP CULTURE

Television and movies are shared experiences we can all relate to. Take a small part of that experience, expand on it, invite other fans to contribute, and you've got a niche blog. For example, Nic Cage As Everyone is a short leap from his actual career, as Nicholas Cage has appeared as different characters in a bazillion movies. Entries are submitted by anyone with Photoshop abilities. Third and Delaware features fashion highlights from the TV series Roseanne. The show won't die, but it is forever stuck in the 1980s and '90s. The Simpsons fans know that Bart must often write something 100 times as punishment. If you have a favorite, you'll find it on An Archive of Bart Simpson's Blackboard Writings. Sleevefaced makes comedy from art, that is, the art of the album cover combined with poses from real life. Just put an album over your face and you can become that art!

Science fiction has a number of niche blogs as well. Number One contains nothing but pictures of Commander Riker, a character from the TV show Star Trek: The Next Generation. Recently, that includes pictures created by artists as well as screenshots. Pictured is a contribution by Simon Fey of the webcomic Muddled. There's also Hot Chicks with Storm Troopers, if you are into that sort of thing.

FOOD

It stands to reason that there are plenty more blogs on specific foods than those we covered in a previous post devoted to the subject. I recommend We Heart Mac and Cheese, (pictured) for cultural references, reviews, and recipes pertaining to one particular dish. Bad Menu is a picture blog of signs, ads, and recipes that may make you lose your appetite. The Taxi Gourmet is a project in which Layne Mosler gets into a taxi once a week and asks the driver to take her to his favorite eatery. She then writes up the experience so you'll know what to expect. Seems like a good idea to me. I always ask the hotel cleaning staff where to get decent food without spending tourist dollars.

STRUCTURES

Architecture is a big subject, but Stair Porn gets right to what you really want to see -stairs! New England Lighthouse Treasures is not limited to New England, but you have to admit that news about lighthouses is a pretty specific subject. Playgroundology (pictured) is quite a specific subject, but it's one we all know a little something about. Playgrounds have come a long way since I was a kid.

EVERYDAY GRAFFITI

Graffiti stays in one place by definition, but several bloggers believe it should be shared globally. There are blogs dedicated to street art, and other blogs dedicated to text scribbled on the spur of the moment, like Bathroom Bar Art, (pictured) featuring graffiti from pubs, taverns, and dives. Notes from the Stall documents bathroom graffiti from all over and solicits your submissions as well. Crescat Graffiti, Vita Excolatur is a project documenting graffiti at the Regenstein Library, which is the main library at the University of Chicago. This particular forum challenges graffiti writers to leave their cleverest musings. The blog attached to the project includes graffiti from other colleges and universities. Please be aware that the graffiti at these sites is often NSFW.

PEOPLE

Matthew Inman created the picture blog Marvelous Man Boobs only to even up the sex discrimination he was accused of after starting the blog Women with Mustaches. Both are exactly what the title says. Clients From Hell is where designers share their stories of difficult clients. Not many pictures here, as discretion remains the better part of staying employed. Not all blogs about people are so anonymous. Old Grandma Hardcore is a blog about the author's grandmother (pictured), who spends her time playing video games and defeating anyone who challenges her.

DISHES

And finally, Weekly Mug Shot brings you a picture of a different mug every week. A coffee mug, that is.