http://babyrazzi.com

It's no secret that famous people have always drawn and held much of the public's attention, but in the last couple of years, there seems to have been a developement of a serious obsession with celebrity pregnancies and babies.

Maybe it's just me, but it seems to be a disturbing trend that has gotten completely out of control. Now even tiny tots like Shiloh (Jolie-Pitt... duh!) snag covers of tabloid magazines that claim to know how she feels about such and such. Does the fact that she's only two mean anything? What, did Shiloh pick up her cell phone and to ring People magazine and dicuss her feelings on various topics? How do they manage to write a two page article about a two year old's concerns and feelings? And why do they have desires to do so anyway?

This may not be entirely correct, but I believe that in the past nobody cared too much about celebrity kids. After all, it was their parents with the fame, and they were only occasionally exposed when out with mum or dad and caught by the pappazzri. Now it seems celebrity kids are born famous, and might as well come out of the womb with a bunch of dollar signs stamped all over their foreheads, after all, their first baby pictures will be worth a fortune, and that's just the beginning.

In fact, celebrity babies are also bonafide trend setters for their fellow tots around the world (read: really for the mothers who are silly enough to buy into all these baby trends for their little ones). If you don't mind me saying, I don't think your 1 year old is concerned with whether she's dressed out in the latest fashions, or that her outfit was inspired by what Suri Cruise was wearing last weekened.

Obession with celebrity pregnancies and babies has become so widespread that there are now countless blogs devoted to keeping tabs on all the "celebrity breeders", as one baby blog Babyrazzi puts it.

All I'm wondering is how much thearpy are these celebrity kids going to need as they grow up? Perhaps we should start with a support group for celebrity kids endlessly teased by their peers, because their parents find sport in giving their children the strangest names? I think they're going to need it...

http://babyrazzi.com

http://livesstrong.blogspot.com

As an American, sometimes I think about the effects our war has on those in Iraq. Sure, some would argue childishly, though rightfully so, "They started it!" referring to the attack we experienced on 9/11. No matter who started it though, I think often of those innocents in Iraq whose lives are in turmoil every single day.

Then I was introduced to the blog of Sunshine (not her real name) , a 16 year old Iraqi girl with ambitious dreams, but a life that constantly denies those dreams. Sunshine chronicles life in a world that doesn't seem possible for many privileged Americans. It's like a dark fairy tale, a world that seems so unreal, I'd like to write it off as make believe. Except I'm a teenager now, and too far past innocence to give gratification to my imagination and pretend what's happening isn't happening at all.

As did Khaled Hosseini with his bittersweet novels The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, Sunshine opens our eyes to a life much deeper than boyfriends, parties, and MTV. And for those who find news and press reports of the war in Iraq difficult to digest and understand, Sunshine communicates in a way that takes any reader for a revelation-like walk in her shoes.

http://livesstrong.blogspot.com

http://okmia.blogspot.com

Sometimes you don't want to read through a whole pile of text to get to the sweet stuff in a blog. Good news for you: meet Mia Nolting - woman of few words, but with a whole feast of delicious, inspiring art.

Although, thinking about it, if pictures say a thousand words, and Mia's visual goodies say at least two thousand, the result is, you'll be left there looking longer than you would than if you'd just read some blogger's rant.

http://okmia.blogspot.com

http://sachahilton.blogspot.com

Well I always knew French boys were cute, but who knew they could be this cute, and this talented. Well one of them is anyway, and his name is Sacha Hilton. And I know the last name Hilton might cause your mind to conjure up (terrifying, if you ask me) visions of overexplosed socialite named Paris Hilton, but I'm sure Sacha and Paris have no relation. Though if they do, let me just publicly pick a side now: Team Sacha!

Paris has nothing on Sacha's vision-driven, stunning photographs, and if he's this talented at 17, imagine where he'll be years from now. For those busy socialites (like um, cough, Paris), get to the real photo gems in a jiff, by high-tailing it to entries "Wake Up!", "Sacha Hilton..." and surrounding entries for the best of this Parisian boy's snaps.

And don't forget to check out those baby blues in the right hand box below the "Who am I?" frame. I think it's safe to say: girls, eat your hearts out.

http://sachahilton.blogspot.com

http://mariemaud.canalblog.com

Another fashion related blog, you ask. Well yes, but just as the blog's title, Fashion Does It Better, this blogger (or perhaps bloggers, the number or entry authorizing participants on FDIB was never clear to me) really does it better.

For all those blog entries that read: "Check out this! I love this! This is so awesome!" etc... FDIB brings some real writing chops to the table (or the web platform, anyway). Often bordering on lyrical and poetic, the eloquent writings match the beauty of the carefully selected models and photographs.

Enough said.

http://mariemaud.canalblog.com

http://blog.girlsbydesign.com

“Girls By Design: This Is A Blog” (you don’t say!) was a blog sent to me as a suggestion for future reviewing (keep those blog suggestions coming by the way, there are so many blogs, and so little time, that it’s hard to uproot the word-worthy ones), and I originally settled on not reviewing it, but then I started reading the blog’s comments, clicking links, wandering all over the world wide web to Girls By Design(or GBD as it’s often referred to as; I’ll join the club, because no need to waste typing energy) related links, ending in more research on a subject that I ever bothered to do for any school research paper (no diss to my teachers). And then I knew I had to write about it, because one, if I didn’t, my hour-eating research would be wasted on me (and I’m not generally fond of research), and two, what’s knowledge and opinions for if you don’t share them?

A little 411 to carry you through my commentary: GbD is basically a mission to empower girls (or at least that’s what I gathered over the course of things), and is founded by actress Kristin Kreuk (of Smallville fame) and her friend Kendra Voth. The latter who is completely absence from the GbD blog, the former who says something occasionally and someone named Tabby who jumped out from her behind the scenes position as tech producer, to stand in the spotlight of the blog. (If she’s responsible for the blog design though…I like it, Tabby, I like it a lot, and the color palette is right on).

So, can you measure a blog’s worth by its readers? I don’t know, really, but when I began to click the comments posted on the GbD Blog, I found a dizzying amount of praise and love. A general love fest really, which was fine (I’m a lover not a hater too), except it was seemingly off topic because how many times does “I love you Kristin!!!” need to be said in broken English? (No offense to all the foreign speaking fans… hey, you can laugh at me if I try to badly speak your language, ok?)

Side note: why is the GbD questionnaire called “Sexy 7”, and will I feel sexier for filling out those questions?

I needed to do a little more investigating of GbD, so I wound up on the GbD Facebook group. From there I learned I’m in the “target demographic” of GbD, and that I still don’t know entirely what this group is supposed to be doing. But what the members are doing is worshipping the very ground Kristin Kreuk walks on, and seemingly forget the actual subject of the group. I also discovered and was slightly disturbed by GbD a member (I’m resisting being a name dropper here), who repeatedly seems to claim ownership of GbD founders Kristin and Kendra by calling them his girls, and smothering them with sappy compliments. His profile picture, though, obviously from many years past, hints that he’s possibly well past his prime. (Ok to be fair, that doesn't necessarily mean more than a fondness of a past or low self-esteem of one's current appearence, but I’ve noticed a trend in perverts and creeps using their childhood pictures to give the illusion of innocence, just my theory).

And some Googling and some clicks later ended up on some forums called Sweet (somewhat ironically named, in regards to their members, since sugary sweetness is the antonymous of the general attitude of the community), where some of Kristin Kreuk’s most diehard fans seem to hang out. As my father used to say about me, they’re real whipper snappers, and regardless of the slightly harsh definition of “whipper snapper”, I do say it fondly. The Sweet member’s commentary and analysis of the GbD blog were highly amusing, though they sometimes left me scratching my head over apparent inside jokes that peppered forum posts.

Have you noticed how little I’ve actually said about the GbD blog? Me too. Which should give you the conclusion, that despite the fact that the GbD mission seems genuine and respectable… I have more to say about their fans than their blog, and if you’re looking to occupy yourself… just go read the fan commentaries at Sweet.

http://blog.girlsbydesign.com/

http://moderapide.blogspot.com

Now here's a blog, I'll refer to as a blog of potential. Because honestly, there are only 5 entries so far, and it's hard to say but so much, except I was sold with the circles in Moderapide's banner. What can I say, circles are positively charged (if you ask me), and I find them to be a refreshing and soothing shape for a banner. Plus the beautiful girls framed are no eye sore (especially if you're of the male gender).

Besides that I find Mike (hello, Mike!), the blog's author (actually, the side bar informs me there's two authors, but we've only heard from Mike so far), well spoken, and charming.

And while I'm not so fond of "The Nude Adventures of Lily Cole" (being a straight young girl, I get uncomfortable reading about other chicks and whatever they might be doing, um, naked), the dude proves his visual taste is tops with the previous entry featuring an editorial from Vogue China. (And the dude reads Vogue China, which is pretty cool in itself).

The only question I have is, define the word "moderapide" and tell me, is "moderpide" even an English word?

P.S. Mike, I won't excuse your hair in the entry "Uniforms", because quite frankly, I like your hair. I like it a lot.

http://moderapide.blogspot.com/