Bloggasm

You can find Zoe Trope’s blog over here.

Zoe Trope is the pseudonym of a 19-year-old Art History major. She often writes about school, knitting, kittens, and cooking in her Livejournal, which far too many people read. She is also the author of Please Don’t Kill the Freshman: A Memoir.

Simon Owens: Your book, Please Don’t Kill the Freshman, takes place when you’re in high school. Now that you’re in college, how have the people around you changed in maturity and how they interact?

Zoe Trope: I think the people that I’m around now haven’t necessarily changed in terms of maturity or interactions, but they’re simply different people. So immaturity and pettiness still abounds, but in different people and in different ways. In general, I’ve found that most of the people I’ve met here have been engaging, friendly, passionate, silly, and incredibly intelligent. I’m definitely much happier at college than I ever was in high school, but I don’t think that high school and college are entirely different.

SO: How successful has blogging been at providing promotion to your own writing?

ZT: Well, having a Livejournal/blog allows me to interact directly with readers. I can get their feedback, tell them about new projects, etc. When I made a ‘zine this summer, I had dozens of requests for copies that I couldn’t fill. It was a gratifying feeling to know that I could mobilize so many people to support my writing, and I try to use that sort of power to mobilize support for other things, too.

SO: Has blogging affected the way you write at all? Or are they just two completely different realms?

ZT: At this point, I’m not sure. Blogging helps me write more often that I would if I didn’t blog, so in a way it helps keep me in practice, but the voice I use in my blog and the voice I use in other writing are very, very different.

SO: What are the five blogs (besides your own) that everyone should be reading?

ZT: www.fluxblog.org – mp3 blog

http://copycommaright.blogspot.com/ — mp3 blog of obscure covers

www.batemania.com/bateman365 — not quite a blog, but a friend of mine has started a project to complete one animation every day for a year. So far he’s done animations of ted leo, deer hoof, jandek, elyse sewell and more. I love this because the animations are funny, serious, political, and some of them are just weird.

Daily Kos — I know a lot of people already read this one, but I check it often for political stuff.

http://www.dieselsweeties.com/ — not a blog but a web cartoon. I love it all the same.