Loving tech, social networking, and blogging doesn’t mean I’m not also a dad. Heck, I’ve been a dad over half my life now.  Chris Brogan started a site for men like me, Dadomatic.

Dadomatic is a place for dads that blog to blog about fatherhood and family. This can take the form of advice, product reviews, or how-to articles. Visitors to Dadomatic will find whit, wisdom, and wackiness. Best of all it’s family friendly.

I’d like to point you to my two most recent Dadomatic offerings:

Massage and your children

Love, Anger, Kids

Some of your favorite bloggers blog there as well. Jeffery Sass, Chris Brogan, and Doriano Carta aka Paisano.

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Got tools? by Tojosan

Pirate? That’s me and much more. Over the last few years the Flickr 365 group has brought out the hero, the villain, saint and sinner.  This particular picture though caused one young viewer to ask her parents if they knew a real pirate.

Some other friends online ask if I’m an actor. Truth? I am. That’s not the whole truth though.

We’re all actors.

Role players each of us. We learn to play weak when it serves us at an early age. Later some of us learn to play bully. Many of us act both at one time or another.

As we mature, we learn to take on many roles. Some are forced upon us, some we work to make part of our inner self. Parent is a great example. Most of us play at being a parent and only after some rough days does that role become internalized.

Blogger, it’s just another role. Part of the problem with this role is that we often miss that we’re no longer playing at blogging, but it’s now part of us. We keep telling ourselves we’re not really bloggers.

STOP. You have a URL. You post things. You’re a blogger. It’s that simple really. Blogger isn’t a title reserved for those that make a living blogging. There’s no swearing into the club ceremony when you get a thousand subscribers.

You blog therefore you’re a blogger.

So stop playing the role of wimp. No more acting the beggar or the fool. Sit down. Shut up. Blog.

N’ough said.

St. Louis is home to some interesting people, not the least of which also blog. Each week I’ll highlight a few of our metro area bloggers. You’ll find the serious, the fancy, and the fun, and hopefully you’ll find a connection with them.

First up is the American Red Cross St. Louis Chapter. This blog is not only a multi-author blog, but allows anyone to submit an article. A recent article covers the Red Cross Earthquake Preparedness and Response guidelines. The blog is updated frequently and is content heavy. Check them out.

Next up is a fairly new blog, Hello My Avocado. The blog description says this:

This is the blog of a 28 year old vegan while she lives, cooks, eats, and tries to lose 30 pounds in Saint Louis. Welcome.

Carol shows her smarts though. This isn’t a whiner’s blog. It’s a real person sharing her life. I’m interested to track her success via the blog as well as get to know her better. So why not drop by at the link above and cheer her on.

Third and final for this week is brought to us by Terry Blastenbrei, The Bosque. The Bosque is home to Terry’s manifestos as he calls them. A professional courier, Terry comes across a world of interesting. A recent adventure found him at an autopsy room. Cool stuff.

If you’ve got more cool, unique, or even regular joe blogs you’d like to see here, drop me a comment, send me a tweet, or shoot me an email, tojosan//gmail.com.

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At some point everyone has a chance to believe something other than what others told them to believe in.

by Akula.

Brent Nordquist is @Akula. I want to say right now he is one of my all time favorite bloggers. His blog, Nordquist Blog, isn’t deep in tech secrets, social media guru meditations, nor how to get rich schemes. Brent blogs about life, mostly centered around him and his children.

I highly recommend you check out Brent as @Akula and on Nordquist Blog.

St. Louis is home to some interesting people, not the least of which also blog. Each week I’ll highlight a few of our metro area bloggers. You’ll find the serious, the fancy, and the fun, and hopefully you’ll find a connection with them.

Zoe Feast, @stlwebdesign, founded the company Indigo Image in 2000, to ‘provide “Grade A” design solutions at affordable prices complemented with excellent customer service.’ Their blog, Indigo Thoughts, shares how Indigo Image brings positive impact to their customers. A recent post, A ROI Website Success Story, talks about a before and after story of Ruth Hasser, a St Louis wedding Officiant. Great story that takes place in St. Louis by St. Louisans.

Melody Meiners, @CosmosGirl, not only blogs but heads up the team of writers for Girls Guide to the Galaxy™. The team of St. Louis ladies blogs on every topic from fashion to fun. A recent article, The Good Buy Girl’s Guide to Surviving A Sick Day, covers the agony and the essentials of taking a sick day.

Steve Patterson, @urbanreviewstl, blogs at Urban Review STL. The site takes a close look at the City of St. Louis and the entire St. Louis region. Recent weather sparked this informative recent article, Lingering snow creates accessibility issues. Steve and other contributors to Urban Review STL don’t shy away from the issues.

These blogs were all spotlighted by recommendation of their fellow St. Louisans. Here’s a round up of those links again:

Indigo Thoughts

Girls Guide to the Galaxy

Urban Review STL

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Disqus is currently installed here on The Broad Brush and other blogs I run. I settled on it a good while back and it’s generally been good to the blog and the commenters.

Their team has released a new version in beta. I’m a fool, so I’ve installed it in place of the current release. So far it appears it didn’t eat the old comments. Let’s let it rip.

What do I want from you? Even the smallest comment you feel up to leaving. It’s easy. There is no registration required or you can sign in with  your Twitter or Facebook or other IDs.

Say anything, leave a cryptic code, include a link or three. Try to break it if you’re up to it. Oh, and leave a video comment if you’re brave.

Cheers to Disqus.

Run for it! by Tojosan, on Flickr

St. Louis is home to some interesting people, not the least of which also blog. Each week I’ll highlight a few of our metro area bloggers. You’ll find the serious, the fancy, and the fun, and hopefully you’ll find a connection with them.

Chris Reimer, aka @RizzoTees, started a new blog, The Basement Entrepreneur. His latest post, Why are You Starting a Business, is another thoughtful piece. He’ll remind you of Gary Vaynerchuk.

Stef, aka @cupcakeproject, runs the sweetest blog in St. Louis, The Cupcake Project. Started as a blog chronicling her adventures as a wedding cupcake baker for friends. Her latest post, Mango Rum Cupcakes – Four Baking Lessons and One Life Lesson, touches on the sweet tooth as well as the craziness that is baking.

Milli, aka @milligfunk, is a small town girl that’s well traveled, sharing on A Small Town Girls Guide. Her viewpoint is fun and insightful. The latest article, Ste Genevieve Chocolate Walk Pt. IV: Tour de Missouri Art Bikes, continues a run on her Ste Genevieve tour with a focus on local art.

That’s it for this week. Here are the links again:

The Basement Entrepreneur

The Cupcake Project

A Small Town Girls Guide

Please click through and show some love. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

If you have a favorite St. Louis area blogger you’d like me to profile, leave a comment today.

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One of my favorite Twitter buds, and local to St. Louis, @KBestOliver, is now the Novice Foodie for the Riverfront Times. In her new role, she’ll be blogging about her food experiences. As the title implies, she’s bringing a fresh face and open mind, not to say mouth, to food reporting.

Her latest article, The Novice Foodie Experiences the St. Louis Food & Wine Experience, should have been titled, Novice Foodie versus St. Louis Food & Wine Experience. Kelli shares her honest surprise that the wine side of the event was more focused on than the food.  Not to say she didn’t eat anything. Far from it, but to note she doesn’t mention one special or unique dish served.

The funniest part for me was her mentioning about spitting. If you’re in the know about wine tasting, spitting is what keeps you mostly sober. Gary Vaynerchuk made spitting and wine spittoons something ordinary folks talk about. Apparently Kelli missed the etiquette lessons. This made for discomfort on her part and laughter on ours.

I encourage you to show your support for Kelli’s food blogging adventures by reading her latest article and leaving a comment.

Dream Connection Badge

Two of my favorite sites, The Mommy Manual and Artistic Sensations, are partnering to bring you a Dream Connection contest.

They’re doing this to celebrate discovering their own Dream Connection.

From the site: Beginning FEBRUARY 14, 2010, we will be accepting your entries! Write a minimum of 300-word essay about a significant mom-to-mom connection in your life that has had a defining effect on your mothering. Is it your mom, your sister, your aunt, a friend or a teacher? Your entry must also include YOUR $1000 WISH LIST from ArtisticSensations.com. Shop from thousands of items, including kids/teens designer bedding, furniture, room decor, and gifts.

Register now at My Mommy Manual.

Robert Sanzalone, @pacificIT, shares his comments, questions, and concerns about the Apple iPad. Robert brings his long IT background to bear, providing an informed opinion.

The audio iPad commentary was recorded at Twad.io.

Robert Sanzalone blogs at http://www.sanzalone.com.

What is twaud.io?
twaud.io lets you share audio with your twitter followers. Think of it as twitpic but for mp3s.
Follow @twaudio to keep updated on new developments.

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