May 02, 2009

My Favorite Blog

How fortunate that my favorite blogger should also turn out to be my son! And how fortunate that even if I didn’t know John, I’d respect and admire his rigorous intellect and forceful prose. So do the many front-line bloggers who read and link to him, such as Instapundit.

His creation, Jaltcoh, follows in the modest family tradition of naming blogs after oneself. He writes about politics, society, law, philosophy, and, on Fridays, music—mostly indie rock, and also classical and jazz, all of which he knows a great deal about. I love his weekly Music Friday feature with its video links to new music. They’ve taught me about St. Vincent (the singer-songwriter, not the holy person), “Grace Kelly” (the song, not the movie star), Regina Spektor (an angel disguised as a pop star), and perhaps most interestingly, Michel Petrucciani, a brilliant jazz pianist who was born with, and prematurely died from, osteogenesis imperfecta –- a disorder discussed, by coincidence, in a link in a nice comment by Sissy Willis on a recent post of mine.

If you’re wondering where to read first in Jaltcoh, I recommend the top right corner of his sidebar, where there’s a feature called “New to this Blog?” It clicks to a list of his twenty favorite posts from his first year, to a post about his favorite quotes, and to a random-post finder. I’ll recommend three that have been particularly instructive for me:

1. 15 Rules of Blogging for Myself

2. Michel Petrucciani (1962-1999)

3. 10 things you’re not supposed to point out

Go over there right now, go back frequently, comment, and link. Enjoy!