I’ve launched a new group food blog with ADriene Hughes, FUCK YEAH PHO - a central place for pho lovers to gather and phofreak out togehter and pholophize about our love for pho.

so far there’s lots of pictures of my distended stomach post-pho and adriene’s amazing pho art. Join and contribute your favorite pho-to.

and yes, that makes the proud owner of 6 lovely blogs.  I have 3 more to announce soon so don’t get too comfortable with your rss reader.

I found this out while in Shanghai! Look Time.com names the Know Your Meme site as one of the top 50 Websites of 2009. When the show first launched early last year I listed my fave episodes. I knew that it was going to become a popular site even back then!

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So kenyatta produces a show called Know Your Meme. The entire show documents popular internet memes.  Memes are like genes, but instead of holding and replicating genetic information, memes are units of cultural information. The show’s style is like Jon Stewart’s Daily Show but instead of reporting on the whole world, they report on the internet.Yes the internet is a CONFUSING WORLD! How do we make sense of all the popular youtube videos and lolcats and emails about YoDawg? That’s why we need a show called Know Your Meme!

The on-screen team consists of Kenyatta, Jamie, and Ellie. And the behind screen magic consists of great internet researchers, editors, and camera people.

Now if you are wondering what what is the significance and wonder of documenting online ideas - then you must do two things right now:

1.) watch some video on Know Your Meme

2.) read Kenyatta’s interview, Life After Memes,  on Pop Tech. He discusses memetic activity as cultural practices. He also challenges Susan Blackmore’s notion that memes are bigger than people and actually control people. Kenyatta’s article essentially makes the point that memes do not control society, memes at the end of the day require people to have a life on the internet.

I believe in the power of quotes. I rely on quotes at my best and worst moments. Quotes become my meditations.

So I finally started my own quotes blog called Dichos y Vida! (Dichos y Vida means Quotes and Life in Spanish) - one place for all my FAVORITE QUOTES!   I tend to like quotes that aren’t cheesy - that have substance - that speak about life, buddhism, zen, race, following your true self and at times a light quote here and there about urban ecology.

I’ve been doing it for 2 months now and I love that in tumblr you can schedule posts in advance! I blog my fave saying, quotes from my friends, and themes that I am meditating on for the week. I also reblog (another tumblr feature I love) lots of my quotes from other quote-blogs. My favorite ones that I follow and reblog a lot from are Quotes Book, Blinks of Life, Reluctant Buddha and Film Quotes.  Ok Come and follow me at Dichos y Vida!  oh and I also use this blog to practice my spanish by translating my fave quotes.

kenyatta and Jamie came up with the idea of Know Your Meme last year - a show that just reports on Memes with a “scientific” approach .

So with ellie, jamie and a great researcher chris J menning - oh and great editors - this show is one of the best video blogs out being produced out there!

What I think makes Know Your Meme stand out is the insightful writing and damn good research.

I love that kenyatta writes the scripts in a way that do not give simple answers for why something becomes a meme. Chris conducts AMAZINGly thorough research - they don’t these kind of research skills in school. Then kenyatta frame it in the larger context of internet culture. The the kenyatta magic is the best at the end of the meme video - where he gives  the macro perspective of the sociologically meaning of the meme.

After a few months past their start up period - I feel that Know Your Meme has finally found its rhythm and knows to work with their resources. 

And of course the writing wouldn’t matter if there wasn’t such a great crew, a great researcher like chris, great editors and a great company to build off of - rocketboom!

Here are some of my personal favorites since they started last year. Check it out and add this to your RSS feed!