Rachel Maddow is made of awesome

I try not to discuss my politics on my blog and, until now, I think I've done a pretty good job of not showing my hand.

I fear that this post will blow that out of the water. So forgive me my partisan crowing for a minute, m'kay?

Tonight, at 9pm Eastern, Rachel Maddow's show premiers on MSNBC. And I, for one, couldn't be happier.

Maddow started her rise to television fame on Air America Radio. She started by reading the news and then moved on to serve as 1/3 of the show Unfiltered with Chuck D (yes, that Chuck D) and Lizz Winstead. Two weeks after that show was cancelled, Maddow got her own show on Air America.

Despite Air America's revolving door of hosts and shows (Morning Sedition, anyone?), Maddow has remained a fixture on the station. She is smart and funny and snarky. She isn't afraid to stick it to the Democrats as often as she sticks it to the Republicans and the fact that she starts her show with "news from Iraq and life during wartime" shows (at least in my mind) her commitment to supporting the troops even if she doesn't support the war.

Imagine my delight, then, when Maddow started showing up on MSNBC. She appeared as a guest on Keith Olbermann's Countdown show and took a place on the panel on David Gregory's Race for the White House.

As her role has grown on MSNBC, so has her fan base. MSNBC recognized that by offering her a show airing directly after Countdown.

I, for one, am rooting for Maddow. She's an insightful commentator and, well, a woman. How many of those do you see hosting in primetime on cable news?

San Diego Dispatches

My friend Jessie has a blog called San Diego Dispatches.

Jessie is funny and smart and likes fish tacos. She is also a librarian. Take that, librarian stereotype!

You should go read her blog.

She writes about everything from stuff to do in San Diego to knitting to her adorable kitties and her husband who knits, too, according to her blog.

Also? Jessie is an aspiring writer. So if you wanted to, you know, give her a 2-book contract based on how fabulous her blog is I'm sure it would be much appreciated.

Anyway, Jessie rocks!

Sarah Dessen rocks my socks off

Sarah Dessen writes YA novels that make me wish I could write fiction. Her writing is smart and full of real emotion and she is one of a handful of YA authors whose books I have forced on The Dude.

She has a blog. It is full of fantastic tidbits into her life. She makes herself open and available to her readers in a way that I find inspiring. And she's really fascinating.

There's an article from CNN.com make its way around the blogosphere. It's about how people don't read much for leisure. In fact, the article says that 1 in 4 Americans didn't read a book last year.

Dessen is pregnant and in this post, she talks about hoping that her baby grows up to be a reader.

I admire Dessen for a lot of reasons and this is one of them.

Kanye West makes me giggle sometimes

Kanye West has this ridiculous ability to appeal to a mainstream audience. I saw him open for U2, and there's nothing more entertaining than a bunch of upper middle class white folks screaming "We want prenup!"

The best part is that he can do this while not losing any of his hip hop street cred. Have you heard the Diamonds from Sierra Leone remix with Jay-Z? That stuff makes me tear up almost every time, it's so good.

To promote the first single from his new album, Can't tell me nothin', West put out a video that features comedian Zach Galifianakis lip synching the words to West's song. It's brilliant and I'm sure it introduced a generation of hipper-than-thou folks to West's music.

Anyway, CNN.com has an articlethat quotes West as saying that he has never cared about being No. 1. The CNN piece quotes heavily from an interview West did with XXL Magazine (as an aside, can you imagine CNN.com staffers paging through XXL to write this story?) and, in the interview, West talks about how he doesn't rap about guns or drugs.

My favorite line?

"Further, 'there's nothing about wearing a pink Polo that would make anyone believe that I would hold a gun,' he says."

Brilliant.

Christine Daniels

Christine Daniels writes a blog for the L.A. Times.

I didn't know about her blog until this morning when I stumbled upon it from another site.

I read Daniels' blog and enjoyed the diversity in subject matter, her writing style, and the care with which it was written.

What makes Daniels' blog even cooler is that Daniels used to be Mike Penner.

In this article written in April, Penner discusses his feelings on "coming out" as a transgendered sportswriter and how his friends and colleagues reacted to him.

In a profession where gender is sometimes a big deal, I can't imagine struggling with your identity and then choosing to live your truth.

If I was going to put it in such strong of terms, I might say that Christine Daniels is my hero. I'm sure she hears that every day, though, so I won't.

I will say, though, that it gives me courage to see a person living her truth and a profession willing to accept her.