Best Local Blogger

Jessica Caldas centers work on important topics like sex, bodies, love, and all of the complicated issues they entail. In March, she wrote an AJC op-ed supporting the passage of Georgia’s rape kit bill, which aimed to ensure the timely processing of the kits. (A version was ultimately passed.) In April, on the 10th anniversary of her rape, Caldas sparked important discussions during LOVE/D & SEX/ED. The series spanned four weekends and invited Atlanta to talk, feel, and deal through panels and performances discussing religion, sexuality, gender, love, and all of their complications. Caldas brought in local artists for three conversations, including Estela Semeco, Grace Thornton, Angela Davis Johnson, Aida Curtis, and many more. The emotionally charged performances, including Caldas’ disrobing and body painting during “Carrying On,” drove the point home that as society we have to work on how we handle rape culture, masculinity, and sexuality. Caldas is here to help make it happen. www.jessicacaldas.com. less...

If you find an Atlanta building charming, chances are Terry Kearns has blogged about it. If you're wondering what happened to one of your favorite structures, he's probably videotaped its demolition, complete with commentary. The bespectacled Web designer and architecture buff is a ubiquitous presence at art gallery happenings around town, and painstakingly details the cornices, columns, and goings-on in the local development world. www.architecturetourist.blogspot.com. less...

Count yourself blessed if you're able to get your hands on a copy of "The Making of Modern Atlanta," a 1990s public TV mini-series that investigated, in amusing fashion, how the metropolis we know and love came to be a transit-deprived, road-ravaged, ball of ignorance, hubris, and procrastination. Hosted by Tim Crimmins of Georgia State University and Dana White of Emory University, the program is like "Glee" for urban policy wonks - lots of talk about the Lochner Report and sewer infrastructure. And who better to introduce us to this gem than Pecanne Log. Over the course of several blog posts, the local ladyblogger (who's now expanded her online empire to Twitter and Tumblr) took us on a spellbinding, screenshot-laden recap of the delightfully informative series, episode by episode, and shows a sweet reverence for Crimmins and White, who call themselves "the History Twins" (even though White, who recently retired from Emory, is bald, while Crimmins sports a shock of blonde hair). less...

Online flame wars typically fizzle out after a day. Twitter debates are limited to 140 characters. And arguing in public sucks because you actually have to look at your opponent. But the rivalry between What Now, Atlanta? and Tomorrow's News Today has provided months of catty fun for onlookers. A few years back, WNA's Caleb Spivak and ToNeTo's Eli Zandman, who both provide updates on the city's retail, restaurant and development scene, were partners. Hell, they even camped out together to be first in line when H&M opened. But since splitting acrimoniously in late 2009, there have been battles for scoops, occasional jabs via social media and blog comments by fans needling the rivals' posts. Spivak and Zandman's new-media feud proves that Atlanta's sleepy blogosphere has a pulse. tonetoatl.com. whatnowatlanta.com. less...

Nowhere will you find more cleverly written posts on such Atlanta-centric topics as beer-swillin' 1930s circus elephants, the city's first parking deck or downtown's hidden beauty than at PECANNE LOG. At a time when others have retreated to Twitter or Facebook (or given up blogging entirely), its editor, "Christa," remains one of Atlanta's best observers of the city's quirks, characters and history. www.pecannelog.com less...

Since starting Drifting Through the Grift in March 2006, GRIFTDRIFT has attracted a loyal following with his easygoing online persona and his trenchant commentary on important local news stories. His finest achievement: his posts this spring and summer that chipped away at the mountain of political, legal and media hypocrisy surrounding the Genarlow Wilson case. When the U.S. attorney in Atlanta ripped the Douglas County prosecutor for having distributed a video of Wilson and an underaged girl having sex, his statement was uncannily similar to the ones GriftDrift had been making for weeks.

www.griftdrift.blogspot.com

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