I stumbled across four blogs this year that I now seldom miss. None of these blogs are new in general, they were simply new to me. None bear much relation to my bloggy topic. But I love almost every post, and so heartily recommend them.

1. The .Plan. Yale economist James Choi posts a miscellany of quotes from news and research papers, without comment. Topics vary as widely as James’ interests, which are evidently broad. Ranges from random to insightful, and always entertaining.

2. The Second Pass. A literary blog by John Williams about fascinating books I sadly will never have the time to read.

3. I Dance The Internet. Ernest Bazanye is possibly the most bizarre, entertaining Ugandan I have ever encountered. I’ve never met the man, but am fascinated by his random musings. He is apparently a journalist in Kampala. I do not think I find him fascinating simply because I work in Uganda. His voice is nothing if not original, which is the finest character of a blog.

4. Cake Wrecks. My sister in law turned me on to this blog in January. It is subtitled “when professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong”. I have no particular connection to cakes. I don’t even each much cake. But I do love sarcasm, and nothing consistently makes me laugh as much as this blog. Many of you may have heard of it, as it became something of a sensation in 2009. If not, now is your opportunity to catch up to a nerd culture phenomenon.

What are your favorite random discoveries of 2009?