The internet is a wondrous thing — all the amusing and intelligent people who may not look your way in real life are more than willing to share their thoughts and opinions with you across cyberspace.

Unfortunately, every drivel-spouting, tediously verbose, bigoted loser is also more than willing to do so.

So, to save you the trouble of wading through countless bytes of rubbish we have put together a list of blogs that we think are worth reading.

Politics

Ah, wait — before you groan — consider the many advantages of being politically savvy:

  • Conversations inevitably head in that direction anyway.
  • People will assume that you are intelligent.
  • You might actually have a vague idea about what is happening around you.

Sold? I thought so.

South Africa has a number of really worthy political blogs, but it would be impossible to mention them all, so here are a few to get you started.

Inside Politics
Written by a variety of bloggers, this site provides an analysis of South African politics that is insightful and characterised by clear arguments. There is also a 'What is it?' section that is a compilation of easy-to-understand political definitions.

The Spike
The blog of Ivo Vegter — columnist and magazine journalist — The Spike offers observations, arguments, notable quotes and quirky quips about politics, economics and technology.

Constitutionally Speaking
Pierre de Vos, a professor of law at the University of the Western Cape, provides commentary on political and social issues in South Africa, largely from the perspective of constitutional law. This astute blog imparts some clarity about the legal implications and ramifications of certain political and social decisions.

Popular culture

For something slightly lighter, and potentially more diverting, check out one of these popular culture blogs.

Smoke and Mirrors
Smoke and Mirrors takes on popular culture, religion, science and the more illusionary realms of conspiracy theories, pseudoscience and the paranormal in a well-written, witty and intelligent manner, with a healthy dose of scepticism.

Trash Media
The domain of Sunday Times 'Ditwits' cartoonist Jeremy Nell, Trash Media has daily cartoons and blogs on SA affairs and popular culture. The cartoons are great, but the blogging is not quite as clever as it could be. Males are probably more likely to enjoy this blog.

Splattermail
Splattermail provides light-hearted, entertaining musings on movies, entertainment, celebrities and popular culture.

Beast Insight
Beast Insight is a hilarious — if a little silly — take on popular culture. Packed full of videos, images, jokes and quirky stuff (including bios on People of Amazing Greatness) this blog is bound to elicit a few chuckles if not a more profound understanding of the absurdity of society and all that it holds dear.

Lifestyle

Clumped under the rather broad heading of lifestyle are all things… well… lifestyle-ish, such as travel, technology and fine dining.

If I Could Fly
The fact that we are punting this blog has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that the author used to work for iafrica.com. But it does mean that she writes very well. A small-town Afrikaans girl, Lize decided to become an airhostess so that she could see the world. Her blog documents her travels to the far reaches of the globe as well as her attempts to deal with the culture shock of living in Dubai.

Engadget
This blog is only really going to appeal to techies or those pretending to have a clue about technology. That being said, the language is not too full of jargon and there is some humorous commentary. But essentially it is still a blog about the latest technology and gadgets.

Sophia Lindop — Cape Table
This fantastic food and wine blog has Cape Town chef Sophia Lindop sharing her favourite recipes, restaurants, cook books and musings about life. It also contains a useful 'show me how' section.

PostSecret
People write down their most intimate secrets on the back of a postcard and then send it to the author of this blog. This site is not, however, a place to top up on your gossip, but rather a poignant insight into the human heart.

Men are from Mars

The Art of Manliness
The title of this blog pretty much says it all — a guide to the lost art of being a man. Take lessons in dressing and grooming (rules about sock etiquette), manly skills (how to survive a bear attack), relationships (do's and don'ts of a dinner date) and career advice (become the go-to guy at work). This well-written blog has a great old-school design and some useful (and not-so-useful) advice.

Women are from Venus

Womb to World
Having a baby can be a terrifying experience, but that doesn't mean that you have to do it alone. Mother and occupational therapist Megan Faure dispenses sensible parenting advice in this blog, which covers everything from maternal guilt to an analysis of baby weight gain.