Friday Featured Blog Rewind: superdumb supervillain

Here's the situation: I've been stressed out and in my self-pity-party, I neglected to contact a Friday Featured Blogger, yet again. So I'm going back in the archives and pulling from one of my early interviews (which I anticipate will happen again sometime). Naomi of superdumb supervillain was one of my first bloggers that I featured, and since then she and I have become good friends. We're actually rooming together next week at BlogHer, so I'm sure we'll get to know each other even more. Meeting blog friends in real life is going to be the highlight of my trip, and of course all that free alcohol at the after-parties too. I'm half-kidding about that, but it will be nice to be done with nursing SoJo and to have more than just a teensy glass of wine.

I probably should have mentioned to Naomi that I was re-posting her feature, since she may have wanted to change some things (this interview was from last fall), but I'm sure she'll be over here commenting about this anyway! Without any more digressions, here's Naomi...

If you've been blogging or visiting blogs for a while, you've probably come across the interestingly-titled blog superdumb supervillain and it's resident blogger, Naomi. I've gotten to know Naomi through a few contests I've won on her blog and also from commenting on each others' posts. I love how clever her writing is and how engaging her topics are--one day it could be pseudo-Communist art posters and the next day a photo and hilarious description of her son's Freddy Krueger/Bob the Builder birthday cake. I hope that someday my mad blogging skills can be half as good as hers.

What is your blog about?

My blog is primarily mom/kid oriented but sometimes I delve into peripheral design matters. Home decor, fashion, stationery, etc. It's sort of a repository for whatever I'm into at a given moment. I'd like to write more about music, since that's what my past journalistic experience focused on. I'm sure it will morph often as time goes by. Oh, I like to do giveaways as often as possible, too.

Where does your blog title come from?

"Superdumb" has been my email address, since my first AOL account in 1994. I picked that because every other name combination I could think of when I was signing up for AOL had already been taken. My friend Ryan always said he was going to start a band called Superdumb and see who would show up. I don't think he ever did, probably because I stole his name! But when I signed up for my blog in 2006, someone was already superdumb, so I fiddled with different permutations. Superdumb Supervillain was very tongue in cheek, goofy. I've known a lot of punks and comic geeks, so it definitely has that kind of vibe. And I had no idea when naming it that it would become a mommy blog… Seriously, it's the worst mommy blog name, ever! I am constantly amazed that no one harasses me about that, especially PR folks.

When and why did you start your blog?

I started the blog as a lazy way of posting pictures of Roo for my family and friends to see. I actually had a friend who asked to be taken off of my Snapfish photo email list so I figured I shouldn't bombard people with them, just give them a place where they could go and see what I've been up to at their own pace. While I was pregnant with Jasper, I coveted tons of baby stuff that I read about online and in magazines but didn't even know existed when Roo was born. I would post things I thought were interesting and, eventually, companies asked me to do real reviews.

What would you like to add to your blog in the next year?

I keep waffling over to ad or not to ad. It would be nice to make some money from blogging someday but I do like the informality my blog has now. And I think I would like to do more writing about everyday things instead of mostly product reviews as I do now.

What are some of your favorite blogs?

DaddyTypes was one of the first blogs I read on a regular basis and certainly one of the first parenting-oriented. I love how it's all about kids' stuff. Kinda.

Z Recommends is just the pinnacle of review blogs, in my book. Really well-conceived and interesting and much smarter than I am, in general! Plus, Jeremiah runs Prizey and asked me to join in its infancy, which has been tons of fun. Be warrned- The Z Recs empire is going to take over the universe someday!

Serious Eats makes me hungry.

Cool Mom Picks and Design Mom always find the cool stuff.

Personal blogs I love: Pioneer Woman, Mom Most Traveled, Fractured Toy, Ordinary Life, Petit Elefant, Skimbaco, Adventures in Babywearing… holy cow, there are too many to mention. I really like Katydid and Kid, too, duh!

A lot of my closest blog friends have been made through entering contests, either them entering mine or me entering theirs.

What is one of your pet peeves about blogs or bloggers?

Spelling and grammar. I'm not as bristly about that as I used to be but it really bugs me when people obviously don't proofread before publishing their posts. Especially when they're reviewing products and misspell the item name. And they still have better giveaways than I do! (Just joking.)

I also don't like it when bloggers gang up on each other in weird high school drama scenarios, which seems to happen pretty often. I am usually clueless, as I was in high school, and only hear about it on Twitter when it's over.

What advice do you have for any new bloggers?

Don't be afraid to leave comments or ask questions! Start your own blog. Attribute things properly when you use pictures or ideas from someone else. And be nice!

What is something that people might not know about you?

I used to have a record label (Fluffer) and put out the first Spoon 45. I collect tune totes and bakelite jewelry. I didn't get my driver's license until I was 24. I'm in the Junior League. I love the smell of printing ink.