Best blog_2 December.

Manchester ‘gets’ blogging. From its annual blog awards to bloggers scoring book deals, the city is awash with art and culture blogs. And, to celebrate all that online chatter, every fortnight we highlight one of the best.

This week: mightaswell. ‘Don’t do this, don’t go there, it’s dodgy.’

Why do we like it? This is a blog that’s kind of old school, in the sense that it’s a personal record of one writer’s journey through Manchester. For all the specialist bloggers out there (such as last month’s Fat Roland), it’s refreshing to get back to a diary format – but only when, as in this case, the blog refrains from blatantly boring navel gazing. It is mightaswell’s combination of personal observation and wit, then, that makes the blog worth reading – that, and the fact that the author occasionally paraphrases the lyrics to The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Mightaswell is written by Samantha Bail, ‘a computer scientist and self-proclaimed geek. I talk and write a lot, which is why I’ve been publishing my own ‘zines since I was nine years old.’

About the blog. Samantha started the blog back in April as a reaction to life in a new city. ‘When I moved to Manchester, a lot of people told me “don’t do this, don’t go there, it’s a dodgy area” about almost everything – and for a year I saw hardly more than the strip of Oxford Road between my house and the university campus. Manchester is not the easiest place to live in, especially if you don’t venture out of your comfort zone. At some point I was so fed up that I decided to find out whether it was really that bad. The title of my blog, mightaswell, describes that idea: might as well go and see for myself. But it also sums up what I think makes Manchester so exciting: the people in this city, their incredible can do attitude and creativity.’

Favourite thing about Manchester. ‘The area around Orient House, a block of former early 20th century warehouses between Princess Street and Sackville Street. I’ve never been to New York, but this is what I imagine it to look like. Whenever I’m in this area, between the colossal buildings with their tall windows, the wind blowing down at me through the narrow side streets, I get this fantastic feeling of grandeur, knowing that I’m looking at the magnificent heritage of the city. Those are the rare moments when I’m madly in love with Manchester.’

Read more about mightaswell here. Image courtesy Paul Capewell. Delve deeper into the Manchester blogosphere at The Manchizzle or the Manchester Blog Awards – both run by Kate Feld (our deputy editor when not on maternity leave). If you’d like to submit your blog for our perusal, do so via our contact form.

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