Chicago Tribune religion reporter and The Seeker blogger Manya Brachear knows a bit about religion as she's on a professional and personal quest for truth. Here are some of her suggestions for the best religion blogs out there:

Jim Bowman, a former priest and religion writer for the now defunct Chicago Daily News, provides a critique and collection of local religion coverage on Blithe Spirit, the Blog.

Under the banner of the Martin Marty Center, an esteemed institute for religion research at the University of Chicago Divinity School, scholars, students, clergy, and their faithful post thoughtful essays twice a week on Sightings.

Christian Century, the mainline Protestants’ biweekly go-to guide for news and information publishes every other week but updates Theolog more frequently with thoughts and commentary on the Christian landscape of Chicago.

Christianity Today compiles a similar blog for the evangelical Christian wing. But since editor Ted Olsen took a sabbatical last fall, the Weblog, as they call it, hasn’t been updated. Stay tuned for his return. It will be worth the wait.

Dr. Hesham Hassaballa, a pulmonologist at Rush Memorial Hospital who occasionally writes for the Chicago Tribune Perspective section, posts his perspectives about Islam regularly on God, Faith and a Pen.

Alan Perlman of Highland Park makes sure the humanistic perspective of the Godless population is represented on The Jewish Atheist.

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The CTA announced plans to add some seatless cars to Brown Line trains this fall. Although this may help rider congestion, read what Green Parent Chicago had to say about how this change will impact parents with strollers.

What do you do with a year’s worth of junk mail? You shred it.

Any Chicagoan will be looking for familiar buildings and icons in the new Batman movie “The Dark Night.” But if you need a little help knowing what you should look for, check out The Chicago Traveler’s post.

If you’ve been around Chicago long enough to have missed the pizzas made by the family-owned Turano Baking Company, you’ll be glad to know they're coming back.

How “walkable” is your neighborhood? Check out this map that color-codes the most walker-friendly areas in Chicago.

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CTATattler.com

Name of blog: CTA Tattler

Real name: Kevin O’Neil

Start date: June 2004

Your life story in a URL: CTATattler.com says it all!

Why do you blog? Blogging is a creative outlet for me. It allows me to use my reportorial and writing skills to tell stories. Plus I feel I’ve created a community for thousands and thousands of CTA riders.

What topic gets people going on your blog? Lately the hot topic has been bus bunching. Generally, people rant about what the CTA is doing -- or not doing -- to improve their commute.

What’s your favorite local blog that nobody has heard of? I love R.O.C.K. on the CTA-- the guy takes cell phone photos of riders and makes up stories about them.

What have you learned from blogging? I’ve learned that loyal blog readers will have no problem telling you exactly how much they disagree with something you wrote. I’ve also learned that when you get a good loyal following, they expect the best from you, and that helps me do my best.

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At Apartment Therapy Chicago, you can find hundreds of great home design ideas as well as interesting products. And some of their posts are just plain awesome. Check out how one group of artists developed images on grass for Wimbledon.

For those who have everything, or those who lack a sense of temperature, this mug featured on Awesome! is just what you need. The mug fades to black as your beverage cools down, so you don’t ever have to wonder if your coffee is the right temperature.

If the fireworks from the 4th of July weren’t dazzling enough, check out this gorgeous photo of a rainbow against the John Hancock Center.

Take a look at this post on The ‘Broken Heart’ of Rogers Park. Do you agree that bloggers are to blame for “an unwarranted drag on property values, sales and rentals” in the area?

If you've been finding Post-it letters to God around Chicago, you can thank Spudart. Why? Learn about the rationale here.

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The busy week of tours is over, and several of you have blogged about it or posted photos and/or video.

Here are some of the posts, a couple of which include video, and here are some photos.

People that came include Todd Andrlik, Mike Maddaloni, Blagica Bottigliero, Adam Keats, John Morrison, Chaviva Edwards, Gordon Dymowski, Dan Perry, Kevin Lampe, Phil Nieman, Evette Tan, Leah Jones, Andrew Huff, Theresa Carter, Andrew Coffey, Andi Vance, Paul Brees, Colleen McMahon, Sachin Agarwal, Liz Strauss, Jen Knoedl, Maggie Skacan, Tammy Green, Brian Mayzure, Stan Mazo, Heidi Sullivan and Matt Thommes. (If we forgot anyone who has a Twitter account, please let us know by posting a comment!)

Thanks for coming!

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LiteralDan.Blogspot.com

Name of blog: LiteralDan

Real name: Dan

Start date: January 2008

Your life story in a URL: WaitWhatWasTheQuestion.com

Why do you blog? Blogging gives me a nice outlet for describing the crazy things that happen around here on a regular basis, and having a regular audience from all over the world really keeps me honest in my effort to sit down at the computer each day and write out at least one little thing.

Writing every day helps me straighten out my thoughts and opinions, and cementing this habit is hopefully training me for bigger and better projects later on. Plus, I figure that if nothing else comes of it, all the entries about my kids will serve as a nice baby book of sorts some day.

What topic gets people going on your blog? Everyone's seems to be pretty easy-going so far, because I don't think I've really started stirring any pots yet. People mostly come to vent and to laugh about their children and their amusing/frustrating habits. I get pretty positive feedback on most of my general life observations and other bits as well.

What's your favorite local blog that nobody has heard of? I stumbled upon a very new blog, Righteously Indignated, recently and I've enjoyed it a lot. Short, sweet, and to the point each day.

What have you learned from blogging? I've learned how hard it can be to discipline yourself to write something every day when so many other things require your attention; how much fun it is to get to know people around the world who have only a few common interests with you; and I've also learned a lot more about social networks than I ever thought I would. It's been a great experience so far and I plan to keep this up for a long time.

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Looking to switch up your usual grilling routine? Check out this Chicago Public Radio Blog post about grilling pizza by the lake.

Teach yourself to paint with the online guidance of Christine Kane at Let's Paint Nature. Learn how to paint a heron with this step-by-step guide that includes tips and tricks.

Ever think your e-mail inbox is overwhelming? Read what Ed Brill has to say about a New York Times column that discusses ways to cut back on receiving--and sending--e-mails.

Who would think something so ugly could be so popular? Perhaps that's just the ticket with these creatures from Uglydolls that Shop Girl in Chicago discovered.

If you're looking for a quick bite after work, check out Chicago Burger Project's review on the miniburgers at Morton's, 65 East Wacker Place.

Can't get enough of the Cubs? If you're looking for one comprehensive site, check out Cubs Blog Army, which provides RSS feeds of dozens of Cubbie blogs.

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Once again, attention all Chicagoland area bloggers, vloggers, phloggers, Twitterers...well, you get the idea.

Colonel Tribune invites you to be his guest at the chicagotribune.com 9 a.m. daily meeting to get a peek into the inner workings of the Web side of Chicago's largest news organization. Pick a day next week that works with your schedule and have your people call his people. (And by that, we mean use the links below to RSVP).

If that's not enough, we'll take you around Tribune Tower, a Chicago icon since 1925. How cool is that? (In total, the meeting and tour should last 45 minutes to an hour.)

To RSVP, or if you have any questions, please e-mail coloneltribune@tribune.com or direct message the Colonel on Twitter.

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ProudItalianCook.Blogspot.com

Name of blog: Proud Italian Cook

Real name: Marie Renello

Start date: August 2007

Your life story in a URL: FeedYourPassion.com

Why do you blog? My passion has always been cooking and the world of blogging has been my creative outlet for this little hobby turned obsession!

What topic gets people going on your blog? I can’t say there’s one specific topic, because the subject of food in general is a very personal thing and stirs up many emotions along with fond memories that people have of special traditions and events in their lives.

It could be a post about something as time consuming as making 300 homemade raviolis that will stir up conversations, or something as simple as a dessert/drink I recently posted about called “Affogato,” which simply is hot espresso poured over cold gelato. I was amazed at all the comments that came from that post, from people literally all over the world.

Sometimes it might even be a photo, or a certain ingredient that I used, or even a special pot or pan, that revs up a topic for conversation.

What’s your favorite local blog that nobody has heard of? Coco Cooks -- A ChiTown food blogger who’s a creative cook, baker, cake decorator and, an all around interesting person.

What have you learned from blogging? Besides a whole lot of tech-y stuff, I’ve learned how blogging connects you with so many wonderful and interesting people with various nationalities, customs and backgrounds. On any given day I could be talking to people in several different countries. I can truly say I have made friends all over the world and I’m always learning new things from them, which in turn has truly fed my passion for cooking and blogging. And as an unexpected bonus, I’ve come to know the “people behind the blogs.”

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No matter how you get around Chicago during the day, there's a blog out there for you.

Here are some of the city's best transportation blogs that will keep you up-to-date on everything you need to know about commuting.

- Ask Carole -- Since 2005 Carole Brown, the chair of the Chicago Transit Board, has used this blog as a forum to discuss the CTA’s funding situation. Although she doesn’t blog often, her posts reflect the situation of the day, and dozens of readers frequently respond.

- CTA Tattler -- CTA Tattler is your resource for (nearly) daily posts on anything CTA-related. Come here for the most up-to-date CTA news including derailments, station improvements and crazy commuting stories.

- Chicago Mini Motoring Club -- A Mini may be smaller than the average car, but the community on this site is huge. This site offers information on club events, news and more.

- Lake County Motorist -- Don’t worry if you don’t frequent the CTA every day--there are still blogs out there for the suburban commuters. Although some posts do concern only those from Lake County, it’s a great resource for any commuter who’s looking for tips and tricks for getting in and out of the city.

- Overheard in Chicago -- Eavesdropping can be inevitable while traveling around the city, and sometimes those stories need to be told. Visit Overheard for some classic conversations you’ll wish you heard yourself, and while you’re there, submit your own.

Know of any other transportation blogs in Chicago? Send us an e-mail here.

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