So how does a blog reader keep up with all the blogging going on? Why, head over to the blog blogs. Here are Xeni’s suggested starting points:

Popdex: The “website popularity index” crawls over 14,000 sites daily to determine the most popular links on the Internet.

Daypop: This current events search engine allows you to search newspapers, magazines, and weblogs.

Blogdex: The “weblog diffusion index” is a project of the MIT Media Laboratory that tracks the diffusion of information throughout the weblog community.

Technorati: This site tracks “tags,” those category names used by bloggers on their entries.

Also, here are Xeni's links for "Friends + inspiration:"

Brad King
Bruce Sterling
Choire/Gawker
Dan Gillmor
Declan McCullagh
Doug Rushkoff
Emmanuelle Richard
Esther Dyson
Etoy: Zak Kyes
Gareth Branwyn
Gawker
Geisha Asobi
Glenn Fleishmann
Greta Brinkman
Howard Rheingold
Indie Nudes
Jason Calacanis
Jason DiFillippo
Jerry Michalski
John Perry Barlow
Joi Ito
Jonno/Fleshbot
Justin Hall
Karen Marcelo
Kevin Kelly
Kevin Werbach
Kitty Bukkake
LA Blogs
Laurenn McCubbin
Mark Brown
Matt Welch
Noah Glass
Paul Boutin
Sean Bonner
Siege
SoCalWug
Susannah Breslin
Violet Blue
Warren Ellis
Wiley Wiggins