Across the Weblogs, Inc. network a brand-new blog has opened (welcome to the excellent StyleDash!), and I was searching its pages for nuggets that might affect stocks we cover. I think we can all agree (for instance) that Wal-Mart: not stylish (no matter what the very à la mode Anne Metz says, I won't believe it). GE? Nice commercials, but not stylish. Apple? Hella stylish. eBay? Jury's out.

And as we're ticking off the companies that are oft-featured here on BloggingStocks, the biggest question that sprung to mind: how does Starbucks Corporation (NYSE:SBUX) rate on style factor? As someone who mercurially flits from independent, locally-owned, ultra-hip coffee shop to Starbucks and back again, sometimes in a single day, I'm brilliantly positioned to say: not high. Styledash's Nic Lloyd couldn't agree more.

He says, "I was tired of Starbucks and other chain coffees -- tired of the taste and the price." He finds something better, an Ethiopian coffee called Dancing Goats. It's not that much different from the Ethiopian pours I've raved for myself. Let's face it, Starbucks, fashionistas have long since left your faux Euro tables and turned to more fabulous barstools, where the coffee tastes of orchids, wild blueberries and vanilla ... not burnt beans.

After all, the most famous customer of Starbucks today? Britney Spears. I needn't (I think you'll agree) say more.

We've asked each of our bloggers to introduce themselves and talk a little about why they love the market and what positions they call their own. We encourage our bloggers to own common stock and abide by a common code of conduct.

Who are you, and why are you passionate about stocks?
I live in Charlottesville, Virginia.

I have degrees from the University of Virginia. My academic specialty was economic theory and phenomenology. At least the theory side explains part of my interest in the market.

Before my writing career, I worked as a print and runway model here in the U.S. and in Milan. I’ve also run a non-profit construction company. I’ve picked tomatoes on an organic farm. And I’ve delivered mail. Lots and lots of mail. 

Currently, I’m a  writer for Live Investment News, a personal finance and investing website geared towards the average invididual investor.  I’m also a principal of Proofrock Copy, a freelance copywriting company. In my free time, I write fiction and carry on in a rather cheeky blog called The Cool Honey.

My interest in the stock market comes out of a somewhat wonkish interest in popular culture. Essentially, I think the marketplace is where pop culture plays itself out; if you want to understand culture right now, you’ve got to know something about the companies that produce it.