Getting back into the freelance writing groove after my vacation has been a little tough, seeing how I had to return to the cold confines of Vancouver, not to mention the jet lag that’s got me sleeping at the strangest of hours. Thankfully, blogging is a 24/7 affair, so no matter when I choose to catch a few Zs or when I choose to hit up the computer, there are plenty of great blog posts for me to read. Here are a few that caught my eye this week.

The biggest story of the week has been the ultimate downfall of AGLOCO, and just about every blogger out there has been talking about it. John Chow was AGLOCO’s biggest supporter, but you’ll notice that he’s even removed the AGLOCO category from his blog! Surfing around, you’ll discover a bevy of posts by guys like Bob Buskirk, Stephen Fung, Ed Lau, and even the bovine wonder. AGLOCO is dead, folks. It’s time to move on.

Bloggrrl lives in a small town, which is quite the sharp contrast from living in the big city. By and large, she has found plenty of advantages to living in a small town, including the ridiculously low price for real estate. That said, she has just as many reasons why country living isn’t all its cracked up to be. I don’t think I could ever live in a small town; I like ethnic food too much.

Etienne Teo shows us 15 StumbleUpon tools and resources you can’t live without. StumbleUpon has become a decent source of traffic for my blog and I use the toolbar regularly to feed my need for entertainment and information. Now here are 15 tools to help you capitalize on the traffic-building solution.

Nate Whitehill may be best known for creating some fantastic WordPress themes, but he’s got a generous side to him too. Having collected a huge pile of free stuff, Nate is giving it all away in his Pubcon schwag contest. From a black ShoeMoney t-shirt to an IZEA Cup Holder, it’s all up for grabs. And entering this contest couldn’t be easier: just subscribe to his blog via email.

The Daily Kimchi is an excellent resource for everything to do with living in Korea. Gary posts all sorts of great stuff on eating, shopping, and even campus couples. One of his latest posts helps you sell used stuff in Korea. While teaching English in Korea, you can make a few bucks on the side selling “plants, kitchen utensils, furniture, books, clothes, kimchi cutters, chairs” and more.

poison from final fight and street fighter iii: double impact is a transexual

To round up this edition of What’s Up Wednesdays, I got a shameless self-plug. Over at my fighting games blog, I’ve come across what could be the first confirmed transsexual of video games. Yes, this isn’t just fanboy speculation; the transsexual-ness of this character has been confirmed by the developer. Why am I reminded of Kumiko?