2125 Flog-a-Blog

Sunday, November 23, 2008

There's another blogging award making the rounds, and one of my ten? twelve? readers has nominated me, which is nice, but I have to turn it down, because it's for writing, and I'd be accepting under false pretenses. I don't write well. I take 100 words to say what could be said in 10. And I don't compose - I just transcribe what I say when I talk to myself in my head. And 90% of what I do write isn't even interesting. Its main purpose is to help me remember what I did last week.

A requirement of the award, however, is to name five blogs you like and appreciate or whatever the rules said, I forget. I would like to do that! More than five, in fact.

There are several folks that I refer to or link to or definitely read with regularity, like Chris, Becs, the Queen, Michael, Scott, Shreve, Kate, Sunshine, Stephen. And a bunch more (I have 91 feeds on Bloglines. I just picked the most-looked-forward-to 10%.). I'd like to include MysteryElfx (aka the Gypsy) too, but her blog is private, so I can't, but if you think my "thuds" are amusing - well, I'm old enough that I just roll my eyes. She gets downright pissed at stupidity. She satisfies my rant-rage-urge with no effort on my part. Nya nya. I get to read her and you don't.

Chris - Recipies! I hate cooking, but love the descriptions, ingredients lists, and photos. He also provides food for introspection and growth, and reminds me what it's like to love and be loved with no conditions or reservations. Sometimes I need reminding.

Becs - Now there's a lady who can Write. You can taste, smell, feel her surroundings, recognize her coworkers, and she creates that world with a bare minimum of words.

Queen Ellen - The lady's just a little bit crazy, but that's ok. Most of her family is crazier. She's the best fun girlfriend that was never safe to introduce to your parents. (Although we've never met, she was inadvertently responsible for The Man and I getting together.)

Michael - Uncensored dispatches from the hot spots of the world, emphasizing the human aspects.

Scott - Another nutcake. Off-the-wall ideas that, OMG! just might work! Dilbert's "Daddy".

Shreve - She and tomcat Eli adopted an orphaned coyote pup, Charlie. Daily photos of Charlie as he grows and learns about the world. If you visit, start from the beginning.

Kate - Stories from the ER, photos from the wild places, tiny glimpses into a love story.

Sunshine - A teenager in Iraq, how she copes in a dangerous world.

Stephen - He picks a complicated topic every week, and explains it in a way that anyone can understand, and yet that doesn't leave out the complicating elements. He makes it sound easy.

Odd. None of them are chosen because they're especially funny. Some are, but that's not the attraction. In fact, the "funny" blogs I've followed for a while usually drift off my radar. I wander away because they're not "real". I wonder what that says about me?

I'm not amused by blogs that set out to amuse me? Or I like to be conscious of the reason the blog exists, the subtext? Or I'm a sourpuss?

Ahah - there's an exercise. See if you can identify the unacknowledged subtext in blogs:
"I want to be rich and famous!"
"I'm lonely."
"I need a place to bitch, and my world ain't it."
"I gotta remember what I did last week...."
"I want praise and worship from commenters."
"A blog will keep me honest with myself."
"Cheap psychotherapy."
"...?..."
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