Thinking Blogger Award

After more than a year of regular blogging, I have just been honored with my first blogging award. The Thinking Blogger Award was created to bring attention to blogs that contain more than just superficial pablum. It is a meme, and accepting the award means that I acknowledge and accept the tag. Although I have a general policy about not participating in memes or tagging, I have made exceptions and this is one. It doesn’t ask me to name “five things in my desk drawer” or “100 things about me” or “my top ten favorite movies” but rather, the top five blogs that make me think. It’s not about me. Besides, now I get to display this cool award on my blog… Ok, maybe it is a little about me!

Unfortunately, there are more than five blogs that I visit regularly that make me think. Limiting myself to just five will be a challenge. However, I am confident that this award will make its way around to those that I didn’t include, as many of the bloggers on my blogroll read many of the other blogs as well. Dana over at Awareness deemed my blog a Thinking Blog after some other astute blogger identified hers as such. Fortunately for me, four of the bloggers I would have considered in my list are out of the running. Dana named three in her list and, of course, there is her blog, Awareness.

And the winners are, in alphabetical order:

Anna’s Photo of the Day: More than just a photo blog, Anna illustrates through her photography the day-to-day life of an American living in London. She has an uncanny ability to capture the extraordinary in the ordinary; the unusual in the usual and always has something positive to say even when facing life’s difficulties. Anna’s character comes through in her art, both photographic and written, and her blog is a daily stop in my travels around the blogosphere.

Brumley’s Blog: Keith Brumbley is disenchanted with our (the U.S.) government. Not just the current administration, but politics as usual. He was so frustrated that he went on a media hiatus for quite some time. He didn’t blog and tried to insulate himself from all things political. But he truly cares and I knew he would be back, and with a vengeance. I wasn’t disappointed! We need guys like Keith who point out the painfully obvious to those who take what the mainstream media portrays as the truth.

Imagine What I’m Leaving Out: This is Judy’s blog. Judy shares bits and pieces of her life from as recently as yesterday to her childhood. Often, she will post photos from days gone by. Her outlook, experience and perspective is always encouraging and uplifting. She calls them like she sees them - not too much gets by her. Although this is her new blog, she has been active in the blogosphere for some time. There are more than 1,120 posts in her old but still active blog, Just Ask Judy.

WebKittyn Warbles: Kittyn owns an Internet radio station, KMRL - Kittyn Mojo Radio Live. She also has an impressive blog and a lot of awards. Now she has one more. Recently, she has been documenting her fight against the demon nicotine and the trials and tribulations of owning an Internet radio station. It’s a busy site, there’s a lot to see and do, but when clicking on the link, her blog posts are right up front. After all, it is a blog.

Writing From the Inside Out: Barbara is one of my first and most loyal readers. She is extremely knowledgeable about music - especially rock from the 70s and 80s. Barbara is passionate about a number of causes, has a heart of gold and she’s smart. Her blog covers a wide spectrum; she is as likely to post a discussion on the major controversy of the day as she is a pop-quiz on pop culture. She’s not afraid to bear her soul on her blog - she is among the most authentic people I know.

The participation rules are simple:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn't fit your blog).

There they are. It was agonizing to select just five. Every blog on my blogroll has my implicit (and now explicit) seal of approval. In my May 2006 archives, I listed a brief description of all the blogs in my link list at the time - it took a loooong time. But it was worth it. Some of those blogs have disappeared, some have been abandoned and one, after changing away from Blogger, appears here as a Thinking Blogger award winner.