Love Ya Award

These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

Jolly Roger is unrelenting in his commitment to speaking the critique that may yet return us to the uniquely American vision of a viable and vibrant free society. He also coins hilarious words. He doesn’t mince those words much, because the issues that he confronts are much too important to soften. His critiques are as thoughtful as they are sharp, so if you can’t argue effectively, you had best vacate the debate. I am honored to be his blogger friend. Big hugz, JR!

As I think about all the people I’ve met through blogging, I have to echo Jolly Roger’s sentiments:

There are some really decent people doing this thing that we do, and quite a few of them reach out to others with kind words, encouragement, and a pat on the back, delivered in HTML. I’d like to recognize some of these folks here, because they certainly deserve the recognition.

I would like to be on record, however, as being in (respectful) disagreement with the characterization of his critically patriotic blog:

Heidi of Virus Head is a long-time friend of this disgusting rag. She’s also very human in her writings, no matter what they are about.

I am indeed pleased to be considered fully human (grin).

So – here are some of the friendly blogs and bloggers upon which I rely.

• Kimmy blogs at Kimmy Sharing Light. The title is apt – she shares the light, even to the droopy-eyed. She’s also become a very fun Facebook friend – always sending little tidbits and extending her beauty through a thousand little kindnesses.
• Vance blogs at Meditations on an Eyeball and at the related Deferral of Meaning. He posts far too infrequently, but there is always a central question or concern that is worth mulling over. Vance is one of the only people I know with whom I am inclined to discuss biblical interpretation. Because his studies are question-driven and a bit existential and postmodern, we speak something close to the same language. Our visions of God might be a bit different, but our paths often intersect in ways that enrich both.
• Darrell blogs at Blog of the Grateful Bear, and I’m grateful for him. He inspires me with hope. He is very service-oriented – truly caring and compassionate. We’re both mystics of a sort, and so we share a love of cats and coffee (as all good mystics ought).
• Amanda blogs at Welcome to the Trueness. She is a tireless worker for issues having to do with our animal friends on planet earth. She also a creative, lively, curious and compassionate woman. I’m glad to count her as a friend.

  She has also started up a business – Lemon Queen Web Design – to support her website design habit. Check it out.

• Kate blogs at ITISI. We met through a series of coincidences. We just kept meeting up, and after a while resistance to synchronicity is futile isn’t it? She is witty and fun and she has a wonderful aesthetic sense – with images, with words, with ideas. I love her blog, and I love her too.
• So, the shining woman and mom known as Judith writes at The Only Thing I Know. She makes me laugh and celebrate. We share a deep love for the nuances and resonances of language. I wish she lived in Atlanta.
• Todd blogs at – and about – Postcards from Hell’s Kitchen. He’s one of the first bloggers that turned up when I started blogging, and we’ve been faithfully following each other’s blogs ever since. I get a vicarious pleasure from his explorations of restaurants and cultural events, and have come to value him very highly as a friend. I also think that he must be an excellent teacher.
• Mark blogs at Left Behind and Loving It. Although we went to graduate school together in Iowa, we didn’t really get to know one another very well at the time. I’ve been enjoying the way Mark thinks since we rediscovered each other recently on Facebook. He’s churchy, but in a good way. It’s a two-for-one friendship too, because his wife Christine is totally cool, too. I still remember their wedding (sniff, sob).

I could go on and on, really. I can think of ten more right off. But because there really are so many terrific blogging friends, and so many friends who have yet to start blogging, I’ll leave this space open. Ask yourself: Are you a good friend and blogger? Are you kind and encouraging to others? Do you offer laughter or wit or authentic questions? If so, claim it!

I created this award to honor those sweet souls that share the light.

Love and light to you.

I have received several awards from some of my favorite blogs in the last few weeks. I’m honored and blessed by the women and men that inspire me through their blogs, as well as share their thoughts and comments on mine.

Sharing light is simple and free. It costs nothing.

The more we inspire others the more we are placing goodness in this world.

We all need a little encouragement to continue our journey. Pass it on to people that share the light!

Much gratitude, Kimmy! I love the idea of the light circuit that is implied here, and so I give your award back to you!

Universal Light Award

Among those who blog, these are the ones that come to mind right away when I think about what lifts my spirits, encourages me, and provides the kinds of questions and thoughts that help me to thrive. Gratitude to you! Love, light and laughter!

• Meditations on an Eyeball
• Theospora
• Love Ministries
• Blog of the Grateful Bear
• Dante’s Virgil
• Rudy’s Blog
• Blind Chihuahua Brain Drops
• Think Buddha
• Infinite Thought
• Ecstatic Days
• Prose and Thorn
• So This is Wonderland
• Reverend Mommy’s Random Thoughts
• Rosei Academia
• A Mindful Life

And I’m holding one for you Elainna, whenever you start a blog! (smile)

Power Blog Award 2008

I love these awards that circulate among fellow bloggers. It’s a graphic nod of the head to enjoyable blogs. The original Power Blog award required all sorts of rules to be posted and ten other blogs to be named. All that has dropped off, and that’s for the better. Awards like this have become a bit less viral. I don’t think many people really try to use them as marketing tools as they used to do a few years ago.

When I receive an award like this, I take it as a simple compliment. I won’t name ten blogs. Here are three from amongst my faves – three that I fervently hope will not blast me for sending a cute cartoony award (grin). Here ya go!

• Soul Meets World
• Live Passionately
• Kimmy Sharing Light

The Break Out Blogger award was developed by Bob of Bobbarama:

This award casts a spotlight on bloggers who are just beginning to draw lots of attention — the equivalent of a song with a bullet on Billboard’s Top 100 chart. Lotsa good posts. Lotsa good buzz. These bloggers are going places in a hurry.

Thank you so much, Lin!

I will now pass on this award to Heidi at VirusHead for all her hard work, Phillip at Your Relevant, and Rocky at Blogging Mix. All three of you work very hard and it shows.

The two other blogs are worth a visit (or three…).

Here are three blogs that I think deserve this award:

• Mad Kane’s Political Madness – A recovering lawyer, Mad Kane can be truly hilarious about truly appalling topics. Where else can you find political limericks?
• A Poetic Justice (Don’t burn the flag. Wash it!) – I love the poetry, and the blog is terrific. Take a look.
• Bitch Ph.D. – Because I just have to, and that’s all.

This award meme was started by Roberta Ferguson. There are, of course, instructions to forward it to women bloggers that I think rock, so here are my picks:

• Frogs and Ravens
• Athana
• Laureth
• Mary
• Mousemusings
• Kieben

According to the American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, an “Open Mind” is defined as:

“A mind receptive to different opinions and ideas.”

This award is given to Blogs that demonstrate respect towards others, research and consideration of opposing views, free-flowing conversation with commenters, and an overall spirit of civility and openness. It is time we recognize such commendable behavior on the internet.

Open Mind Award « Politics & Religion

This award, like the “Thinking Blogger Award” asks the winners to name five others worthy of the award. It’s a subjective meme that creates a net of civility.

It’s difficult to narrow it down to just five – I will post with my five nominations soonest. Meanwhile, I’ve placed the award on the sidebar.

VirusHead – Heidi is a recovered Jehova’s Witness and first rate progressive thinker. She covers everything from warm and personal to wretched and Presidential.

Thank you, JR! You’d have been on my picks, too, but I suppose that tagging you right back wouldn’t be in the spirit of the thing.

The Thinking Blogger award is actually a meme, but it’s a clever one because it challenges you to name – and describe – five more blogs that make you think. Surfing around in the list is very fun.

I’ve been swamped under a couple of freelance projects, but I’ve finally got a few minutes to participate. So….

5 Blogs That Make Me Think

1. Bitch Ph.D. – A kind of sister in spirit. Love the header image – cheers me up every time I see it. Edgy, witty, personal, professional, entertaining – it’s like reading my dream best friend’s diary. I was very upset to have missed her recent visit to Emory. John met her, but I would have appreciated it more. Bah!
2. Hail Dubyas (An Illustrated Guide to Mendacity and Folly in the Imperium Americanum) – A cunning combination of satirical cartoons and well-written commentary. About once a week, this makes me break from my zombie-like computer stare into a grin and giggle.
3. Pandagon – I know, but I was reading Pandagon and Shakespeare’s Sister++ before everybody else knew them because of the whole Edwards thing. Amanda’s Pandagon blog is a treasure to me. That’s all. Reading it is never a waste of my time. I love her thoughtful flippancy.
4. Theospora (Oh, God, Grow Up) – Stimulates chains of fractal reflections. We have some common ground, and the differences are always instructive and helpful.
5. Prose and Thorn (The Place for Pointed Prose) – Sometimes acerbic, always progressive essays. Beyond the content, I enjoy PB’s creative turns of phrase.

Congratulations, you won a Thinking Blogger Award!

Should you choose to participate, please make sure you pass this list of rules to the blogs you are tagging.

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 (there is an alternative silver version if gold doesn’t fit your blog).

++I’d name Shakespeare’s Sister too, but it’s now a big ole’ group blog at Shakesville. Check it out anyway.