THINKING BLOGGER AWARD

Or, Dopey Meme of the Month.

Jimbo, he of the Place to Stop and Pee by the Side of the New Jersey Turnpike, a gentleman with real musical and writing talent as well as a full-blown phobic-level fear of Things Reptilian, has gone and nominated me for a Thinking Blogger Award. Thankee kindly, Jim.

This whole Thinking Blogger bidnis was started here, by one Ilker Yoldas, someone with way too much time on his hands. Ilker looks at memes as one way to build site traffic and facilitate link-whoring link-sharing; I look at ’em as ways to fill blogspace when your brain hurts. Use with caution, sez I.

Having said all that, it’s not the easiest thing to start a successful meme, one that really takes off throughout the Bloggy-Sphere. My sole attempt was the infamous Punch-Bowl Meme, one that eventually died a quiet (yet smelly) death. So props to Ilker for this one.

Here be the Rules:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to five (5) blogs that make you think,
   
2. Link to Ilker’s original post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme. [While you’re at it, link back to this post, per Normal Bloggy Link-Whorage Procedures. What other point is there to this Memey Bidnis?]
   
3. Optional: Display the “Thinking Blogger Award” badge with a link to the post that you wrote.

I read and enjoy a lot of blogs, but this meme presents an interesting challenge. Not necessarily your five favorite blogs, but five that make you think. Hmmm...lessee...can I pick just five? Ahh, here goes:

1. Velociworld. The self-styled Velociman sometimes comes across as the result of a genetic lab accident gone askew, in which the DNA of William Faulkner and Hunter S. Thompson got all hinkytight...but when he bothers to post, he can whipsaw you between laughter (fit to piss blood) and racked out melancholia.
   
   
2. Straight White Guy. Eric, master of the ellipsis and the well-placed italic, can take the completely mundane and make it magical. I have been struck on more than one occasion at how Eric and I will see the exact same thing at the exact same time, and write completely different posts about it. And I generally like his better.
   
   
3. Treppenwitz. David Bogner provides a unique perspective on Israel, Mideast politics, family life, and Jewish culture. There’s more intelligent dialogue going on in the comments to a single one of his posts than there is in the entire U.N...or my blog.
   
   
4. peskyapostrophe’. I discovered Mac fairly early in my blogging career. Politically, she’s somewhat left-of-center (although her site is not primarily a political site) - and she expresses her opinions on everything from knitting, Planned Parenthood, the workplace, and Fred Phelps clearly and intelligently. A daily read, despite my gargantuan blogroll.
   
   
5. all kinds of stuff. This is the blog of John Kricfalusi, the demented creator of Ren and Stimpy. John is a rara avis in the world of animation, with strong opinions and a relentless drive to make cartoons as good as they can possibly be. He writes lengthy posts chock-full of artwork and insider’s thoughts on every aspect of animation. Makes me wish I had been a professional animator; makes me realize how talentless I would have been in that field.

What five blogs make you think?