And The Nominees Are. . .YOU

Once upon a time in a newer universe, these blogging awards were all the rage. In fact, if you go to some blogs of note, you may find that they were nominated or won rather impressive “blogger” awards nationally recognized. So some very talented people would create these nice things that friendly blogs could offer back and forth among themselves as a wonderful way to say “thanks I appreciate what you do.”

They kind of fell off a couple of years ago, and that was okay too. People express their pleasure at a particular blog by going to it regularly! But awards are still nice to receive, and I have received one.

Larry, at Woodgate’s View has nominated me, and I can only say that I am impressed to be in the company of such bloggers! Trouble is, Larry nominated a whole bunch that I would surely nominate if I had the chance, so I just want to say, that I would but he beat me to it!

Instead I’ve found a few that mean a lot to me over the years, and some that, although they are “professional bloggers” but, still, I’d like to recommend you to them as things you ought to read on a regular basis if you wish to be informed on the subjects they generally write about. If you aren’t interested, well you probably aren’t here are ya

So anyway, I’m supposed to tell you ten things about myself so here goes.

1. I won the Best Business Student award my senior year in high school. My business teacher, Jerry James chose me I think because I was not asked to be a member of Honor’s Society (although I graduated third in my class) because the Library teacher blackballed me when I dropped her class because she was a douche. Well she was, and I was very surprised to receive the pin and all, since I didn’t think I was that great of a business student. And of course I didn’t carry through, but studied political science in undergrad and then went to law school and became a boring lawyer.
2. I think I wanted to be a pilot when I was a kid, but never told anybody because when I was growing up, girls definitely were not considered “pilot material.”
3. I had a crush on Richard Widmark when I was a teenager. I have no idea why. But then I had lots of crushes on
   TV and movie actors. I don’t think that I ever sent in for an autographed picture though. I was so “above” that kind of nonsense, since I knew they didn’t sign them, but left it to some secretary.
4. My favorite period of history is Rome during the time of the Caesars, precisely between Julius Caesar and through Nero. I have no idea why, but even as a child, I used to look for fictional books about that period in the school library. I’ve seen most of the movies before you ask.
5. My favorite color is some variation of turquoise, blue greens fascinate me with the possibilities. When I paint, I almost always start fiddling with blues and greens, swirling them into each other. I find oceans fascinating for their blue-green attributes.
6. My favorite animal is impossible to define. I love koalas, polar bears, arctic fox. Fur is the main requirement. I’m not good with things that live without a coat. I make exceptions for whales and dolphins. I enjoy fish, don’t mind touching them, dehooking them and so forth, but fur is key to me wanting to get up close and personal.
7. My favorite book is undoubtedly the bible since it never gets old. There is always something new to learn. I adore Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Cervantes, Dostoyevsky, Steinbeck, heck I could spend the day listing.
8. I’d tell you my favorite actor, but EVERYBODY knows it’s Johnny Depp. Favorite actress? Katherine Hepburn or Elizabeth Taylor at her best.
9. At the moment I’m listening mostly to Melissa Ethridge, Adam Lambert, Black-eyed Peas, Janis Joplin, and Queen.
10. Biggest regret? I never grew to absolutely love any hobby such that it is always my way to unwind. I try them all, am reasonably competent at a good many, but am master of none. I suspect I have no real talent along those lines. The things that comes closest to being a passion is writing and God, or God and writing, lol.

So, on to nominations. These are blogs  I never miss, EVER.

1. Urantian Sojourn. A great bunch of folks that can really get the snark on when it comes to the political arena. Their religious beliefs are fascinating and enticing, although they seldom go into it much. But the writing is biting, witty, and fact-filled. No fence sitters here. Wallow in the humor. If I have any ability in this direction, they nurtured it.
2. Yearning for God. Jan is just a wonderful person with a great spirit. Almost every day she gives us that small tidbit of peace that we can carry throughout our hectic and often stressful days. She’s my little oasis in the midst of chaos and she helps me to slow down, take a breath, and rest in the eternal.
3. Finding Grace Within. Shannon is a chaplain at a prison. She manages to find such goodness within walls that house such depths of despair. In relating the small stories that come out of her experiences, she manages to take us out of ourselves, remind us of our blessings, and reassure us that tomorrow is another day. I find her blog refreshing, and positive.
4. Juanita Jean’s. The is a political blog that keeps up with all things Texas, but manages to always have a word to say about the national scene as well. Nobody does it quite the way “Juanita” does, with a rapier wit and great writing. She is plugged into the Democratic party in Texas and never misses in her analysis. She’s a true mentor with her skills.
5. Informed Comment. Juan Cole is a professor at the U of M, and gives some of the best commentary on the Middle East that can be found. Don’t miss his analysis of what’s going on. He’s got all the cred one could want and is of course much maligned by the Right because he is just that good. The louder they whine, you know the better it is.
6. Political Wire. Teagan Goddard posts the best quips of the day and of course links you to the source so you can read it in full. If you have little time on any given day, running through Goddard’s shorts will give you a pretty decent overview of the day’s events. If I’m stymied, I go here to get a quick jump-start of the news.
7. FiveThirtyEight. Nate Silver’s polling analysis is hands down the best in the land. He is consistently the closest in predicting the future and don’t we all want to know. More than that, he explains why he does what he does and how he decided what he decides. It’s like receiving a course in polling everyday. You can rely on his numbers. It’s that simple.
8. Daily Kos. Markos Moulitsas is by far in my mind one of the premier political writers of our day. The site is of course huge, and you can read all kinds of things there, of varying value, but I find Markos’s posts informative and lively.
9. Ezra Klein. If you want to understand economics, then read Ezra. He breaks it down and spells it out. No better example other than Paul Krugman around for helping you get it.
10. NYTimes Editorials. All your favorites come here, so just run down the list and grab you a little Krugman, David Brooks (okay mostly he’s wrong, but sometimes he’s passionately good), Andrew Rosenthal, and tons of others. Always worth a perusal.

Okay, so that’s my list. Hope you find something new and interesting to add to your list of must reads every day!

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