Rockin' Girl Blogger

Monty, the infamous CEO, was kind enough to nominate me as a "Rockin' Girl Blogger" a few months ago. Unfortunately, I was knee deep in packing and getting sodomized by the White House Moving Company, so I didn't thank him and pass the award along.

As a liberated male, I, of course, aspire to be as evolved, brilliant, and generally with it as even the least advanced woman.

(Incidentally, indulging one's feminine side is not just a way of becoming more well-rounded, thoughtful, and wiser; it's also a great way of picking up chicks. I know: obvious joke.)

As a man, even a somewhat liberated one, there is only so much that I can do. Luckily, I have a lot of blogs that show me the way. It's hard to find people who haven't already gotten this award, but the following five writers have somehow slipped through the cracks. Their blogs beautifully define femininity in impressive, exciting, and completely individual ways:

Franki, of Frankily Yours, is smart, funny, and sharp as a tack. She tends to go right to the point, and is none-too-subtle in her analysis and attacks. All too many women define femininity in terms of silence, docility, and lack of self-respect. Franki shows that strength and self-awareness can be very feminine.

As I may have pointed out once or twice, Jamiesmitten is a little random, a little silly, and a lot incisive. Somewhere in this apparent contradiction, she stakes out a very brave and very feminine space.

Odat usually puts up short, happy, life-affirming posts that are the perfect antidote to a stressful day. Every so often, however, she holds forth with a longer, more personal piece that reminds me of how impressive and deeply thoughtful she is.

I don't know if Spellbound would describe herself as a "girl," but she definitely should. In the time that I've been reading her blog, I've watched her rediscover her youth, her sexuality, and her femininity. In the process, she's helped her husband rediscover a lot of his own youth and vitality.

Philanthropster doesn't often post, and more's the pity. The cautiously optimistic side of its author's personality, this site is a simple consideration of all the beauty, truth, and hope that hide in plain sight.

Thinking Blogger Award

One side effect of taking a couple of months off blogging is that you miss an awful lot of things. One thing that I missed was the massive proliferation of awards. This isn't to say that I didn't get any awards; rather, I didn't get the time to give them the attention that they deserved, nor did I get the time to pass them on to the bloggers who move, inspire, and stimulate me.

So, anyway, one of my favorite bloggers, Glamourpuss, was kind enought to give me the "Thinking Blogger Award." I was particularly appreciative of this because I think that this is exactly what my favorite bloggers do: they enable me to see the world through another set of eyes and reconsider a few of my basic assumptions. I hope that that is part of what I do for you, because it certainly is what you do for me.

With that in mind, I nominate the following (alphabetically organized) five bloggers for the "Thinking Blogger Award," and thank them deeply for giving me another viewpoint:

1. Claudia of La Vida Claudia. Claudia is in the process of developing her artistic ability, even as she deals with all sorts of messy life events. She documents all of this with a smart, funny, and slightly cynical viewpoint. It's fair to say that she's a total delight.

2. Franki, of Frankily Yours is someone who I have had the joy of meeting, so this is a little bit of a cheat. Her posts are generally short, funny, and tend to grind up sacred cows.

3. Jamiesmitten, of Tell All Your Single Friends, tends toward the sort of random, playful thoughtfulness that so often leads to great ideas and sparks of genius.

4. Judith, of Aucturian Nighmare is one of those people who makes you realize that diversity is just so much more diverse than anyone gives it credit for. I mean, I though that I'd lived an eventful life, but Judith makes me look like a shut-in. Although she is currently out of circulation, I wait with bated breath for her return.

5. I've followed Pool across two blogs, and I will gladly follow her across many, many more. To put it bluntly, she demonstrates a keen, sharp intelligence and eloquence that puts me to shame. On top of all that, she also doesn't suffer fools, and has some beautiful stories about her refusal to do so.

So, there you go. Five bloggers who regularly show me new ways of seeing the world. I cannot overemphasize their talent or thoughtfulness.

Hope your Saturday is proceeding nicely!