I Can’t Do Anything Right

I’ve stressed about this way more than I would like to admit. But the more I try to hide things or to put a better face on something, the farther from my true self my writing gets, and then even I realize I’m writing junk. Time to come clean.

Hammer over at When You’re Only Tool Is A Hammer has selected me for a Thinking Blogger award.

If you haven’t heard of it, it’s basically a meme in which a person lists and “tags” five other bloggers whose blogs make them think when they read them. Those five named bloggers should then do the same. List five bloggers whose blogs they read and that make them think.

(sound of car screeching to a halt)

I have to admit that this kind of thing stresses me. I’m so averse to choosing one person over another that I’ve actually been worrying about it for a couple of days. I knew I had Thursday Thirteen happening yesterday, which a world-class procrastinator like me grabbed onto like a life preserver in the deepest ocean, but now it’s time to fess up.

I can’t name five. I have a number of blogs that I read regularly, but they are all over the map as to content. Some are sweet as apple pie, like a Leave It To Beaver marathon, and some are as rough as a boxed set of uncut Sopranos DVDs.

So how do I choose. Heck, a lot of the people’s blogs that I read have already had this award from others, so there’s yet another conundrum. Just the kind of stuff to confuse a Louisiana public school edumacated boy, ya know? (Theoretically, every blogger could eventually get a Thinking Blogger award, well, except for maybe those annoying sites that have only gibberish on them.)

I’ve thought and thought about it, and the only thing I can come up with that I can live with is this:

Hammer, thank you for naming me one of your five Thinking Blog Award Winners. I read your blog daily, and I think that you and I see eye to eye on so many things, it surprises me. I usually quickly find ways in which I’m different and draw back, but your stories of how you adopted your kids won me over big time (Here, Here, Here, and Here). Those were the first post of yours I read. People like you and your wife, with hearts big enough to adopt older kids gives me hope that there are some sane folks left in this screwy country.

But at the risk of angering whoever it is that zaps you when you break a chain letter, I’m not going to name five award winners. I’m just going to list a big list of folks I read on a regular basis. It may be the wimpy way out, but, well, I’m wimpy like that. Like I said, I can’t do anything right.

In no particular order (and none know I'm doing this):
These first few are the ones I have in my sidebar:
Emily@sk is a homeschooled Canadian teenager that is way more mature and forward thinking than I was at seventeen. For example, she’s gone to Christian rock concerts and interviewed the bands and posted transcripts, photos, and videos where she asks about their lives and beliefs. She’s got a side blog, AskTV, comprised of videos that she and her sister Victoria have made.

Nathan at From Valinor To Petersburg is another Christian teen, well on his way to being a published novelist. His reviews of books, movies, and music are as well thought out as any I’ve ever read. Young folks like Nate and Emily also give me hope for the future.

neo-neocon is, in her own words, “a life-long Democrat, mugged by reality on 9/11.” She’s as articulate as I’d like to be. She still lives in a liberal area, with liberal family who wonders what the heck went wrong. I think she just went right, as in correct. She’s able to see and put into words much of what I see and feel about the world but would never be able to put down in words the way she does. I don’t think she’s ever been to my blog, but I sure read hers.

LittleJohn at That’s Outrageous posts occasionally, but they are always like a big hunk of steak to sink your teeth into. He writes about politics and the state of America and the world in brief posts that hit like a baseball bat. Good stuff.

Tom at Life’s Kinda Confusing Right Now is an engineer in Washington state (I think) that talks about life and Christianity in a soft gentle way that still hits hard. I love his stuff.

The rest of these, I visit often but have never linked.

Michelle at Michelle's Spells is a Phd writing professor that I have absolutely no way of describing. But being a Louiana boy, I can relate to the Texas girl that’s still in her and comes out in her writing, though she’s apparently lived in Detroit for years.

JRs Thumbprints and Other Such Vagaries is by an aspiring fiction writer, whose day job is as a high school teacher in the Michigan state prison system. His stories of the prisoners will have you shaking your head, and also appreciating your own job.

At Theory of Thought is where I read of the trials and tribulations of a Texas teenage girl that will have everyone in the publishing world quaking in fear or shouting for joy if she decides to become an author someday. An insomniac with an ipod obsession and also a world-class worrier. I can relate to the insomnia and worrying.

Norma at Collecting My Thoughts is a Christian lady, a retired librarian with strong opinions and incredible output. If you miss a couple of days reading, you’ll have some serious catching up to do. This is just one of seven or so blogs she keeps up and running.

Babystepper at Babysteps is a young Christian mother of two kids, but is also a dorm mother. Not sure of the whole situation there with the dorm thing, but she’s learning a few things that will come in handy when her own kids become teenagers.

Shelly at This Eclectic Life is a Texas woman that writes a lot about her family and her past which is something I can identify with. Oh yeah, she loves her some bacon too.

Scribbit is a Christian mom (and wife of a lawyer, so pray for her). They live in Alaska, and she writes about everything from favorite recipes to posting videos of her kids rollerblading in the house. Great writing. Her Thursday Thirteen this week about how her husband gloats when comparing his new Apple laptop to her Gateway laptop is darn near a perfect blog post. (No explosions. Perfection requires an explosion or blazing fire.)

There are many others, and I hate to stop here, but my back is killing me. I have to go lay down.

Again, thanks Hammer. You rock.

If I left you out, don’t worry, I’ll link you some day soon. I run tests at work on stuff that takes time and I end up scouting a few of my favorite blogs at work, and I don’t have them linked here at home. I’ll have to Google your blogs or go back through comments and get to your blogs so I can link them.

Sounds like a great post for Saturday, right? All the ones I couldn’t put here, plus I want to point y’all to some nice folks with good photography blogs, ok?

Everyone I've listed here today (and that I'll list tomorrow) makes me think. If you want to consider yourself tagged with the Thinking Blogger Award, copy the little icon from the top of this post and tag yo seff five bloggers that make you think.