Thinkers Among Bloggers
We’re in the thick of it now: Memorial Day weekend on the California coast. People are driving in from all over, the campgrounds and trailer parks are filling up, as are the local restaurants and gift shops. Today the temperatures in the Central Valley are reaching 90°, while here we are up into the low 60s, overcast with a very light breeze—near-perfect weather conditions in my opinion. I am mercifully free of travel obligations this weekend, aside from a day trip tomorrow to the Bay Area for various meetings. Today I get to putter in the garden, chat with neighbors, cook what I like, write a little, play some music, and update my website.
Website maintenance is a near-continuous process, something they don’t tell you in those seminars about how easy it is to put up a website. When I first realized that having a website meant I had to figure out how to fix it when it was broken, I was filled with dread. Over the years, though, the process has gotten easier to manage. I chalk it up to my Philosophy of Dreadful Jobs: when faced with any daunting task, if you actually start it at some point, then continue until it eventually is completed, it becomes less daunting. Who knew?
Anyway, the task I face today is a daunting one. I was surprised last week to get a post from Cosette at Pandora’s Bazaar, who has tagged my blog for a Thinking Blogger Award. This is basically a “Tag, you’re it!” award that is staying non-ludicrous by focusing on blogs with actual content. When someone tags you as a thinking blogger, you’re supposed to come up with a list of five blogs that make you think, and pass on the favor.
This is harder than it looks. I read—well okay, I skim—a lot of blogs each week. Many I read because they make me smile, some even make me laugh. But making me think is a higher order of persuasion, since it takes more energy and focus on my part. Why think when I can be entertained instead? Well, there are some really important reasons why we have to keep thinking, keep reasoning, and keep acting out. I’m in a bit of a women’s rights mood today, so you’ll see there is a definite gendered slant to my five picks. I wanted to add Joan Walsh and Nora Ephron, but I decided that was cheating since they’re paid to have opinions and that’s kind of different than blogging.
So here, for various reasons, are the five sites that make me think, make me angry, and make me proud:
1. Feministing
2. Wonkette
3. Whirled View
May 26th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
Thanks! Lovely surprise.
[...] the Blog o’ Gnosis: … [T]he task I face today is a daunting one. I was surprised last week to get a post from [...]
May 27th, 2007 at 9:18 am
I don’t know about the bottom 3 in your list, but the top 2 in your list are paid to have opinions. The self-employed and freelancers are paid just as employees and contractors are.
May 27th, 2007 at 9:09 pm
Aw dang, well that just goes to show you how little I know about the world of professional blogging. And to think that I could have included Nora Ephron after all!