Thinking About Thinking Bloggers

I'm thrilled that Sherry Chandler gave me the Thinking Blogger Award. It has left me, however, with the difficult duty of passing along the award to only five more blogs. Now, all the blogs on my blogroll are thought-provoking, and a number already sport this tasteful insignia. What I've done is choose five that make me think about things I would not otherwise have thought about. My watchword is "eclectic."

The best thing about the award has been backtracking, and looking at the "Thinking Blogs" other people have selected. It's a dandy way to sample things I wouldn't have learned about otherwise. (See above.)

• Prairie Mary. Mary Scriver writes about the high prairie, teaching English, western North American regional history, painting, sculpture, theology, animal control officers, and that's just a sample. You never know what you'll find there, but you know it will be well-written.
• Heraclitean Fire. Harry Rutherford is similarly eclectic, but very different. I expect to find science, technology, flora, fauna, and literature, but I'm often treated to art history, pop culture, and other surprising things.
• Via Negativa. Dave Bonta writes poetry and poem-like things, but I first bookmarked him for the natural history of Pennsylvania, so similar and so different from Pocahontas County. His essays are always thought-provoking, and his Smorgasblog is a great place to find other interesting bloggers.
• Burning Silo. Bev Wigney's natural history knowledge is both broad and deep. She writes wonderfully, and her pictures are marvelous, especially the insects and spiders. Like my other Thinking Bloggers, you never know what she'll write about next.
• Riverside Rambles. Larry Ayers' list of interests sounds a lot like mine, including Open Source Software, traditional music, and natural history. He does his musings in Hannibal, MO, watched over by the shade of Mark Twain, while Pearl Buck and Louise McNeill haunt me here in Pocahontas County. Except for the knitting, I think we're blog twins.

Update: I poked around a bit and discovered that the "Thinking Blogger" business originated with the thinking blog, oddly enough. The rules include: # 2: Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme. So I have, although after browsing there, I'm a bit reluctant to throw it a link. It seems oriented toward people who "monetize," "promote," and "improve their page rankings." These things seem the antithesis of thoughtful writing. Still, that's the origin of the little emblem, and that's reason enough to credit it.