Excellent Blogs

Kiva, that wonderful participant in the Round Robin and Monday Photo Shoot who wants "to be eccentric and a Renaissance woman all at the same time," recently honored me with an E for Excellent award. Thank you so much, Kiva! It really does mean a lot to me, especially knowing that you read this blog for more than just the three memes.

Sandcastle Momma (whose blog is also a hoot) recently gave Kiva this same award, which Kiva is now passing on to me and Mrs. Annie and Vicki of Maraca. That's how some of these online award thingies work, as a sort of meme. Blogger A recommends the work of Bloggers B, C, and D, who in turn praise Bloggers E through M, and so on. In theory the mathematics of it would eventually lead to every blog in the world (assuming they have any readers at all) being honored at some point, but people do sometimes break the chain. In practice, many of the really good blogs get recommended fairly often in one way or another, while other blogs, good, bad or indifferent, mostly get ignored.

What I mean to say, in my ungracious, over-intellectualizing way, is that it now falls to me to award this neat little graphic to some other worthy bloggers. And I'm going to be a little boring about it, and recommend blogs that I've recommended before, for a few reasons. One, I'm extremely lazy in my blog-jogging, and tend not to seek out new blogs except as their authors turn up as participants in the Round Robin, Weekend Assignment or Monday Photo Shoot. I'm therefore fishing in a relatively small pond compared to the ocean-sized blogosphere. The other reason is, it's hard to avoid recommending blogs this good! Onward, then: here are three blogs that are all updated more or less daily, feature both good writing and good photography, and are genuinely interesting:

1. Ellipsis. I know, I know. Not a surprise, is it? I can't help it. Never mind the Round Robin: Carly's blog, Ellipsis, is quite simply one of the very best blogs out there. Passionate, insightful, whimsical and quirky, Carly writes about her rather interesting life, her eccentric cat Elvis, lighthouses and butterflies, politics and art, diabetic-friendly recipes and Bay Area photo safaris. Each entry is illustrated with her colorful, professional-quality photos. If you've only dropped by Carly's blog in connection with the photo shoots, you're missing out.

2. Julie's Journal at Stately Barrett Manor. Julie didn't just customize her blog; she built it from the ground up. She writes about writing, pop culture, Texas, scams, bureaucracy, poor customer service, and life as a freelancer. She's another one for great photos as well, even when she doesn't squeeze the Round Robin into her busy schedule.

3. Here, There and Everywhere. Pat has had an interesting life. She's helped out at a wild animal refuge, played in a band, hung out with actors, and volunteered at autograph shows. Now she takes care of her brother and reads a lot of books, and occasionally makes it to an sf convention or autograph show. She reviews a lot of books, mostly YA fantasy novels, and writes about classic films and their actors, many of whom she has met or corresponded with. Good stuff!

Obviously there are a lot of other great blogs out there, many of which are on my sidebar. I am frequently impressed with the blogs of most of the Robins, the Weekend Assignment gang, and the Monday Photo Shooters. Our beloved blogfather, John Scalzi, is still being his usual entertaining self over at the Whatever, but he doesn't need me to promote him. And I'm thinking now that I should have put Bea's great blog Wanderer in here, save for the fact that her posts aren't as frequent as the other three. All I can say is, if you're a blogger, keep at it. Make your posts frequent and interesting, and participate in internet challenges and such so that readers will find you. Sooner or later, people will notice. In fact, for many of you, it's clear from your sidebar awards and comment threads that people already appreciate your efforts.

I see that Cox cable is down yet again. I think that's the third night in four days. Arrgh. I'll have to post this in the morning. Good thing I've already had five hours of sleep tonight! Back to bed....

Karen