the pleasure of thought

Hallelujah! The North Carolina State Legislature has adjourned for 2007! I have my life back!

Okay, I'm being melodramatic but I did work 107 hours during the past two weeks. Our elected officials suddenly concluded two weeks ago that it was time for them to pass a final budget and close out the session. As my work is directly linked to legislative action, this resulted in on average, 12-hour days for the past two weeks. But it is done, the state has a budget, and a bunch of new laws. I am reasonably sane or at least no crazier than I've always been. I have survived, but I've missed Journal Land. I'm catching up on journals and promise to resume more regular entries of my own.

My dear friend Bea has bestowed a tag on my blog, the Thinking Blogger Award. I am so honored to be among those that she selected. BTW, if you don't read Bea's blog, you should! She writes with warmth, wisdom, and wit about a variety of topics.

The blogger who initiated the Thinking Blogger Award asks that when you tag someone that you pass along the origins of the award, so follow the link. Following are the rules that she asked be passed along to award recipients:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn't fit your blog).

Now, I must select my five award winners. It's a hard task. There are so many mentally stimulating blogs out there, but I must narrow my list down to five. I'm also electing to not repeat journals that have already received this award from others. These are my five blogs that make me think:

Raven's Lament--This journal always makes me think. Indigo writes eloquently with a rhythm that makes you feel and think; sometimes she makes me laugh and sometimes cry, but always she makes me think. She is a gifted writer, who takes her truth and fashions it into a work of literature that speaks of her sorrows but also of her joys and attests to the power of her spirit.

Sober Gay Poz Ex-Con--I love everything about this journal, starting with the catch line, "On a queer day you can read forever." What can I say, I'm a big Barbra Streisand fan and the parody tickles my funny bone. Marc is a writer and I do believe that he could write about the contents of a can of soup and make it interesting. I like the way he looks at the world, the ordinary, and sees the extraordinary. Marc also writes poetry that makes you think. Pleasure yourself and check out his poetry site.

Thoughts from the Headoc--The HeaDoc is a psychiatrist in my home state of North Carolina. His disclaimer makes it clear that he is not using his journal to dispense treatment, so I want to make that clear here as well. The Doc is a skilled writer and a fearless one as well. He takes on controversial subjects and always writes with honesty about his take on them. I think what I like most about this journal is the thorough dissection the Doc always gives to his topics. I'm breaking my rule with the HeaDoc; he already has received the thinking blogger award. However, I just can't leave him off my list. If you haven't visited his journal, stop by, you won't be disappointed.

 

Just Mary--Her journal title is very simple but Mary is a far from simple writer.  Her journal is thought provoking, by turns serious, funny, and often a wonderful combination of both. Her entries have the best subject lines in J-Land; a sample, "My rose bush isn't perfect, but at least I took my iron off the living room floor." 

 

Prison's a Bitch--Steven, the owner of this blog, is currently incarcerated in Illinois. Marc (mentioned above) posts his blog entries. Steven's prose is well written but his poetry is extraordinary. Whether writing prose or poetry, he makes the reader think. He doesn't bemoan his current status but rather he is on a journey for truth and he takes the reader on that journey with him.

 

Okay, I'm done. I hope that you will check out any of these journals that you don't already read.

Tags: Thinking Blogger Award, meme, poetry, mental stimulation