This week, I’m doing my meme homework.
MEME the FIRST:
The Thinking Blog MemeÂ
I first learned about this meme from Jenn With 2 Ns. She’s a good sort. Tells a mean zombie story. And even has a book contract—go Jenn! Then Julia tagged me with it. So there’s no way I can get out of this one.
And they both said my blog made them think. Awww. That looks sarcastic typed out there, but I’m serious. Jenn and Julia, you made me feel special.
Here is the original meme from TheThinkingBlog. Go there if you want to read the rules. I may build a separate page for blogging awards soon. So this one will go there (along with my proud award from Liz!) The most meaningful award came two weeks ago from my wife. She said I’m an A-list husband. Awww.
So. Who makes me think? Lots of you do, but I’m limited to five.
- KnifeGunPen: Robert Bruce writes poems. The purpose of his blog is like a rifle with laser scope sighting: to throw a poem around the world once a week. There’s something beautiful about that degree of focus. Sure, he does other posts, but mostly, he’s true to his focus. And he writes good poems.
- RealLivePreacher: Gordon Atkinson won me over several years ago with his posts on the Monkey Chow Diaries. I already read his essays from time to time. But anyone who could talk about theology one day and link to Monkey Chow the next… he’s something special. Just read this. Or this! I consider Gordon a personal friend.
- NakedPastor: David Hayward got my attention a few weeks ago, but I don’t remember how we first connected. Like Gordon, he’s an edgy blogging pastor. And he’s an artist. From time to time, he gives away his art to his readers! Also, his one frame comics are brilliant. I don’t say that lightly. Check out this Jaunt with Jesus. Or his new Interview with the Devil. And his Prayers from the Cell are wonderful exercises in micro poetry.
- Laura Barkat: You can read her on two different blogs at Seedlings in Stone and Green Inventions. Both of her sites present an iconic image and a short reflection. Often she is quite poetic in her reflections. Sometimes she is literally poetic. More than any blogger I know, she has been quite intentional about the community she developed on her blog. I consider Laura to be a friend, and her blog to be something fascinating enough to study on a regular basis.
- Debbie Weil: I haven’t talked about Debbie Weil in a long time. Last year The Corporate Blogging Book pretty much changed my life. I’m not kidding. First of all, I read the book in one day. I never do that. But then, I found that when I used the book as a reference at work, people took notice. Her arguments are convincing. Her advice is practical. And now she has a cool podcast where she interviews people about social media. If you are interested in blogs and social media and the future of the internet, Debbie Weil is someone to watch and learn from. (And she even commented on my old blog last time I linked to her… But I think she’s quite a bit busier now. Alas. We still love you, Debbie.)
[Note to readers: for some reason, the early annotations on some of my "thinking bloggers" got lost. I added it back in when I realized what happened.]Â
No need to participate in the meme. I just wanted you five to know that you make me think. And there are many others out there who make me think.
In fact, let’s make that a rule for the comments section on this post. List at least one blogger who makes you think—and give a URL address so we can go think too!
19 comments ↓
Erika Haub over at The Margins gets the top spot of my “thinking” list. Check her out at http://erika.haub.net/
(Okay, editing question. How do you handle punctuation after a URL? If I add a period after Erika’s blog address, won’t that screw people up if they try to cut and paste her address? I have been wondering about this for quite some time.)
Hi Marcus
I like your question, so my contribution is:
Kent Blumberg (most of his posts on managing and leadership makes you stop and think)
OOO! LL’s name is Laura!! (just gave away her trade secret there, Mark
I thought it was Lolita Lulu.
*snicker*
Thank you Mark.
I’m thinking you’re too good to me brother.
Craver, how did you know? Mark’s just running cover for me (how kind after I was roped into hijacking his blog by a mischievous one who likes to snicker!)
And, Mark, thanks for the tag. Methinks me’s been tagged on this before…
http://greeninventionscentral.blogspot.com/2007/04/thought-spin.html
And that was my answer.
I concur with your nomination of LL’s blog. Since you mentioned “Laura” (anonymity is a hard thing to hold onto!) already, let me put a word in for Ted Gossard’s blog.
He’s not only thoughtful, he’s prolific…posting everyday!
Here’s the link to Ted’s blog - Jesus Community
http://www.communityofjesus.blogspot.com/
ESI, that what we call obssessed, around here
Karin, I like Kent’s blog a lot. In fact, I found it through you originally.
And he did the best thing. When I commented there, he emailed to thank me. Not a big thing, but man did it get my attention.
L.L., I actually messed this up. You were supposed to be a blog I liked. But somehow the annotation about you got lost. I knew you and others had been tagged, so I tried to deflect all tags into the comments section.
And ended up confusing people. Oh well.
Thanks for the props, Marcus!
And good choices on the thinking blogs. I already listed five (including, obviously, this one) in my own blog, so I’ll leave it at that.
Thanks Marcus. (Tried to leave this yesterday but didn’t get through…)
Mark,
Do you prefer to be called Mark, or Marcus?
Thank you for the information! I’ve got that book on my shelf, but I didn’t even think to look it up myself.
(Yeah, just what you need. A lazy blogger hanging around your site!)
Llamma…”Hey you!” Work in a pinch *grin*
Sorry comments are so slow from me this week. I’m scrambling to get ready for a blog convention. But I appreciate all of your thoughts! I hope to answer everyone individually soon.
Robert, ach! You got stuck in Akismet for a few days. I dusted off your comments and rescued them though. Strange that you landed there. It’s a dark dank place, with too many links to other dark dank places.