If I Only Had a Brain

Well, I'll be gosh darned. Crystal over at My Longest Year has honored me with a Thinking Blogger Award. Apparently, my brainless ranting comes across as more thoughtful than I'd realized.

Now, before you go getting all up in arms about this, yes, I have received this award before. California Teacher Guy saw fit to nominate me back in February, and I was just as flattered and honored then. When I nominated five others, I thought long and hard before passing it on to Dancing Dragon, Kvetch, Julia, Jen, and Sandra, and I stand by those nominations, because they're still all great. But I had to take this wonderful opportunity, as a second-round nominee, to pass on the nominations to five new bloggers, whose posts consistently make me sit and have a good think. So, without further ado, and in no particular order, here are five more thoughtful bloggers:

1) Lilit at Lilit in Stereo
Many of you may not know this, but long, long ago, in the land of elementary school, Lilit and I were best friends. Of course, her name wasn't Lilit, and mine wasn't Lara, but the friendship was there all the same. We lost touch for many years, but I'm so glad we've found each other again in the blogosphere. Her posts are touching and poetic, and always make me think about my own life in some new way, through some new lens. I love that her writing has that mix of pure beauty and deep reflection.

2) Pistol Pete at Necessary Therapy
Pistol Pete was kind enough to bestow upon me the "American Idiot Award" you can see over there in the sidebar. He claims I taught him something with my post "Wisdom Beyond His Years" - something so visceral, as he said, that he couldn't even put it into words. Well, I think I'll be similarly handicapped in trying to describe what his posts teach me. What I know is that he writes about any number of deep and difficult topics with clarity, thoughtfulness, and sincerity. I'm always learning when I read his site.

3) Kilgore Trout at Quintessential Rambling
I have to admit there have been times when reading QR has inspired so much thought that I've had to actually close the window for fear of losing any chance of peaceful sleep. The issues are varied, but they're always presented so dynamically that you find yourself forced to take a stand, even though it's likely only in your own mind. I never knew how many thoughts I could really have on so many different issues until I started reading QR.

4) Tori at When I Finally Decided to Get It
Boy, Tori is so wonderful, and so much like me in many ways. I've read many posts from her and thought, "YES! Me too!" An open letter she wrote to an ex-boyfriend got me to thinking about myself and my own growth as a potential girlfriend - how much more certain I am in myself now than I was five or six years ago. She also wrote about her experience with anti-depressants, and I began to consider my own future in that respect. I love how she makes me take a second look at myself.

5) Seth at Writing Often Creates a Path for Discovery
Seth is constantly making me think with his writing prompts: What are my life's goals? What obstacles have I overcome in my life? How do I define heroism? In what ways am I judgmental? Not only does he prompt us to consider these issues, but he also opens up and shares his own thoughts about them, giving us an insight into who he is, both as an educator and a person. And, in turn, I consider who I am, both as an educator and a person.

So there you go, five amazingly thoughtful bloggers. If you want some mental exercise, go check them out - you won't be disappointed. If the thinking's not your thing, try zoning out to Hypnotoad TV.