Feline Formal Shorts

Gasp! I’ve been tagged!

The lovely and talented Aunt B. has taken me by surprise, and nominated me for a “Thinking Blogger Award!” After the beflusterment and blushing and general fangirliness for the nod, I got around to peeking and figuring out what on earth this silly thing actually was.

Apparently Kat Coble got her, and elected to keep the meme flowing.

The rules are pretty simple:

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

So let’s commence with the tagging! This is pretty hard… not least because I’m none too dilligent with my reading, and tend to concentrate my reading in one spot even though I know there’s other, equally wonderful stuff for me to be looking at. But let’s see what happens, eh?

First, of course, would have to be lovelesscynic. She’s probably the biggest reason I have any sort of progressive race consciousness at all. The time we spent together when we were in college was truly instructive, and she’s managed to cart all of that over into her blog. Besides, anybody who can go from discussing the nationality of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to offering random translations of chinese literature to discussing the complexities of Margaret Cho’s comedy and still have time to advance silly-but-not-entirely-untenable theories, compare the current Democratic candidates to the cast of Captain Planet, and get deep stuff out of Xanga is really super duper cool in my book.

(And she’s hot, too, but I don’t think I’m allowed to use that as part of my judgment criteria.)

Which, of course, brings me to Little Light, seeing as how I met them both in the same place. She makes me want to really think, and use all those fancy skills we learned at that place we went to school. And somehow manages to write about life, and about theory, in a way that melds it all together and sits right down in your soul. Whether it’s writing about dangerous people, or authenticity, or religion or any number of cool and complicated things, she’s always got something there for me to pick up on.

My only scold for the both of them is that they should post more! (I know, I know, pot, kettle, and the like. But they’re my nominations, so I win.)

Next, I nominate Nezua, over at The Unapologetic Mexican. Even though the typeset gives me headaches half the time (mostly due to the fact that by the time I’ve gotten that far into my reading, I’ve been staring at the screen for hours and hours), it’s always a wonderful, insightful experience. His sense of humor is delightful, and it’s …. freeing, to be able to go somewhere and have people just nod and understand when you’re ranting about WHITEPROGRESSIVES, without having to stop and qualify yourself, and define all your terms, and make sure you don’t offend anyone before you can make a point. Not a blog for the faint of heart, or defensive of mind, but a welcome reprieve for the tired.

For sheer utility, I have to nominate Thus Spake Zuska. While I don’t always agree with her, she is definitely the go-to woman for a sharp stick and eloquent turn of phrase. Her posts on why she is not polite and the origin of “puke on his shoes” should be required reading for anyone just coming into their anger. On the other hand, her explication of what a feminist theory of science is qualifies as good information for just about anyone. And even the non-feminist among us will find something inspiring in her Joy of Science series.

Last… I don’t even know who I should put last. If nm had a blog, I’d probably put her here. That whole Tennessean/Tiny Cat Pants hangers-on contingent makes me think, even the ones I’m currently miffed at. Bridgett and I seem to share a brain. Mack is just plain awesome. Kat and Aunt B have both already been tagged, of course. And ‘coma and Ginger and Lynnster and everyone I’m forgetting over there that keeps talking to me all make my day.

But, I suppose I’ll go with the utility angle once again, and nominate Slartibartfast. I don’t agree with him all, or even most of the time. I get the feeling that in person, we’d either be fast friends or mortal enemies. I don’t venture over there unless someone links it, and I don’t really know if we’re ever going to get past the impasse we’re currently at.

But he makes me think. Every time one of these debates comes up, I can’t help but sit myself down, comb through my links, marshall my arguments, crack open a book, and get ready to defend my positions. And given how amazingly bloggily lazy I am, anybody who can get me to sit down and pop out long posts and participate in ridiculously long, insightful, sprawling, complicated, random threads has to be worth something.