You like me, you really like me!

The lovely and talented St. Blogwen over at Hiraeth and Hwyl has tapped a Shorty as having an excellent blog. Now, by accepting this Excellent Blog Award, I have to agree to award it to 10 more people whose blogs I find Excellent Award worthy. While I, and all of those I'm about to name below, can give it to as many people as they/I want, the minimum is ten. And it's all good to recognize blogs that have already received this award.

So, first has to be Educated and Poor, the tidy little Keebler Tree run by my sister Miss Kitty. Kitty illuminates the not-so-easy life of being a college professor, teaching mostly freshman English, aka 13th grade. The old saw is "those who can, do; those who can't, teach," but Kitty shoots holes in that theory like a Howitzer through tissue paper. It's not all butt-kicking and paper-grading, though; there's plenty to enjoy while watching her wrangle chickens and herd cats and grow flowers (alas, my impoverished container gardens here in Denver weep to grow so well). And it is always good to see what my sister is doing, 1500 miles away.

Next, I must tip my hat to another Ms. Kitty, or as I call her, Rev. Kit, and her ecumenics-made-interesting-and-clear-though-not-always-easy blog, Ms. Kitty's Saloon and Road Show. Kit does us all the favor of posting her sermons, which gives me a chance to read, think, reflect, and gain a little more understanding about God's love in its many facets. She also muses on culture and social issues--with all Kit's food for thought, I should weigh 300 pounds. Or at least my brain should.

Speaking of food for thought, I can always rely on Tom Harper over at Who Hijacked Our Country to give me my regular dose of political fury, or at least my weekly reason to get my liberal dander up. As a veteran of the Navy who served in Vietnam, I have a certain respect for his point of view. Though my dad was a lifelong Republican, I think he'd be at least somewhat impressed with Mr. Parker. (FWIW, all of Tom's fury made me think he was about half his real age until he revealed the Vietnam thing.)

At this point, I have to pause to holla at my fellow Georgia Tech grad, Baxtersmum at Suzi's Blahg. A ChemE (did I get that right?) who lived only a floor or two away from me in Hopkins Hall and graduated just rows away from me in the same ceremony in 1998, she enlightens her readers periodically with tales of working at the Pill Mill, a pharmaceutical factory. However, I can't wait to see her next move--she's heading to Las Vegas very soon for a new gig. While she was also interviewing for jobs out here in Denver (which she didn't take--POUT!!), she met me for dinner, only having ever spoken to me through blogs and the internet. Who says meeting peopole online is bad?

Also through Suzi, I met her fuzzy bebeh, Baxter, a 6-lb Yorkie-poo, over at Baxterwatch. Through Bax, we get a puppeh's eye view of how awful Mum's 15-lb cats are, how he looks so much better than his sister pup, and how to stop and snorgle the roses on vacation and even on normal daily outings.

Meawhile, I'm a longtime fan of Subservient No More and her recordings of upper-class crazy-rich-white-people goings-on in south Florida at Wide Lawns and Narrow Minds. Her latest (as of this post) post is about the misuse of the word "impact". I nearly spit Izze fruit soda on the monitor when I got to the last paragraph, I laughed so hard. While she started the blog as an office worker at a more-money-than-sense gated community in south Florida, she has since quit that job and found her own path in grad school and recounting the activities of her family, their pets, and the tacky people who hove into her view on a daily basis. Her blog is so good, I've gotten my sister-in-law STL Fan hooked on it.

SpookyRach at Skewed View had me hooked when first read a post of hers a couple of years ago about the new religion she was starting. It involved wearing capes and costumes and that there would no Wednesday night service because, and I'm paraphrasing, "If you need a booster shot of your religion midweek, you need more than religion." When her stories about life as a parole officer in a small town in Texas also make me spit various chilled beverages on my monitor, she makes me smile with tales of her semi-adopted daughter and her partner/husband Jackson, who evidently has a penchant for fishing at under 25 mph.

I cannot do this list without a shoutout to Joel over at Crummy Church Signs. The premise is simple: send him a poorly written or poorly thought-out church sign to him, and he'll make fun of it. He never meant for it to get so big, but it has, and I am indeed thankful. [bows head in snarkalicious prayer]

Surviving the Workday is entertaining and informative. Ms. Theologian and her staff of bright writers discuss a wide variety of workplace issues, like workers' rights, the place of spirituality in the workplace, HR matters, and philosophy and changes in the workplace. She makes me think about where I work as more than just a cheap Dilbert knockoff but more as a place for real observation of society as a microcosm. (Did that make any sense? Forgive me, I'm running out of steam, and I have to get up early tomorrow for yet another dumbass OAC meeting at MHRC.)

Finally, Go Fug Yourself is more nationally known than any of the other blogs on this list, but it's still beyond entertaining. What better way to analyze the role of celebrities in our culture that to mercilessly critique the ridiculous things they wear? It's not fashion, people, it's a train wreck, and GFY is there to call you on it. It's not that the Emperor has no clothes; it's that she's wearing something that looks like she was attacked by 1983 and a Hefty bag which was at the time trying to mate with a pelican.

Well, thanks for playing kids. i think I owe my readers a few updates on some lingering past issues from WAD. Word.