I'm back, sort of...

Well, just my luck. I'm finally well enough to attempt a bit of blogging, and it's Friday the 13th. In my culture, a Friday falling on the 13th of the month is supposed to mean bad luck. In reality what it means is that you get conditioned to place inordinate weight on anything that goes wrong on a Friday the 13th, so that you can join in the fun of jumping up and down and saying see, see, see, it is bad luck after all. Besides, knocking wood (aka touching wood) several times a day is also fun, if you're doing it in the spirit of play and don't really take it seriously. If you do take Friday the 13th seriously, my condolences. There's nothing like being sure your day is going to be miserable to take the zest out of living.

Changing subjects, I'm feeling a bit like Rip Van Winkle here. Not only was I not well enough to work, but I wasn't up to following the news, either. And since I have more than a week's worth of work (real work -- the sort that either keeps the house livable or helps put food on the table) to catch up on, it might be a while before I'm up to speed around here. My thanks for your patience.

In the meantime, let's clear up some unfinished business. Laurie nominated me for a Thinking Blogger Award, which means I'm supposed to turn around and hand the award to five more blogs, the hosts of which are then supposed to hand out the award to five more blogs, etc., etc., etc. It's something of a glorified meme or linkfest, really, but since it concentrates on content and provides a wonderful excuse to plug some blogs that have made me reconsider what I thought I knew, I'm game. On the other hand, I tend to take these things too seriously, and being confined to five nominees made me feel rather like I was back in grade school and only allowed to invite a handful of kids to a birthday party (but Mom, that means I can't invite everyone I like, and the kids who don't get invited will be hurt and maybe they'll hate me...), so...

So, this list has been different every time I've tried drawing it up, but in its current state it features a good variety of blogs, each of which has introduced me to new ideas, information, and perspectives, and has persuaded me to change my mind about something. That, to me, makes it a reasonably good list, considering that it leaves off a dozen or so blogs I'd like to include.

So, if your blog is on this list, you are now the proud recipient of a Thinking Blogger Award. Rules and buttons here.

Brandywine Books
Cafe Hayek
Joust the Facts
Mere Comments
Neo-Neocon