OK, I’m a little late with this, but, well, I’m slow and lazy (plus I have a bad back, and now my goddamn knee has decided to act up on me; this gettin’ old shit really sucks, at least in the physical department. I’m a lot smarter now that I was when I was young, though – which ought to give you an idea of just how friggin’ stupid I was when I was young), so that’s just how it goes. Anyhow, I got “tagged” by Melina, and this is my response (I hope I’m doing this correctly, since, in addition to being slow and lazy, I have a tendency to not read things carefully, and I can’t remember most of what I just read, anyway).

First, here off, here are the rules:

These are the rules:

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.

Well, I must say, I was quite flattered to be “tagged,” especially since I mostly have just been “phoning it in” lately. I mean, writing about how your back hurts, or “not much to say today” hardly inspires much thinking. And, anyway, this place has never been about what I have to say. It’s about you guys. The lurkers and the posters that show up are here to read what you guys have to say. It’s nice for me, ‘cuz all I have to do is get a fresh thread up every morning, and let you all have at it. The links, stories, and ideas that you guys come up with every day are beyond fantastic. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: I’d really miss you all if this went away. I feel as if I have friends from all around the world, and it’s truly amazing (if you think about it) how a bunch of people can become “friends” (I’d even go so far as to say family) without ever really having “met.” Sure, it says a lot about Maron and Morning Sedition, but it says even more about all of you. So, thanks to everybody who’s made this little community so much fun to be around. And to you lurkers out there, lurking is fine, but if you every want to jump in and say hello, that’d be great, too. But, enough of this mushy shit.

So, what blogs make me think? Well, there are two blogs from amongst out family members that come to mind. The first is the world-renowned Brilliant at Breakfast, hosted by Jill. There are always some great reads there, and Jill is much more prolific a writer than I could ever hope to be. The second is Melina’s blog, RIPCOCO. You generally have to set aside a couple of minutes to read Melina’s blog, because she has a lot to say, and it’s always interesting.

Things get a little tougher from here on out, though. I don’t really read blogs to do much thinkin’. Mostly, I read them to get links to articles that I’d never have had the time to find on my own. I think the blog I go to most frequently (even, the one I go to first), is Talking Points Memo, from Josh Marshall. There’s some great original reporting done from this site (along with its sister sites, TPM Muckraker, TPM Election Central, and TPM Cafe), as well as links to news items from all over.

Then, of course, there’s John Amato’s Crooks and Liars. In addition to being an FOM (friend of Maron), I know that I can always count on John to post the video that would never have a chance to see otherwise (and I’d never want to have to sit through Fux Noise or some of the other crap that these clips come from). Missed a great Olbermann “Special Comment”? Never fear, you can always count on C&L to have it there waiting for you.

Another blog I love to visit is NYCO’s Blog. This is more of a Central New York blog, but it’s always well written, with a lot of great stuff (even for non-Upstaters). Plus, she always has a great photo for her blog header, which changes frequently.

OK, I need one more, here. So, I guess I’ll go with that old standby, The Smirking Chimp. I’ve been a fan of the Chimp for a long time, and it’s a great place to go get news stories that you’d have to spend hours digging up on your own.

So, I reckon that’ll do it. Have a good Monday.