Thinking Bloggers

Rats. Still sick. Gonna miss the Preakness. First time in quite a few years, too.

Here I sit, in bed, bored silly. At least I can catch up on the no-physical-labor portion of my "to-do" list.

Herewith, the Thinking Blogger meme.

Just because one of these things comes along does not mean that I necessarily participate in it. But I thought the idea behind this one was particularly neat. And I was fortunate enough to be tagged with it by a few bloggers.

You have probably already seen it. But for those who haven't, here are the rules for the Thinking Blogger Award:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.
2. Link to the original post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.
3. Optional: Display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award‘


First, the blogs that tagged me, with thanks for all of the kind words:

1. Barbe Saint John
2. Moving J-wards
3. Cook and Eat

(If I missed anyone, please lemme know in the comments and I will edit you in.)


Now, my five Thinking Bloggers:


1. ProBlogger

Since the first days of my own blog, Darren Rowse has guided me through the learning process more than any other person. If you blog and do not read his site on a daily basis, you are driving at night without your headlights.

What little success I have in the blogging aspect of this photo-education thing is due to his guidance. His advice is second only to that of my Magic 8-Ball.


2. The Online Photographer

Mike Johnston could write about making toast and I would read it. His eclectic subject matter runs the gamut of all things photographic, and some things not.

With a voice that bounces between intellectual and whimsical, Mike delivers fresh photo content every day with clarity and style. A must-read if you are deeply interested in photography.


3. What The Duck

Not even a year old yet, Aaron Johnson's wry, perceptive, web-based comic strip blog has taken the photo world by storm. He's already done 200+ strips, and is branching into video.

(This first effort is laugh-out-loud funny.)

If I were a hotshot photomag editor, I would snap WTD up before one of my competitors did.


4. Teaching Online Journalism

About 15 years ago, a career in print journalism quietly morphed into a life-long game of musical chairs. But the same web-based reality that is wreaking havoc in the newsroom also means that you no longer need printing presses and dead trees to reach your readers.

The Fourth Estate is going through a seismic disruption, and TOJou's Mindy McAdams has taken it upon herself to guide her colleagues into the next era. Way to go, Mindy.

Prediction: Before it is all said and done, many print journalists will successfully make the jump to the blogosphere, and to great success. These guys are overworked, underpaid and know how to tell a story. It can't not happen.


5. BoomVista

Case in point on the print-journalism-to-blog thing: Boomvista.

Written by a long-time metro daily reporter, this new blog is still in the teeth-cutting stage. It is aimed at fellow baby boomers. You may think of them as the folks whose VCR's still blink "12:00." But in reality, they are a potentially huge audience.

In its first three months, BoomVista has touched upon topics as diverse as mental atrophy, aging nudists, retirement planning and mistresses with brevity, grace and humor.

Pretty hip stuff for an old guy. Still relatively obscure, BoomVista won't stay that way for long.