Monday, September 26, 2011

Whole Lotta Linking Going On

Thought for the day:  Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing better than to put it into your fruit salad.


Well, how's about that? The high-spirited Dianne, who appropriately enough writes the blog In High Spirits, shared another award with me, and this one is all about superlatives. The 7 X 7 award requires a blogger to slog through previous posts and then provide an oh-so-helpful link to the ones deemed worthy of some superlative label or another. Alas, there are some grievous omissions. No category for most likely to make you snort a beverage out your nose, and nothing for post with the most references to smelly body functions. Ditto nothing for most inspirational, informative, or inane, so I really had to dig to find something even vaguely up to snuff for the lofty designations which are included.

Once I provide the links for my seven most hunky dory posts, I have the honor of sending seven other bloggers searching through their archives to tag seven of their best posts. And then they pass the award to seven others. And so on.

Easy, right? Kinda. I've only been blogging since the tail end of February, so my archives are a lot slimmer than some of yours. Still, it took some time to read through my slim pickings and make the decisions. But it was fun, and I think this is a great way to direct newer followers to some of that (ahem) superlative stuff that happened before they got here.

Hmm, okay, the first category is Most Beautiful.

But beauty's in the eyes of the beholder, right?

  • Most Beautiful-  With a Little Help From a Friend is about volunteering at a soup kitchen. I don't know that it's exactly beautiful, but the reaction to it was. Oh yeah, you want a link, huh?
  • Most Popular- According to the stats, On Doggies and Doggles received the most hits, by far. It's about Military Working Dogs. link
  • Most Controversial- My stuff doesn't generate much in the way of controversy, but American History and an Unlikely Hero came the closest. It's about today's educational system. link
  • Most Helpful- Well, gee, aren't I always helpful? I mean, where else can you learn about the saga of Jimmy Carter and the killer rabbit, about JFK and the jelly doughnut , or about Wrong Way Corrigan? (Not to mention disgusting foods, jobs, beauty products and book titles?) Seriously, I suppose the post Understanding Autism: A Long Way to Go was the most helpful in that it raised awareness of this heartbreaking condition. link
  • Most Surprisingly Successful- Rhymes with Dreams got a lot of hits, too, if you trust the stats counter. It's kind of a mixed bag post, where I answer questions for another award, relate a story about my immigrant grandparents, and talk about memes. link
  • Most Underrated- When our blogs first launch, we all write posts that end up with a grand total of zero comments. Maybe even zero reads. One of my early languishers was Luck o' the Irish. What makes it special is a recipe for corning your own beef. Not hard to do, but definitely worth the effort. link
  • Most Pride Worthy- This is another tough one, but I'll pick Remembrance, which is about the meaning of Memorial Day. link
So, there ya have it. If, perchance, any of you do take the time to venture back to any of those earlier posts, please make any comments you'd like to make about them on THIS post, rather than on the earlier one.

The next order of business is to pass this superlative award on to seven superlative bloggers. Natch, if you don't give a diddle about seizing  this golden opportunity to entice your followers to read some of your earlier gems, fuhgetaboutit. No hard feelings. In no particular order, I tag

  • MurrmurrsI just discovered Murr at the beginning of September, but am already a big fan of her blog. And obviously, a big lazy fan. It'd be a real time-saver for me if she earmarks some of her earlier posts.
  • Visiting RealityI love this lady's special brand of reality, and although I've already read every one of her posts, maybe you haven't. Linda has a most delightful no-holds-barred sense of humor and a razor-sharp wit.
  • Empty Nest InsiderJulie has a quiet, thoughtful approach, and the most disarming way of looking at things. Her insights are both charming and amusing.
  • Starting Over, Accepting Changes- MaybeArleen always comes up with enjoyable posts and comments. Lots of reminiscing, and lots of quiet humor. Smart lady.  
  • The Feathered NestDelores is the most prolific writer of all. She maintains three blogs, and they're all terrific. No telling what she might write about, but it's always good.
  • Going GentlyJohn  lives in a small village in Wales and writes about village life, his menagerie of critters, his work as a nurse, and life in general. Always worth a read.
  • The Scottish Scribbler. And last, but certainly not least, is Rory, who writes about everyday things both profound and hilarious. He has a unique outlook on life, and the ability to touch your heart with his words. And with his music.

It's inevitable that not all of those seven people will choose to follow through on this award, and that's okay. If anyone else would like to claim it, go for it. It's a great opportunity to shine light on some of  your older posts. Take a snapshot of it, so to speak.



                                       Until next time, take care of yourselves. And each other.

23 comments:

  1. Congrats Susan. You deserve all the awards you get!

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  2. First off..congratulations on the award.
    Secondly...thank you so much for passing it on to me. I appreciate it very much.

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  3. Aww, thanks. It's an honor to be include with such a great group of bloggers.

    And I just went to check out your "underrated" post. It is no longer comment-less. ;)

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  4. Hi-ya, Anne. Thank you so much, dear lady.

    Delores- Thanks ... and you're welcome!

    Linda- My pleasure, and thanks for dropping a comment on that old "underrated" post. It appreciates the attention.

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  5. Congrats on the award. It is fun to go back and highlight some of those older posts that maybe didn't get so much attention BF (before followers).

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  6. You are very talented, Susan. Congrats. I hadn't read your Luck of the Irish post before. Really good. Also, hubby is quite into corned beef, I will have to copy that!

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  7. L.G.- Thank you, ma'am. You're right; BF, we could spend hours researching and writing something which absolutely NO-body read! Nice to think somebody might go back and read some of them now.

    Carrie- If your hubby's a corned beef fan, he should love the homemade version (once he gets past the fact that it isn't RED ...)

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  8. These are all wonderful blogs I follow, but hadn't heard of the Scottish Scribbler, will go check that one out! Congrats to everyone!

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  9. Hi Susan, I don't have time today to check out my posts, but will go through my archives tomorrow. Thanks

    Arleen

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  10. Congratulations on this amazing award! You certainly worked hard collecting the best of I Think; Therefore, I Yam! Thank you so much for sharing this award with me, as well as your very kind words! As you know, it will take a village to help me follow through with this, so I appreciate your patience. Thanks again, Julie

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  11. BTW, all of your posts are awesome. An award for each and every one, I say.

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  12. Congrats!!

    BTW, is "most beautiful" a dog?

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  13. Congrats on your most deserved award and thanks for all the links. Also, thanks for your kind words over at my blog and for stopping by!

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  14. You honor me, Susan! But you've met your match in laziness. I've been counting on people to NOT dig back in the archives, so I can sell them my upcoming book, Trousering Your Weasel, containing seventy of my favorite and moldiest essays. It's kind of a conundrum for me: linking is great for getting an audience, but my strategy has been to make sure my readers get something new twice a week whether they need it or not. So I won't be doing this exercise on my site even though it's a great idea. How's that for putting a shine on laziness?

    That said, one of my most poopular posts was the one about my colonoscopy, Music Of The Spheres. Plus, it has a photo of my butt.

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  15. Karen- I hope enjoy Rory's blog as much as I do.

    Arleen- Super. Glad to hear you're gonna slog through your blog, too, and thanks so much for the kind words.

    John- Yabba dabba do! (with alacrity even!)

    Julie- Thank you, ma'am. No rush. You and your village take as long as you need.

    Connie- Well, I've had dogs I'd consider "beautiful", but if you're referring to the comment I left on your blog, absolutely not! You look terrific!

    Marguerite- Thanks for stopping by, and for all your decadent recipes.

    Murr- Oh, aren't you the clever one? (Not lazy ... CLEVER, I tell you!) Loved your post about the colonoscopy. Your book of essays should be a big hit.

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  16. Thank you Susan - I'll contemplate how to approach this as soon as I wake up (First coffee of the day has yet to be be completed).

    I'll be looking back through your old posts too :)

    Rory

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  17. Congrats Susan! With me being a new follower, I am looking forward to going back to some of your older posts. Also fun to see the new winners and check out other blogs. Thank you!!

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  18. Hi, Rory. Outstanding! I'll be looking forward to seeing the posts you select.

    Tracy Jo- Thank you, dear lady. I think you'll really enjoy the other blogs.

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  19. Congrats on the award, Susan! And thanks for stopping by yesterday and commenting on my posted excerpt of the memoir I'm ghosting. Your encouraging response along with others cheers me on. I need cheering! Ghost writing IS very difficult!

    I love that photo of the dog. Yes, beauty is in the eye. It's a spirit to spirit thing, I think, even between people and animals.
    Ann Best, Author of In the Mirror, A Memoir of Shattered Secrets

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  20. Hi-ya, Ann. Thank you, Anne, and thanks for stopping by.

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  21. Yay! I'm glad I stopped by and got to see your Super Seven! (I've been buried under schoolwork this week and just came up for air.) I agree on the Most Beautiful post, having read that, and now I'm off to read a couple others and maybe check out some new blogs!

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  22. Hi-ya, Dianne. I'm glad you were able to stop by to see that I'd finally followed through on this. And again, thanks for thinking of me. It was kinda fun to look back through earlier posts.

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