Five of Mine

Posted on May 10, 2007 in Memes Thinking

This list will probably not resemble the “thinking blogger” lists that others have compiled in that I have eschewed the mainstream and selected members of various invisible cultures. Part of this is because I don’t want to cover the same old ground that everyone else is bound to cover, part of this is because I have a more open view to what constitutes “thinking” and want to present some unsung bloggers to people.

1. Comic book, lesbian, and stuffed animal culture has an advocate in Teresa of In Sequence. This Los Angeles resident revels in materialism without gushing over cuteness: she seeks out the different and describes odd corners of the collector’s world.

Recent excerpt commenting on photos by Barry Ulrich: I find a lot to admire in these photos, but I was particularly drawn to the faces of people while shopping. Ulrich has captured that moment of intense decision-making in consumers’ expressions, which I recognize from my own experience of shopping. I know that look has been on my face, and I’ve seen it often on people around me. But captured in photos, the expression appears catatonic.

2. Reading Manica’s Moon Moods will give you insight into farts and the joys of bipolar sex as well as the absurdities of working life in an island community endearingly known as Bumblefuck.

Recent excerpt: The Archer and I were sitting on the couch a few months ago and I had my legs draped over him, lazily talking about anything and everything when I started to laugh. Guess what happened? That’s right. I farted. Not a little fffttt fart but a POP fart. You know the kind. Luckily though, my POP farts are in no way dangerous. The real dangerous ones come with no warning to bystanders. My sister has banned me farting in her house as she says it takes two days to air the place out after I leave. Her threat works as she has promised to tell the Archer how vile I am if I continue farting at hers. So she is safe.

3. You’ve often heard me mention Bill the Lawyer, who is a criminal attorney in Cleveland, Ohio. He shares the blog Nothing But Love::Back from the Edge with his wife Stacy. Cynicism is Bill’s high art as evidenced by this passage:

Recent excerpt: Husband: Hey, look at this, dear!
Wife: What? Tell me before I go insane, honey!
Husband: The admission fee to Glacier National Park in Montana was doubled to $50.
Wife: Wow, dear! It must be twice as good now! Let’s go there!!
Husband: It must be quite an experience. Why else would they raise the price so high?
Wife: We’re guaranteed to have a great time! I’m feeling faint from the excitement!
Husband: Don’t swoon now, my lovely! I can’t wait for that exhilarating feeling driving in the wilderness on the Going-to-the-Sun Road!

4. I love to touch base with Francis Strand, an American who lives in Sweden so he can enjoy connubial bliss with his Scandinavian husband. His How to Learn Swedish in 1000 difficult lessons takes you into his sometimes enviable life:

Recent excerpt on a trip to Vietnam: C. the fashion photographer got held up at passport control: It turns out that while Swedes don’t need a visa if they stay less than 15 days, Italians are a whole different ball of wax.

So they deported him back to Kuala Lumpur. And we all decided we may as well go with him. So we raced through the airport, upstairs to the departures hall, getting our boarding passes and luggage rechecked, running back through the outgoing passport control and onto the same plane that we had come in on, all faces turned to us, everyone a bit suspicious….

The Swedish word for the day is visum. It means visa.

5. Finally, Nancy Gandhi’s Under the Fire Star is worth it for those who want the perceptions of another outsider, this one living in Chennai, India:

Recent excerpt: The New York Times has a piece that takes off from the infamous kisses which Richard Gere bestowed on the cheek of Shilpa Shetty on stage in India recently — kisses which led to both of their effigies being burnt in demonstrations by Hindu fundamentalists (although it’s clear from the video that Shetty is trying politely to avoid his intentions; at the end she said in Hindi, “This is a bit too much.” I know this because we have been forced to watch the same clip again and again for days on the TV news.)….

What would we do without such grave issues to ponder?

Thanks to marj for including me on her list and requiring me to perform this meme.