The Overdue KnowProSE.com Blog Roundup: Navigating The Mindshare; The Impromptu KnowProSE.com Individual Blog Awards

I've forced myself not to do any actual writing since last night, because every time I started writing - it became apparent that I was stressed out and why. People can rob me of certain things, but I shall never allow them complete use of my brain's resources on their incompetence (unless, of course, I profit by leading them to the right path). So I lay in bed late. I got up, I broke my coffeefast (I went without caffeine for 48 hours). I lay in the hammock, and listened to the birds. I tried some upbeat music, and it didn't work. I decided some piano would be nice today, and so it is.

I started reading - in the hammock. Catching up on old blogosphere connections, reading what others are up to. Over the years of blogging, you pick up loads of connections and it is simply not possible to track everything that everyone does. I used to try, but I can't. A few years ago I decided that while everyone was in the linkfest of the blogosphere and counting connections, I would let KnowProSE.com have weight when linking instead of quantity. I have a disdain for bloggers who do not create value - and the people I link to add value in the blogosphere by adding things of worth to the collective mindshare (instead of some rehashed, relinked crap).

So, I thought, 'Maybe I should start the KnowProSE.com Blog Awards'. There is no group blog category, though there are good group blogs. I'd rather celebrate the individual than a subgroup. People I enjoy reading. People who, inexplicably, seem off the beaten track for the rest of the world but are important for my reading pleasure.

Family is excluded (sorry) because of DNA similarities. :-) Only anglophone blogs this year - Spanish blogs will be included next year; I'm only well read enough in Spanish now to begin finding time tested and true original bloggers in Spanish. Maybe next year I'll start reading French better... Everyone here I have been reading for over a year. I don't link to them often enough because usually what they write stands on it's own, and I cannot add to it other than a short comment somewhere.

In no particular order:

Raving Lunacy

If there's one guy that is grounded in my blogosphere, it has to be Raving Lunacy. He's been one of my longest and most consistent reads, mainly because he says it like he sees it - which the world certainly needs more of. He's been blogging on DEMO 2006 of late, and he's found some pretty interesting stuff.

What can I say about the Raving Lunatic? In a word, grounded. If you have the time, leaf through his blog - from working on the house to dealing with the critters to deep thoughts on pragmatic technology (not the senseless crap others croon over)... there's always something interesting going on with our friendly polymath webdesigner.

Black Looks

A strong African and female voice, Black Looks offers a perspective alien to me in a way that is always insightful. I'm not African, and have never been to Africa. I'm not female, and have no plans to become one. But a lot of what is written there is a very personal and strong voice; a voice that I don't always agree with but one which I am always interested in because where there is common ground, it is common in a different way which helps me understand the common ground better.

What I love most about her - when a tough issue presents itself, she jumps in with both feet and splashes it around, kicks it back and forth, explores it, and presents it in a way that no coward could do. I love that. Go read her. Guaranteed to be enjoyable.

The Long Dark Tea-Time Of The Soul

This blog just reeks of common sense. The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul is another polymath type blog which is always a joy to visit. The author, who is 'alive and well and living somewhere west of the Greenwich meridian' always presents well thought out posts.

He's on a political bend right now, but that happens to the best of us. :-)

Monologist

One of my more recent finds, Monologist is a young female perspective - and she presents her opinions and thoughts in her own style that's refreshing, poignant, and worth a read. I'd asked to use one of her pictures for when I blogged about her, but - instead I'll tell you to go check out her pictures yourself; they are as clear as her written perspectives - and she has a good eye. She reminds me of the next person in a lot of ways.

Irina Souiki

Known pretty well for her photographs as well as Riri's Brain Dump, this fellow programmer is just... Irina. Over the years she has become a close friend, and as such we often conspiratorially IM each other when I bother with Instant Messenging (I hate IM almost as much as I hate the telephone - it's disruptive in my eyes).

She broke her left arm recently, but keeps poking out entries on her life in the Great White North. Never a dull moment in Irina's ordinary life.

UrbanRefugee

Sean McCormick, the guy who got me scribbling on the web - my first editor (in Ye Olde Days of the Real CramSession.com), my first weblog coach, and 'The Best Friend I've Never Met' is the author behind the UrbanRefugee. This particular weblog is no holds barred Canadian, and it may shock Sean to know that, yes, I do read the weblog. Sean's more than just professional photography. In fact, Sean is just more, and when he decides to write about it the world should take notice.

Toji Leon

What, you haven't heard of Toji Leon? Yup, he's in Kerala, India - his short posts are always interesting, and while you can go a week and catch up on Toji - that's the beauty of Toji. A Linux fellow as well. Burning the Midnight Oil and posts like it resonate... footprints that are common, but uncommon to the majority of people who would never truly understand the joy of creation, of watching something grow.

Notes From A Small Island

This is the first blog from Trinidad and Tobago that I started reading, and I haven't stopped because Jonathan Ali is probably one of the most interesting and entertaining writers I have come across from the region; Notes From A Small Island. Jonathan Ali writes with soul, a difficult thing for me to do at times, and I think reading him helps me become a better writer - not structurally, but the obscure thing that some writers do and do well - and some that they don't. His long posts are exceptional. His short 'quick link' posts are fun, but I prefer the long posts. I can't always relate, I sometimes disagree - but when I disagree, it's because Jonathan brought something to the table that had thought behind it. His thought. He doesn't know it, but I have coffee with him a lot.

Within/Without

Neha always has something fun to read on her blog that is insightful, and thoughtful - though light, there is an underlying message (whether she means it or not) that you have to take part of yourself to get a part back. Within/Without is always something that I read these days because of the light-hearted deep thought. Sure, Neha does other things - but really, when Neha uncurls her toes and decides to write - her style and elegance stand out, at least for me.

Suhit Anantula

He's been having writer's block over the last few months while studying, BUT - Suhit Anantula keeps me going when it comes to marketing and so forth - as he learns, I learn. As he looks at things, I learn. And when it comes to the blogs I read - that's the most important aspect. Everyone, please beat Suhit into writing more otherwise I may have to fly to Australia to handcuff him to his weblog! :-)

So, What Do They Get?

My good will, of course, and a small increase in traffic as you - gentle reader in the chair - go take a look at what these people are doing; they are more than 'bloggers' - they are people who transcend the software that they are using and who are creating value.

Some people like awards to post on their sites, though, so I created one that looks like this:

KnowProSE Approved

The code for it is here:

<p><center><a href="http://www.knowprose.com/node/10870" title="KnowProSE.com Stamp of Excellence"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/20/71211258_95b72216d3_t.jpg" width="100" height="75" alt="KnowProSE.com 2005-2006 Blog Award" /></a><br><small><a href="http://www.knowprose.com/node/10870" title="KnowProSE.com Stamp of Excellence">KnowProSE Approved</a></small></center></p>

Copy and paste it if you are mentioned on this page (including in the comments as I add people) - if I catch people using it without authorization, I guarantee public humiliation.

Oh. And for the record - if you got it, I can't take it back. It's yours.

If they don't want to have it on their pages, I won't be offended. I just think that they deserved something for helping expand my world. And to the rest of you who I do read and didn't make it on this round, it's not because you're not good. It's because I have limited time and space, and quite a diverse blogosphere to pull from. I reserve the right to give anyone an award at any time for any reason that I deem appropriate. :-P

Thank you all for keeping me young by posting perspectives outside of my own; for being original and for being - most importantly - real. Mainstream bores me. Challenge me, make me think outside of my own little world, and make me grow - not with the fertilizer that the mainstream media and mainstream blogs feed the blogosphere, but the stuff which allows us to make our own mulch - the discarded words on the web which even as they decay add to the world.