Versatile Blogger Awards!

Many thanks to Feminema, who just nominated me for the Versatile Blogger Awards alongside such icons as Comradde PhysioProffe, Historiann, and The Ms. Education of Shelby Knox.  It's an honor to be in their company.

The conditions of the award, to which I happily submit, are as follows:

1. Nominate 15 fellow bloggers
2. Inform the bloggers of their nomination
3. Share 7 random things about yourself
4. Thank the blogger who nominated you
5. Post the award badge.

My blogroll at right directs you to some of my favorite blogs, but this award gives me a chance to say something about the ones that delight and sustain me.

1.  I never miss the humane and sometimes hilarious posts on Ask Mormon Girl.  Joanna Brooks is an English professor, feminist, mother of two kick-ass daughters, and gay rights activist who treasures her Mormon heritage.  Her wisdom extends beyond religion and politics to relationships, sexuality, and parenting, and her crew of commenters lets me listen in on (and occasionally even contribute to) a deep and often moving conversation inside and outside her own faith tradition.  Mormon Girl is my rock.

2.  My next-most-frequently-consulted blog would have to be the now-classic Tenured Radical, who just moved her business over to the Chronicle of Higher Education.  Claire Potter, long a history professor at Wesleyan and now in a new position at the New School, posts priceless polemics on the academic job market, administration vs. teaching vs. scholarship, how to be a good mentor, college sports (about which I don't care a bit except when Tenured Radical writes about it), and holiday flashmobs.  I rely on TR.

3.  The Feminist Spectator by Princeton professor Jill Dolan is always a delight.  Her blog is named after her widely-read 1991 book, The Feminist Spectator as Critic, which is foundational in the field of feminist performance studies.  Along with her partner in life and criticism Stacy Wolf, Jill sees more New York, national, and international theater of every kind than seems humanly possible, and she watches and writes about TV and movies too.  Accessible, political, and funny, Jill's reviews are from a distinctly left-lesbian-Jewish perspective that addresses everyone.

4.  Did you swoon over Allison Bechdel's stunning graphic novel-memoir Fun Home, after loving her series Dykes to Watch Out For like a family member for twenty years?  If so, you probably already follow her DTWOF blog.  With her characteristic modest charm, Allison posts on art, politics, and what keeps me coming back for more, the progress of her new memoir about her mother.  Her photographs of the woods and animals outside her Vermont cabin are always refreshing as well.

5.  A sister English professor posts hilarious reviews and stories about things like shopping for Missoni at Target under the nom de blog Elitist Academic.  Delicious, bite-sized mouthfuls of satire and cultural criticism from a Chicana feminist perspective.

6.  A frequent inspiration for my own posts on my Mueller neighborhoods' gardens and landscapes is Steve Schwartzman's Portraits of Wildflowers blog.  Steve is a widely-known art photographer who happens to live in my neighborhood and photograph the same scenes I enjoy while walking my dog.  His site includes a brilliant (and generous) list of tips for photographing flowers.

7.  Another English-professor blog I always check is Moonraking, a series of ruminations on popular music, concerts, books, movies, and anything else Prof. Moonraking is thinking about.  These posts combine erudition with rock-critic brio.  Be warned:  following his links can eat up your day.  But it will be a day well spent.

8.  I'm always refreshed by the fierce feminist poets at Delirious Hem.  It's a place to go to discover new poets that will become your favorites, get a thoughtful perspective on current poetry-biz controversies, and be inspired by the sheer quality and magnitude of the work produced by your sister poets.

Whew!  I think I am going to have to defer numbers 9-15 for another time.  In the meantime, thanks again to Feminema, and for a good time, follow the links above.

As for seven random things about me....since this blog consists of nothing but random things about me, I'll keep this brief.

1.  I did my undergrad at Queen's University in Kingston, Canada, where the band wore tartan and our fight song was in Gaelic.  Cha geill!

2.  My family has a ranch in Alberta where I grew up riding, hiking, fixing fence, poisoning gophers, checking to see if cattle were in heat, branding, canoeing, and learning about birds and flowers.  At the time all I wanted to do was stay inside with a book, but I appreciate it more now:

3.  I'm in Richard Linklater's 2001 film Waking Life, talking about Benedict Anderson.  Animated me:

4.  I was also in a my wife Madge's production of the unactable Percy Shelley Romantic drama, Prometheus Unbound.  (I doubt she would cast me now but she knew this would seal the deal back in 1998.)  I doubled as a spirit and a fury in Act I and was a professor in Act IV.

5.  My dad is an equine veterinarian.

6.  My first horse was named Lady.

7.  After fourteen years and two children, Madge and I got legally married in Alberta last summer with Max and Milo, our kids, in attendance.  The horse is my parents' lovely Badger.

Comments

[Moonraking.wordpress.com]

Hey thanks Lisa, I appreciate it-

[Lisa Moore]

My pleasure! Great post....

[alex]

Bitchslappin is fun, isn't it? Lolz. Check out this video from Canadian comedian Josh Rimer which I found on YouTube! http://youtu.be/yDCk3NN_HAs

[Lisa Moore]

Alex, I am not much of a bitchslapper myself but I certainly enjoyed the video. My recent favorite bitchslap is Elitist Academic's Three-Minute Throwdown: http://elitistacademic.com/2012/01/07/three-minute-throwdown/.

[Wendi White]

What about Twisty Faster's "I blame the Patriarchy. I get lonesome for Central Texas iconoclasts every time I pull it up.

[Lisa Moore]

Wendi, great suggestion! Thanks.