Atomic Nerds

So, before we dashed off to spend the weekend hauling, sawing, pitchforking, splitting, stacking, and other such productive things, the ever-lovely Breda deemed us worthy of something called a Superior Scribbler Award.

Our reactions went with lightning-quick speed first to immense flattery- Breda knows a damn lot of good blogwriters- to “Oh freakinhell who do we give this to?”. Part of the rules, you see, involve handing it around to five other folks you also think deserve one.

The fact that since we began dithering several other bloggers we admire have already gotten one has not made this any easier, especially since our major criteria is writers that are both very good and, in our opinion, also very underappreciated. So before my excuse for delay winds down to nothing, here we go:

1. The writing team over at Querencia. A fascinating variety of experience, and if they have a common thread it’s rampant individualism and a curiosity in and respect for nature and those who live with it, as opposed to those who mostly experience it through the Discovery Channel. We’ve so far only had the pleasure of meeting Steve Bodio and his wife, sterling individuals, though with luck we’ll meet more of the contributors soon. I’ve found more worlds whose existence I had never suspected through here than any other blog.

2. Steve Browne, of Rants and Raves. A well-traveled individual who’s been in many places, free and unfree, his perspective is sharp and so is his writing- he has a gift all too rare among the journalistically-inclined, which is saying something important in a few words so that they are easily digested and not diluted by sheer bulk.

3. I’ve linked Doqz before, because he’s.. an underappreciated blogger who, in my opinion, does not get enough traffic. His major focus is political writing, but between the fact that he’s a history type that tends to have a broad familiarity with the past consequences of policy and philosophy and the fact that his readerbase somehow leans liberal, he’s of a higher grade than most- the libs keep him honest, and his wit can veer to the zany but tends to be sharp as a knife.

4. Smartdogs. I linked her just the other week, didn’t I? I did. She still fits my criteria well- very good writer who seems to get very little traffic relative to talent- so here you go again. For me, her site is that rarest of rare things- something written by someone who shares my interests, but seems to read an entirely different set of books and news feeds than me, so that I learn something new or gain something else to think about with nearly every post.

5. Matt G, of Better and Better. His pal Lawdog has already been noticed by the award, but not Matt, and I think he deserves it, too. When he has the time to write, his slices of small-town and family life, look into the world of a peace officer, and general philosophizing keep him on my daily-check list whether the posts have been daily or not.

Remember the rules, fellows and girls- if you accept the award, the rules are to link to five others of the deserving, and to refer back to the originator’s post and list yourself. It seems to be the project of a high school student to both study the behavior of this kind of meme and collect a lot of interesting reading, so help out.

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