THE MELLIFLUOUS MR. MRAZ

I can't believe I am starting a second post today with "I can't believe." But I truly can't believe that when I was naming people for the "Thinking Blogger Award," I forgot about Jason Mraz. Maybe it's because I haven't visited his site lately. Maybe because I've been caught up in the wonderful world of lady bloggers.
If you're thinking you don't know Jason Mraz from Adam, you are wrong. He's a pop/rock star who usually wears a goofy grin and a red cap turned sideways. If you are an American and have a radio, you have heard the song "The Remedy" (better known as "I Won't Worry My Life Away"), his hit from a couple of years ago.
You only have to listen to the lyrics of "The Remedy" or "Word Play" to know that Mraz is a master of word play. As with his songs, his blog radiates with intelligence, insight and beautiful writing. I'll never forget the words he wrote upon the death of Hunter S. Thompson. (Unfortunately for anyone who wanted to read them, Mraz' blog (or more properly Journal) no longer goes that far back.)
He is a student of chakra meditation, salsa dancing, Sanskrit, Scrabble (of course) and surfing. He actually researches topics before posting about them. Occasionally he is a little scatological and/or silly ("How much Coke can you drink before your pee turns brown?" he posits in one blog.) By the way, his named is pronounced mih-RAZ, not Mr. Az or Mr. A-Z (although he has fun with this). He is funny and serious in turns, but always thought provoking.

Please check him out at www.jasonmraz.com/journal

And please check out his video for "The Remedy." You gotta love a guy who wears bunny slippers and drives a car full of chickens.

THINKING BLOGGER AWARD

Lila from "Indigo Pears" has selected me for the Thinking Blogger Award. I am terribly honored, being so new to the blogging world. I didn't even know what a meme was before now. (To learn more, google Thinking Blogger Award.)
I almost fell over when Lila chose me, because I think of myself as being more in tune with my emotional side rather than my intellectual side. I AM an intelligent person, having graduated from college Phi Beta Kappa, Summa Cum Laude. But when I'm around true intellectuals, I feel quite inferior. I'm much more comfortable with the written word. When I'm speaking, the words don't come out the way I want them to.
That's why this selection is such an honor. In turn, I am to name five other bloggers who make me think. It took me several days to complete my list, not because I couldn't think of anyone, but because it was so hard to narrow them down to five. But here they are:

1. Misty Mawn (http://www.mistymawn.typepad.com/)
2. Nina Bagley (http://www.ornamental.typepad.com/)
3. Alexandra S. (http://www.marvelousmadness.blogspot.com/)
4. Kathryn (Katie) Kendrick (http://www.joyouslybecoming.typepad.com/)
5. Liz Elayne (http://www.bepresentbehere.blogspot.com/)

Lila's blog (a previous Thinking Blogger Award winner), is a must read for me everyday. And there are two more blogs that I had been reading religiously and would have put on my list but Lila had already chosen them. They are:

1. Mrs. Pom (real name?) at Pomegranates and Paper (www.artjournaler.typepad.com)
2. Daisy Lupin (www.catsinthekitchenflorainthegarden.blogspot.com)