Fatale Abstraction

For the final post of the year, I'm going to celebrate all the fabulous folks on my blogroll. I'm continually amazed by the cross-pollination of blogging, and how some lines run parallel while others are dramatically divergent. I like when the comment section on a blog is a running dialogue between the author and their readers. I like to respond to all my comments, but the last month has been kicking my tail to the degree that it's not always been possible. That said, when I jump in the fray over on other peoples' blog comments, things seem much like catching up around the watering hole, everyone shooting the breeze when news is light-hearted, or when more somber mood is called for, folks get mobilized and share pertinent information.

Blogging is a great forum and a great community. I know it's not a 100% positive experience for everyone, but I do think it's a great way to know and stay in touch with people all over the world whom we otherwise would never have met. I think of pre-web world and am awed by how less rich my life would be if I'd never met Holly or Kelly or chatted with Christina on the phone. A few people I'm very fond of have stopped blogging altogether and sometimes I've removed links of folks who stopped blogging for long periods, but I appreciate each and every one of you who've come to my blog, whether you've commented or not, and I've loved reading yours, as well.

Now, without further ado - here's my rundown of my blogroll as it is today, and a few reasons why I like these folks:

Adventures of Mauser Girl - Smart, incredibly talented, and a dog person *YAY DOGS!*
Atavist - Erudite rugged individualist (this is a description which might aptly be applied to many on this roll)
Ambulance Driver - A compassionate heart of gold wrapped in an enchilada of wit and pith
Attila the Mom - Wit to spare, and her own unique variety of badassery
Bad Tempered Zombie - Barbara's passion for music excels even my own. She's smart, funny, and whips up on people with her mad zombie skills
Better and Better (Matt G) - Smarter than the average bear but spends lots of time in the punalty box
Breda - Hot librarian who kicks ass for breakfast
Brown Valley Kingdom - Kevin went through a whole lot just to get here, and now he's raising a wonderful family in California. I'm proud he thought so highly of our country, and I'm proud to call him a fellow American.
Dalai Mama - have known her-- gosh, around 18 years? Brilliant, talented, and a dream of a little cook. Dazzling smile.
Damn! - mechuahua is the male me, if I'm flattering myself. He delights me.
DBA Dude - Impeccable taste in music. Intrepid man. Exceptional.
DirtCrashr - oozing style and working the mess out of a PanAm carryon bag. Suspect he has sand in his shoes all the time
Exile in Portales - A gentleman is Buck. Very respectful person.
Expert Witness - jpg - Ombudsman - all around go-to guy.
FatHairyBastard - is anything but. Is, in fact, teddy bear.
Fat In Indiana - hoosierboy is a good, funny guy
Flying Flo's Forum - Flo is a remarkable gal. In fact - I'll get to meet her new year's eve - can't wait!
Hammer - Unconventional person, clever and thoughtful.
Tickersoid - fell off the blogmap recently, and I wish him well. Welsh steel worker. Grit and wit in equal measure
Holly - a dear, dear friend, and I'm glad - I pity anyone unwise enough to earn a spot on her shit list. Her voice mail says "I'm sorry I missed you. I'll work on my aim." She's the big sister I never knew I needed.
Lin of If the Creek... - delights her readers with the vicarious thrill of her musings about her experience living off-the-grid in New Mexico - lots of great petroglyph images there, too. For all my shoe-obsession and good-time loving ways, I'm secretly envious and want to do the same. Don't you, sometimes?
John Shirley - Clever man, and true
LawDog - salt-of-the-earth
Life on earth - LJ is a fellow beadworker and a lovely artist, at that. Kind and gentle, incredibly sensitive soul
Lucrative Pain - Christina = effervescence
Meg - A fun, reflective New Zealand weaver
Mushy - man-of-the-world - has seen some things and will tell you about them
Myron - A career submarine guy - intrepid, gritty, insightful and someone with whom I hope I share common strands of DNA
Off task - Leazwell - educator and musician, Lovely person
PapaDeltaBravo - rapier wit
Roberta X - fabulous twin of Tam
Searching for Oz - Becky shares my passion for film, and I always love reading her reviews
Skywritings - I miss Scully's blog - she raised the bar, considerably
Sleeping Ugly - Zelda is such a fabulous bitch. Love her
Something to Say - One of my oldest and dearest friends, Kim is a graphic artist from Dallas who lives in Seattle now - her blog is just like she is -- beautiful and full of sweetness and light, but she's always tolerated me anyway.
SpeakerTweaker - More badassery, can really rock a bowling shirt
Squeaky Wheel - Heigh ho! Another vocalist - smart, talented and dangerous to know. The world needs more women like her
View From the Porch - Tam's my idea of what a woman should be. If I could be smarter and 10 inches taller, I'd be heading in the right direction
Xavier Thoughts - A good man to know™. His blog is often entertaining, but always educational

So, that about wraps it up, and trust me-- I could have gone on and on about every one of you. Thanks for the many hours I've enjoyed perusing your blogs, and I'm looking forward to more reading next year. I hope you all have a wonderful new year.