Thinking Blogger Award

Bloggernista, who's always said good things about us, has tagged us with a meme which also turns out to be a Thinking Blogger Award. I'm not sure how I feel about memes and will probably avoid responding to future ones, but this one lets us highlight some interesting blogs we check from time to time that you might have missed.

You see, the rules of the Thinking Blogger Award are these:

• If, and only if you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.
• Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.
• Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote.

Now, I am often weary of selecting any top five or top whatever lists because invariably someone always gets left off or, God-forbid, I might inadvertently hurt someone's feelings. But let's stick to the ground-rules and highlight a few blogs that I feel might be off the radar but are always thoughtful places to visit.

In no particular order of favoritism:

1. Guanabee. I wish there were more Latino blogs like Guanabee. Irreverent, informative, fun and fresh at the same time, it's required daily reading at Blabbeando.
2. LifeLube: The sticky stuff that keeps gay men together. Created by the Sexual health Exchange on Valentine's Day of 2007, LifeLube is actually a candid and sex-positive blog that seeks to "raise public awareness about the sexual health needs of all gay men who have sex with men." If that sounds a little itsy bitsy tiny bit like HIV-prevention-speak look no further than Boston's AIDS Action Committee, the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, AIDS Project Los Angeles, Philly's Black Gay Men's Leadership Council and NY's own Gay Men's Health Crisis, all of which collaborate on this project. But, if I haven't lost you yet, click on LifeLube and find out why it rocks anyway.
3. JockoHomo: Bloggernista already said it - JockoHomo is "strung out on jargon and design, art, men and music. Not your typical gay blog." Not much we can ad. Only that the Jocko is out for the week so don't fret if you don't get fresh Homo nuggets every day (oh! and that JockoHomo came in a statistical tie with Manhattan Offender, which for some reason could fit Bloggernista's description of JockoHomo's blog to a T (now I'm confused).
4. Arthur S. Leonard: New York Law School Professor Arthur S. Leonard analyses local and national court rulings that have an impact on LGBT rights. It is also one of the few places online that takes a look at political asylum based on fear of persecution due to sexual orientation which I find simply invaluable. That, and some discussion of classical music thrown in the mix.
5. Finally, because I wish to be just as smart when I grow up and because this is a "thinking" blog award, head over to Slaves of Academe. If your head doesn't hurt by all the academic (and quite bearish) jargon, then great! Because I don't owe you an aspirin. If that isn't one heck of a ringing endorsement, I swear! It's a great blog!
   

Addendum: Because it's not a blog, Chris Crain's new venture - GayNewsWatch - is not mentioned among the 5.5 I mentioned above. But if it were a blog, I would. So there.

Disclaimer: I absolve all and any of my awardees from having to follow up on the meme (unless you want to participate) but I hope readers of Blabbeando find them as thought-provoking as I do.