I Like to Think

My friend Hutchmo tagged me - no, honored me - by calling me a blogger that makes him think. Thanks.

Along with the honor comes the responsibility of emulating the task. So, here are some blogs that make me think as well. I think I'm supposed to name 5, but Hutch didn't follow the rules, so I don't have to as well. So, after the rules are blogs I like for different reasons.

The rules:

Should you choose to participate, please make sure you pass this list of rules along to the blogs you are tagging.

The participation rules are simple:

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

People I Know:

1. Enclave. A week doesn't go by when I don't mention Mike and his body of writing work. Whether someone is asking about Nashville, local politics, development, urban living, or neighborhoods, I mention this blog. Mike is smart and thinks about what he writes. You may not agree with him, but he does his research better than anyone out there. And the city is better for it.
2. Chez Bez. He's a friend from my former life in the hotel world, and you'd never know he was one hell of a music writer. I'm not very talented in being able to determine what makes for good music, but Chez makes me want to listen to everything he reviews.
3. Trying to Follow. Ariah Fine is a friend and a blogger who will make anyone think. I'm someone who tries to do the right thing in terms of making the world a better place, and Ariah always highlights something I've overlooked and challenges me to live better.
4. The Shiverian. Mark Shivers beats me in racquetball every Tuesday morning. When he's not doing that, he's posting about the church in a postmodern world and what that means for all of us. As a Ph.D. student, his stuff can get pretty deep.
5. The World is Too Much With Us. Indie Davis challenges me to rethink issues of gender and the world. I'm not a mom, but if I were, I would take her blog as Bible.
6. Robbert Egger. Robert started the DC Central Kitchen and is setting new standards in the nonprofit world. The ideas he has shock some, but they're right on if nonprofits are to be more effective in what they do.

People I don't know:

1. Racialicious. If you want to stay informed about issues of race in the world, start reading this thing.
2. PostSecret. Get ready to become addicted and mystified.
3. Lifehacker. Make your life simpler and easier.
4. Entrepreneur Daily. This is how I keep up on emerging trends within the business world.
5. Houtlust. This blog highlights creative marketing ideas that improve our world by alerting all of us to the things that need changing.