Five Blogs That Make Me Think

Against her better judgment, Dana Huff tagged me for a Thinking Blogger Award. After much consideration, I've decided to pass the honor along to five non-genealogical blogs that get my cerebral juices flowing.

1. Andrew Sullivan is gay, British, Catholic, and conservative—four terms which do not appear in my Match.com profile. But his is one of the few political blogs I read that produces more light than heat.
2. I've always been a visual learner. Back when I studied philosophy and my brain was still fully functional, I would sketch diagrams to help myself understand difficult concepts. Maybe that's why I enjoy indexed—Jessica Hagy's attempt to "make fun of some things and sense of others."
3. The right side of the brain needs attention, too. Lacking any artistic ability of my own, I visit Drawn! to wallow in self-pity. And, when finished, to appreciate the diverse talents of others.
4. Had I not gone to college to not become a philosophy professor, I would have gone to college to not become an economist. Freakonomics is the companion blog to the freakishly successful book, and never fails to stimulate my atrophied thinking muscles.
5. You may know John Hodgman as "PC" in those Apple commercials, or from his appearances on The Daily Show. Offscreen he is an accomplished author and humorist, and blogs at good evening. If you don't leave his blog confused, you will surely leave amused. Here's a sample:

   OF COURSE, shaking hands with a chimney sweep will not bring you luck. That is a myth perpetuated by Disney.
   
   BUT NOT LONG AGO I consulted a contemporary, non-top-hatted chimney sweep who, EVEN THOUGH HE LOOKS LIKE A NORMAL, UN-COCKNEY HUMAN, told me he is constantly accosted by old women looking to touch him and thus ward off their horrible fates.
   
   SPECIFICALLY, he said, women of Polish extraction want to pinch him as that is the custom for squeezing out good luck from a chimney sweep in that country.
   
   I LAMENTED this unfortunate occupational hazard, and then I briefly throttled him. We all have our traditions.
   
   That is all.