Sunday Salon 18 January 2009 - Catching Up

Good morning afternoon, fellow Saloners! This week's post will be a little longer than normal, as I'm trying to cram a whole bunch of stuff into one post. I'm also participating in Carl's Out of This World Mini-Challenge, and will need to spend a little time today reading some sci-fi short stories. I already have a few picked out...

First up, I got an award! Laza has given me the Premios Dardo Award!

This award acknowledges the values that every blogger shows in his or her effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values every day.

The rules to follow are

1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.

2) Pass the award to 15 other blogs that are worthy of this acknowledgment. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

This is a big honor, and I'm really excited about it. The fifteen that I'm passing it on to are:

1. Ali from worducopia
2. Veens from Giving Reading a Chance
3. Susan from Plays With Needles
4. Eva from A Striped Armchair
5. Nymeth from things mean a lot
6. Care from Care's Online Book Club
7. Andi from Tripping Toward Lucidity
8. Alex from Daemonwolf Books
9. Florinda from The 3 R's
10. Vasilly from 1330V
11. Bethany from B&b ex libris
12. Chris from Book Notes
13. Joanne from Book Zombie
14. Jill from Fizzy Thoughts
15. J. Kaye from J. Kaye's Book Blog

If I missed you, I'm really, really sorry. There are dozens of blogs that I read and love (I just updated my blogroll - check out some of the new arrivals!) but I didn't have enough room to list them all here. Next time, I promise! :)

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Next, I'm going to take a page from Florinda and start combining my weekly posts. This means that TSS, BTT, and WG will all be in one post, published on Sunday. Hooray for time-saving! This week's Booking Through Thursday question is:

* What songs … either specific songs, or songs in general by a specific group or writer … have words that you love?
* Why?
* And … do the tunes that go with the fantastic lyrics live up to them?

My absolute favorite singer/songwriter is Jennifer Nettles. Her song "Casual Dread" (which you can listen to on her website) was the inspiration for this blog's name. I've been a fan of hers for almost 10 years now (!), and although I prefer her older, folky-acoustic rock to her newer alt-country style, her lyrics have always been great. A lot of her songs focus on love and spirituality, and they're all great for rolling down your windows and singing along really loudly.
I also really like the lyrics (and music) of Indigo Girls. (Just so you know, I do listen to more than just Georgia-grown female alterna-folk-rock artists.) They have a bunch of great song lyrics, including "Closer to Fine" ("I spent four years prostrate to the higher mind, got my paper / And I was free."), "It's Alright" ("It seems easier to push than to let go and trust but it's alright."), "Leeds" ("I crave inertia every move made so I can stop / Whatever this madness is in me spinning like a top on a bed of anxiety / over a deep dark drop down into nothingness into withoutyouness."), I could go on and on. And the music that goes along with the lyrics is just amazing.

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This week's Weekly Geeks challenge is a few questions:

For those who have been with the group, either from the start or joined within recent months, what does being a member mean to you? What do you enjoy about the group? What are some of your more memorable Weekly Geeks that we might could do again? What could be improved as we continue the legacy that Dewey gave us?

For those just joining us, why did you sign up for Weekly Geeks? What would you like to see here?

The best thing I get out of Weekly Geeks (beside all the great reading suggestions) is the community and sense of camaraderie. I love the tasks that have us going to new blogs and making new friends. I can't really think of a way that Weekly Geeks could be improved - I'm just glad that's it's still around! My favorite past WG tasks and the ones I would like to do again are: #17 (I want a chance to actually complete this one!), #23, #24 (I liked reading interesting facts about lesser-known authors), and #26.


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Finally, I'm going to leave you with a few fun links and one hilarious video:
* Can you name the Weasleys in two minutes? Silly question, I know...
* Free e-books: The Ruins of Gorlan and Coraline
* Obama-ize yourself
* KNiiTTiiNG!!, Wii-style


Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.