"The goal of the award is to spotlight up and coming bloggers who currently have less than 200 followers. The rules of the award are:
1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.
5. And most of all - have fun!"
Abigail, my good friend over at Scribbles and Ink Stains and author of The Soldier's Cross (and many other as-of-yet unpublished works), stuck my blog on her list of five for this award. Of course, under-appreciated translates to (as the description of the award details) not very many followers. I do not feel under-appreciated in the slightest, and I don't know if I did that more than two-hundred followers would change that. A few thoughtful comments will cover miles where thousands of "likes" will collapse after inches.
Nevertheless, I give you a list of five blogs that I think ought to be read more. Some of them have not been updated for a little while, which is very vexing - but maybe if people flood them, something will be done about it. The trouble is, I have too many blogging friends whom I think well-worth a read. I am an avid reader of most of those on Abigail's list, and took the liberty of using her selection of them as an excuse not to mention them (dur, that's exertion, wot?). After I had chosen two or three, I noticed that I knew them all in "real life." Inspired by that realization, I decided to finish the list off with folk I have met, or meet with frequently. But these are by no means the extent of my recommendations; if I may point out the list of links on the sidebar currently to your right, you will find reams of good reading material there.
Without further ado, in no particular order:
- A Vapor In The Wind. These are the musings of a musician, a tale-spinner, a dreamer, a sometime-photographer, and (most importantly) a bearer and magnifier of the life of Christ within her. She is also incidentally my next-next-younger sister, and we can talk for hours - so I may be a bit biased when I say I always enjoy reading what she has to say. Nevertheless, her blog is a pretty thing.
- The Everyday Miracle. Here are the tales and musings of one possessing a much sharper mind and wit than my own! If you don't fancy reading all of her past posts, at least go to the description of the blog (the extra page, on the top bar) and read that. It catches me all around the throat and chest whenever I do. (This is my older sister, and now I promise I am done with plugs for family members. :)
- Logbook 98. This is my celebrated literary-genius of a friend. (Her comment, if she comments, will be in the emblem of a verbal scowl now that I've said that.) She's into just about everything beautiful and grand: Old English literature, Sutcliff, poetry - and then she's learning French. No, seriously, she has an eye for beauty and a pen for describing it, and her tales are always delightful, whether she is climbing mountains or purchasing a car.
- winged writings, feathered photos. I don't know how I manage to hobnob with all these artistic folk, since I am so limited in this area. But here is yet another dreamer, tale-spinner, and photographer - talented in all, but especially the latter. She calls herself the Odd Fish, but she certainly seems to have her ducks in a row (she needs to post, though!).
- Define "Weird". Yet another photographer! Where do I find these folk? ...well, I know this chap through the interwebz, but he is of Jenny and Abigail's crew and we jostled each other's elbows a little in June, so he now belongs to "real life." (I know all life is real, but it's supposed to eliminate confusion.) And he really is a stellar grapher of photos, and he needs more people to nip at his heels so he'll get out and increase his stash of pictures.
