Another Monday Morning

My feline overlords were waiting impatiently outside my bedroom door. 5:31 was, it seems, past the time when they would have preferred to break the fast. Already put out because I no longer leave my bedroom door open at night (I used to but their nocturnal habit of walking on me at 2 O’clock in the morning put an end to that) they are barely tolerant of my tardiness but I ignore it until I have finished my morning absolutions in the bathroom.

Fed and happy (for the moment anyway) the overlords (actually two lords and one lady) drift off to places in the house (in the now open bedrooms mostly) and give me space to savor my first mug of tea, to glance through the paper, to delete a majority of the newly-arrived e-mail (spam filters are not nearly as effective as I would like.)

I did my household chores yesterday so I finish the latest research project (gotta make that coin) and clear the decks to work on my novel.

A shower and a second mug of steaming tea and I’ll be good to go. The morning clouds are clinging to the sky petulantly but the guy on the radio assures me that they will lose the struggle by mid-morning. It’s going to be a good day. It’s another Monday morning.

(Today’s soundtrack: “Michael Keith’s Summer Mix ‘09” and Bob Marley & The Wailers’ B is for Bob)

Blogs of Note: Worldman

The world of blogs is, of course, expansive and fairly all-encompassing. There are blogs for just about any interest and we all have our reasons for preferring the ones that we do. My personal favorite blogs tend to be those that are written by inquisitive, open-hearted people who share themselves and their view of the world (both personal and at large) in engaging ways. It is, therefore, not at all a surprise that one of my favorite blogs to visit and savor is Peter Voegtli’s charming, witty, and thought-provoking Worldman.

Worldman is never anything less than a delight to read and Peter is a wonderful blog host who makes sure that everyone who visits his site feels welcome and totally engaged. Another plus from my point of view is that music informs and permeates the entries which adds to the experience of the blog (especially considering that he has wonderful taste in music :-)

I am an unabashed fan of Worldman and I heartily recommend you visit…chances are you’ll become a fan, too (tell Peter that Michael sent you :-)

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FYI: This is, according to Blogger's count, the 400th Bread and Roses post. Yay! :-)

Blogs of Note: Michele

Blogs of Note was at one time a reoccurring feature of Bread and Roses; it spotlighted interesting sites that I had encountered during my excursions through the blog-o-sphere. As time and circumstance shrank my time to surf as much as I would have liked the feature fell by the wayside. But now I have been inspired to resurrect Blogs of Note by the site being spotlighted today.

You can find no more engaging a site than Michele Agnew’s delightful eponymous blog. She is a warm and welcoming hostess who encourages her readers to become part of an ever-burgeoning and interactive community through clever posts that ask thought-provoking questions, make pithy observations, and encourage dialogue and discovery by sending them out to visit each other’s blogs. It’s a lovely site well worth a visit…though I warn you if you visit once you will be visiting often (when you visit, tell her Michael sent you…it’s a Michele thing that you’ll understand when you get there :-)

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Some of the Blogs of Note that were spotlighted in the past have stopped being published or updated for one reason or another but most of them are still going strong and are still highly recommended (as are all of the sites on the blogroll on the left.) I happily direct your attention to:

A Gag Reflex (our very first Blog of Note. Most of the original posts have been removed because, happily, Cori Crooks' harrowing, beautifully-written memoir is going to be published next year but attention must still be paid. The original Blogs of Note post about this site is here.)

Dog Eat Doug (a delightful comic strip by the talented Brian Anderson...now being featured in newspapers around the country...that presents the sweetly humorous adventures of a puppy and a baby...the original B of N post is here.)

The Donegal Express (a thoughtful, well-written, and challenging site which features politics...but not exclusively. Original B of N post is here.)

My Neighbours are Hoors (a wonderfully charming blog featuring the wry and witty observations of a woman whose downstairs neighbors are "ladies of negotiable affection". The original B of N post is here.)

PSotD: Political Site of the Day (a great, incisively written site that, despite its title, is not exclusively political. Original B of N post is here.)

So What Can I Do? (Karima Neal's engaging positive action advocacy site. Original B of N post here.)

Waking Ambrose (the ever-erudite Doug Pascover's witty updating of Ambrose Bierce's classic Devil's Dictionary is always entertaining, thought-provoking, and undeniably clever. Original B of N post is here.)