Guesting the Editorship...

Hi there. I'm Dan, and I'm your Guest Editor this week. I'm
also the
guy who, everyday, tries to shake his head hard enough to jostle the
underused sludge I call a brain into creating something that resembles
a somewhat coherent thought to post on my journal, The
Wisdom of a Distracted Mind.

Hey! It works
for margaritas, and everybody likes those. I mean, when was the last time you
heard of someone crying into their margarita?

I mean
someone other than
Paris Hilton.

So,
that's what I shoot for. My blog is a lot like a margarita only more
wordy with prettier pictures and no blubbering
heiresses.

Anyway,
the reason I'm here is to show off a few journals which I enjoy
reading. And, I decided to keep the list small-ish and limit myself to
no more than five AOL journals which strike me in one way or another as
being really very good. Of course, that was pretty close to impossible
since there are just so many great, well-written journals out there.
And, if I could, I'd put them all on here, I would. But, do you have
any idea how long this post would be?

So, let's get
this going, shall we?

Here, in no particular order,
are five journals I truly enjoy reading:

This first
journal makes me go postal --in a good way. It's Waffle
and Whinge
written by Barry, a letter carrier on the other side of that pond we
call the Atlantic Ocean. Barry provides a nice, well-written, glimpse
in to the life of an English postal employee. Whenever I sit down to
read the latest entry on his journal, I feel like I'm sitting down to
have a nice conversation with a good friend over some stiff drinks and
a lot of good laughs.

The next journal on my list is
the delightful Miss Trickster Mrs. Trickster and her
journal Hey! I'm Country!
Hey! I Need More Shoes! Hey
I'm Engaged Hey!
I'm Married.

Amanda's
easily one of my favorite people on the planet. Her sense of humor
jumps out in every entry she posts, and, now that I think of it, either
she's one of those crazy people who's always in a good mood (like that
one guy on that one episode of House), or, most likely, she's just someone
who doesn't dwell on those bad days and doesn't let them get to
her.

That's
a good thing. After all, she's only been married a little more than a
month, and she's going to need it. But, thankfully, she's also taking
the time to share her sense of humor with us all.


After that,
I'm going to combine the pleasant English attitude of Barry, and the
newlywed-ness (hey! I'm calling it a word) of Amanda, and stir it all
up with a mad, little spoon and give you my buddy Gaz's journal Diary of
a Podgy Poof.

If
you want quiet domesticity and the notion that life is good with large
gardens, happy pets, and every dinner cooked perfectly and waiting on
the table when you get home, that ain't Gaz. He and Phil just got
hitched, and they're holed up and living out of boxes in a tiny
apartment that's driving them batty. And yet, somehow, they can still
find ways to smile, laugh and love.

Next up is
Holly and her journal Welcome to
My Life.

No.
Holly isn't British (though she does have a somewhat odd attraction to
all things Harry Potter). And, no. She's not really a newlywed anymore.
But, she writes brilliantly, she's always got a laugh, and she will
make you smile widely as you read about what should be, to any normal
person, a typical, ordinary day.

But, for some
reason, Holly rarely has a typical, ordinary day, and I am thankful for
that.

Go ahead. Read it and try not to smile. I
dare ya.

Finally, to wrap this up, one journal I
most enjoy is that of Dawn --Carpe
Diem.
I swipe memes from her. I dive into stories about her life, her
troubles, her good times, her kids and everything else that she writes
about. Dawn is pretty much the older kid sister I never had.


Okay... I lied. I'm going to give you one last
journal to look at, and it's one I've just recently started
reading.

It's called Just
Plain Bill, and though his name is Bill, there really isn't
anything plain about this self-titled "Old
Timer."

Bill's
been reading and commenting on my journal for a long time now, and I
could kick myself for not dropping in to read his journal as often as I
should have up until now. These days, it's a daily read, and I hope
when I hit the age of 77 I'm half as fun, kind and smart. Bill makes me
want to take up golf and just live a relaxing life overlooking the
tee-box of some golf course somewhere.

Well, there
you have it. Five Six journals here on AOL
that I believe are things everyone should make a point of
reading. 


Of course, there are a million more, but you remember all that talk
about margaritas up there at the beginning? 



I think I need to find some ice. 


Take care, and I hope you enjoy my picks this week. 



-Dan