I’ve been given this lovely award by the immensely talented, Selma of Selma in the City and Search Engine Stories. What a dear!

The “BFF” award is passed on according to the following rules:

1. Only five people are allowed
2. Four have to be dedicated followers of your blog
3. One has to be someone new or recently new to your blog and live in another part of the world
4. You must link back to whoever gave you the award.

So, I’ll pass this award on to the following great folks, in no particular order. Oh yes, I’m not entirely sure what qualifies as “another part of the world”, down the street? next door? another state, country, town, star system? So, I didn’t list any bloggers that live in my house

1. To texasblu whose engaging fiction has motivated me to start liking the fantasy genre, which is no small feat.

2. To Geraldine at My Poetic Path who writes a lovely blog with everything from recipes and photos, to wonderful hiku.

3. To tball at Because I said so… A great blog that features tball’s diverse writing in both English and Italian (too cool!) along with her artwork and the charming Mica.

4. To Karen at Ms. Karen’s Place whose blog examines day-to-day life and the far corners of a writer’s mind, via her true gift for story and rotflol humor.

5. To j at Tittle 8. A fascinating & wonderfully eclectic blog from a multi-talented writer/artist/musician.

I’ve of course had to leave out all sorts of folks, and want everyone to know that I appreciate beyond description that you come by and read what I have to say. Thanks, thanks, and more thanks to each person putting eyes on this.

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This week I was reading one of Gertrude Stein’s lectures, ‘Poetry and Grammar’ and something she said made me think about the internet, blogging, and risk taking.

At one point she is talking about the idea that verbs are more interesting than nouns and she points out the following.

“It is wonderful the number of mistakes a verb can make…Nouns and adjectives never can make mistakes, can never be mistaken but verbs can be endlessly so, both as to what they do and how they agree or disagree with whatever they do.” 1

I find this fascinating and undeniably true.

Nouns really are static.

Labels attached by some action not their own. They simply are or they aren’t. No shades of gray. As much ability to unname themselves as I have to teleport to Peru.

The world around me seems to have an awful lot of noun about it’s countenance. Especially these days.

What is your name, where did you publish, who was your teacher, what is your nation, what color your skin, who sleeps in your bed, what car in your driveway, who is your god.

Not a lot of activity there. Just a catalog penultimately incomplete—the parts totaling far less than the whole.

But verbs are altogether a different deal. Stein is right.

Verbs are out there doing, and being, and becoming, and pushing and pushing back.

Which brings blogs to mind for me.

Blogging is definitely a verb gig. The ultimate non-static construct. Writing, thinking, discussing, commenting, linking, reading, thinking some more.

No question. Verb heaven.

And with all that action comes the undeniable potential to make some mistakes. Which, as Stein points out, really is pretty wonderful.

Running with the verbs is exciting.

and risky

And that really is the crux isn’t it?

No guarantees.

To put it out there realizing the possibility it may implode—downsides too plentiful to innumerate.

And doing it anyway.

Chasing upsides of pure possibility.

A dangerous game—winning moves elusive as untempered dragon’s fire.

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1. Meyerowitz P. Ed., 1971 Gertrude Stein - Writings and Lectures 1909 - 1945

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