Meme: five old posts (looking back)

Ilker Yoldas, over at The Thinking Blog, kindly tagged me with this 5 old posts meme, so for my Friday Feature I’d like to present a small history of…your guessed it… my Friday Features (which incidentally represent the areas of my blog, which include 1.environment; 2.literature; 3.blogger/celebrity interview & review; 4. science & technology; and 5. science fiction/writing. It’s sometimes hard to believe that I only started this blog a few months ago. I’ve posted over 75 posts and met over 7,000 terrific people. So, here are my five:

1. “What’s Your Ecotype?” -- This was my first Friday Feature (May 11) and showcased Ian Parnell’s challenging and instructional blog on the environment. Ian is an environmental scientist with lots of practical knowledge and provides a lot of sound and practical advice on environmental stewardship that can be taken in doses most of us can handle. Oh, and by the way…what IS your ecotype? Take the quiz here!

2. “Banned Books: How many did YOU read?” -- this post (May 25) featured the Forbidden Library of Janet Yanosko. Her library boils overfull with an oozing cornucopia of 'demoralizing', 'blasphemous', 'racial', 'offensive', 'obscene', 'anti-Communist', 'Satanic', and 'anarchistic' literature. Ah, yes, you say! How subversive. Check it out! Its librarian, Janet Yanosko, has indexed books by author and title with explanation of why the book was banned along with her own amusing rather pithy remarks. Find out what forbidden books YOU’VE read here!

3. “ ‘Make it so!’ says Jean-Luc Picard” -- this was my first abduction (June 8) of a blogger/celebrity for a Friday Feature interview and I had a lot to learn as Jean-Luc deftly navigated my challenging questions and drank all my coffee! Join Jean-Luc on his continuing adventures aboard the USS Enterprise along with his wacky crew. Jean-Luc provides entertaining journal installments almost daily; he’s indeed a prolific writer! Check his latest journal entry here.

4. “Ilker, the Thinking Alien & Aurora Borealis”(June 22) -- Of course she’s totally gone and redesigned her site (which is fabulous) but I was initially drawn to the thinking alien (the one featured in the thinking blogger badge everyone covets) that graced her original blog design. Ilker’s site is rated one of the top 100 blogs and is described as “more than just a source of amusing facts and interesting information. It is a stream of consciousness intended to be succinct and thought provoking. A cornucopia of eclectic topics; from exciting ideas to cultural curiosities.” It is also well researched and truly compelling; go check out what’s on Ilker’s mind now.

5. “SF Writer” -- I featured the hugely gargantuan website of Canadian SF writer, Robert J. Sawyer (August 10) and gave him a great ride aboard my ship too!...Or did he give me a ride?... Okay, not only is it HUGE, but Rob’s website is an incredible resource of material for beginning writers looking for answers for anything from manuscript formatting to landing an agent. He also has information and links to some great articles on futurism, marketing, the science fiction genre, Canadian SF, and his own books. Go amble through his rich thicket of resources here.

And, like Ilker says, it’s bad karma to break a meme, so I tag the following five people with the challenge to do the same: Deborah; Joel; Peggy K; TekSavvy; and Markk.