Seven links project

A change of pace today. You see, I was tagged last week. As in, “Tag. You’re It.” The astonishing Big Little Wolf was the perpetrator. Allow me to explain.

Back in June, Katie from Tripbase began what she called The Seven Links Project. She picked seven of her own past posts that she thought worth resurrecting. These were the criteria:

– The most beautiful post
– The most popular post
– The most controversial post
– Most helpful post
– A post whose success surprised her
– A post she felt didn’t get the attention it deserved
– The post she was most proud of

Katie listed all seven posts for her readers, named (“tagged”) five other bloggers she knew, and challenged them to do the same in a post for their readers. Each of the five wrote a blog entry listing their seven posts, and tagged five more bloggers. And so on.

Somewhere along this chain, Big Little Wolf was tagged. “You find yourself equal parts honored and exasperated,” BLW wrote to me. But she plunged ahead with her Seven Links post and tagged me
in the process.

“Don’t be mad,” she said. “No need if you’d rather not.”

The Internet is made for chain letters, those obnoxious requests for money or good luck (and please pass it on) of which you’ve received one or three-hundred. I almost always ignore them. I planned to ignore this one on account of the immodesty it required.

And yet …

PROVENANCE

I was intrigued by the genealogy problem. Big Little Wolf mentioned in her Seven Links post that she’d been tagged by a blogger named Mutant Supermodel. I went to Mutant Supermodel’s site; she’d been tagged by First Gen American, who had been tagged by Yes I’m Cheap, who had been tagged by Young and Thrifty, who had been tagged by Boomer and Echo, who had been tagged by Explore for a Year, who had been tagged by Turkish Travel Blog. Turkish Travel Blog didn’t say who had tagged her, so there the trail back to Katie of Tripbase went cold.

But I was determined now. After all, it’s not any day you have the chance to trace the provenance of a meme to its source. Genealogist that I am, I decided to follow Katie’s own blogger links forward until I reached Turkish Travel blog from the other side. Mercifully, it didn’t take long. Katie had tagged Virtual Wayfarer, and Virtual Wayfarer had tagged Turkish Travel blog.

I am, therefore, of the tenth generation of Seven Linkers to be tagged. Which is to say, I’m one of potentially five to the tenth power (9,765,625) bloggers picked to carry on the flame. A mere four generations more to equal the population of the earth.

All I can say is, it’s quite an honor.

MY SEVEN POSTS

In for a penny in for a pound, I suppose. It was the categories that seduced me:

BEAUTIFUL: What it’s like to adopt a child.

POPULAR: The Wounded Parent, II: Something Helpless

CONTROVERSIAL: How we got to school on time, a six part series

HELPFUL: Mr. Rogers speaks to Congress

SURPRISED BY SUCCESS OF: Strange visitor from another planet

NEEDING ATTENTION: A story about fathers and sons

PROUDEST OF: Legacy

I have no glosses on my choices, except to say that if you see some you haven’t read, I hope you find one or two  worthy of your time.

PASSING THE TORCH:

In order to avoid duplicate nominations, Tripbase keeps track of the universe of tagged bloggers. My favorite name on that list? Super Happy Awesome Fun Time with Sean and Alice, of course.

And I hereby tag:

Clark Kent’s Lunchbox. (My matchless, kick-ass mentor and champion, Ron Mattocks.)

The Altucher Confidential (James Altucher is fearless. I’ve tried to write like this guy and can’t.)

Walking on my Hands (A new favorite by a graceful, reflective writer, Pamela Hunt. Often, she tells us, we surprise ourselves “Because we are all adventurers here, we are all new at this, we are all learning how to live, how to breathe in this crazy, beautiful world.”)

Three is enough. Investigate them, you will find riches there. And this meme has just about circled the earth anyway.

RELATED POST:

It relieves me to say that this post is related only to itself.

YOU MIGHT ALSO ENJOY:

Two more blogs I might have tagged, if only I knew the authors’ emails:

Tribal Writer — The mysterious Justine Musk holds forth on creativity

Brain Pickings — A discovery engine for interestingness

EXPRESS YOURSELF!

But enough about me! Let’s talk about you! Which of my posts are your favorites? Kidding! But seriously, what are your Seven (or fewer) Links, here or anywhere, and which blogs would you tag? Add your comment below. I always respond here. This just in: you can be notified of responses to you by clicking “Replies to my comments” in the drop down menu under your remarks.

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