My Boy Band of Bloggers

It’s Friday night and I have two things on my mind:  guilt and boys.

Boys because I am surrounded by three of them here, and tomorrow that number increases to four.  Nope, not pregnant and going into labor; rather, my brother is dropping off my sweet little nephew for the weekend.  Guilt because it’s Friday during Lent, and we Catholics excel at guilt.  But I also have boys and guilt on my mind for another reason.

In my last post I discussed my nomination for the Beautiful Blogger Award, and nominated seven bloggers to receive the award. Admitting my gender-role discrimination, I purposely picked seven female bloggers for my nominees.

Since then, I’ve been guilt-ridden about the male bloggers I’ve neglected. I can’t eat. I can’t sleep.  It just wasn’t right.  Especially from me, the mother of boys!  Do I want my boys to grow up thinking that they can’t be Beautiful Bloggers?

My WordPress stats reveal that of my top five commenters, three are men.  Ardent supporters of my posts. How could I discriminate like that against the nice Gentlemen of Blogtropolis? I am burdened with regret. But the question remains: How can I redeem myself?

Then, on the way into work today, it hit me.  I heard an N’Sync song. Despite the fact that I was driving through snow during rush hour, I recalled the video and danced the upper body movements of Justin and the crew as I sang and navigated the messy streets of Trenton, New Jersey.  Mostly shoulder pops, some smooth neck moves, and pointing at viewers (a.k.a. people sitting at red lights next to me).

Hearing the song made me instantly happy, as do the posts and comments by my favorite Boy Bloggers. Then I realized how I could honor the men in my blogging life.

I could create my own N’Sync from the blogging world. My Boy Band of Bloggers. It’s only right after dissing them during awards season! (Geez, first I knock British television, and now this? What’s next? Babies and puppies?).

I thought about creating my own blogging award:  The Boy Band of Bloggers Award.  Nominees would be required to have a Y chromosome and sufficiently entertain me.  But then I figured these guys have been honored with enough blogging awards.  So I’m just going ahead and forming my Boy Band.

Now before you men go getting all testosterone-y on me and slamming the Boy Bands of the 90’s consider the coolness of these pre-nineties Boy Bands: The Beatles; the Monkees; the Jackson Five; the Bee Gees; the Beach Boys; Duran Duran; Menudo (that’s a stretch in the Cool Boy Band category, I admit).  Do you get my drift? Boy Bands have been around forever, and we women? We can’t get enough of them.  So feel honored . . . and, dare I say, “beautiful.”

Ladies, listen.  Maybe these guys can’t sing or dance.  Maybe they don’t have the glorious highlighted hair of the best Boy Banders, or maybe they have bad hair, or no hair.  They probably don’t wear coordinating outfits.  But they provide smile-inducing, thought-provoking posts that make me, and lots of other followers, instantly happy.

So here it is.  My Boy Band of Bloggers.  Meet:

(1) David (soundslikeorange).  Watching him on the stage, I’d scream and cry and try to rip out my own hair. He’s the Justin Timberlake of my Band. Which, given his taste for music, will probably make him want to jump off a cliff (or, if not jump, will at least elicit a snarky comment . . . see below… countdown to comment….. 3, 2, . . .).  He wins blogging awards out the wazoo for a reason, folks.  I find both his writing and knowledge of music intimidating, but despite his talent, he’s no snob.  Although I’ve admitted crushes on Adam Levine, Beyonce, and Justin Bieber, he still follows me and doesn’t make fun of me (yet).  His love of people, writing, blogging, music, and everything else he writes about comes through in every post and every comment he leaves for us mortal bloggers.  Justin.  Definitely.

(2) John (Chronicles of Shue).  If John were on stage, forget the screaming and carrying on.  I think I’d just pass out cold. He’s the Rebel of the Band with the big heart and the tattoos and the Corn Fed Spartan bod.  He’s A.J. of New Kids on the Block (sorry, John). Like A.J., John’s working through issues, finding himself, being himself, getting himself healthy and happy.  Right now he’s in Florida, doing what he loves– photography.  Check him out, be a fan, and discuss whatever you want with him.  He always reciprocates with thoughtful comments.

(3) Jack (Jack Flacco).  Since Jack writes zombie novels, he’s going to be the member of my Boy Band who has a bit of an edge. The mysterious one.  The introspective one.  Maybe the George Harrison of the group?  He recently wrote a swoon-worthy post about a trip to Niagara Falls with his wife.  And he cuts his own hair.  Zombies are cool.  Give him a look!

(4) Al (Poetry Corner and Once Written).  Al’s a poet, so he’s going to be my Romantic Boy Band specimen. He’s the J.C. in N’Sync.  The Howie in NKOTB.  He probably doesn’t know what that means.  But he knows poetry.  And feet.  He’s a foot and ankle surgeon during the day, poet and blogger by night.  Although I’m straying off the “Band” theme here, Al’s the George Clooney of Blogtropolis.  Yep, I said it.  Check him out and you’ll agree.

(5) drishism (ish ism).  He’s a grad student marathon runner, and every boy band needs an athlete.  He blogs about his journey to becoming a foster parent, his cat eating peas out of the bowl, and his marathon training.  He’s an excellent writer and shares so many different aspects of his life.  Boy Band-worthy, for sure.

(6)  Steve (The Side Wedge).  Name a Beach Boy, any Beach Boy. . . that’s Steve.  He’s all about surfing.  I don’t do the ocean, yet I follow his blog.  Why?  He shares sunny pics of surfers, waves and the ocean.  Who wouldn’t appreciate that?  He writes with passion, not only about surfing, but also about teamwork, coaching, travel, and even litter, and always includes beautiful photos.

Thank you, Gentlemen.  Seeing your posts and comments everyday elicits in me the same joy as hearing an N’Sync song on my way to work (I can hear your collective groans).  Ladies, I hope you check out and enjoy my Boy Band of Bloggers.

Thanks for reading and indulging this pause in my usual posting schedule to acknowledge all of my favorite bloggers, male and female alike.  It really helped me with the guilt thing.  Wish me luck with my own boys, plus one, this weekend!