AOL Journals: Magic Smoke

Hi, I'm Dorn, president of the Dust Bunny Club of North America. and this week's AOL Journals Guest Editor.  Briefly, I have been blogging on AOL for just over 4 years (my first blog, Dust Bunny Club, celebrated it's 4th Anniversary on March 18th).  My mom has always urged me to write some of my stories down so this is for her.  Its also the closest to a letter anyone in my family will ever get so they all read it as well.

I have been married for 24 years to a retired soldier whom I lovingly refer to as Dickidoo, 'because his stomach sticks out further than his.... ', well, you get the picture.  We have 5 children, the Oompas.  Gabe, the oldest, is the father of my two grand babies, and is currently serving his second tour in Iraq.  (Be safe Gabe!)  The Oompas and I share a journal written for him:  Letters To Gabe.  Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, even in a war zone, our soldiers can still keep in touch with their loved ones here in the states through the Internet and we hear from him often.  The other Oompas are here at home with me, Zack, Art, Becca and Rocky.  They are, among other things, my inspiration and exasperation... No, wait, Dickidoo is my exasperation.  What ever, I've got it all!

I am a reader.  I love to read.  I used to be able to finish novels in one sitting.  Now days I don't have time for the newspaper let alone a novel, although I did manage to squeeze in a Nelson Demille hardback this week, amazing writer!  I think I have Attention Deficit Reading Disorder, or ADRD.  If I can't read the whole story in 2 minutes flat then it ain't gonna happen!  Journals, or blogs are perfect.  They are short, informative and very entertaining.  My 'Favorite Journals' list on my desktop is over a hundred urls long, and growing.  I love going to the Blogs home screen and browsing through the recently updated entries for new blogs.  Here are a two of my most recent discoveries.

 Rick Minerd - Life Is A Jukebox :  Retired Police Chief, Former Deputy Sheriff, Former Broadcaster, Car Guy.  He sounds like the main character of a 70's television Cop mini series.  He writes like a script writer for a 70's television Cop mini series.  He's witty, and at times sensitive, but most of all, he's interesting.  I had never heard of most of the radio stations or broadcasters but found myself clicking from entry to entry.  Wolfman Jack, yeah, I remember him!

 my brain is in pain :  Its like Colbert and Jon Stewart rolled into one.  The guy is funny, and random.  But don't stop there, cos he makes sense too.

And now for a  couple of old favorites.

 This simple housewifes contribution to the world :  Jill Marie is the complete opposite of me, organized, clean, sweet and intelligent with all her helpful household tips.  She makes motherhood sound appealing.  She could be the Mother of the Year. In fact I think I shall name her Dust Bunny Club Mother of the Year.  I would love to be just like her when I grow up, if I didn't  already know how much hard work it would involve.

 The Hadonfield Myers Experience : Wait, can it be?  Yes, it is a blogging dad... with teenagers!  Parenting blogs written by parents of teenagers are hard to come by, probably because the parents are too busy doing damage control to have time to blog, and yet here is a humorous, well written one that inspires other weary parents and comforts them in the thought that they are not alone.

Lastly, and not just because it's my husband's blog (even though I make the posts cos he's even more of a computer idiot than I am)... its mostly because he's a darn good photographer:

 PAPARRAZI BY PROXY :  Okay, so his name isn't really Dickidoo, I just call him that cos it bugs him... Steve has taken some amazing pictures.  His job on a military installation gets him up close and personal to many different species of wild life as well as some in the proximity of our military in action.  Yes, I will admit to a little rivalry and maybe just a little teenie tiny bit of jealousy but there's no denying the guy has an eye! (or maybe he's just lucky!)  I'lllet you be the judge of that.  This of course leads up to a blatant plug of yet another of my blogs: Through The Eyes Of The Beholder (that's me!)

I hope you enjoy these blogs as much as I have, and if you haven't already done so, stop by the Dust Bunny Club where I'm giving away free Dust Bunnies in celebration of my 4 Year Anniversary!

Dorn~