I’ve received another blog award, this time from Liz Shaw, who blogs writing prompts at The Writing Reader. All of these awards have an exponential expansion built in, and this one, the 7 x 7 link award, would swamp the world if everyone followed all of the rules.

I’ll play along for the publicity, and I’m no end chuffed that Liz likes my Friday posts of Jarn’s Journal (background of my science fiction universe) but I’m also pointing out the rate at which this could grow. In 13 iterations, the number of blogs awarded would theoretically exceed the population of the Earth, including newborn infants and those who have never seen a computer. If I award this to anyone who has already received it, let it die there and do not pass it on.

Rules are you answer seven questions about your own blog, and then give the award to seven others.

The questions? Identify the posts that most nearly fit the following. With close to 500 posts to choose from, why do I find this so difficult?

1. Most Beautiful Post. Beautiful how? Design? Content? Writing? I finally chose a poem I wrote, “Love Song.”

2. Most Popular Post. This one’s tough. My greatest number of visitors was the first time I turned the post over to the Summer Arts Festival, but I think that’s because so many people commented with their assignments! My most popular recent posts have been the Six Sentence Sundays, and the most popular page is the She Writes Bloggers.

3. Most Controversial Post. Well, I had a couple I thought might be controversial: “Love and Lust,” for instance, or “Psi and Morality.” No comments on either.

4. Most Helpful Post. I’ve had two series I hope are helpful, one on Horse Color Genetics and the other on Planet Building. I’ve linked here to the indexes of both series on my author site.

5. Most Surprisingly Successful Post. Just looking at my current stats, I’d have to say “Ice Sculpture: Ice and Sun.” It was posted last spring, and got 19 views this week.

6. Most Underrated Post. My Geophysical Christmas Carols, especially the Twelve Days of Christmas.

7. Most Pride-Worthy Post. Eeny, Meeny, Miny Moe – Oh, The Four Horsemen. Besides, it’s timely, what with the world’s population reaching 7 billion.

Naming other’s blogs is even harder, but here are a few I enjoy:

1. Ink and Snow. This is a cartoon blog, done by Jamie Smith, whose cartoons used to be in our daily paper before he moved to Maine.

2. Marlene Dotterer. I met Marlene through SheWrites, and enjoy both her blog and her book.

3. Darian Wilk at Crazy Lady with a Pen. Lots of different subjects, but I like this blog.

4. Maureen E. Doallas, Writing Without Paper. Art, Poetry, sharing interesting links.

5. Carol Apple at Carol’s Notes. Focus on literature.

6. Nancy Hinchcliff, A Memorable Time of My Life. Lots of useful stuff for writers.

7. Lisa Ann Chickos, Kicked, Cornered, Bitten and Chased. Writer and animal trainer, with some wonderful posts about her experiences with animals.

Have a look at all of these. And don’t forget to comment.