It's a Major Award!

I have been presented with an award by Whim from The Babblings of Whimsicalbrainpan. I'm a little foggy on the concept of these blogging awards - I believe the idea is that you can now pass it on to one or more other deserving bloggers. In her post on this topic, Whim gives these reasons for presenting me with this award:

D.B. Echo: He is one of the most thoughtful people I know. He is always pointing out great blogs in his posts and never fails to let people know when something is happening that he cares about.

I suppose I do do these things, though sometimes this is really a diversionary tactic: "Hmmm, I really have nothing to say, but...HEY! Look over there! Isn't that neat?!?"

If I were looking for someone that I could recognize for community involvement...well, there would be several:

In addition to being a funny writer, an undaunted blogger, and a huge Harry Potter fan, Ashley at Ink on Paper is also very active in the AIDS/HIV treatment and prevention movement. She deserves this award, and so much more.

When I think of community involvement, I also think of the online communities that people have gathered around their blogs. Over the years several of the bloggers I have read have attracted groups of regular readers who, through their interactions in their comments, have developed into virtual communities in their own rights. Sadly, several of these have backed away from blogging in recent years, and these communities have dispersed somewhat. There are two I can think of who still maintain their central positions in online communities:

Josh Fruhlinger started The Comics Curmudgeon just over three years ago as a way to share his snarky comments on the day's comic strips with his family and friends. Over the years his site has attracted an active community of regular commentors, many of whom have rediscovered a love for comic strips through his site. And the community is so much more: the members have come to be a group of people who share each other's happiness and sadness, who have supported each other and provided assistance in ways I haven't seen in other groups of commentors. For bringing all these people together and providing them with a focal point, Josh deserves this reward.

And the other is someone who experienced almost incomprehensible personal tragedy, and who soldiered on through sheer bloody-mindedness and now serves as an inspiration to all who know her story and read her blog. Her community is one that draws its strength from her to a degree that sometimes I think she doesn't realize. But I don't know if it's proper award etiquette to simply re-present the award to the person who has presented it to you! Still, Whim from The Babblings of Whimsicalbrainpan unquestionably deserves this award!