Mrs. Linklater is the AOL Guest Editor This Week

In a shocking departure from her real life, Mrs. Linklater has been chosen as this week's Guest Editor. So she'd better post this entry quickly before the powers that be change their minds.

Since her first entry about Pop Tarts appeared on St. Paddy's Day in 2004, Mrs. L herself has never been an Editor's Pick. Her anti-establishment journal pretty much precludes that. So allowing her to jump the line to be an editor really is like letting one of the inmates run the asylum.  

The theme she chose for the week is THE WRITE STUFF, with selections based on style points. Writing style. Not decorative accessories.

The journals range from the satiric and snide. To the lyrical and lovely. From charming to comic. To flat out over the edge. Each one has been chosen for its distinctive writing style or tone. Mrs. L realizes that she is inflicting her personal choices on you. But YOU can be a Guest Editor too. Then you can pimp the journals YOU like.

Also, none of these journals has ever been an Editor's Pick before. Probably because more than a few push an envelope or two.

So Mrs. L suggests you just rate all of them PG-13  for subject matter and an occasional word that children and more sensitive readers can just skip over.  

Please consider all the journals listed here as equals. All are Editor's Picks as far as Mrs. L is  concerned -- AOL only had room for six on the front page. All these journals are listed in Mrs. L's Other Journals section on her main page.  So you can always come back and find them.

UPDATE: THE LINKS ON THIS PAGE ARE WORKING!!!  It's a miracle!!

1.Screamin' Remo [screaminremo303]   PG-13
http://journals.aol.com/screaminremo303/ScreaminRemo/

Locked and loaded, he writes with a taser. Wear your Kevlar. During last year's first anniversary celebration Remo was elected Lord of the Blog by his fellow journalers, the top honor in J-land. Never an Editor's Pick, the oversight ends today.

2. Do I AMUSE You? [yakvette]   PG-13
http://journals.aol.com/yakvette/DoIAmuseYou/#Entry189

Outrageous and contagious, Yak has a style that grabs you by the shoulders and shakes you naked. Her takes on life with her husband Ray will leave you gasping for air. Oh, and she's funny, too. Bring an extra pair of panties.

3. A Trickle of Semi-consciouness [BelfastCowboy75]
http://journals.aol.com/belfastcowboy75/TrickleofSemi-consciousness/

Award winning wit and wisdom from New England -- the Cowboy writes with Hemingway-esque clarity and impeccable storytelling. The Naval Shipbuilding Museum recently honored one of his essays, and he has won Judithheartsong's Artsy Essay Contest here on AOL.

4. The Way Ahead  [shadp]  
http://journals.aol.co.uk/shadp/TheWayAhead/

This Brit is dark and brooding and brilliant. In another century he might have been one of the celebrated essayists of Victorian England. His lean, spare style reveals the heart of a man steeped in powerful melancholy. He lays bare his soul with searing honesty that permeates every entry like smoke from a recent fire. Not for the faint of heart.  

5. Perpetual Notion Machine [pkbeachbum]  PG-13
http://journals.aol.com/pkbeachbum/PerpetualNotionMachine/

Totally bent. One of a kind. If Salvadore Dali could write he'd be PK. Perhaps the offbeat artist has decided to channel himself through a young man in New Jersey who writes for a pharmaceutical agency during the day and leaves oblique thoughts and mysterious references for us to ponder by night.  With Red Sox scores tossed in. Definitely an acquired taste.

6. The Badinage [WhereDidPeteGo]  PG-13
http://www.thebadinage.com/

At first you think he should be doing stand up. His comic timing on the page is perfect. One of the most talented writers ever to leave high school with a 1.5 average, he seems destined for something big.  Will it be fame or infamy?  You be the judge, when you can stop laughing. This is an outside blog, with an AIM screenname.

7. One Way Passage [jayveeconcerto]
http://journals.aol.com/jayveeconcerto/One-WayPassage/

This is a Texas piano man whose words are pure music. Some days he laments life in dusty west Texas, like an armadillo resigned to crossing the road in front of a speeding semi. Then he changes character and soars like a hawk riding the thermals, with lyrical prose worthy of James Dickey.  

8. Life in the Blue Victorian [kissofvanity]  
http://journals.aol.com/kissofvanity/LifeintheblueVictorianhouse/

You know how people get to giggling when they've been smoking dope? She can do it to you too. This clean and sober mommy is, like most of the other folks on this list, "disinclined to play by the rules."  All the better to entertain us with stories and pictures about her family and friends.

9. Inane Thoughts and Insane Ramblings [swibirun]
http://journals.aol.com/swibirun/Inanethoughtsandinsaneramblings

Like the muti-faceted athlete he is, passion and focus on the task permeate all his writing. Especially when his wife is the subject. He is our modern day Abelard writing to his beloved Heloise. You will not leave unmoved.

10. I Do Not Recall Having a Memory Problem [suzypwr]
http://journals.aol.com/suzypwr/Idonotrecallhavingamemoryproblem/

This charming journal takes a wry look at early retirement and the inevitabilities of age. "Hopefully I can remember the name of my journal so I can return and post entries when a stray thought strikes." Funny and wise.  

11. ViewFrom A farmhouse Window [thisismary]
http://journals.aol.com/thisismary/ViewFromAFarmHouseWindow/

The sensibilities of an 18th century English novelist reincarnated on an American farm. From her About Me section: "The author respectfully points out that she has not been provided with a copy of your mental map and has no intention of attempting navigation by it." Right on, sister.

12. Surrounded by Nincompoops [lotzamoe]  PG-13
http://journals.aol.com/lotzamoe/SurroundedByNincompoops/

"Thoughts that pierced my tin foil hat" says it all. This is the man who can find something funny about "death, bad sex and goat humping" and his own stupidity. If his sarcasm were chocolate, we'd  be covered in it.

13. Dock Lines [gaboatman]
http://journals.aol.com/gaboatman/DockLines/

The diary of a dockmaster at a marina in Georgia. This boatman shares his stories like he's having a conversation over a cup of coffee with a friend. A glimpse into a completely different lifestyle punctuated with pictures to tell the tale.  

14. Wizard of Ahs [Anarchitek]
http://journals.aol.com/anarchitek/thewizardofahs/

One of AOL's most thoughtful philosophers, his essays make you examine your own place in the cosmos. An architect who  builds castles in the sky then dismantles them to make you think. Dense and packed with ideas, the Wizard will be painful for some. An opiate for others.  

15. Pork Tornado -- The Guy You Hate to Love [OUTSIDE BLOG]  PG-13
http://porktornado.diaryland.com/

WARNING: This is NOT a recipe blog. Or the Nebraska hog-calling newsletter. This is black comedy as deep fried as pork rinds washed down with RC Cola and a Moon Pie. NASCAR fans may not be able to keep up. You may have to cover your eyes.

16. The Daily Purge [kristeenaelise]
http://journals.aol.com/kristeenaelise/thedailypurge/

A grown up working mom attending college, whose inner child comes out to play every day. ""I  LOVE Diet Coke on the rocks, Dr. Pepper Bonnie Bell lip gloss, laughing, and happy people.  Grouchy people stink.  I'm a gemini. Short attention span. Enough said."



There are several former Editor's Picks listed in my Other Journals section.  I recommend them all. And you can link from here.

Uncommon Sense
Patrick's Place 
Judithheartsong
JerseyGirl
An Officer's Day
Stories from my Ambulance
La Vida Mommy
Dating Tips for Psychopaths
Albert's World of Artsy Fun

Others like the Single Girl's Guide to the Universe, a two-time Editor's Pick, Soundtrack of My Life, and Undeniably Me, are on hiatus or not posting as often.

Talking to Myself is brand new and deserves time to percolate.