I think I’m gonna like this extra vote thing we’ve got going. Fewer people were left out of the final vote tally, and most of us finished our voting feeling good about it instead of thinking, man, if I’d just had one more vote. This was a good call, and I appreciate those of you who pushed for it.

Virgins!

There were 11 of you on the grid and most of you fit in just fine. Ha. I kid. Some of you. Okay, okay, everybody did great. Thanks for jumping in with us and adjusting to my quirky style on Twitter and anywhere else you may have run into me. We all hope to see you next week.

Editor’s choice by Erica

I was surprisingly impressed by Jackie’s at Not Wifezilla retelling of the conflict between her and her husband the morning of “yet another over-the-top” birthday party for their toddler. I use quotes for the phrase over-the-top not because I either agree or disagree with Jackie’s husband, but because when hurt feelings get involved, our perception of the situation is always skewed. I admired the way Jackie defended herself against the charges and how, although, she could see her husband’s point, she held her ground for the most part. In a good story, we are always looking for not only conflict, but the resolution to the conflict and, certainly, some sort of shift toward the resolution. Jackie’s storytelling transition from initial action and reaction into an attitude change and her ultimate conflict resolution was nearly flawless. Congrats, Jackie, on the win.

Lurker’s favorite by Flood

Flood chose Lisha at The Lucky Mom and writes:

[framed_box rounded=”true”]This week goes to The Lucky Mom. I live with someone in my family, who is incapable of love. In fact, just yesterday I thought, “I’m not benefiting from this relationship and I can’t keep investing in it without some reciprocity.” Full-Time Daughter made me feel ashamed about that. True love really does come from expecting nothing in return and sometimes, it’s when people are most unlovable that they need someone to love them without expectation. It all sounds cliche and trite until you have to put the theory into practice. My perspective is changed and now I have something to chew on when I feel selfish about not getting what I think I deserve.[/framed_box]

Congrats, Lisha, on the win.

Lurker’s favorite by Whitney Emma

As my new lurking judge and I were having a good time in email on Thursday, I discovered she goes by Emma instead of her actual first name. It’s a very cute story, but I forgot to get her to sign the standard free fringes release form that pretty much states whatever you tell me in email will end up on my blog eventually (what, you haven’t signed yours, either?) so how she got the name is temporarily confidential. Trust me, it’s awesome.

Emma chose Kimberly at The Corner of Divine and Birch and writes:

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I loathe dirty dishes. I smell the dish liquid, feel the water changing the texture of my fingers, hear the silverware clanging as I drop it in the sink, taste the soapy bubbles…my pile diminishes, but wait…there are more??? Yep, she pegged it in A Day without Dishes…it’s somebody else’s turn now. No more dishes for this girl. Daddy does the dishes tonight.

I envy Kimberly and her beautiful words. Poetry, or writing in any form has never been my friend. It takes a creative person to put all the words in the right places.
[/framed_box]

Congrats, Kimberly, on the win.

Lurker’s favorite by Q

Kelly at Writing in the Margins, Bursting at the Seams captured Q’s final lurker’s favorite here at yeah write. Q will be off soon to a different set of adventures, and I should probably not include a weekly reading of 75 blogs on his wonderfully lengthy honey-do list. He enjoyed Kelly’s wistful tale of a friendship nurtured then lost, yet remembered. It seems that everyone is in our lives for one season, it’s simply that some seasons last much longer or end much more quickly than others. Congrats, Kelly, on the win.

Yes, Q is irreplaceable as a husband, but we will have another lurking judge in time for next week. I’ll keep her under wraps for now so she can be a true lurker during her first week, but after she’s revealed, you may stalk and bribe her at will. 

Popular vote winner

Ben at Dad of the Decade wins his second popular vote by sharing the first time he saw his daughter Emma after she was born with numerous medical issues and right before the first of her many life-saving surgeries. Of the samples I’ve seen so far, this is Ben’s writing at its best: simply telling the story, but at a breath-taking pace and without any evidence of that onerous search for an imperfect batch of adjectives and synonyms. Many blessings to Emma, Ben, and congrats on the win.

Comment karma

I will tell you that adjusting to 75 blogs is gonna make comment karma its first victim. I just couldn’t get to it this week. It’s not that you guys weren’t present for each other as usual. What’s the saying? It’s not you, it’s me? Ha. Something like that. We’ll try again next week. Maybe somebody will inappropriately quote Voltaire, making it all right with the world.

Superfecta challenge winners

I emailed all the winners from last month’s challenge, and they selected their choices of the offered prizes. 

Stacey chose the blogging bash from Alexis, which means she gets her blog reviewed up, down, all around and our blog fix-it crew will help her tweak and perfect and make her blog a better place.

Mayor Gia chose the custom header designed and installed by Q. I can’t wait to see what they come up with together.

Kristin chose a new template to be installed and mildly tweaked by me. I’m very excited to take over the project and let Kristin know how off-base her previous definition of mildly tweaked had been. I’m the takeover queen.

Katie chose the custom digital photo or print from Flood. I’m jealous. You can see Flood’s photography all over yeah write. She and Katie will work together to design a print just for Katie’s personality. I wonder if it’ll have any cats in it.

Win-win

The thumbnails are now sorted in the grid from most yellow star votes to the least. In the case of a tie, like if four blogs all got seven votes each, the thumbnails are additionally sorted by page views. Do not be discouraged if your blog has landed near the bottom of the grid; it is always a tight race. The fun lies in getting better exposure for your blog and in the spirit of competition as incentive to improve your writing and blogging skills. It’s a win-win for everybody involved.

Thanks again, everybody, for linking up, for reading, for voting. And for making yeah write the most welcoming spot on the Interwebs for writers who blog and bloggers who write.

Yeah write #52 opens Tuesday.