Is there such a thing as June Day or June Fool’s Day? If so, today is it. Happy June 1!

Virgins!

There were seven on the challenge grid and four on the hangout grid for a total of eleven yeah write newbies. Thanks for jumping right into the fray and spreading the word about the awesomeness that is yeah write. We hope you guys are all huggers; we can be a little overwhelming in our welcoming enthusiasm. Please come back next week.

Lurker’s favorite by Flood G

My turn to choose Write, Rinse, Repeat as my fave.

Don’t Touch That Cow! contains the most striking photograph of a peacock you’ll ever see, but the theme of WRR’s family outing to the petting zoo encourages us to endure the slobbering, germy goo we hate, for the pleasure of our kids. The key is to find humour in these activities and, as WRR writes, “Pack some hand sanitizer and enjoy your kids today!”

This is really the best advice for the dreaded summer vacation many of us will soon face. And you’ll never see any hot pig-on-pig action if you don’t get out there and try. Congrats, ‘Zannah, on the win!

Lurker’s favorite by Jennifer W

This week I picked The Other Bill from The Authentic Life. The writing is fantastic (his description of “two small white barking fluff-balls falling over one another” really got me). And I was completely taken with Bill’s willingness to look inside himself: “In the end I was discriminating against myself. If I didn’t accept me, how could I expect others to?”

Bill looked fear in the face and took the leap into the unknown, into self acceptance. Not many people have the guts to make such life altering changes. I fell in love with Bill’s Nancy and Brenda because they so fully embraced Bill when he was transitioning into a new life. The willingness of these women to create a safety net, a home, a place in which Bill could share his fears and dreams is incredibly powerful.

And then there’s the other Bill whom I can barely write about without crying. So if you haven’t read the entire post, you need to. Because clearly there was something unexplainable at work that brought the stories of the two Bills together.

Thank you, Bill Dameron, for reminding me to live with more passion and love.

Lurker’s favorite by our new lurking judge Kristin W of That Unique* Weblog

I chose Amanda of Werdyab’s post Summer Guilt of a Working Mom. As a mostly SAHM, I was ready to put up my dukes and cock an eyebrow at her envy of the summer days of leisure. In the end, however, she pulled off an authentic appreciation of a different lifestyle while remaining confident in her own.

I also liked how Amanda combined the envy of moms who get to be at home with their kids with her relief that she won’t be. She writes, “And while your children are driving you crazy, my children will be driving somebody else crazy. I don’t get to be annoyed with them for begging to go bowling. I don’t get to yell at them for being lazy. And I don’t get to complain that, no matter how hard I work, I just can’t keep the house clean when the kids are at home.”

These days, it’s encouraging to see a parent who genuinely wants something different acknowledging that the greener grass we envy actually takes a lot of maintenance on all sides. And who can resist an Ace of Base reference followed by a Charlotte’s Web adaptation?

Congrats, Amanda, on the win and thanks, Kristin, for volunteering to be one of our weekly lurkers!

Lurker’s fave by mystery lurkers Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

Ellen: Guilt, especially mommy guilt, comes in all flavors. Amanda of Werdyab shared hers with us in a way that was poignant, honest, and still managed to make us laugh.

Erin: She lets us all off the hook. It was real in a way that we like here in The Sisterhood. It made us want to invite her over for some of those cocktails she’ll be collecting on Pinterest.

Ellen: We give her a cheer for her sensibility. She highlighted that we are all just doing what we do and trying to find balance while doing it.

Erin: It was warm, funny, and darn good writing,

Ellen: Her mad detective skills and Ace of Base reference put this one over the top.

Congrats, Amanda, on the double-lurker win and on the top five finish! Thanks, Erin and Ellen, for the pick.

Popular vote winner by the entire Interwebs if the entire Interwebs is made up of, like, 400 people

Bill at The Authentic Life won the popular vote for many of the same reasons, I’m sure, that Jen chose him as her lurker’s favorite. Bill is a yeah write virgin this week, and to take the popular vote as well as a judges’ prize, is quite the accomplishment for a first-timer. Thanks, Bill, for sharing your writing and your life with us. Don’t be a stranger.

Random drawing winner of an ad square in the sidebar of yeah write #60

Random.org chose Dawn of Happiness Cubed. Congrats, Dawn! If you have a pet project or small business you’d like to spotlight, send me a 125×125 banner ad over the weekend. You can certainly spotlight your own blog and, if you don’t have a banner ad, I’ll whip one up for you, so just let me know ASAP.

Special acknowledgement

On the yeah write #59 grid, we have a few writers who were recently selected as BlogHer Voice of the Year 2012 honorees and readers. We also have a writer who deserves recognition for her guts to submit a piece to BlogHer VOTY in the first place. Congrats to:

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• Varda at Squashed Mom (reader) 
• Kristin at Mondays with Mac
• Sara at Moments of Exhilaration
• Kimberly at Sperk*
• Erin at Erin L Margolin (guts to submit)

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Yay and congrats from everyone here at yeah write.  I’ll figure out a way eventually for us to take at least partial credit for your accomplishments.

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 #60 opens Tuesday.