I’ve been taking a short blogging break, but only for a few days. I must take occasional time off to prevent madness and insanity. Happy Easter to all who celebrate and I hope the Easter Bunny brings wonderful baskets to everyone. Hey…I want a chocolate bunny too!

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Now, how many of you have ever become burned out from blogging? Have you ever thought about throwing in the towel? Before you ever even consider it, I want to introduce you to someone who blogs for the love of writing. She has been through much in her long run and is only getting better. She doesn’t care about irrelevant things such as stats or how popular she is; however, when it comes to writing excellence, imagination, passion and integrity – she is a shining star! Read on.

I raise a well deserved toast (of root beer…hehe, no alcohol here) to my wonderful friend, Square1, brilliant author of The Fanciful Muse. If any one person deserves acclaim, it is her. Read forward and see why:

Square1 always makes it difficult to choose as every post is great. I hadn’t noticed before, but she has been blogging since 1997 (wow, that is a long time)! She has become one of my all time favorite bloggers and there are many reasons for this. As you can see, Square1 is very special to me personally. Besides what she does in writing, it’s what she doesn’t do that impresses me just as much. She doesn’t even lift a finger to gain traffic for herself and spends her time giving instead. This is one of my personal blogging principles, and reading her work has helped me define it even further. She has helped educate me about the Muslim faith also, something everyone should learn more about.

Her first post (as far as I know) was Dreams and Whispers, a beautiful poem published March 14, 1997 (what were you doing back then? I first heard of blogging in 2005!). I’ve spent quite a bit of time at her blog, and am fortunate to have met her. From the first time I visited her (just a few moths ago), she has been such a good friend to me and everyone who gets to know her. She is a tremendous writer in every way; poetry, prose, fiction, writing analysis and deep insight into her personal philosophies.

This week is no exception, every post is fantastic. I loved her short poem Robbed – compact and powerful. Also, I really enjoyed her personal post, If I Could… There are far too many posts to list. I suggest that you read many of her articles and you’ll be glad you did.

I dedicate this post to Square1 and praise her incredible perseverance and talent. This is my eleventh batch of posts and her eleventh year of blogging! It’s such a cool coincidence that I just noticed the “eleven” connection. Here’s to you Square1 and to many more years to come – you are an inspiration to me. I consider you one of the best. Have a wonderful year! Yay!

Now to a very new blogger I mentioned in my previous batch. As many of you know, one of my favorite things to do is find and write about talented writers. My new friend Moyrn of UnEloquence Mortalized is in my humble opinion, one of the the most talented young writers I have ever met. At the ripe old age of 17, her writing is nothing short of incredible. Go read several posts and see what I mean.

Moyrn is also the author of Tomes of the False Gods – a blog dedicated to poetry, prose and other assorted musings. I read this entire blog and so should you. She wrote a perplexing poem entitled, Brown Stain, which is a poetic metaphor for what was left of a coffee drop. There is much behind the words…very much. Her newest short story, The False Encounter was quite wonderful and very well crafted. Praise be to Joonigod!

Laila posted “Hemaya” Anti-Drug Campaign – this is an important article about drugs and how they are destroying the lives of young people, often before their lives really even start. After knowing 19 people who died because of drugs and alcohol (all before they reached the age of 35), there is no subject more important.

If you have a blogspot blog and want a top commentators widget, there is finally one available. I know ton’s of bloggers going crazy for this long awaited addition. The easiest way to get it is from Top Commenter’s Widget for Blogger Blogs! Amanda Fazani from Blogger Buster simplified the idea which is based on Yahoo Pipes. Check it out!

Todd from Success With Todd posted a great article, The Power of Rewarding Yourself. This blog features many subjects and is loosely focused on personal development and marketing – allowing ample room for both fun and variety!

Mike from Things By Mike posted the extremely useful A couple tips for WordPress newbies. As you may know, there are several plug ins for a blogroll / links page available for self-hosted wordpress blogs. Well, they kinda suck for lack of a better phrase. Mike shows you how to create one from scratch…step by step, including the CSS. Thanks Mike!

I want to thank my friend Christy from Christy’s Coffee Break for bringing attention to something that literally shocked me with Obama Is Satan? I Had No Idea! Hey, neither did I…hahaha! She also had a very cool post showing The Face Of Johann Sebastian Bach. Using computer based facial reconstruction, Bach’s face was uncovered. He looks nothing like anyone could have imagined…go check it out!

Last but not least, I wrote an extremely strange poem entitled Eleven last year which is indicative of my peculiar style of writing. If you can decipher the poem’s meaning, let me know! It falls under the “Zen-horror-philosophy” genre which is my invention and truly defines me. I further play with the concept in Silent Dreams of Nothingness.

I had to add this one on at the last minute. Debbie Dolphin, on her new blog Miss Moneypenny CPU put together a very funny post, Happy Easter Egg Hunt with some really weird eggs as well as a bizarre video where some giggling eggs are boiled and then they dyed alive!

I can’t find the originator of the chocolate bunny picture, it is on literally dozens of blogs. If you created it, let me know. I’ve seen it around and thought it was humorous.