EDITORIAL NOTE: My first instinct is to respond to the State of the Union address, but everyone's doing that today with headline opinion ranging from "bold" to "hogwash." Let's wait for a couple of days and do this instead.)

Some of you may remember that when I last updated the Elderblog List – after many months if not more than a year (how embarrassing) – it got lost in the ether of cyberspace.

At last, I've tackled it again, it is up to date and, being very c.a.r.e.f.u.l this time, I didn't lose it before posting.

Some notes: I was ruthless in pruning blogs from the list so that wherever you visit as of now, there is fresh material. If there had been no posts in more than a month or so, the blog is gone. A few people have died, some have moved themselves behind passworded firewalls. A few announced they were ending their blog and some have disappeared with no explanation. Those are all removed.

If you renamed and/or moved your blog to a new address, I changed those items. And I de-listed one blog by a tea partier who supports you know who - my bloglist; my prerogative.

If your blog has been removed and you feel it should be restored, let me know – we'll talk. If you catch any errors, do let me know that too. And, of course, you are always welcome to send an email suggesting your own or someone else's blog for the list.

Here are the criteria:

• The blogger must be 50 or older
• The blog should publish at least once a week
• The blog must be designed well enough to be easily navigable
• The blog must be reasonably well-written and follow the generally accepted rules of spelling and grammar
• No light-colored text on a dark background
• It must be a personal, not commercial or business blog
• The blog must have been regularly published for at least three months
• The blog should be a compelling read

Well, that last item is subjective, isn’t it. In the interests of full disclosure, some other subjective criteria are these:

Group-written blogs are not usually included nor are blogs that promote a specific religion although blogs that discuss religion (or lack thereof) and spirituality in general are welcome. And it goes without saying, I assume, that no blogs are included that express bigotry of any sort. Even once. In the past, I have removed two blogs that used unacceptable words for certain ethnic/religious groups in a derogatory manner.

Also, I do not include blogs promoting far right-wing politics. I've taken flak for this in the past, but the rule stands.

Each Monday, five elderblogs from the list are featured in the left sidebar under the headline Featured Elderblogs. They remain there for a week when the next five are posted. Despite a red flag on my calendar, sometimes I forget to update it, so let me know if that happens.

The full list of Elderblogs is here and there is always a link to it in the left sidebar.

By no means does the Elderbloggers List contain all the blogs written by old people. They are just the ones I know about. Here are the newly added blogs. Do visit some of them – there is a wide variety of terrific writing, photography, art, poetry and more, and you may find a new friend too.

Age of Reason
Almost Australian
Animal Beat
As Our Parents Age
Baby Boomer's View
The Burrow
calendar pages
Confessions of a Grandma
Conversare
The Dassler Diaries
Gericon Designs
Each Little World
ElderBlog
The Family Plot Blog
Folkways Notebook
Gabby Geezer
Helenhudsonhereblog
hot coffee and cool jazz
Hugging Aspens
Jan Heigh Abstract Art
Joe's Place
Joneser Journal
Just My Life
Late Fruit
Len Edgerly
Life at Willow Manor
Mad, Mad World
Maggie Turner: Page by Page
Murrmurrs
My Muse Mutters
Of Quilts, Cats and Books
One Kentucky Writer
paint, poems and ponderings
Plants and Stones
Pressing Pause
pressrun.net
The Public Reader
The Rant
Recollections of a Vagabonde
Roy's World
Russ' Filtered News
A Slower Pace
The Slow Lane
Snappy Repartee
Southern. Country. Elegant.
Style Crone
Tea and Wheaten Bread
TechnoBabe's Adventures
Two Crumblies and a Cat
The Unscripted Self
Well Aged With Some Marbling
Whole Note Whimsey
woodgatesview
Writing to Myself

At The Elder Storytelling Place today, Mary B Summerlin: Driving Tales