Or maybe it's the other way around. Either way...

I've never been especially good at playing along with memes and I'm happy to say that I'm actually getting worse as time goes on. For example, Darren Herman tagged me in the long-running Thinking Blogger meme and I've all but ignored his post. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've been tagged for this meme in the past and have ignored those posts outright. But at the end of the day, I love Darren and figure that this is a good opportunity to highlight some great bloggers who not only make me think, but clearly do plenty of thinking on their own.

If you care about the rules, you can see the post that started it all here, but I'm coming at it with a bit of a twist. Two twists actually.

First, given Darren's impressive track record it's easy to forget that he is a twenty-something (or maybe he's just barely thirty, but regardless the dude is young.) So all of my nominees are (to the best of my knowledge) in their twenties and bring uniquely Gen Y/Millenial perspectives to the table.

Second, I have a long list of marketing bloggers in my blogroll and you probably already know and read many of them. One of my longstanding gripes that that people don't spend enough time exploring areas outside of their immediate spheres of interest. So with one exception, my Thinking Bloggers aren't the same ol' marketing guys and gals. They are business bloggers to be sure - but if your feed reader is choked with row after row of marketing-speak, maybe my list will give you one or two new voices that bring interesting perspectives on work, life and everything in between (well, ok, I guess work and life are really the only two things there are - so there isn't really anything in between, but you get the point.)

My Thinking Bloggers are:

1) Rebecca Thorman: Rebecca's Modite often features eye catching photos of the most mundane things of everyday life, but what makes it stand out for me are her clear-eyed takes on everything from social media to career to inter-generational relations.

2) Monica O'Brien: Monica describes Twenty Set as a group blog but I'll be damned if I can find posts by anyone other than Monica herself. And that's what makes it do impressive -- Monica covers such a wide array of topics that it seems impossible that only one person writes every post. The blog is billed as a resource for millenials but I'll be damned if it doesn't present tons of great tips and insights for people who have been working longer than Monica has even been alive.

3) Newly Corporate: OK, this one really is a group blog and I don't want to single out any one of the writers. It's crammed with practical and tactical advice for anyone just striking out on their own and first entering the arcane world of work. Like Twenty Set, I think there's plenty of valuable content for thirty- and forty-somethings as well.

4) Deb Wiseman: If you were to take Steve Hall, George Parker and Satan give, them more bite and cram them into the body of a 20-something Aussie woman, you'd have Deb. Her blog, The Digestif, is the only marketing blog on this list and it ain't just because she is a new crayonista. Sure, there's that -- but more importantly she brings a unique, personal POV to her coverage of the undeniably silly ad industry, and not only makes you think but makes you re-think what you thought before.

So those are my four - technically, the rules say I should nominate five but who needs rules anyway? Besides, Newly Corporate is five or six bloggers rolled into one. The nominated bloggers can keep the meme going or pretend none of this ever happened. And the rest of you should visit their blogs and click on a few 'subscribe' buttons.

While you're at it - I'm sure there are many many young bloggers that deserve attention. Why not comment with a few of your favorites?