I'm a teacher, so I'd better confess. I have borrowed--stolen?--the "lively, thoughtful" in my subtitle from my friend Anna Mills' definitely lively, distinctly more thoughtful blog: On Nature Writing. Read what she's written. Tell your friends to do so too.
Thanks, Anna.
P.S. I've since changed my original subtitle, dropping the "lively, thoughtful," and yet I aspire to both qualities in everything I write. And, I still want to give Anna my thanks for the encouragement.