If Blog Awards are Chain Letters, then they are Chain Letters of Love – 4 Nominations

BEFORE ANYTHING, my sincere apologies to friends who recently nominated me for blog awards. I have been known to “hibernate” from writing from time to time and the idea of settling down my thinking chair to prepare the formalities in receiving and passing on 4 award nominations didn’t help speed things up. But don’t get me wrong.  Blog awards are wonderful wonderful things.  You can’t imagine how swiftly a day could turn around for me while I’m at home or in a coffee shop tending to my blog and learning that a kind heart just nominated me for a blog award.

What are blog awards anyway?  I’ve read somewhere that blog award nominations are like chain letters. Well, in a way, they are, if only for the simple reason that the nominations are supposed to be passed along to other bloggers.  But the similarities end there – no threat of bodily harm or misfortune, no money involved, no deadlines, no need to whisper a silent formula prayer.  Weeding out all the usual pitfalls and downsides of your garden variety chain letter, I think that, with blog awards, we are actually left with only one other special thing, and that is being remembered regardless of how great or mediocre your writings are.

You see, if you work and live in a foreign land, it is so easy to feel lost and forgotten.  And to have a fellow blogger, a peer, nominate you for a blog award for whatever it’s worth is in the very least being told, “hey, I think I know you, I’ve read you… or maybe parts of you…and I think you deserve this recognition.”  That, to me, is special.  This is why I think I should pass every nomination around. That is a personal belief, of course.  Know that I am not putting a heavy burden upon you, my nominees.  You may already have the same award nomination or opt not to pass it on. It is perfectly okay. I do not know your pressures, your limitations, and yes, even your convictions. Some of you might not have the time that I have. And I respect that.  We all should.

To break the impression that blog awards are that kind of chain letters, I will need to break a few rules, particularly in the number of nominees.  But before that, I hope you won’t mind me doing this all together.

So as I write this down, I am aware that I risk annoyance. Please don’t hate me.

I remember you.

A Thought Provoking Blog Award

Indeed, this is a very unusual and very cool award.  The nomination came from my good friend Christina of reconstructingchristina — Thank you Christina for thinking that my blog is thought provoking and I hope our recent collaborations won’t lead you to think otherwise.

Rules:  7 Things About Yourself & Nominate others (I’m not sure how many but I’ll nominate two)

Seven things about me (sorry, it’s slam book time. I’ll just answer a few questions I’ve been asked by bloggers):

1. I’d rather lose cable TV service than Internet service.
2. I am addicted to iced tea (lemon flavored).
3. My favorite actors are Morgan Freeman, Ryan Reynolds and Paul Rudd. Actresses, I like Zooey Deschanel, Mila Kunis and Jenna Fischer.
4. I think the sentence (sometimes used as a phrase) “I digress.” is an utterly brilliant and original line coined by its first writer.  If I use it, I’d feel like copying a line from somebody else’s poetry.
5. The first thing I ask before I check in a hotel is, “Is the room carpeted?”
6. I am currently reading “No Easy Day” by Mark Owen.  I had been waiting for this book for months with great anticipation.
7. My most recent favorite quote is “Robert’s Rule of Karaoke No. 24: Never take on Freddie Mercury. You and Freddie both lose.”

My Nominees for A Thought Provoking Blog Award:

I am nominating them for this award because their writings, to me, are very well-written and, above all, thought-provoking (in alphabetical order):

analyfe

Sleepy Tales and Lucid Dreams

One Lovely Blog Award

Jofelyn of Sleepy Tales and Lucid Dreams honors me with this nomination. Thank you, thank you, thank you…  : )

Rules:

Include the blog award logo in your post.
Thank the person who nominated you.
Nominate 15 other people, and let them know you have done so.

I nominate the following because the blogs and the people behind them are just lovely (in alphabetical order):

Clearly Confused

Julia Linn

Life, Love & Lyricality

Lily in Canada

millie ho

seeingspots photography

the hour of soft light…

The World is My Cuttlefish

The Liebster Blog Award

“Liebster” is supposed to be German for “favorite.”  A big thank you to Jo of Clearly Confused for remembering me and for nominating me for this gorgeous award.

The Rules:

Answer the eleven questions your nominator posed to her/his nominees (I am asking the same questions for my nominees)

Pass the award on to eleven others

Questions:

What keeps you writing when you have writer’s block? I’ve learned that practically nothing can inspire me to write.  But if there’s any, it has to be Deadlines.

Most writers have a literary counterpart—a character from their stories who reflect themselves. Tell us about yours.  Mine is David Strumm, the protagonist from my longish works, namely:  “Sophia” and “Strumm”

What are your passions? Music, Reading, Writing and Movies

You’ve had a fight with your significant other and you want to fix things. What do you do? Give her a tight and long hug.

What’s one injustice you see in the world that you would fix in a story? My answer is in the question.  Injustice.

If you could change one thing in your life, what would it be? Work location.

What’s important to you at this point in time? Family as always.

Who is your hero/heroine? My father.

Do you make it a habit of telling others what you thought of their work, even if your experience wasn’t good?   Only when officially acting as editor.

What is good will? Same as the answers of the nominees before me — The first two thirds of a Matt Damon movie :)

What would it take for you to make friends with an old enemy? I’m easy. An extended arm offering a handshake is good enough for me.

I nominate the following because their blogs are awesome and among my favorites (in alphabetical order):

hastywords

I am an After School Special 

Ramblings of a Girl Net Door

reconstructingchristina

Rendezvous With Renee

The Cosmos

The sense of a journey

Through the Healing Lens

Your Daily Dose Blog

The Super Sweet Blogging Award

This award is self-explanatory. My sweet friend Tina of Reflections nominated me for this awesome award. Thank you, Tina. I am truly honored to receive this.

The Super Sweet Blogging Award Rules:
Display the logo in your post
Nominate a baker’s dozen (13 other blogs)
Answer some super sweet questions
Thank and link back to the person who nominated you

The Super Sweet Questions:

1. Cookies or Cake? Cake

2. Chocolate or Vanilla? Chocolate

3. What is your favorite sweet treat? Cheesecake

4. When do you crave sweet things the most? I crave for sweets all the time

5. If you had a sweet nickname, what would it be? I’d go for Neil, which is my nickname (not sure if it’s sweet though). 

Nominees (again I’m going against the grain here and nominate only 4; in alphabetical order):

I think you’re sweet and your blogs rock!

I am Super Istar 

s1ngal

words become superfluous

zoetic * epics

To all my nominees, I wanted to write one-by-one the reasons why I love your blogs but there are too many.  Please allow me some time to formally inform you about your nominations. Congratulations and looking forward to reading more of your posts!

P.S.
I just realized rather painfully that I missed a few equally-deserving blogs.