Not quite the Oscars!
14/10/08 10:23 Filed in: Blogs and Blogging
I have been very slow in passing on awards! Today is the day! It’s Geoffrey’s blog Oscars. Like all Oscar ceremonies, I do expect overlong, sycophantic, tear-filled acceptance speeches from the recipients with votes of thanks to dogs, cats, budgerigars and the odd few glasses of red wine. (If you want to send whole bottles, e-mail me and I’ll give you my mailing address.)
Some of these awards are memes apparently. I do not know exactly what a meme is, only that is pronounced memm and not me! me! According to my dictionary a meme is “a unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another.” That sounds a bit dodgy to me!
I’m going to give some awards to bloggers who I know will not necessarily display them for personal or aesthetic reasons. To me, that’s less important than the act of recognition. It’s the thought that counts, right?
The first award I have to bestow is the Arte Y Pico award.
Thanks to Tamera for this award.
The rules are:
1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language
2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.
Okay, so here goes:
For the best blogs EVER, I would like to give this award to:
Timethief’s “This time, this space”
Timethief is one of the seven wonders of the world to me. Her command of subject matter is dauntingly impressive. Her research of subjects is rigorous and comprehensive. Her writing is intelligent, incisive, accessible and clear. What’s more, it’s a darned good read!
I have often wondered what her first name is. I may have even asked her. I know she prefers privacy and anonymity here although I suspect though that she may have one of those names from a past era to which she is reluctant to admit, like Doris, Agnes, Ethel or Gertrude. So what do you think?
Melindaville
This blog is simply amazing. It plots the life journey and brave struggle of Melinda, who now lives on both sides of the American continent and works as a psychology professor. Melinda has in her time suffered massive child abuse and consequent heroin addiction from which she is now fully recovered. She has worked as a rock singer with the evocatively named band, the wild women of Borneo, a high class call girl, an exotic dancer and a Shakespearean actress. Her journey of recovery and success is as impressive as she is. This is a must read blog. Oh! And by the way, I have very good reason to believe that her real name is Melinda, and not Doris!
My third and last, favourite is one of the most inspiring blogs I know:
It’s Robin Easton’s Naked in Eden. So much has been written or said about this amazing woman who currently has two books approaching publication. I have little to add, other than, “Just go there!” and “Robin, let me know when your books are published so I can go buy them!” Simply brilliant!
Two more:
Best newcomer blog
Jackie Smith’s Jack Mandora
Jackie’s place is full of the sounds and life of Jamaica. A teacher by profession, her subjects draw on literature, poetry and life in the Caribbean. What’s more she is a very warm, engaging and interesting person! Great blog, Jackie!
Best art blog
This place I love. It’s Eddie’s photography blog the Cliff Walk. I can’t praise this blog highly enough. Eddie has a fantastic eye for a great shot. His images have humour, human interest, creativity, social commentary; every one has something to say! Based in the Pacific North west, his work reminds me of the famous French photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson and that alone is praise enough. He has a really superb eye for the moment that is best summed up in the words of Cartier-Bresson himself, "There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative," he said. "Oops! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever." Eddie frequently captures that creative moment. Well done, Eddie!
Two more awards that were passed onto me by the very funny and entertaining Jane “Mrs T” Turley, crazy housewife from the English Home Counties :
First is the “Honest Blogger Award”. This is not a meme and no special conditions apply. I want it to be special, however, so I am going to limit this award to two blogs only. I am going to award an area that some may think is wildly out of character for me. It’s not really. Who I would like to recognise is two young mothers who I feel are doing an exceptional and outstanding job in motherhood and upholding healthy family life in very difficult times. On reading both their blogs, I had a single overwhelming reaction. It was, “Cor! I would have loved a mum like that…how special these young women are.” Yes, I know. I'm a softie!
So here you are, my special awards for happy and healthy motherhood go to:
Julia at MidWest Moms
And Elaine at My Life as a stay at home Mom
Next…!
The “Brillante Weblog 2008 Premio Award, (for which the same conditions apply as for the Arte Y Pico Award) goes to:
Melindaville
Jackie Smith’s Jack Mandora
Henry at SoulMerlin’s reflections
Henry at SoulMerlin’s Almanack
Henry, your blogs are amongst the most peaceful places I know on the net. I love all four of them. It was hard to choose these two!
Jennifer’s Writing to survive
I’m looking forward to your “writing to thrive” days, Jennifer! I know they will be here soon.
I’ve had a lot of awards gathering dust in this cupboard of mine. This next award is not a Meme and again I wish to bestow it with some meaning that is special to me. Thank you to Shirley of Proof Positivity for her butterfly award. “A butterfly goes through a cycle of life. Starting from something that may not be so pretty to something beautiful and majestic. A butterfly is inspirational. It gently glides through the wind as if music plays under its wings.”
Here we go:
I wanted to get this one here in somewhere. I know her website is already so weighed down in awards that I fear another may cause it to sink! Someone who really is a butterfly to me is the very lovely Tamera. What I love most about this site or more particularly about Tamera herself is her boundless warmth, compassion, kindness, positive energy and generosity of spirit. I know she’ll call me an old flatterer or some such thing, but my words are heartfelt. I’m glad that Tamera is in this world.
Ahem! Now I’m not sure I can call these next two butterflies. But in the spirit of bringing something positive into life, they both do it for me. What they bring into the world is laughter and they do it in abundance. Why these blogs are special to me is that I live overseas from my home country and sometimes I feel isolated and long for English humour. If ever I feel down, I visit their sites and generally come away with a smile on my face. They are the two best humour blogs I know:
Jane Turley’s diary of a mad housewife
Master Sy and his dead hamster. It’s bonkers!
That’s it. Thank you all.
Some of these awards are memes apparently. I do not know exactly what a meme is, only that is pronounced memm and not me! me! According to my dictionary a meme is “a unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another.” That sounds a bit dodgy to me!
I’m going to give some awards to bloggers who I know will not necessarily display them for personal or aesthetic reasons. To me, that’s less important than the act of recognition. It’s the thought that counts, right?
The first award I have to bestow is the Arte Y Pico award.
Thanks to Tamera for this award.
The rules are:
1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language
2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.
Okay, so here goes:
For the best blogs EVER, I would like to give this award to:
Timethief’s “This time, this space”
Timethief is one of the seven wonders of the world to me. Her command of subject matter is dauntingly impressive. Her research of subjects is rigorous and comprehensive. Her writing is intelligent, incisive, accessible and clear. What’s more, it’s a darned good read!
I have often wondered what her first name is. I may have even asked her. I know she prefers privacy and anonymity here although I suspect though that she may have one of those names from a past era to which she is reluctant to admit, like Doris, Agnes, Ethel or Gertrude. So what do you think?
Melindaville
This blog is simply amazing. It plots the life journey and brave struggle of Melinda, who now lives on both sides of the American continent and works as a psychology professor. Melinda has in her time suffered massive child abuse and consequent heroin addiction from which she is now fully recovered. She has worked as a rock singer with the evocatively named band, the wild women of Borneo, a high class call girl, an exotic dancer and a Shakespearean actress. Her journey of recovery and success is as impressive as she is. This is a must read blog. Oh! And by the way, I have very good reason to believe that her real name is Melinda, and not Doris!
My third and last, favourite is one of the most inspiring blogs I know:
It’s Robin Easton’s Naked in Eden. So much has been written or said about this amazing woman who currently has two books approaching publication. I have little to add, other than, “Just go there!” and “Robin, let me know when your books are published so I can go buy them!” Simply brilliant!
Two more:
Best newcomer blog
Jackie Smith’s Jack Mandora
Jackie’s place is full of the sounds and life of Jamaica. A teacher by profession, her subjects draw on literature, poetry and life in the Caribbean. What’s more she is a very warm, engaging and interesting person! Great blog, Jackie!
Best art blog
This place I love. It’s Eddie’s photography blog the Cliff Walk. I can’t praise this blog highly enough. Eddie has a fantastic eye for a great shot. His images have humour, human interest, creativity, social commentary; every one has something to say! Based in the Pacific North west, his work reminds me of the famous French photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson and that alone is praise enough. He has a really superb eye for the moment that is best summed up in the words of Cartier-Bresson himself, "There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative," he said. "Oops! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever." Eddie frequently captures that creative moment. Well done, Eddie!
Two more awards that were passed onto me by the very funny and entertaining Jane “Mrs T” Turley, crazy housewife from the English Home Counties :
First is the “Honest Blogger Award”. This is not a meme and no special conditions apply. I want it to be special, however, so I am going to limit this award to two blogs only. I am going to award an area that some may think is wildly out of character for me. It’s not really. Who I would like to recognise is two young mothers who I feel are doing an exceptional and outstanding job in motherhood and upholding healthy family life in very difficult times. On reading both their blogs, I had a single overwhelming reaction. It was, “Cor! I would have loved a mum like that…how special these young women are.” Yes, I know. I'm a softie!
So here you are, my special awards for happy and healthy motherhood go to:
Julia at MidWest Moms
And Elaine at My Life as a stay at home Mom
Next…!
The “Brillante Weblog 2008 Premio Award, (for which the same conditions apply as for the Arte Y Pico Award) goes to:
Melindaville
Jackie Smith’s Jack Mandora
Henry at SoulMerlin’s reflections
Henry at SoulMerlin’s Almanack
Henry, your blogs are amongst the most peaceful places I know on the net. I love all four of them. It was hard to choose these two!
Jennifer’s Writing to survive
I’m looking forward to your “writing to thrive” days, Jennifer! I know they will be here soon.
I’ve had a lot of awards gathering dust in this cupboard of mine. This next award is not a Meme and again I wish to bestow it with some meaning that is special to me. Thank you to Shirley of Proof Positivity for her butterfly award. “A butterfly goes through a cycle of life. Starting from something that may not be so pretty to something beautiful and majestic. A butterfly is inspirational. It gently glides through the wind as if music plays under its wings.”
Here we go:
I wanted to get this one here in somewhere. I know her website is already so weighed down in awards that I fear another may cause it to sink! Someone who really is a butterfly to me is the very lovely Tamera. What I love most about this site or more particularly about Tamera herself is her boundless warmth, compassion, kindness, positive energy and generosity of spirit. I know she’ll call me an old flatterer or some such thing, but my words are heartfelt. I’m glad that Tamera is in this world.
Ahem! Now I’m not sure I can call these next two butterflies. But in the spirit of bringing something positive into life, they both do it for me. What they bring into the world is laughter and they do it in abundance. Why these blogs are special to me is that I live overseas from my home country and sometimes I feel isolated and long for English humour. If ever I feel down, I visit their sites and generally come away with a smile on my face. They are the two best humour blogs I know:
Jane Turley’s diary of a mad housewife
Master Sy and his dead hamster. It’s bonkers!
That’s it. Thank you all.
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