Let’s Get Versatile, Versatile

Instead of physical, you know…like the song?

Okay, I’ll stop now and get to the point…

It seems I’ve been nominated for my first ever award, The Versatile Blogger Award, courtesy of Meagan from Oh Me, Oh Meagan (but really, how can you not love that blog name?). Her own award post is right here!

Now, I’m really on the fence about awards. Part of me thinks they’re a fantastic way for members of the blogging community to support each other and cheer each other on. The other part of me can’t help but wonder if they’re nothing more than chain mail disguised as support (sounds awfully cynical, doesn’t it?). I really can’t decide…though, I really do love the blogging community and in my optimism, I really do like to think of awards as good things. The thing is, I don’t want my blog to become centered around pining for awards…however, at the same time, I think if I stay true to myself as a writer, I shouldn’t have to worry about that.

Oh man, I’m thinking about this way too much.

Anywho, I’ve decided to accept this award despite my misgivings about awards. I mean, it’s New Years Eve, right? My optimism is winning over my pessimism right now and telling me that this is a pretty damn good way to end the year in the blogosphere…with my first ever award! Thank you for the nomination, Meagan! I’m glad I discovered your blog like, what, four days ago? Doesn’t matter, I’ve enjoyed reading it so far!

So, it seems there are some rules to this here award. It goes something like this:

1. Show the award on your blog.
2. Thank the person who nominated you.
3. Share seven facts about yourself.
4. Nominate 15 blogs.
5. Link your nominee’s blogs & let them know.

That seems easy enough (though I can already tell you I will just be nominating 10 instead of 15…in order to ensure that this doesn’t become chain mail on my part, I thought a lot about who to nominate and don’t want to nominate anyone just for the sake of getting to 15).

So, with that, let’s begin:

Number one will come with time.

Number two has already been done, but I can give Meagan another shout out for kicks…thanks!

Number three, The Facts Were These:

1. I wrote a short novel in seventh grade (don’t ask to read it, it’s really quite terrible) and had the gumption to send it into a publisher, where it was very quickly rejected. I did, however, receive a nice note back with the rejected manuscript, telling me I was a good writer for my age but the manuscript just wasn’t what they were looking for. To this day, I’m not sure if they just included to be nice to my twelve-year-old self or if they really meant it. Hey, makes for a sort of good story, I guess!
2. I saw Titanic for the first time during my first year of college. I hated it. Why, you ask? Well, for one, it’s a good thing we were watching it on TV…if not for all the commercials, I would have been crying non-stop for the entire last half of the movie. I was an anxious mess. It was not fun. Nope, never need to watch that again.
3. On that note, I am terrified of scary movies and will never watch one willingly. I just do not understand the attraction in willingly watching something that you know will scare the shit out of you. Not my cup o’ tea.
4. I loveeee coffee. I started drinking it my junior year of high school when my friends and I would have study breaks at a nearby coffee shop; many of them were coffee addicts themselves and really, the only reason I started drinking it was to jump on the coffee drinking bandwagon that they were already on. How unoriginal of me. In my early coffee drinking days I would only get the froo froo, sugary drinks where you can barely taste the coffee. Pretty quickly after I got to college, though, I started drinking it black and that’s how how I’ve been drinking it ever since.
5. I rarely drink pop (or soda, as it is called by the rest of the world outside of the Midwest). I stopped drinking it back in high school to be healthier and now if I have it, it just makes my stomach upset because there’s just too much carbonation. Yeah, unless it’s mixed with alcohol, I just prefer water (true story).
6. I have a sock monkey named Henry whom I absolutely adore (I don’t know if it’s healthy to adore stuffed animals, but I sure adore Henry). I named him after Henry David Thoreau because, back in high school, we studied the Transcendentalists in eleventh grade English and I was just a little obsessed with Thoreau for a while after that.
7. When I interned at the National Postal Museum this summer, I didn’t get my Smithsonian badge until three weeks before my internship was over. It was an eight week internship. I was basically the Forgotten Intern. I might write a book about it one day (but probably not).

Numbers four and five (they in this together), The 15 10 nominees:

Wanderlust because together, Hagen’s poetry and photography inspire me and make me think about life and things and she is just so gosh darn talented.

SeeMeNotCp because I can see the passion Chelle has in every single one of her posts and I think that’s inspiring and beautiful.

Keep your Feet because Amelia (whom I happen to go to college with) is such a passionate writer and she has such a beautiful blog.

The Nerdy Canuck/Photography because I love how Erin’s photos are stories in themselves; that’s so magical.

Snap Thoughts: Life and Momentary Stories in Between because I just love those snap thoughts and the writing is lovely.

I Prefer Deep Blues and Sea Foam Greens because I just came across this blog today, read the “About” page, it was love at first sight, and I am sooo looking forward to reading more.

Musings of a Frequent Flying Scientist because I love love love Desley Jane’s photos and I really love the whole concept behind her blog and I also love that blog title!

That’s so Jacob because Jacob’s posts always make me laugh and I love his commentary on everything.

Lifestyles with Lia because I’ve never been to New York City (unless you count a layover at JFK, which I sure don’t) and I don’t particularly like big cities, but Lia’s words and photos make me want to visit The Big Apple someday.

The Ripple’s Edge because Kati’s blog is beautiful and I love her poetry and her words in general.

Whew, did that ever take a while! If you are one of the above whom I nominated, you’d like to accept the nomination, but you have no idea what this award is, here’s a handy dandy site I found that will give you a better idea of what it’s all about: The Versatile Blogger Award. If you’d rather not accept the nomination, that’s fine too! As someone on the fence about awards, I understand that these awards aren’t for everyone.

Thanks again to Meagan for the nomination!

Happy New Year!